To develop, empower and release kingdom
people and kingdom communities into
missional engagement in their spheres of
influence.
As an elder team, we have spent months
prayerfully considering the following
questions:
What does the mission of God call us to
at this time and in this place?
What do we need to do today to be a
thriving church 10 years from now?
Where is the Holy Spirit already moving in
our community?
What are the best parts of our past that
need to be carried forward?
What needs to change to make room for
fresh growth and leadership?
3 Core Convictions:
1. Jesus has a future for this church far
beyond our lifetimes.
2. The Church is a missionary organization,
charged with the fulfilling the great
commission in every generation.
3. The Church is to faithfully transmit the
faith to its children and grandchildren.
We will do whatever it takes to continue
creating an adaptable, innovative and
compelling community which engages with
joyful passion and urgency in the
missionary task God has given EvFree
Fullerton.
During the senior pastor search process in
2011, the congregational survey identified
the following top three areas for growth:
Evangelism
Engaging the younger generation
Intergenerational connectedness
That same survey identified the following as
the most significant challenges faced by our
church:
Local Outreach: “This remains a part of
our vision and is an area we’re seeking to
grow.”
Younger Generations:
“Reaching/Retaining the younger
Spiritual Growth: “Discipleship has long
been a priority for us and we recognize
the need to broaden and deepen our
efforts to help people grow in Christ.”
A summary report of this survey stated:
“As mentioned earlier, we have a rich
history. While this has produced some
strong traditions, during this time of
transition we recognize the need to loosen
the soil around some of those roots. In short
we are still growing and learning, and we
recognize the need for continued
transformational change today.”
As elders, we applaud our congregation for
standing behind those words as staff,
governance and policies have undergone
significant restructuring. We realize that
many changes have taken place over the
last two years and that this has been a
hardship for some.
We grieve for those who have been hurt in
the change process. We also recognize the
need to continue moving in the direction we
feel God is leading us.
Public and faithful preaching of the
Scriptures
Connecting people together in small/midsized, biblical communities
Development of healthy families,
marriages and children
Ministry to the forgotten, especially the
disabled and elderly
Global and local missions
Priesthood of all believers
Intergenerational ministry
Radical generosity
Grace and truth extended to the broken
High commitment and engagement
Given the urgency of our mission, the
current growth areas/challenges identified
by the church, and the prayerful study and
reflection by church leadership, we will take
the following steps within the next 2-3
years:
Follow
Connect
Go
This will require us to strategically focus
staff and eliminate/adjust unaligned
ministries.
Because we highly value the connection of
God’s people in small to mid-sized groups:
1. All corporate expressions of biblical
community need to be aligned,
resourced, and committed to the mission
of EvFree. In turn, those are the ones we
will promote and invest in.
Because we highly value the connection of
God’s people in small to mid-sized groups:
2. We will categorize group life into 3 areas:
• Community Groups (Sunday AM +
midweek)
• Restore Groups (Support/Care groups)
• HOST Groups (internal, church-focused
service)
Because we highly value the connection of
God’s people in small to mid-sized groups:
3. Existing Adult Fellowships will be aligned
with the Community Group Charter (as
written by the Community Group MLT).
4. Adult Fellowships will be corporately
renamed as “Community Groups.”
Because we highly value the connection of
God’s people in small to mid-sized groups:
5. All Community Groups will have trained,
jointly appointed, resourced and
accountable leadership.
Because we highly value the connection of
God’s people in small to mid-sized groups:
6. Our investment in Community Groups
and their leaders, and our resourcing of
them, will increase.
Sunday Night Service
Parallel Sunday morning services
Seek off campus weekend venues
On-line presence
Develop other teachers
Incubate off-campus venues on our
campus
Why more than one teacher teaching on a
weekend?
1. CUP
2. Giving Ministry Away
3. Prep together/Debrief together
4. Mike Podcast
How often will Mike be preaching?
The Elders and Mike have agreed that it is
wise for Mike to preach between 75-80% of
the time in a calendar year:
1. Sustainable balance
2. Develop younger teachers
3. Introduce other kingdom voices
4. Study break in August
5. Other speaking opportunities
6. Balance leadership/preaching
responsibilities
So what is a worship “venue”?
