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New Beginnings Opportunities
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To:       All Pastors and Associate Pastors and Clerks of Session
From:  Tom Sheffield and the Long Term Initiatives Work Group
Re:      Next New Beginnings Discernment Process
 
For ten Presbytery of Denver congregations New Beginnings has been a significant time of discernment, decision-making and community building. You may have heard something about New Beginnings but aren’t sure it is for you and your congregation. I am hoping you decide to reconsider. You may have heard nothing about it and need those who participated to share about their entering the process. Here are what two Presbytery of Denver pastors say about their participation in New Beginnings and their reasons for participating. 
     
     From Bill Davis, pastor of Good Shepherd Church in Northglenn:  “New Beginnings is both a challenging and energizing process. It challenges established notions of what it means to be a church community, how the local community is engaged in mission and ministry, and how we grow individually and together as a group of followers of Jesus Christ. It energizes by igniting a passion for learning more about those within and outside of the church community, growing not only in church membership but deepened discipleship, renewing an interest in being more outward than inward looking.”  
 
    From Kim Graber, pastor of St. Paul Church in Aurora:  “Before deciding to invest our time and energy in New Beginnings, St. Paul was a church that was focused inward. Following a number of unfortunate circumstances, St. Paul was, in a sense, wandering the desert. Finances were dismal and membership significantly declining. The belief was, ‘If we could just get more members, we will able to get back on our feet.” 
 
If these sound like familiar circumstances to you, but you still need more information we are providing a special webinar introduction to this very important opportunity on Saturday, January 21 at 10:00 a.m. You don’t even have to leave home!  From the comfort of your home or office, you can “tune in” Michael Whitman, coordinator of New Beginnings in Indianapolis, who will present an introduction to the process, share experiences of congregations across the country and answer your questions.  It will be a forty-five-minute presentation with fifteen minutes for your questions.
 
As you know the Presbytery Council, through its Long Term Initiatives Work Group, has a real commitment to this process and to the benefits it could bring your congregation. To make it possible for every church to participate it has given substantial subsidy to congregations to be part of New Beginnings. Our hope is to be able to provide a $3000 subsidy to each congregation which means participating congregations will have to pay only $500 each. I want to assure you this is a great bargain! So, think carefully and wisely about this opportunity. 
 
 For many of our churches the results of participating in New Beginnings have been very significant.  Listen again to Bill and Kim.
 
      From Bill:  “At Good Shepherd, New Beginnings has led to new partnerships with the alternative schools across the street, the Adams County Victim Services Unit, and undertaking a building project to make our spaces more welcoming and hospitable for members and visitors not only on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week as well.  Most importantly our hearts and minds have been changed as we seek faithfully to be the church together.”
 
      From Kim:  “After completing New Beginnings the congregation began to focus outside themselves and look at how God might be calling them to reach out to the community and the world.  Based on the needs of the community, and the resources and passion of the congregation, St. Paul’s bold decision was a mission redevelopment, specifically, Feeding the Hungry and Ministering to Children….There is renewed excitement that the church hasn’t seen in many years.”
 
If you are not able to attend the webinar on January 21st,  we will be making information available to you so that you can access the webinar at any time or offer it again to others in your churches.  Also, if you have any questions about New Beginnings prior to the webinar do not hesitate to be in touch with me or Chris Wineman, Chairperson of Long Term Initiatives Work Group. In addition, you should know that we gather the participating pastors together each month as they move through the process for support, learning and mutual care.   
 
Finally, you may want to know the over-all timing of the process.  The following are critical upcoming dates: 
  • January 21 at 10:00 a.m.  Webinar “New Beginnings: Why and What?”  
Take note now of how to get into this webinar:
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/671845106 
Or iPhone one-tap (US Toll):  +14086380968,671845106# or +16465588656,671845106#
Or Telephone:
    Dial: +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll) or +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll)
    Meeting ID: 671 845 106
    International numbers available: https://zoom.us/zoomconference?=WL7lNiF0wRmYbdf7uJu7_QflF_S-ExVK
  • March 4  at 9:30 a.m. “Come and See”  A more in – depth presentation and discussion about New Beginnings
  • March 25 Deadline to decide to join New Beginnings
  • May 1- 4  Period of Outside Assessment which includes a congregational gathering
  • June 9 -10  A Friday evening and all-Saturday Leadership Training 
Precise times and places for all the above will be shared at a later time.  
 
Again, I hope you are able to join this webinar and, then, prayerfully consider becoming part of New Beginnings.  My best to you as we together continue to seek to serve Christ in a new day with new energy, intelligence, imagination and love!
 
In Peace,


Tom
 
 
Contact Us:
The Presbytery of Denver
1710 S. Grant Street
Denver, CO 80210
Presbytery Pastor, Thomas Sheffield






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