You have heard the old saying, “One step forward, Two steps backward.” There have been a few times during 2020 that I have felt the saying was true. But when I step away from the details and take a broader view, it is clear that we have taken more forward steps than not. To God be the glory! Now, it is time for us to take another step forward.
You all have heard me say this before. God is under no obligation to resource our plans for his church. But he will spare no expense of heaven to resource his plans for his church. I first heard that from Mark Clifton. Mark says he heard it from Henry Blackaby. If that is true, then thank you, Henry!
Earlier this year I asked our staff and others who contribute to the budgeting process to start with a blank slate. Rather than basing this year’s budget off of last year’s, I asked them to spend time in prayer asking God what his plans are for Huffman Baptist Church in 2021. Once God revealed his plans, each staff member developed a strategy to execute the plan, including identifying the financial resources that would be required.
The 2020 Budget presented by our Finance Team at our quarterly Family Meeting in October was the result of that process. I am excited about this budget because it represents what we believe God desires to do through HBC in the coming year. I am also excited because it meets the needs of our church family while directing significant resources toward evangelism, outreach, missions, and community engagement.
Please prayerfully consider this budget and come prepared to approve it on November 8th during our morning worship service.
Community Engagement
During the month of November we will continue to engage our neighbors through our partnership with Kingdom Family Christian Ministries and Christian Service Mission. Each week we are distributing food boxes containing fresh fruits and vegetables as well as meat and dairy products. We are meeting many of our neighbors from the Huffman neighborhood. If you would like to volunteer visit the Community Food Distribution page on our website.
Church Revitalization Residency Program
Last Fall, the personnel team approved and the congregation affirmed establishing an internship program. After several months of planning (and a few months of Covid interruptions) we have engaged our first intern. Wheat Bailey is a sophomore Worship Leadership major and Christian Ministry minor at Samford University. He and other interns will have the opportunity to work with HBC and Kingdom Family to gain hands-on experience in community engagement, evangelism, pastoral care, family ministry, preaching/teaching, worship leadership, worship support, administration and leadership. Wheat has already started and will be joined by other interns from Samford in January. For the remainder of this semester, Wheat will be in the balcony assisting with worship production.
I thank God for each of you as we take yet another step forward in this journey of revitalization.