• A gathering space (other than the main
worship center) for weekend worship
services (on campus or off campus)
• On-campus: live teaching/worship
• Off-campus: live/videoed teaching and live
worship
So what is a worship “venue”?
A worship venue can be on our campus
(like the Commons or Chapel) or off
campus (high school gym or movie theater).
Why are we creating other worship
venues?
1. Raise up/empower other MTs
2. Create more room for weekend
gatherings
3. Smaller, more intimate gatherings
4. Move EvFree into neighborhoods and
other public spaces
Why are we creating other worship
venues?
No long terms plans are in place at this
time; we just sense God calling us to live in
openness and readiness.
Evaluation of all facility usage (e.g., The
Well, Library, Gym, D-Amp) to ensure it is in
alignment with our mission and vision
Long-term vision for our apartment
complex
Development of new children’s
facility/other venue space
Continued minimization of impact on our
Developing OC United/Love Fullerton
Utilizing office space downtown
Enfold and refocus the Good Samaritan
Center into OC United
More intentionally reflecting the age,
ethnic, economic and cultural diversity of
our community
To best facilitate our mission to be a church
that is accessible to those distant from God,
we believe we must adopt a new public
name (Richfield Community Church
example).
Our intention is to make this change at the
start of the next fiscal year: May 2015.
Are we changing the name of our church?
No and yes. No, we are not changing the
legal name of our church as it is stated in
the constitution:
First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton
We desire to change our “public” or
“external” name – the name by which we
are known to the outside community.
Are we ceasing to be associated with the
Evangelical Free Church of America?
By no means! We fully support our
denominational association.
Are we ceasing to be associated with the
Evangelical Free Church of America?
We have almost 60 years of goodwill
(regionally and denominationally)
associated with our name, why would we
disregard that?
Are we ceasing to be associated with the
Evangelical Free Church of America?
We are proud of our name and heritage. We
are convinced, however, that to a postChristian world our official name doesn’t
communicate meaningfully about us and
may have negative connotations.
1. Most churches in our area no longer
employ numerical signifiers (like First,
Second, or Third) to distinguish
themselves from similar denominational
churches in the same region.
2. “Evangelical” has negative connotations
for many.
3. “EvFree” is unclear/doesn’t communicate
much about us.
4. We are a church for more than the city
of Fullerton.
We are located in Fullerton, but are open to
having multiple venues, sites, and
partnerships with churches all over the
region.
Moreover, as we look at who regularly
attends, we are better seen as a regional
church, (i.e., North OC) than a city church.
We should have an external name that
better reflects our regional influence.
How will this new name be chosen? Do you
have one already in mind?
No. We will seek suggestions and then
prayerfully choose one that best embodies
and furthers our mission. We will file a DBA
form (“Doing Business As”) and other
paperwork with local, state and
denominational agencies.
Increase the variety of musical styles in the
8:00 service (choir and orchestra will be
utilized approx. twice a month).
Broaden the music style at our 9:30, 11:00
and 5:00 services.
We will consider the development of a
traditional worship venue.
What are we changing?
Sometime within the next two years, we will
be moving toward one musical style in our
services in the worship center.
That style will be “contemporary” in nature,
although we intend to broaden the definition
of contemporary.
So, no more choir and orchestra?
When we reach that point, we will not have
the choir and orchestra leading in the
worship center during our weekend
gatherings.
However, this includes the possibility of
their continued ministry in other
Why are we making this change?
1. For the sake of the next generation.
2. For the sake of intergenerational unity.
3. For the sake of the mission.
4. For the sake of room/flexibility.
1. Elders are available after this meeting.
2. Mike will be at The Well on Tuesday
September 23 & 30 from 9:00 am -1:00
pm.
3. Books available:
4. Video of Vision Night will be available
online at www.evfreefullerton.com.
5. Handouts will be available in the lobby
and on our website.
6. If you have church name ideas, send to
namechange@evfreefullerton.com.