Discussion with Pastor Brad

Pastor Brad Estep met with the class on November 7. He had sent us a discussion guide with four topics, and he invited comments on anything else of interest. The focus was on preparing the church for its next decade of service.

Mission/Outreach

Kathy Jones: In the past, the church specifically prayed that families with children would make Kansas City First their church home. We need to do this again.

Bill Schwarz: The church could host a vibrant scouting group. This has been a good community outreach method for other churches.

Margie Schwarz: Wednesday night programming, especially for the kids, should incorporate service activities. Focusing on helping others would be good discipleship.

Church Building and Grounds

Shane Chamberlin: The parking lot needs repair.

Pastor Brad: Many of the large-cost repairs are being done with legacy gifts, not out of current operating funds.

Financial/Debt/Endowments

David Wilson: It is one thing to ask for people to faithfully tithe. It is a different thing to teach good stewardship of the remaining 90%. We could help people learn to manage their finances, which would include the concept of legacy gifts.

Marlin Lutes: The church could offer short-term training sessions, such as Dave Ramsey's program. [Brandon Peterson is already a trained leader of Financial Peace University.]

Dale Jones: Some mainline congregations rely on endowments so that they do not have to respond to the wishes of the current congregation. This doesn't seem like a good thing for churches.

Pastor Brad: Endowments should be targeted for specific ministries or projects, rather than funding the normal, day-to-day operations of the church.

Ministerial Staff/Personnel

None of the class members had comments on this topic.

Other

Bill Schwarz: For 2020, we need to change expectations. At church, we think low expectations are acceptable, or even preferable. As one example, adults could be expected to serve one year as Sunday School teachers after spending five years learning.

Pastor Brad: Membership classes do include "expected commitments" for First Church members, but the expectations could be more widely shared.