What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “Open House”? For me, I have almost exclusively heard this term used by school teachers and realtors. And in both cases it is used to mean something like: “A time for newcomers to show up and check it out” - whatever the “it” may be. It’s a time to come and see what is being done and a time for the people hosting the open house to explain some of the basics.
And that’s why the newest series at Good News Church will be called, Open House. We’d like to take the month of January to explain some of the basics regarding why we do what we do as a church. Topics include: the mission of Good News Church, the values of Good News Church, participating in community and serving in ministry.
Why focus on this stuff for one month?
Good question. I believe we need it. We are in an unusual time period as a church. I’ve been pastoring at this church for over 10 years now, and was involved in various other churches for decades before that – and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a time where one church had such an influx of new people in such a short period of time.
Covid really shook things up, and our church was no exception. Lots of people who were regularly attending in February of 2020, stopped attending church and I never saw them again. This happened for all kinds of reasons. To be clear, it’s not unusual that someone would stop attending a church; it was unusual to experience so many people doing it all at once.
So, during this same time period that we lost about half our church, a new “half” showed up. Hundreds of people have come streaming through our doors and after having talked with them a bit it seems to me that most of them just moved to Ocala recently. For a while there, it felt like every week we were talking to a new family from California, or Canada, or Seattle.
That is great. To those of you in that category, I say welcome to Good News Church!
But this strange happening (pastoring a church where the number of newcomers is almost equal to the number of old-timers) makes me realize that I need to be extra clear as to what we are all about around here. Those of you who are new deserve to know what it is you are signing up for if you remain involved. And for the rest of you who’ve been with us for 4, 8, or 12 years, it will be good for you to get a reminder, too.
Open House begins on Sunday, January 1 at 9:15 & 11:00am.
And that’s why the newest series at Good News Church will be called, Open House. We’d like to take the month of January to explain some of the basics regarding why we do what we do as a church. Topics include: the mission of Good News Church, the values of Good News Church, participating in community and serving in ministry.
Why focus on this stuff for one month?
Good question. I believe we need it. We are in an unusual time period as a church. I’ve been pastoring at this church for over 10 years now, and was involved in various other churches for decades before that – and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a time where one church had such an influx of new people in such a short period of time.
Covid really shook things up, and our church was no exception. Lots of people who were regularly attending in February of 2020, stopped attending church and I never saw them again. This happened for all kinds of reasons. To be clear, it’s not unusual that someone would stop attending a church; it was unusual to experience so many people doing it all at once.
So, during this same time period that we lost about half our church, a new “half” showed up. Hundreds of people have come streaming through our doors and after having talked with them a bit it seems to me that most of them just moved to Ocala recently. For a while there, it felt like every week we were talking to a new family from California, or Canada, or Seattle.
That is great. To those of you in that category, I say welcome to Good News Church!
But this strange happening (pastoring a church where the number of newcomers is almost equal to the number of old-timers) makes me realize that I need to be extra clear as to what we are all about around here. Those of you who are new deserve to know what it is you are signing up for if you remain involved. And for the rest of you who’ve been with us for 4, 8, or 12 years, it will be good for you to get a reminder, too.
Open House begins on Sunday, January 1 at 9:15 & 11:00am.
