Moving Forward with Mission

I find myself meeting with pastors from around the country on a fairly regular basis. They tell the stories about the churches they serve in, the people, and their hopes. As I listen, I often hear a lot of negative reports and complaints. They seem to be just holding on and hoping things will change someday. In those conversations, I am reminded how thankful I am to be the pastor at Rock Harbor.

I am glad that we are not just sitting around and doing church, but want to hear from God, pursue Him, and experience life-change. We want to bring the hope of salvation to others so that they can experience God’s life changing grace too.

Over the past six weeks, we have been working hard on setting a course for the future. Our Twenty-Ten meetings were not only an opportunity to hear from the Shepherds at Rock Harbor, but also to see how the vision is unfolding for the future and get feedback on what God is doing.

One of the key discussions we have been having is about our Sunday morning meeting space. Although location is not one of our top priorities, we do want to meet in a space which enhances our ability to carry out the mission and values of Rock Harbor. We want to build community and we desire to grow our relationship with God and one another. After much prayer, input, and discussion, a decision was reached earlier this week.

Beginning with our 4 Year Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, October 3, we will be meeting at 10am in the multipurpose room at Safari Sam’s. Many of our current attenders were with us when we previously held our worship at Safari Sam’s. Just as an experiment… please let your kids know that we will be meeting at Safari Sam’s for Kids Cove. What was their response? Thought so.

You may be asking why a church would want to meet at a place like Safari Sam’s. Why a smaller venue? Why somewhere which does not look like a church at all?

Let me first assure you that we are not going to be changing the importance of teaching the truth or the Sunday morning music. We do feel that the environment of Safari Sam’s enhances our ability to worship together and communicate the truth of God’s Word. The smaller venue promotes a community feel and the opportunity to be a participant, rather than a spectator of what is happening on the platform.

If you are in the Sherwood, OR area, we invite you to join us as we seek God and live out His desires through community inside and outside our church.