In our effort to significantly improve the way we communicate as a church, we have begun to use what we call "Q Cards" and "FAQ Cards".

The purpose of the Q (Question) Card is to give you the chance to ask any question that you have about the church. We ask that you put your name on these cards so we can respond to you personally and quickly. Click here to submit an online Q Card.  If there are a number of Q Cards asking the same question, the answer may make it to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) Card.

The purpose of the FAQ Card is to communicate thoroughly issues of importance to the whole church. The FAQ will be inserted in the bulletin the first Sunday of each month and then be available for the rest of that month in the rear of the worship center and here on the website. The Q Card will be placed on seats the second Sunday of each month.

If you happen to miss an FAQ card, remember you can always get one in the rear of the worship center or find them posted here on the web site. We want to listen well and communicate well!

May 2011 FAQ Card

After a long search, New Community Church is pleased to announce the hiring of Debbie Alvarez as our new Children’s Ministry Director!

Debbie has been called to work with children and has devoted the last 13 years to various positions that serve children and youth. Most recently, she and her husband have served at-risk children in Yonkers, New York, where they have been on staff with the Salvation Army.

Debbie and her family are in a home search right now and are planning to move into the area at the end of June. She begins to serve our church in her new role July 1st. We look forward to introducing her to the congregation as soon as she arrives. Debbie is married to Javier and has two children, a daughter Bethany, who is 15 and a son Austin, who is 13.

The search for a person to fill this role involved reviewing 60 resumes, conducting 20 interviews and providing on-site visits for 3 candidates. The Family Ministry Task Force worked for a year to find the right person for this role. The team consisted of Erin Blechman, Paula Raves, Mike Koepfer, and Adam Jackley. They are particularly excited about Debbie’s gifts and skills and look forward to what she will bring to our Family Ministries as she works to establish relationships with our children, youth, volunteers, and parents. Our thanks as a church go to this team for their careful efforts to bring in a person of Debbie’s caliber.

April 2011 FAQ Card

Over the years we have heard a lot of questions and comments around our church’s style of worship. Obviously this is due in part to the reality that people have varying tastes about music styles when it comes to worship. Over the past two years our church has gone through some changes. We find ourselves now hearing people reflect widely divergent views; “I love the worship here. This is the best music I have ever heard in church.” “I just don’t connect in worship. The music just doesn’t move me.”

While no one church’s worship style is going to be universally well-received, we believe a few things very strongly:

God made us all to be worshippers.
He is pleased when His people gather to adore Him, confess their sins before Him, and receive from Him.
We have a wonderfully talented group of musicians and vocalists who are deeply in love with God.

The leadership team wants to provide a worship environment at New Community that will draw people and that will be a source of joy to those who call our church ‘home.’ We have actually made some changes this year bringing back some of the larger teams of musicians who can support Greg’s ability to provide a big, celebrative kind of worship.

Over the next few months we will be doing some careful listening to you. We are asking people to help us by answering the following questions:

What can we do to help you to connect with God in worship?
Are you more or less engaged in worship than you were in the past? Why so?
Can you point to a moment when you felt God’s presence in a service?

If you would like to offer some reflections on these questions or on some other aspect of worship, let us hear from you!

It is all of us working together who will make the worship at our church wonderful. There are two things we can all do - we can pray that God would continue to grow us as a worshipping community, and we can ask God to expand our vision of Him so that our ability to receive from Him in worship would grow. May God meet with us as His people when we gather in His glorious name!

March 2011 FAQ Card

In the process of talking about the departure of our Director of Family Ministries, Mike Koepfer, several questions have come up. In this month’s FAQ, we will answer those questions with all the information we have at this time.

Are we replacing Mike?
Yes and no. Mike’s role overseeing the staff of Family Ministries will be taken by our Young Adult Pastor, Adam Jackley. Adam will function as a ‘player-coach,’ leading the High School ministry, providing leadership to the Children’s Pastor (a position we are currently attempting to fill), and the Middle School Pastor, Joel Friend.

