Connecting Points Magazine Fall 2018

CONNECTING POINTS | FALL 2018
SERVE
BY ROB BEDARD, ASSOCIATE PASTOR, SERVE
Associate Pastor, Serve is a new role at CLA, and it will
undoubtedly flex and form in the months and years ahead.
Such creative, pioneering opportunities are, for me, extremely
exhilarating.
“Joining God in transforming our lives, neighbourhoods,
nation and world.” Our pastoral team is convinced the best
strategy for accomplishing this mission is by calling all in CLA
to Gather, Grow, Serve and Go. Through CLA’s recent visioning
process, serving was deemed necessary to properly support
and undergird all that we do as a church. Look behind and
look beneath CLA’s many Gather, Grow and Go initiatives and
you will find hundreds of those who Serve – volunteers whom
we recognize need ongoing, intentional transformation.
Followers of Jesus must recognize that God’s call to
know and love Him is inseparable from His call to also serve
Him. In other words, every Jesus-follower is called to serve
Jesus by serving others.
As your new Associate Pastor, Serve, my first steps will be:
2. Assist CLA’s pastors and staff in fostering, when and
where needed, a healthy serve culture.
3. Through gauging the state of our present volunteer workforce,
and only after much prayer, thought and discussion,
craft a volunteer leadership pipeline conducive to supporting
our anticipated volunteer revolution throughout CLA.
4. Partner with others in rethinking, retooling and relaunching
CLA’s School of Ministry to better facilitate
the robust development of more volunteers and teams.
5. Strategize and develop systems and initiatives to propel
ongoing, intentional development of staff members
and teams.
My prayer is this: Heavenly Father, please remind us anew
that many of our greatest resources are our volunteers. Jesus,
like you did with your disciples, please help us equip
your people to serve how and where you have uniquely
called, gifted and empowered them. Holy Spirit, may you
transform our lives, neighbourhoods, nation and world.
1. Measure and assess the breadth and health of all volunteers
in CLA’s many ministries.
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