A letter to our partners

On August 26th, I sent this letter to our "partners" and thought that I would post it here in case I didn't have your mailing address (or if you just wanted to know what was going on)

Dear Paragon partner,

I hope this letter finds you well and walking with the Lord.  I must admit that I am not one who likes informal, impersonal, form letters, but I figured this is the best way to let you know where we are as a church, and where we are going.

When the idea of Paragon was birthed, we wanted to make sure to stay on task and have more of a “rifle type” approach to ministry rather than a “shotgun style.”  We wanted to focus on five key areas of ministry.  They are WORSHIP, CHILDREN, YOUTH, CONNECTION GROUPS, and MISSIONS.  I would like to let you know how I think we are doing in each of those areas.

WORSHIP – Our Sunday morning worship services have been going very well.  With everything that happened in May, things could have gone very poorly, but by the grace of God and the help of you all, it was quite the opposite.  Our new worship leader, Gerome Fragua, transitioned in seamlessly, and the six weeks of guest speakers went better than I could have ever expected. We have a lot of great ideas for the weeks and months ahead, please don’t miss the upcoming Sundays.

CHILDREN – I could not be happier with what Laura LeFevre and her team of volunteers are doing in the Children’s area.  All the kids I talk to have been loving doing Children’s Church and are excited about being there.  Laura has some great events planned and I would encourage you to get your kids involved. The only issue that we have had in the children’s ministry is so many of our great teachers and volunteers have moved away over the summer.  If you are interested in working with our children in any area, please contact Laura LeFevre to get plugged in.

YOUTH – Our youth group meets every Thursday night at the Napier’s house under the direction of Corey Proctor and Lorraine Pratt.  Things are going very well and our biggest problem is not having enough room for all the kids.  This is a great problem to have if you ask me.

CONNECTION GROUPS – Because we do not have a building or the space to meet for a typical “Sunday School”, our focus has been on getting together in people’s homes for Bible Study and fellowship.  While there are still kinks to work out, the connection groups are progressing nicely and we will be starting a new semester of study on Sunday, September 18^th.  This new semester will have each of our groups going through one of my favorite books of the Bible, the book of James.

MISSIONS – Of all the areas of our focus, I will admit, this is our weakest, but getting stronger this fall.  We are in the process of creating opportunities for you to reach outside of our church walls and show Rio Rancho and the surrounding communities the love of Christ.  Please keep an eye out for opportunities to serve and remember, there is a mission field right outside your front door.  We don’t have to have an organized event for you to do missions work.

All I can say to wrap up this letter is “GOD IS GOOD” and I am excited to be a part of what He is doing at Paragon.  I hope you are too.

Have a great week and we will see you Sunday,

Pastor Matt