MCM Ministry Update, January 30th, 2022

First Free Church’s mission is to make disciples, to help people know and follow Jesus.

This church is committed to helping people in our church know Jesus and follow him so that they grow up with all of the spiritual benefits of life in Christ.

This mission extends to people outside our church as well. Andersonville and Edgewater are full of families who we would like to introduce to Jesus Christ too. Many visit our church, and providing relevant ministries is a vital way that we show them hospitality, and give them a reason to consider being part of our community.

Our Small Group ministry has contracted in relation to the contraction of our church size. I am currently overseeing this area of ministry alone, but hope to have a Deacon of Discipleship appointed soon. The mission of SGs is “Discipleship through Community,” and comes from the mission of our church. We accomplish this by Encouraching, Equipping, and Engaging those who attend our church. Currently we have four groups that have been meeting for several years, and just recently we launched two new SGs with Fei, our ministry intern from Moody Bible Instittute. Along with those 6 grops we are hoping to launch two other groups in the Spring. Watch church emails for information.

Our Youth ministry is thriving under Maggie Johnson, our staff Youth Director, and Andrea Korte, the Deacon of Youth. We have 4 Moody students volunteering as complements to our own adult volunteers from church. There are more than 20 youth attending regularly on Sunday evenings. You may have noticed that some of the youth have stepped up and begun to participate in the Worship Arts ministry, from singing to playing instruments.

Our CFM ministry is struggling a little bit. We have a talented and dedicated Deacon of Children in Tandy Malinak, but we do not currently have funding for a dedicated staff position. In addition to that, we have a weary cast of volunteers who have served faithfully under the complicated circumstances of the Covid pandemic.

But ministry to Children is of vital importance. Here are some stats to put our Children’s Ministry challenge in perspective: 

     100-110 adults at First Free Church

          80 members 

        20-30 regular attenders

    48 children under 18 years of age (of Member families)

        24 5th grade and under 

        24 6th-12th grades

First Free is committed to helping the children of our church, and of our neighborhood, know Jesus and walk with Him in discipleship, just like each of you adults.

Over the past two years, we have experimented with online-only, hybrid, and in-person classes before the worship service. But we recognize that CFM is not meeting everyone’s needs right now, and we’d like to change that in two key ways.

First, we want to cultivate the reorientation of our perspective. Imagine if we were starting as a new church. (After all, that is what every generation gets to do in a church like ours.) As a new church, we have all we need for a great Children’s ministry:

• A vibrant Chicago neighborhood
• Great families with curious kids
• Well designed and apportioned facilities
• Fully equipped classrooms
• Sound curricula options

If we can all catch a vision for a bright future, I am sure that we can catch a new wind for our sails.

Second, we want to collaborate with you, our parishioners, in order to make CFM thrive. (After all, it is you we hope to support and assist in teaching your children about Jesus Christ.) We are inviting you to put your hand to the plow with us it two ways: 1) shape the Sunday School program with us by contributing ideas; and 2) support the program by participating in teaching or aiding on Sunday mornings at least once per month. (Note, you don’t have to be an expert or trained as a school teacher. We can equip and support you in this vital ministry.)

To begin with, we will be shifting our Sunday School program back to the regular time slot, during the worship service. Families will begin together in the sanctuary at 10am, then children will be dismissed to Sunday School after the first worship set, at about 10:15am. We would like to re-open Sunday School starting next week, Sunday February 6.

But in order to do so, we need you to reply to us by this Wednesday, February 2, with the answer to these questions:

• Will you partner with us in this vital ministry to the children in our church, and to the families and children of our neighborhood?
• Which Sunday(s) of the month would you be available to serve?
• What do you personally need most to be able to thrive as a consistent part of CFM?

In all of these ministry areas, there is much to be encouraged by, especially if we are willing to reorient ourselves to new beginnings. From that perspective, we have:

• A vibrant Chicago neighborhood
• A great group of committed community members
• Well designed and apportioned facilities
• A strong staff, and potentially a new senior pastor.

If we can all catch a vision for a bright future, I am sure that we can catch a new wind for our sails.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Del