Hey everyone! I wanted to pass something along to you via this blog that we sent earlier this week via the element email list. If you're not on that list, this will give you a chance to read it, and if you get the regular Element emails and just ignore them because you see my name on it :), this is for you! It's an update about some leadership stuff that we thought was important for you to know, and something we're really excited about! The following is the letter in its entirety...Enjoy the day!

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I hope your week is off to a great start! I wanted to send you all a special note at the beginning of the week to let you in on something that we're really excited about at Element (the regular E-Weekly will still go out on Wednesday). As many of you know, the task of effectively supporting a church community is a difficult one, but one that I'm incredibly stoked and humbled to be a part of. The past seven months have been a whirlwind for me, but I've learned an incredible amount, been challenged in some difficult (yet very necessary!) ways, and seen God do some really phenomenal things...I couldn't be more thrilled about the future here in this community! With that in mind, I (with the gracious input of many of you) have been evaluating how we do things at every level of the church, and I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce something to you all that I think will be very beneficial to the Element community. Because I'm only one person, I often feel like I can't be as effective as I'd like to be in every area...So I, and Element as a whole, need some help! It's time to introduce you all to the newest form of the Element Vision Team...
  
    Before I introduce them, I'd like to take a moment to tell you a bit about the need for the team and its function. With the influx of new people into the Element community, and the need we have for me to take more time to invest in our leaders and leading the church as a whole, we've run into a need to have more people helping to cast the vision and be instrumental in carrying it out...Element has been blessed with exceptional people and volunteers, and many of you have been so faithful in pouring into this church - it's now time that we restructured things to allow for the greatest possible impact! In its early days through the summer of 2009, Element had a Vision Team - people who who met very regularly to pray fervently for the church, speak creatively into its direction, take the lead on tithing and service to the community, and helped to carry the emotional and spiritual load of leading the church. We believe it's time to do that again. I'd like to ask for your prayer for these people who have graciously agreed to join me on this team. They have agreed to a very high standard of conduct and accountability, consistency and integrity, as well as what will amount to a substantial time commitment, all on a strictly volunteer basis. They are, however, not perfect, as I myself most certainly am not :( We don't view this team as better than anyone else, or as the "highest" level of leadership at Element. These are simply people who have demonstrated that their particular spiritual gifts and passions lie in the areas that this team needs, and have been affirmed as such repeatedly by many others besides myself.
  
    The role of this team will be to fight for what God has for each of us as individuals and as a community in prayer, both daily (on our own), and weekly and sometimes every other week (as a team). It's to take the lead on tithing both our time and our income. It's to increase the number of people in the church that the community can turn to in any area. It's to provide oversight and accountability for me as Lead Pastor. It's to speak creatively into the process. It's worth noting, though, that what you see on Sunday, as far as how we structure our worship services, how things feel, etc., is not changing. I don't want anyone to think that the church community they've come to know and love is somehow changing to be something different :) Make sense? Again, I really crave your prayers for this team. The commitment level is high, but we really believe that God intends to do an even more incredible work here in the Element community, and we ask that you partner with us as we passionately seek God's direction and guidance!
 
2010 Vision Team

 

Lori McBride
 

Lori has been with us since the earliest days of Element, meaning way before the church officially launched! Her husband, Kelly, was part of the inaugural Vision Team of the church, and serves as our Treasurer (as well as in a myriad of other ways). Lori has been one of our primary worship leaders since the beginning, involved in Life Groups since the beginning, and has proven to be truly an integral part of the Element team in so many ways. Lori has an innate understanding of the community of Christ, models it humbly, and is someone that we couldn't be happier to have on board with this team!   
 
 
Damian Marta
 
Damian has been with us since our Grand opening Sunday, three years ago. He served on our very first Life Group Leadership Team, led one of our longest-running life groups, and is set to begin a new season of Financial Peace Life Groups here at Element. He has been a prayer warrior for this community and for the activity of God, and despite his misguided love for the Philadelphia Eagles, has been a wise and dependable advisor to the leadership process for the past three years. We're excited to see more people get to know him and his heart, and to be able to learn from his passion for prayer and his obvious leadership skills!

 Ken Ford


Ken has been a part of the Element community, along with his family, since very soon after we officially launched. He has served in a whole host of different ways, from leading a Life Group, to stepping in and speaking on Sundays mornings, to being instrumental in getting MERGE off the ground, to helping coordinate schedules and logistics in the Children's ministry, to being a consistent resource and sounding board. He has been willing to serve in just about any area of need, even if that area was not (by his own admission), his strong point :) Serving in this capacity fits his gifts very well, however, and we're stoked to have his insight and desire to see God move on board!

 
 
and me, Brian Doell...

Blah blah blah.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this, and I know that I, as well as the other people on this team, will be more than happy to talk with you, pray with you, and answer any questions you might have. It's truly a privilege to serve this community with you all - I thank God for you all daily! Much love to you all...
peace,
Brian Doell

Lead Pastor
Element
April 2010