From the Senior Pastor

John E. Schmidt

The year 2005 has brought a lot of new faces to Central Presbyterian Church. A number of these new faces are new members and others who have chosen to worship and grow with this church community. But a number of the new faces are those of our staff members!

Early in the year, the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee was spending countless hours finalizing the decision to call George Antonakos as our Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Equipping. We tested that decision every way possible, since it was so hard to believe that God might be adding such a strong leader to our pastoral team. God opened the door for George in July and that began a series of new appointments to staff. Anne Nielsen, Director of Children's Ministries, came on board in early September. Anne has brought us new gifts and perspectives that have been sharpened in the ministry of a fine church in York, Pennsylvania. Jim McClure, Director of Ministry Support, joined us in early October. Jim came to us ready to shape a new ministry position that will prove to be vital for the fulfillment of our vision to be a Church without Walls. We need to learn new skills, not only in the organization of our current ministry, but in preparing for the new challenge of supporting ministry initiatives beyond the walls of the church.

We now have an even newer staff member on board! Matt Acton has just begun serving as the Director of Student Ministries. This brings us to the point where we have one new position (Jim's) and all but one of our former positions now filled. (We haven't had a full staff team since Ron Scates left!) All of these new people on our ministry team mean that people all over the church have to adjust to new personalities and new ways of doing things. May God give us the grace we need to adjust well!

In all of these staff changes and additions, I have become more aware than ever before how skilled and deeply committed our members are in their respective ministries. We have made the progress we have despite not having all of our staff positions filled. Children's Ministries, Student Ministries, Worship, Organizational Support, Mission (local and international), Alpha, Finances, Building and Grounds, the Building Committee, Small Group Ministry, Community Care-and the list goes on-all have thrived under your "volunteer" leadership. (I struggle with the word "volunteer," because it doesn't convey the level of dedication and excellence you bring to the tasks of ministry.) I want to let you know how grateful I am to be serving with people like you, and my commitment to continuing to support you in your response to God's call to ministry. The CPC Philosophy of Ministry states that leaders (staff and volunteer) are primarily equippers who give away ministry. I do not want to let the presence of additional staff to stand in the way of your service!

God has allowed us to assemble a great staff team to work together with an extraordinary, gifted group of lay leaders. I can't help but believe it's because God intends to use us in an even more powerful manner in the upcoming year. As we keep our eyes on loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds, as well as loving our neighbors as ourselves, I see God being free to work strongly among us to bring glory to Jesus Christ. My prayer is that 2006 will be a year of encouraging and equipping the body here in new ways to move people toward Christ, where we live, work and play.