For over a year now, Southside Church has been holding public services of worship and running small group Bible studies that inspire people to put God first in their lives. We have a simple approach, a casual atmosphere, and a straightforward approach to Bible teaching that have brought a number of people to make first time commitments to Jesus and have helped other people to simply take their next steps on their spiritual journey.

None of that is going to change, and in fact, we hope that our ability to help people take their next steps will be enhanced by this name change.

We started on the southside of Lafayette, and we thought we would be able to stay there for the life of the church, but finding meeting space was difficult there, and through a series of successive moves northward, God finally brought us to the Long Center in downtown Lafayette. Well, that’s not on the southside, and there’s no reason for a church as young as ours to hold on to an irrelevant name just because we like it, so we’ve made the change.

Let me encourage you to check out our new website and watch some of our videos to get a feel for who we are and what we are all about.

http://lafayettecommunitychurch.com

We’ll see you over there!

We got 35 surveys completed last week for our name-change market research, and the Advisory Team is getting ready to make a decision. Pray for us, and if you have any last minute feedback, please speak with Jack, Pam, Jeff, Jen, Dave, Kristin or Brandon.

today :: PROJECT RED CONTINUES!

this week :: BRAND NEW LIFE GROUP AT THE BIGGS’ HOUSE

Life Groups are small groups of people committed to “do life together.”

• Wednesday, 6:00 pm, Pastor Jeff leads at the Baumgardt’s
• Thursday, 6:30 pm. Pastor Jeff leads at the Biggs’
• BOTH: Contact Jeff for directions, childcare provided at $5 per child

saturday 9 am :: LADIES’ BIBLE STUDY (call Kristin at 474-9814)

august 16 :: WORLD PULSE MUSIC FESTIVAL, SOUTH BEND, INDIANA

South Bend, IN. 9 am to 6 pm. No cost if attendees request their tickets in advance; otherwise $75 at the door. Absolutely no food or beverages allowed inside the festival area More info found at www.worldpulsefestival.com Contact Jack or Pam Hurless at 418-0468 with questions or concerns regarding this event.

soon :: NEXT RED SERVICE PROJECT WILL BE AUGUST 23

See you Saturday!

The History of (RED)

Some time ago, Bono, lead singer for U2 became an outspoken advocate for the plight of the less fortunate in Africa. In particular, he recognized that the problem of AIDS, running rampant and killing millions was a symptom of systemic economic oppression. That is, one reason there is no resolution to the problem of AIDS in Africa is that the poverty of the country and the corruption of the government is preventing the right help getting to the people who need it. Additionally, the system of intergovernmental loans has caused many countries in Africa to owe more money in interest to foreign powers than their total wealth production can afford.

To help solve the problem of global poverty, he launched the ONE campaign.

To help solve the problem of AIDS in Africa, he launched the (PRODUCT) RED Campaign which is a business model rather than a charity. Companies produce “RED” versions of their products and give a portion of their proceeds to the Global Fund which then routes 100% of those funds to purchase anti-retroviral drugs for distribution in Africa.

These are things Christians should be doing, and these are things Jesus would commend. After all, red isn’t just the color of an iPod, it’s also the color of the strongest words of social justice to be found in the Bible! (Many English Bibles follow the tradition of printing quotations of Jesus in red ink. These Bibles are called “Red Letter Editions.”)

Our Version

One one hand, our (PROJECT) RED Campaign is a parody of the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, but on the other hand, it’s a parallel endeavor aimed at doing something good for this world because that’s what Jesus told us to do. We also believe that as we pay attention to the words Jesus spoke, we will become better people ourselves.

Over the summer months of July and August 2008, Southside Church will be exploring the words of Jesus in the New Testament. We will be “reading the red letters” and putting them into practice by rethinking our own lives and taking strategic steps to serve the poor in our own community and around the world. Additionally, in the spirit of the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, we will be raising money through T-Shirt sales and direct donations to send to AIDS relief in Africa through a partnership with Art and Dorothy Helwig, Christian missionaries to Nigeria. This video shows some of the work they’ve been doing in addition to AIDS relief.

How it Works

• Subscribe to our campaign updates and daily devotionals written by members of this church from Lafayette and supporters of this church nationwide.

• Show up for our Sunday Gatherings at the Long Center in Downtown Lafayette (more info).
• Buy a shirt. Shirts will be sold at our Gatherings or by mail to those who request one for $15. All profit from shirt sales will go directly to AIDS relief in Africa.
• Send money. Gifts can be made online by clicking Donate Online here or at the top of our website.
• Sign up to serve. Twice this summer, we will be hosting a service project to help us get serving together. Stay tuned in to find out what they are and how you can help.

