20091118 Congregation Letter

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First Federated Ministry Purpose and Plan The purpose of First Federated Church is to glorify God in our community and beyond. (1 Corinthians 10:31) We do this through obedient, diligent effort in carrying out the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19-20) The commission given to the first generation disciples and subsequently passed down to us is that we make disciples of all nations. Therefore, the mission of First Federated Church is to make disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ. The making of a disciple is more than evangelistic efforts aimed at a person making a “decision” for Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13* gives us the mandate for disciple making. 11 He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. The role of those who lead as pastors and teachers is to develop individuals from a state of “new-born” in the faith, to fully functioning followers of Christ or as verse 13 says “mature… full grown in the Lord”. What is a fully functioning follower of Christ? (FFFC) There are 6 foundational pillars of a FFFC: salvation, worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism. 6 Foundational Pillars Simply Defined: Salvation - entering into a redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-13 gives a brief, but clear understanding of what is required to be born again. 9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 13For anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Worship - expressing love to God. A person shows love to God by yielding their will to His. Obedience to the known will of God then is the greatest expression of worship. Psalm 29:2 exhorts followers of Christ to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 2 Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness. Fellowship - growing in biblical love for one another in the body of Christ. Acts 2:42 says of the first generation church: 42They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. Interestingly, the fellowship of the saints is on par with learning doctrine, communion and prayer. A FFFC is committed to growing in Biblical community.

* Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation. 

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Discipleship - growing in relationship with Jesus through discovering biblical truth and applying it to life. Hebrews 6:1 says: 1So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. There are a number of ways to learn and apply knowledge both formally and informally. A FFFC must be committed to life-long learning and application of the truths of God’s Word. Service - meeting needs with love. Christian service requires a person to learn how God uniquely shaped them for ministry, then employing their S.H.A.P.E. (spiritual gifts, heart, natural abilities, personality and life experiences) in service to His family. Ephesians 2:8-10, NASB tells us that believers have been saved (born-again) for good works of service. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Evangelism - sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. A FFFC will share with others what God, through Christ, has done for them. Mark 16:15 states 15And then He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere”.

Church Ministry Strategy The strategy to make fully functioning followers of Christ requires first that this mission is the foremost priority of the church. This must be seen in budgeting, staffing, ministry development and facilities management. Making FFFC’s requires three primary focal points or “engines”, that drive the ministry: Reaching unbelievers (Loving God) Teaching believers (Connecting People) Employing believers to serve according to their S.H.A.P.E.(Serving People) Reaching: To make FFFC’s, the church must first connect itself with the un-churched community with the intent of sharing the gospel of Jesus with them. Throughout the years, a number of strategies have been developed to connect a church with its community. The methods and means of connecting have not been exhausted. Since no one method will reach the diverse population that any community may have, careful study of methods that are presently effective, as well as development of new methods, should be done to find the best approaches for the greater Des Moines community. The body of the church must be trained in these methods and provided organized opportunities to share their faith. There are two primary models that provide structure by which a community may be reached with the gospel, the attractional and missional models.

* Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation. 

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The attractional model seeks to make the weekly worship services of the church as attractive to unbelievers as possible and then encourage the church body to bring unbelievers to the worship service.

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The missional model seeks to equip the body, according to their S.H.A.P.E, to go into the community, win the unbelievers on their turf and bring them back to the church where they can connect and be discipled.

While there are many positive elements to the attractional model, a stronger case can be built for developing ministry at First Federated around the missional approach. Biblical grounds for this include:  

It is the model Jesus trained His disciples to use. Luke 10:1-2. It is the model Jesus commanded His church to follow. Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19

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It is the model the Apostle Paul used. Acts 13:2-3.

Note: The church was commanded to go into their communities and the world to share the message of Christ. At first, they chose to remain in Jerusalem with a “come and see” approach. Since the “come and see” approach was not the primary model Jesus commanded them to follow, persecution was permitted to fall on the church which then forced it to utilize the “go, reach and win” model.

Teaching: Once a soul has been won to Christ, that soul must be taught the fundamentals of the faith. To His first generation disciples, Jesus gave the command to reach, but then to “…teach them whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19) Above all else, Jesus desired that His followers grow in knowledge of Him and in His image. (Ephesians 4:13) Therefore, the church must have an organized and sequential method of teaching new, as well as established believers, the biblical truths they need to move closer to the full stature of Christ. First Federated must have an engine that drives the education process of all followers of Christ regardless of biblical knowledge or learning style. Formal classes that teach foundational as well as advanced doctrine are required. Less formal settings for learning and connecting with other believers are necessary also. No one method can be the sole method for FFC. Small groups, Adult Bible Fellowships, electives, seminars and other methods of connecting people with God’s Word are needed. The ongoing objective of the teaching arm of the church is to keep people in constant forward movement through the lifelong discipleship process. Methods, programs or approaches that encourage or allow people to settle into a comfort zone must be avoided at all costs. Our mandate from the Lord is to develop opportunities for the saints to constantly advance and never settle into parking lots to rust and die. Employing: Paul tells us that ever-increasing knowledge only serves to make one proud, but love builds others up. (1 Corinthians 8:1) Moving people from being students, to student ministers is the coupling of knowledge and love to meet other’s needs. Paul makes it very clear in Ephesians 2:10 that believers are saved to do the “good works” that God prepared beforehand for them to do. Having an engine that employs growing believers in ministry opportunities is the church’s method of facilitating this. The * Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation. 

