There is a difference between a church business meeting and a church meeting for business. One occurs once every three months at Dawson and takes about 15 minutes, while the other occurs almost every day and takes from a few minutes to a lifetime. Every time the church meets for worship, small group Bible studies, ministry team training, choir, or fellowship, the church is doing business. Our business is to glorify God by inviting people to know and experience the love of Jesus Christ.

Every business, and especially the church, needs to continually improve at what they do. Our desire to improve is motivated by a passion to glorify God and not by our attempts to become bigger or better than any other church. Below are two significant improvement steps the Dawson Family Faith will take in the next 60 days.

During the weekend of March 7-9, Dawson will host a Global Focus Seminar. While our mission projects have been very successful, this seminar will equip us to take our missions involvement and participation to a new level. God has blessed our mission endeavors; yet, I am convinced we have just touched the tip of the missions’ iceberg. I believe it is possible to triple or quadruple the number of active church members participating in local and global missions. This conference will help us make dramatic strides in the quality of missions work as well. The Global Focus Seminar is not just a one-time event; it is the first step toward a major retooling of our entire church for missions and ministry. Every member of the church needs to make attending the Global Focus Seminar on March 7-9 a priority. Mark it on your calendar now and watch for more details.

In April, Tom Thompson will join our staff as Minister of Stewardship. Tom will be serving on a half-time basis. As a leader in the business community who has directed the strategic planning process for many companies and organizations, Tom is uniquely equipped to lead our stewardship ministry. He will be working with our Dawson Foundation, as well as with our mission and ministry needs. Several years ago when Tom first left the business sector, he directed our ministry involvement. In this new and exciting position, Tom will give us guidance in how to adopt a stewardship lifestyle necessary to make “every member a ministry” a reality. Church Stewardship has two dimensions: using resources wisely and giving resources generously and sacrificially to kingdom missions and ministries. Rowan Smith, our Church Business Administrator, not only carefully monitors every purchase and expenditure to maximize every contribution, but also works closely with David Whitworth, our Director of Facilities, to best maintain and fully utilize our church property. Tom Thompson’s very positive leadership will help us to be found faithful in the giving dimension as well.

Your pastor,

Gary Fenton