How does Mike’s departure affect summer ministry activities (KidZone, Family Fun in the Son, Surf City, mission trips)?
Mike wanted to make one of his last investments in our church the re-launching of our KidZone camp. He will be coordinating the team that will oversee KidZone. Family Fun in the Son, which will be the weekend of August 20th and 21st, is moving forward under the leadership of a team of volunteers. Ministries such as Surf City and our summer mission trip to Appalachia will move forward under the leadership of other Family Ministry team members.

What is the time line for Mike’s transition, and what will Mike’s role be until then?
Mike will be leaving at the end of August. Until then, as mentioned above, Mike will continue to provide leadership, including leadership of the KidZone team. At the same time, we want to begin to provide Mike with whatever support he needs to make the transition to his new ministry to New Hampshire.

How does the transition affect the various roles and responsibilities of Joel Friend, Adam Jackley and the prospective Children’s Pastor?
The transition of Mike from the team means that Adam Jackley will assume a leadership role with the family ministry team. It will also mean that Joel and the new Children’s Pastor would be on a team that is led by Adam.

February 2011 FAQ Card

Why are we putting the Lodge up for sale?

The primary reason is that our staff has simply outgrown the Lodge.  It is no longer adequate for our needs.  For some time now we have had one of our pastors using the Conference Room for an office.  Several other part-time ministry staff do not have their own desks and are forced to share a desk, work at a volunteer desk, or work from home.  Several other staff have had to work in open cubicles when the nature of their work requires a closed space with more privacy.  Add to that the challenges of juggling Conference Room schedules and congested parking and you begin to understand the limitations of the current facility. A secondary factor is that the sale of the Lodge will reduce our debt and put us in a better position to refinance or renegotiate future loans with the bank.

How is the sale of the Lodge Being Handled?

Our approach was to assign the sale to an Elder with the greatest real estate experience and he approached an individual of fine standing in the real estate community with whom he had numerous successful transactions.

What are our plans going forward?

Long term, we are exploring the possibility of adding office space at our existing worship facility, but in the interim we plan to relocate our church offices to a professional building somewhere within a 3 mile radius of the church property.

Where will the Haff family live?

The Haff's are excited about having their own place again and are beginning to actively look for their next residence.

Final Note:
The Lodge has served us well for seven years and has provided the setting for some wonderful memories.  It is obviously a unique property and we praise God for how He provided it.  As we move forward, please pray for the right buyer, a quick sale and a smooth transition into our next facility.

January 2011 FAQ Card

In case you have not heard, New Community Church is going through a leadership transition. In May of this year Hollis Haff will pass the baton of Senior Pastor to our current Teaching Pastor, Mark Bolton.

Here are answers to some of the questions we have heard about this transition of leadership:

What is Hollis going to do? What is his role going to be?

Hollis is not retiring, stepping back or slowing down. He is simply redefining his role. As Senior Pastor Emeritus, Hollis will still be preaching, leading the Group Life Ministry, counseling, and serving as a senior leader on the staff. It is his hope that with the giving away of the Senior Pastor role he can give increased attention to discipleship and leadership training.

Why now?

Every organization that is successful has a carefully thought out succession plan. It is Hollis’ judgment that this is a good season in the life of the church for Mark to take the lead role. This change is not one that came up suddenly. It has always been Hollis’ hope to hand the Senior Pastor position to Mark and he believed that this is the right time.

How is Mark preparing to take the Senior Pastor role?

Mark received professional coaching in 2010 from Rick Wellock, a person our church has worked with extensively over the past few years. In addition to Rick speaking into Mark’s life and leadership, Mark has a team of six people inside and outside of the church who are offering him coaching through the transition.

Mark said last week that he had several ‘commitments’. What does that mean?

In working with Rick, Mark was asked what he was committed to as an emerging leader. He was convinced that both coming out of who he is and who NCC is and what it needs, he was committed to Gratitude and Love. This means that he is interested in shaping a culture that is increasingly marked by these two biblical values. In addition to these commitments, Mark is committed to a style of leadership that majors on collaboration and engagement.