A gentle snow is falling outside.
It's the kind of snowfall no one wants to drive in but looks perfect out the window from a warm room. We are nearing the end of the winter season but you wouldn't know it if you ONLY look out the window today. It helps when we have been constantly looking out the window, every day, and notice the subtle changes over time. THIS snow has so little power when we know it is not a sign of a long season ahead of us but (actually) the last hurray before a new season of life and newness begins.
There are some changes in front of us here in Colorado as well.
Jared is now selling roofing and solar.
In January's RC Board meeting, I (Jared) asked the board to allow me to seek out a new job to allow for RC to lower my hours and salary for the church. After a round of questions, the board unanimously approved my request with guidelines for communication moving forward.
RC Board and investors have been incredibly generous with my compensation the past 3 years. We (Bells) are thankful and have zero complaints.
The weekend attendance at RC has not grown or retained the past 3 years and that has affected everything we are doing. This decision to decrease my hours at RC and find another job was not done out of frustration but simply to make my hours line up with the size and responsibilities of our church.
I now have 3 jobs. : )
The story of how I came to begin selling roofing and solar is one God has had fingerprints all over. Training began this past week and we are respectfully excited to see me put my charming personality to work on a roof near you. To be successful, it will require as many referrals as you would be willing to give me. First, you can pray for me. It is a new adventure in the world of commission. That makes the earning potential very high and the guarantee non existent.
Second, you can tell anyone/everyone you know in Denver Metro to make me their "roof guy." I am becoming an insurance guru and want my niche to be helping people in need from getting ripped off or left behind. To match my previous incomoe, I need to sell 3 roofs per month. All leads and connections are a blessing. : )
Here's the company I work for. Peak Roofing and Solar.
For those who have been around since the beginning, this job does NOT involved cleaning up dog poop. In case you were wondering.
2. We are discontinuing external giving for Restoration Church.
I remember the conversation like it was yesterday, a new (at that time) friend in South Dakota leaned over to me and said, "we are planning to support your church with $200 per month."
I thought I misheard him.
I had not started asking for financial support yet and the thought of it was scaring me to death. Moments similar to this continued to occur. Amazing people with generous hearts continued to reach out with one time gifts and reoccurring gift commitments. I still get emotional thinking about it.
North Carolina, Illinois, South Dakota, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, Florida, and more. These are a sample of locations we receive donations from every single month. The majority of these supporters have been with us for several years and have been wells of encouragement every single month.
Thank you (ALL) for your generosity, encouragement, and faithfulness.
More info to come. Know this, all current reoccurring gifts will be paused (by us) at the end of March 2024. If you have tax reasons to continue giving, we can schedule a conversation about future ministry needs.
You will also receive a giving statement for January - March 2024 in the next few weeks.
3. We are discontinuing weekend gatherings.
The RC Board, at our January meeting, set several goals needing to be met in order to continue the current model of our weekend gatherings. This was difficult for most of us. This past year, we have seen our weekly participation drop instead of rise after transitioning from a house church to a (traditional) weekend service model.
While we have been able to celebrate new guests and new life (at times), those moments have been very few and have not survived the ups and downs of the calendar year. Some households have moved out of state, some have decided the commute was too far, some decided to attend larger/established churches, and others we may never know the full story.
Our team has been incredibly faithful and I find myself more sad about them walking through this than I do about anything else.
This is a tough one. In recent days, we have reminisced about God's faithfulness in other areas of our lives. We have reminisced about the early days when many of us were moving out here and the ground we were gaining for this new church idea.
If nothing changes, our final weekend gathering will be March 24th.
Our plan now is to pour ourselves into what is next for RC. A much more simple, less expensive expression of the Gospel and Way of Jesus.
If you are having a difficult time with this, so are we.
We find ourselves reflecting on the stories in the book of Acts, again.
In Acts, chapter 12, 2 major actions occurred:
James was arrested and...killed.
Peter was arrested and...miraculously freed.
Did God love Peter more than James? No.
Is James mad at God? No.
Did James and Peter sign up to give their lives for the mission of God? yes.
Did things end differently for both of them? Yes and no.
Our story is not over and neither is yours.
No matter who you are, you matter.
And you are loved.
Believe it.
JB
Also, if you feel even a 1% desire to reach out to us with questions, thoughts, or just to connect...do it. Respond to the email newsletter, shoot us a text, etc. We would love to hear from you, even if its the first time in years. : )
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