This will mark the third relocation our church has done in 14 months, but unlike either of the previous two, this is one we have been planning on and it’s one we are excited to make. See, we had our Easter service there, and things went so well, we signed a one year contract!

If you’ve had the chance to visit one of our services in the past year, you know that we’re committed to making the Bible come alive to people in fresh new ways with modern music, straightforward teaching, and a children’s program that my kids say is their favorite time of the whole week! That’s not going to change with this relocation.

If you’ve visited, you might also have observed some of our growing pains as we continue to push for excellence and sometimes fall a little short. The striving for excellence is also something that won’t change in our new location, but we believe the falling short will change. We’ve been able to sign a full one year contract with the Long Center for the Performing Arts, and that means we have the security of knowing where we will be each week and how to best make use of that space and time.

You can probably tell that I’m excited about this move. I think it’s going to be a great moment in the history of this church and everyone who gets to be there for it.

I hope you can make it for our first Sunday in our new pad. We’ll have our first service there on July 6 at 10:30am, just like normal. Here’s a map to help you find us! We’ll see you there!

Director of Children’s Programming

Responsibilities

• The Director of Children’s Programming (hereafter, DCP) will be primarily responsible for the recruitment, management and support of the Children’s Programming Team (see below).
• The DCP serves at the pleasure of the Lead Pastor and answers directly to him.

Children’s Programming Team

The children’s programming team will be responsible for the creation and implementation of programs for children from birth through 6th grade at the need of the Church beginning with the Sunday morning programs. These will involve but are not limited to the following:

• Working with the Impressions Team to create a welcoming and friendly registration process for families and their children.
• Execution of fun and spiritually uplifting services for elementary age children.
• Execution of caring Nursery / Toddler programs.
• Developing and upholding security policies to ensure the safety of the children under our care.

Commitment

• So long as the Children’s Programming Team is healthy (an evaluation to be determined by the Lead Pastor and the Leadership Team), the DCP will be given a great deal of latitude in the creation, development, and implementation of Children’s programming that serves the children well and coincides with the overall vision of the church.

Qualifications

It is assumed that anyone serving in the capacity of DCP will have the following qualifications:

• He or she (hereafter, the masculine pronoun will refer to both genders) will be a professing Christian in full agreement with the Statement of Faith and Core Values of Southside Church.
• He will have a knowledge of the Bible sufficient to respond to “on the spot” questions in a biblical way.
• He will have a personal relationship with Christ that includes regular prayer and Bible Study as well as a commitment to personal spiritual vitality and growth.
• He will be able to motivate, train, and encourage other adults to join in the ministry.
• He will be able to connect with children of many different ages in a way that demonstrates the love of Christ and a desire to see them grow.
• He will be above reproach in all aspects of life including financial management, sexual purity, and lifestyle choices.

Compensation

This is a Part Time, self-employed position.

• The compensation for the DCP will start at $400 per month.
• After two months, there will be a job performance review with the Lead Pastor where a salary increase will be discussed.
• Checks will be issued monthly and no taxes will be withheld. At the end of the year, a 1099 form will be issued. The DCP will be responsible to handle his own taxes.

If you are interested or know someone else who might be, contact Pastor Jeff on his cell phone at 404-0807, or fill out our online contact form here.

Our First Annual Fashion Show is just around the corner, and there is a lot of work left to do. If you can spare some time to volunteer, there are many small jobs that need to be done and there are also many opportunities for you to promote your business or otherwise be part of this great event. All proceeds will be going to support the Trinity Mission’s Women’s Shelter. Watch the video for more details.

What an incredible journey it has been! From the start, we seriously thought that God’s will for us was to be on the southside of the county, and we chose our name accordingly, but I have to admit, even before I moved to Lafayette, I drove around downtown and thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a church right here!” I basically thought that someone else should do that because we were going to be on the Southside!

Well, just one short year after our Grand Opening Sunday, we were meeting in the Long Center for our Easter Service, and it hit me. “This place is perfect!”

I’m incredibly excited that year two of our church will be in a place like the Long Center. I seriously believe God has some big plans for us and he wanted us to be in a big venue like that, so we’re making the move this summer.

I’m still in negotiations with the Holiday Inn regarding our departure, but we will definitely be holding services in the Long Center by July 6, the first Sunday in July!

Of course, the irony is that the morning’s message was all about forgiving people for wrong they’ve done and making amends to those we’ve hurt. So I thank God for his grace in forgiving me for my many, many foibles, and I thank the people in this church for their grace and the encouragement they regularly give me in this ministry. But I also want to make amends to anyone I’ve injured or hurt. If you read this message and were offended by what I said on Sunday, please call or email so I can personally apologize to you.

We live by His grace.