Cyber Update: August 19, 2010
Transitions. That’s the theme of this “update” this week. Since fall is right around the bend I have change on my mind. Here are some changes coming our way at Crossroads…
WOODBURY WORSHIP TIMES
Starting September 11-12, we will be transitioning from Sunday worship at 9 & 11 AM to 9:30 & 11:15 AM. Why in the world would we do that? To attempt to address the overflow at the 11 AM experience. We ended last spring with a full 11 AM. We’ve even had several summer weekends where things have been crammed at 11 AM. So, to make the 9 AM hour more attractive we’re moving it a little later to 9:30 AM. And, to make the 11 AM hour a little less attractive, we’re moving it to 11:15 AM
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Bottom line—we have to create space at the prime time hours visitors and spiritually-seeking-people come to church. Our passion is to reach out to people who are far from God and help them draw near to Him. As long as one person is outside of a relationship with Christ we MUST continue to reach out to others. We must make room for them to hear a life-changing message. That’s the reason for this transition. Thanks so much for understanding! Seriously, I love being part of a church that thinks of others more than themselves.
Saturday night at 5 PM will stay the same.
EAGAN TEACHING
Another transition this fall will be moving our teaching at the Eagan campus from a mix of live teaching and video teaching, to primarily a video teaching experience. Again, why would we do this? The reason is to truly have “one church in two locations.” We realized that both campuses need to hear the same teacher/voice to be unified. Too many voices lead to a schizophrenic church. I want Crossroads to be unified in vision and values. Hence, both campuses need to hear the same message.
Video teaching is working everywhere as this multi-site movement has spread. We’re confident it will work at our Eagan campus. We believe that it’s much more important to have a live pastor on site (Steve Ziemke) than a live teacher. And, we’re gearing up (technologically speaking) to make this transition work as smoothly as possible.
The last thing I’ll say is that IF we were to expand the reach of Crossroads in the future (i.e. a campus in Hastings or ??) we would have to do video teaching. FYI, we’re not planning any campuses expansion for awhile.
SMALL GROUPS
I’ll keep this one brief since we’ll be talking about groups in September. We’ll be transitioning from “Meal Groups” (uniform groups that included eating, studying, serving, and sharing) to “Engage Groups” that offer a wide range of curriculum options. In fact, we’ll have a catalog of roughly 40 groups that will be launching in October. They will all be different and will offer a plethora of options! Bottom line: we think you’re going to find one that fits exactly what you’re looking for.
That’s it for now. We’re gearing up for an incredible fall. AND, don’t forget to attend Crossroads this weekend. In Woodbury we’re talking about how to break free from generational sin (Week 4 of the A-Team). Our Eagan campus will be in Week 3 learning from the life of Isaac.
Grateful for good transitions,
Pastor Phil