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employing or serving arm of the ministry is the engine that replenishes the reaching and teaching arms so there exists a steady stream of servants to do the work of the gospel. Developing and maintaining the three engines that drive ministry requires recruiting and maintaining gifted staff to make it happen. There is an old saying: “Everything rises or falls on leadership.” To develop and maintain strong reaching, teaching and employing engines, requires gifted, motivated, trained and experienced leaders to oversee the development and advancement of each engine. Since none of the three engines are presently well-developed and developing all three at once is not practical at this time, they must be developed in stages with the first stage being the teaching engine. At present, some are coming to faith in Christ by the sheer grace of God and there are many immature believers who need to be discipled. Developing the reaching engine first, could create even more young disciples to work with, but no teaching engine to help them mature. Therefore, we must first seek a qualified leader to develop the teaching engine, recruiting and training teachers and building connection groups of all types through which effective discipleship takes place. The second engine to develop would be reaching and the third employing. A search is currently underway for the person to lead the teaching/connecting engine development.

Facility Usage and Improvements God has blessed us with a tremendous tool in the form of our location, property and facilities that are 100% debt free. Location: First Federated Church sits in the heart of Des Moines. At the corner of 48th and Franklin, we are situated just off one of the city’s main arteries, Hickman Road (State Route 6). We are 1 mile from Interstate 235, the main six lane that cuts through the center of the city and 3 miles from Interstate 80/35, the east/west, north/south interstate system that serves the entire state. Recently a traffic light was installed at 48th and Hickman, making traffic flow to the church’s parking lot easier than before. Property: The church facility sets on 12 acres of level land that boasts parking for 800 cars and ample green space for activities. Facility Highlights: The church has over 270,000 square feet of ministry space under our roof. This includes       

2 auditoriums – One 3,100 seat and 1 newly renovated 600 seat room. 2 gymnasiums, with adjoining locker rooms. Commercial kitchen with serving line. Dining room for 200. Separate, well equipped youth rooms for junior high and senior high. Three room nursery complex plus nearly 20 dedicated children’s rooms. More than 10 dedicated adult classrooms plus 15 rooms yet to be developed.

* Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation. 

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Clearly all the physical tools are here on site, but after 23 years of decline (church attendance dropping), the blessing of enormous facilities has become somewhat of a challenge. Current Facility Usage: The church has committed to doing two Sunday services with distinct worship styles. Since moving to the two service format, attendance at the Celebration Service in the large auditorium has averaged 463 or 15% its 3100 seat capacity. While efforts have been made to make the space feel smaller, an occupancy rate this low has greatly reduced intimacy and connection in the service. The 23-year old auditorium is now in need of several hundred thousand dollars of repair, including air-conditioning, roof and furnishings. Even estimating 7% growth per year (which is above the national average and does not take into account our aging population) it would take 10 years for the Celebration service to grow from 15% to even 30% occupancy. Future Facility Stewardship: To support the implementation of our strategic plan, to enhance our ability to have intimacy and better connect with each other and to provide proper stewardship over our God given physical and financial resources, the staff and Official Board of First Federated recommend that we cease weekly use of the auditorium and foyer and hold both Sunday morning services in Franklin Hall using the following schedule: 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM = 60 min 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM = 15 min 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM = 60 min 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM = 15 min 11:00 AM – 12:10 PM = 70 min

Celebration Service/Preschool/Nursery Transition to ABF/Sunday School ABF’s/Sunday School/Groups for all ages Transition to River Service River Service/ KZ Church/Preschool/Nursery

This schedule allows families to worship together in either service with no ABF or other class competing with a service. Slight format changes to the Celebration Service would make the two services more distinct. The Celebration Service would be the more traditional service of the church with those leading the service dressing more formally. Congregational singing would be predominantly hymn based with organ and piano accompaniment. Other instrumental and vocal groups would provide special music that would range from Gaither style to light contemporary. The River Service would continue to be the informal, contemporary service of the church with worship being more participatory and music including current and past contemporary selections. Facility Improvements: To support this ministry plan and schedule changes, the following facility improvements are proposed. They would be funded entirely through bequests received this ministry year and will have no impact on General Fund expenses. * Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation. 

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South Parking lot expansion o Expand lot to east adding 40+ mostly handicapped spaces  Large tree in playground saved  Playground equipment relocated to west courtyard o Access ramp and railings to SE Entrance  Sidewalk, sod and landscaping repairs

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1st floor hallway improvements o Install drop ceiling including energy efficient lighting o Repair, paint remaining doors and paneling

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Heating/Cooling o Create 5 Heating/Cooling zones in 1987 building to isolate auditorium o Install expandable 60 ton A/C hardware for south hallway o Install digital HVAC controls to create 10 Heating/Cooling zones in south hallway

Plan Approval and Implementation The leadership of First Federated understands that this plan includes significant ministry changes and wants to insure that all questions are answered. To do this, several informational opportunities will be held over the next 2 months including: Sunday, December 6 Sunday, January 3 Sunday, January 17

6:00PM 9:10AM 6:00PM

Franklin Hall during Celebration Service in Auditorium Franklin Hall

A vote on the plan will be held by ballot on Sunday morning, January 24. We urge all Federated members to participate in this very important decision for our church. Thank you for taking the time read and give consideration to this ministry plan. It undoubtedly raises some questions and we as church leadership want to provide answers and/or perspective. Please feel free to approach any of your leaders to discuss your concerns or to offer suggestions. On the next page you will find the signatures of the elder, deacon and pastoral bodies, unified in our commitment to First Federated Church. May God guide and strengthen us as we seek to move forward for His Kingdom.

Michael Rose Senior Pastor * Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this document is taken from the New Living Translation.