REPORT FROM ROBERT HALL:
Community: Deeper, Broader, New

COMMUNITY: It is the one word that has surfaced in everything that we have been a part of in the Vision Task Force. The question is: What kind of community would God have us become? This process began with over 140 Prayer Triplets who met over a period of 100 days to help us discern the answer to that question. We sense that God has been active in our midst by showing us not just the words, but in preceding and guiding us in the deeds of community.

STAFF: It began with Stacy Ikard joining us as Associate Pastor. Since then, Kristin Eichenberger joined us to head up children's ministry, and Jeremy Wilhelmi as Associate Pastor for Youth and Family Ministry. These additions to staff, along with Gene Lesinski, Judy Howle, Ellen Boehmer, and Sarah Riehm, reformed our staff community with the addition of new members to our tenured team. Our community of staff has grown deeper and broader with the addition of spirited new faces.

WORSHIP: As I walked out of worship Sunday commenting on the great job Lil Smith (one of the three seminarians under CCPC's care who preached that day) had done, someone commented to me how exciting it is to have the kind of worship leadership and diversity we enjoy. Think of the different leaders of worship in recent months -- the incredible Youth Sunday Service that people are still talking about, the combined Service of Worship followed by the All Church Picnic, the new contemporary music team, Jeremy's terrific first sermon in July, and of course, Don and Stacy in the pulpit -- we have experienced a feast of diverse worship leaders and styles. Our community of worship leadership is growing deeper and broader aided by the addition of new leaders and new approaches.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: This summer we have begun a journey to deepen our existing Sunday School classes through greater participant involvement, to broaden participation of existing worship attendees not currently active in Sunday School, and to provide topics and structure that would attract families in our neighborhood. Our new Rotation Model Sunday School for 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders opens up new possibilities for volunteers in our Children's Ministry, and offers a high energy and high impact experience for children that families are seeking. The combined adult class that Stacy and others are leading this summer in Tennent Hall has just been awesome, with attendance approaching 200. It is full of energy and provides a different experience this summer with everyone together in one room. This is all part of a preparation process to expand Sunday School communities -- deeper, broader and with more people "new" to CCPC.

OUTREACH: All of the things going on inside the walls of CCPC prepare us to be more engaged in outreach to our surrounding community. The Vision Task Force analyzed local market demographics and psychographics and conducted focus groups, surveys and interviews with community leaders and neighborhood groups to better understand the local community needs. "Operation Inasmuch" in May involved 280 adult and youth volunteers from CCPC who provided free labor to twelve local agencies and community groups. Vacation Bible School enjoyed the participation of 340 children including 25 from Interfaith Housing Coalition. The children in attendance represented 126 families who are not members of this church. We have followed up with each family inviting them to attend CCPC, and some have already visited. This attendance was partially made possible by a Session decision to make VBS "free," funding it out of our Evangelism budget. Evening youth programs have been attracting over 80 middle school and high school youth on Sunday evenings. These programs provide an especially rich source for reaching families in this neighborhood. It has been a challenging time at John Knox School, but the good news is that plans are being made to use parts of that facility for outreach to the local community -- things like tutoring, English as a second language skills, after-school programs, and the like for those who are in our community. We are now providing support to three families as part of our ISACC (Interfaith Stewardship At Canyon Creek) designed to address poverty here in our local neighborhood by intervening wit support to prevent families from becoming homeless. All these efforts represent a strong commitment to outreach in our local community -- deeper, broader, and new.

These are all things that have happened while we were "working" to define our vision. When we look around, we believe it is evident that God's vision for Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church as a source of community has preceded us -- deepening our relationships with God and each other, broadening the community to involve and engage more of those within our midst, and finally, attracting those from outside these walls to join us and for us to join them!

-Robert Hall