Your A-Team!
I was about 9 when I first saw The A-Team. It started with this opening voiceover describing the team’s journey from army commandoes to wanted fugitives to mercenaries for hire, and that’s all I needed. 9-year-old Matt was transfixed as they inventively solved problems, usually requiring a healthy dose of car chases and explosions along the way.
The leader of the A-Team was portrayed brilliantly by George Peppard. Sure, he was Audrey Hepburn’s love interest in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but that pales in comparison to his performance in the role he was born to play, John “Hannibal” Smith. In every episode, when the obstacles were overcome, the mission was accomplished, and the day was saved, Hannibal would look over the carnage left in their wake with a satisfied smile and say his famous line.
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
It is with abundant thanksgiving we can assure you that the staff at Heritage is one of the best. Every person on your staff team contributes positively to our leadership culture, making it a great place to work. Each is a disciple of Jesus Christ who earnestly strives to walk and talk as Jesus did. I know you join me in giving thanks for them!
As you know, our attendance was absolute zero for seven months in 2020. Once we reopened in November of 2020, people began to slowly trickle back in. The first week back we had more staff and volunteers than attenders, but eventually we saw a couple dozen people, then 50, then 75, and then we topped 100. We seemed to have hit a stride in 2022, now seeing lots of new and returning faces in the services, with something like 200-250 people or so now in attendance.
There is cause for hope for sure, though the shifting size of our congregation has created some challenging financial realities for us to face together. Your Staff Parish Relations (SPR) Team has been working on a plan to organize our staffing in a way that reflects the areas of responsibility that need coverage, and that best employs the skills of the incredibly gifted, hard-working, and faithful people we have on the team. I'm pleased to announce that the plan has finally come together.
I am so thankful for their hard work, both the 2021 SPR team led by Mike Quigley, and the 2022 team led by Steve Elliott. Please read the note below from Steve, and from Administrative Council Chairperson Michael Pate, about how our staff is now organized for the coming season of ministry.
Sincerely,
Pastor Matt
Dear Heritage United Methodist,
After many months of hard work by Mike Quigley and his 2021 SPR team, as well as some finishing touches by our 2022 team, we’ve introduced some changes that will allow the staff to shift as needed during busy times to give leadership to our various ministry areas. For example, during Vacation Bible School, more staffing support might shift towards children’s ministry, or during Christmas, there could be a shift toward worship and hospitality.
Here are the changes:
Janean Briseno | Executive Director
This will be a role that touches all areas of church leadership. She now has decision-making authority in each area of the church, with her guidance treated as if it was guidance from Pastor Matt. She will run staff and other meetings, track follow up steps, and will coordinate pulling staff resources from areas in a slow season to support those in a busy season, ensure that each area is staffed in a way that will allow it to continue to function with excellence. She will also coordinate on agenda setting with Pastor Matt and Chairperson Michael Pate for Administrative Council and Executive Team meetings.
Peggy Ingram | Discipleship Director
Peggy will be equipping our staff and lay leaders to make and grow disciples among middle school students, high school students, and adults; and equip them to transform the world. This creates an overlap of our work in discipleship and missions in the hope that having a Kingdom impact on our community will become a natural result of our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ.
With Jake Authier's retirement from our staff team, he has moved into the role of Missions Lay Leader, serving on our Executive Team and Administrative Council in order to keep missions ever before us at our highest levels of leadership.
(Like Janean, Peggy is also a staff leader being given decision-making authority to speak for Pastor Matt or Janean when needed. With Curtis Paige and John Silkauskas no longer on staff, and Pastor Matt taking on leadership of our congregational care ministry and school partnerships, Janean and Peggy have been asked to function in congregation-shepherding roles as needed. If Janean is the vice-president, Peggy is the speaker of the house. If all three of them go down in the same plane crash, just ask Pat Bluhm what to do!)
Eric Johnson | Communications Director
Eric will take on the work of coordinating our external messaging and online content, and will be developing an internal system in which every upcoming event we communicate is followed up by communicating it’s result or impact afterwards. He will also take the first swing at any IT issues we have. As a seminary graduate, Eric brings a congregation-shaping theological perspective to this role that most churches don’t get to have in their communication efforts, for which we’re thankful.
We have gradually been moving in this direction for the last few months, and as of this past Sunday, these new roles are now in effect. We hope you’ll join us in expressing thanks for the hard work and flexibility that your church staff has shown over the last two years, and continues to show. We have an A+ Team!
Sincerely,
Steve Elliott, SPR Chairperson
Michael Pate, Administrative Council Chairperson
