Important Message From Pastor Juan

Hello, church fam!
I want to start out this letter by saying how much I enjoy being your pastor.  I am comfortable to say that these last 3-years of church planting, I have poured my heart and soul into this work alongside so many wonderful servant-leaders and I don’t regret it one bit.  
We have done our very best and have seen some incredible glimpses of our vision come to fruition.  We have enjoyed seeing lives changed by Jesus (in some cases even leaning-in towards Him more) when that was not even an option for them before!

Our model for ministry is one that is very relational and up-close and personal.  We believe that our job is more than just preaching and teaching. We believe our job is to do life together with people and to just be present.  That is what I consider life-giving and fun in ministry. However, on top of that, I also have the responsibility of meeting financial benchmarks for our denomination, training our leadership, working with the national conference who has supported our ministry over the years, creating processes for ministry, taking seminary classes, leading our vision and mission, maintaining proper documentation for statistical reports, and more.  In addition to this, we have moved 4 times in 3 years, though I’m extremely glad that it led us to where we are at now. All of this has led to issues with work/rest balance and with that comes the tiredness and exhaustion.
The reason for this letter is to inform you that Celines and I have decided to take a 2 weeks renewal leave starting in June.  In every church planting training that I have been part of, it is recommended that after 3 years of church planting work, that the planting pastor and family, take a renewal leave to give them a chance to replenish their energies, reconnect in their relationships, and reinvent their strategy for the work ahead.  We intend to do so and come back with an even greater determination to see our mission and vision come to fruition for the Glory of God.
We will take 2 weeks starting June 4th and be returning June 18th.  During these 2 weeks, we will continue our Light it Up series with Laura Santiago and Temo Rios, it would be awesome if you all can support them!

Here are four things that I would like you to do for us in our absence:

1. Be in community with each other: This is not the time for all to go our separate ways.  Instead, gathering for worship services, life groups, and ministry in general, will be more important now than ever before.  This is a time to strengthen the community that God has created with this church. Meet new people and invite them into your circles. Do fun things together. Pray for one another, and become part of a Life Group.  It will be great to come back to an even better and united community of faith.
2. Serve the church: Becoming a stronger community of faith in our absence comes by way of serving one another.  Making sure that every ministry is well served, and all our leaders have your support, so our ministry can be done with excellence and grace to each other and our visitors.
3. Be generous to the ministry:  When we come back, I’m praying to have a greater vision for the years ahead.  One of my greatest burdens is the finances of the church. It will take a miracle to be able to do what we plan to do when I get back.  But we believe in a God of miracles, however, faith without our action is dead. We must give generously, so when I get back, doing more for Jesus would be a natural extension of our generosity and passion to reach one more for Jesus.
4. Pray for us:  Your prayers now are extremely important.  They are valued and very much needed. Now more than ever, we are going to lean on you.  We need God and we need you! We are not afraid of saying that, hoping you would model the same thing with each other.

In our absence, our wonderful, dedicated, and talented Lead Team will be in charge of the day to day operations at church.  Any concerns, please contact Laura Santiago and Temo Rios for any type of pastoral support, guidance, and prayer. Any other concerns, outside of spiritual support and pastoral needs, please contact anyone in our Lead Team.

​(click on the download file below for access to our leadership team contact form)

Love you all and I pray for even greater things in my short leave

In His Grip,
Pastor Juan

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