Building Into the Next Generation

“It’s kind of funny that I’m a MIT,” laughs Chris Harrington, who is Parkside’s newest extension of the pastoral team as a Missionary in Training, a.k.a. MIT. “I’ve always considered myself a sender, not a goer, but two years ago, I started feeling a tug and a pull to get into ministry, and more specifically, missions.”

Building into the Next Generation is about relationships: being in a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ; being built up in Christ, through relationships with other believers; being active in promoting the gospel with unbelievers through relationships.

Earlier this year, Parkside's leadership team set forth their vision for our church family for building into the next generation. Among the key areas of focus for this vision is the importance of relationships: being in a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ; being built up in Christ through relationships with other believers; and, being active in promoting the gospel through relationships with unbelievers.

Earlier this month, Parkside Church welcomed our new class of pastoral interns for 2011: Tim Shaw, Levi Stuckey, and Kyle Higgins.

Earlier this year, Parkside's leadership team set forth their vision for our church family for building into the next generation. Among the key areas of focus for this vision is the importance of relationships: being in a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ; being built up in Christ through relationships with other believers; and, being active in promoting the gospel through relationships with unbelievers.

Let's face it...Parkside is a big church. With almost 3,000 people attending Sunday services, it's easy to feel a little lost in the crowd. How can you make a big place feel smaller? It's easy! Join a smaller group! As we look toward Building into the Next Generation, we believe that developing solid, Christ-centered relationships is an essential building block for growing Parkside's church family.

As fall approaches, our ministries are ready to get back into full swing. We invite you to check one out that's right for you!

Jenny surprised me when she started crying during our membership interview. The first twenty minutes of the interview were fairly routine. She recounted her childhood growing up in a Christian home, her high school years filled with fear, and a period of living as a prodigal during college. Then she recalled with some joy her conversion experience in a hometown local church.

When we initially introduced the vision for Parkside’s future back in January we thought it best to set aside three 60-day periods to specifically focus on this vision as a church family. The first 60 days we devoted ourselves to prayer for God’s wisdom and leading. Followed by 60 days to individually pray and consider how we all may prayerfully and financially support the vision. Currently, we are taking 60 days to thank God for all He has done and will do through Parkside Church. We are thankful for how He has been merciful and gracious to us over the many years but especially in these last six months.

This past Sunday, our church family took another step toward envisioning Parkside’s future by introducing the booklet, Building Into the Next Generation: Extending our Reach for Gospel Growth.

In his sermon, A Call to Commitment, Alistair helped anchor the ideas presented in the booklet by asking the question, “Are you all in?” The implication being, are we, like the church in Romans 12:1-2, willing to give up our time, resources, energy, and all of our life to God for the sake of the Gospel?