2026 Midyear Ministry Update
June 10, 2026
Dear Christ Church Family,
Thank you for your encouragement and faithfulness to the mission and ministries of Christ Church amidst our transition. Your work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ have been evident in the last six months of our life together (1 Thess 1.3). To further encourage your faith as we enter VBS week and the summer months, we wanted to share a mid-year update.
Staffing Updates
First, Stephen Craig has graciously accepted the position of Director of Music. Over the last six months, Stephen has faithfully served as Interim Music Director, leading our team of gifted musicians. As you all know, he is a talented musician and is deeply committed to the music ministry of Christ Church. We are excited for the stability and spiritual depth Stephen brings to this role and to our staff team.
On a less exciting note, Annabelle Padula will transition from her role as Girls Discipleship Coordinator to pursue a teaching role in the Jacksonville area at the end of the summer. She and Dawson will remain active in the student ministry as volunteer leaders. We are grateful for Annabelle’s faithful service to our church over the last three years and pray for God’s blessing on this new season of their lives. We are actively looking for Annabelle’s replacement. So, please stay tuned!
An Added Layer of Ministry
Following the Discovery Weekend with our consultants at McGowan Global Institute, we have given careful attention to both celebrating God’s work among us over the last decade and examining areas for growth. We are especially thankful for the ways God has strengthened our worship, fostered a warm and welcoming congregation, built a multi-generational church, and sustained us in sound doctrine and discipleship over the last decade. This is evidence of God’s faithfulness to restore our congregation.
At the same time, we recognize ongoing areas of need as our church has grown. These include strengthening our community life within the constraints of our current facility, adopting a more intentional and strategic approach to shepherding, updating our communication methods, and better equipping and empowering our congregation for the work of ministry.
With these considerations in mind, we have been discussing a new model for shepherding and community life, which we are calling “Parishes,” that we believe will help address several of these needs. We believe this added layer of ministry has the potential to strengthen relationships within the church, provide more intentional congregational care and assimilation, and foster greater opportunities for members of our church to engage in ministry. We will use the summer months to lay the foundation for Parishes, and look to offer more substantive details in the Fall.
Pastoral Search Committee
The PSC remains diligently invested in Phase 2—the Collection phase—of the pastoral search process. In this phase, the committee receives well-qualified senior pastor candidates curated by our consultant at MGI. The PSC continues to invest significant time each week evaluating each potential candidate’s shepherding, preaching, and leadership gifts for alignment with the Church and Pastor Profile documents.
Please continue to pray for the PSC as they work diligently to discern the candidate who best fits the needs of our growing church. And pray for our church family, that we would be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4.3).
Financial Stability
Finally, at the end of last year, we recognized the need for a conservative financial approach as we prepared for the 2026 ministry calendar. We lowered our budget by nearly $100,000 to faithfully steward the resources God has entrusted to our congregation, and by God’s grace, we have maintained low expenses. Additionally, so far this year, our total giving is just over $115,000 above budget.
Thank you for generously giving to the ministries of Christ Church! It is a privilege to witness God’s faithfulness and your continued dedication to our congregation. Join us in asking the Lord, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, to continue to provide for all our needs (Ps 50.10).
As always, if you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please feel free to speak to our Associate Pastor, John Lawler, or to any of our elders.
Grace and peace,
The Session of Christ Church