April Board Web Meeting Report

Matt Milligan, CCCC President

Last week we celebrated that defining moment for every follower of Jesus Christ: his death and resurrection. It continues to be the most amazing news that has ever been told. It has the power to transform lives, set captives free, reform culture and bring healing to a very broken world by bringing us into relationship with the God of the universe. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects to me about God’s redemptive plan is the vehicle for this resurrection life: the local church.

During Old Testament times, if someone wanted to experience God at His most manifest she would go to the temple in Jerusalem and find God the most present there. During the time of Jesus Christ, a person would need to travel to Israel and find the man, Jesus, in order to discover where God was most manifest and His truth so clearly evident. After the resurrection of Christ, it was no longer the temple or the ascended Jesus where God was most present in the world. Rather, in this era of the Holy Spirit, it is in the people of God where God is most manifest to a broken world. The body of Christ is known and evidenced through the local church.

This is marvelous truth about the identities of the churches in our Conference. Each one is the vehicle that God has ordained to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the communities of the world. In some ways, the mission of the CCCC is the local church. It is where we put our energy and resources into equipping and supporting them in every way that we can. It is the method that God is using to make disciples of all nations. This commitment to the local church is evident in the focus of the Board of Directors this year so far.

I wrote less than 9 months ago that the Board has been praying for the resources to flesh out the structural changes that have taken place over the last few years, including the addition of regional pastors who would directly resource, empower and equip Community Pastors and local churches. It is a blessing to have discussed at our last Board meeting on April 16 the implementation plans for adding regional pastors to areas of the conference. These structural changes have been a focus of the work of the Board and staff in recent years precisely because of its benefit to the health of our local churches in the Conference.

Another area where the Board has been promoting local church health is the development of processes and policies that promote the mission. The use of Natural Church Development resources in our churches and the increase of additional ways for equipping our Community Pastors are items that have been discussed at our meetings. Also worked on this year  is the Turning Point process, a strong initiative that will address a significant group of our churches and the unique needs that exist in those communities.

The Annual Gathering is coming up in a matter of months and is going to be in St. Paul, MN. The theme of the gathering is around our value of Healthy Pastors (“The Good Shepherd”) and the committee has worked hard to bring some very practical resources and workshops that will address local church needs and ministries.

The CCCC continues to be a conference that values and extends the ministry of the local church and I am so blessed to serve in this Conference.