Southview Connect

It's almost Easter!

It’s almost Easter, one of my favorite times of the year. This month we will be celebrating that HE IS RISEN INDEED!

We’re in a teaching series on Sunday mornings called “Hope Lives,” learning what God’s Word has to say to us about the power of hope, compassion, and love in our community and our world. This is one of two series I have planned for this year that focus on the ‘serving’ part of our strategy (Loving-Growing-Serving). Our home based small groups are using material that goes along with what we’re doing on Sunday mornings in worship, and as we learn and grow together, my prayer is that this will help us to get God’s Word deep within us.

As we learned in our last series, the goal of small groups is not to add something else to your busy schedule; the goal of small groups is to foster community and spiritual growth in our lives. Community is God’s gift to us, but we have to reach out and take it! Spiritual growth does not happen in isolation; it happens best in community, and that’s where small groups come in. If you haven’t joined a small group yet, I encourage you to find a group that fits your schedule and make it happen! It’ll be an investment in your spiritual life that you will never regret.

Looking forward a little to May, I’m going to start a new small group focused on leadership. For those who have been given the gift of leadership, our goal is to get better and better as leaders, as well as develop those within the church with the gift, so that we can lead with all diligence (Romans 12:8). It’s going to be an intense group – a lot of reading and a lot of discussion – but I think very rewarding for those who want to be involved. If you’re interested in being a part of the initial group, let me know.

The Chrysalis program for ministry interns and ministry residents is progressing well, and I’m doing a lot of interviews with potential candidates for our first “class.” Southview's Chrysalis program is designed to provide a safe environment where leaders can grow, experiment, and develop their passion for ministry. We're looking for some families who have some extra space in their home and are willing to serve as a host family. It could be for a short term intern (6-12 weeks) or for a longer term ministry resident (1-2 years). If you'd be willing to host one of these young men or women, email me at william.attaway@southview.org and let me know if you can host a male or female and for how long of a term. After I get your info, we'll add you to the list of open homes and will let you know when we have an intern for you to host!

Our Financial Peace University classes will conclude in April, and I’ve heard a lot of great stories about how God has used this class to help individuals and families learn what His Word says about money and how to best use it (and not abuse it). We’ll be offering this class option again in the fall, so if you missed it this time, you’ll have another option to plug in and learn how best to utilize the resources God has entrusted to you.

Our search for a Worship and Arts Pastor is progressing as well – we’ve received 61 resumes for this position as I type this, and that’s after only a month of the position being advertised! We believe that God will lead us to the person He has for us – even now He is preparing them for the ministry here at SCC. Please join us in praying for God’s man or woman that He has in mind for this position.

Thanks to the incredibly generous gift Southview received at the end of last year, we’re going to be replacing the HVAC system in the elementary and youth areas and add central HVAC to our preschool rooms, restrooms, hallways, and children’s entrance area. We’re also repairing a lot of the concrete sidewalks and curbs on the property. Our goal is to have both projects complete by Easter.

Our Good Friday service will be on April 22 at 7 p.m. It’ll be a service of reflection on what the sacrifice of Jesus was all about and how God’s love for us is beyond what we can fathom. We’ll gather at the Lord’s Table and remember the sacrifice of the cross and the cost of our salvation. The next day, on Saturday, April 23, we’ll host our annual community-wide Easter Egg Hunt at 10:30 a.m. followed by a lunch onsite. This is a great opportunity to invite your co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family to come, have fun, enjoy lunch, and hear the message of the gospel – the real reason for Easter! We’ll come back together on Easter Sunday morning at 11 for worship together as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and what it means for each of us. I can’t wait!

God has opened a door for us with Coates Elementary School to minister to the students, families, faculty, and staff there, and we are praising God for it! This year we’re planning to host our Back to School Boutique at Coates on Wednesday, August 24, serving 80-100 kids in need. It’s a tremendous expansion of what we’ve been doing for more than a decade, and we’re looking forward to seeing what other doors God opens for us in the days ahead. A number of us will also be participating in Coates’ mentorship program, where we have lunch with a student once a week for 30 minutes and build one-on-one relationships, investing in others in Jesus’ name. This is only the beginning, but what a blessing to see God moving in front of us and preparing the way as we seek to engage more and more with our community, putting our faith into action!

Continue to pray with me that we will be fully obedient to ALL that God shows us and teaches us. I believe that the best is yet to come – and I’m ready to see God do a new work at Southview, in our community, and in our world!

Loving, growing, and serving Him with you,

--Pastor William

New Zealand Earthquake Relief

In light of the recent earthquake in New Zealand, a number of Southviewers have asked how we can help. Churches in New Zealand are working hard to minister to the needs of so many. Rob Petrini, a former Southview staff member, is currently serving as pastor of a church in Christchurch, where the earthquake hit. In our recent communication with Rob, he said, "I am asking for financial help to get us through the next 4 to 6 weeks! We have a number of pastors who have lost their homes, but are still working 12 to 16 hours a day. We have social care workers and counselors who are doing their job for free simply because the demand is so high and people do not have the resources to pay them. Our own staff is working around the clock and we don't have the financial capability to support them. We are combining our resources with 5 other Baptist churches in the area. We are all pretty badly affected, but 2 have been completely destroyed (the one pastor, Chris Chamberlain from Oxford Terrace Baps has also lost his home and is currently being supported by a group of us). All schools have been shut and so places to meet have been severely limited. One of those 5 churches is imploding, with a number of the congregation refusing to come back to Christchurch at all. In comparison our church is doing ok. Even though a number of our people are out of town, we still have good support and communication happening. The big problem is everyone is in a bad state with their personal lives. Please stress to SCC that anything they give is above and beyond their tithe. I don't want their tithes, nor do I want people to give beyond their means."

Southview is going to collect funds to send to the Baptist Union of New Zealand to help with the relief efforts for Rob's church and others in his community. If God leads you to be a part of this, simply write 'New Zealand Earthquake' on your offering envelope so we know where to put it. We'll be collecting these funds throughout the month of March and into early April. And please keep Rob, his family, their church, and their community in your prayers in the days ahead.

Japan update from the Willow Creek Association

One of the organizations that our church partners with to accomplish our mission is the Willow Creek Association. Here's an update from the WCA regarding the situation in Japan:

"In response to the recent tragedies in Japan, we continue to pray for the pastors and churches affected. Only 1% of the Japanese population identify themselves as Christian, yet we believe the Church can have a disproportionate impact on the relief efforts, bringing hope to that part of the world.

We wanted to share a brief update from one of the pastors who serves on the organizing committee for our Global Leadership Summit site in Tokyo:

“Lack of gas food and heating are the major problems for people who are taking refuge in various buildings in hardest hit areas. But this time special prayers are needed for church and church members who have evacuated from areas within the radius of 20 km of Fukushima nuclear power plant. Churches in the area are empty right now. Its reactors are having major problems and our worst fear is their meltdown which will bring radiation exposure--another major disaster. If this happens this will be like hell. They are trying hard to cool down these reactors but the news we watch gets worse every day. Please keep praying for the safety of church members and people and that somehow, by God's special intervention, the Fukushima nuclear power plant will come under the control."

Please continue to pray for the churches and people affected by this terrible disaster. Tomorrow at Southview, we'll have an opportunity to contribute financially to the relief work going on in Japan.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." --Galatians 6:9