Overseers Update 12/28/25
Oh the weather outside is frightful, but there's so much to talk about! Click below to see an update video I put together for you. To review our 2025 goals, scroll down this page.
One of the primary responsibilities of our Overseers is to set goals for the church. These goals then get translated into actions: what we teach, what we emphasize, what we pray toward.
I ask you to pray together that God will provide Big Springs with grace and momentum on the following:
What do we strive to be?
What do we want to be known for?
A clear emphasis for this year will be on "taking people as they are." We want people to feel valued, encouraged, and not judged each time they come to our church or interact with our members.
We'll work on growing in forgiveness and graciousness toward all people.
By the end of this year, we'd love to hear compliments from the community about their interactions with Big Springsers.
We want to help more people grow. So we'll have to go out and get them.
We want to see more people growing and maturing as people and as Christ followers. However, we recognize that we need to look for offsite places to invite people.
One special concern is the growth of men in our community. We want Big Springs to be instrumental in helping men believe, follow, and serve Christ, striving to be the Godliest men, husbands, and fathers they can be.
By the end of this year, we'd love to have a regular offsite location for ministry, and have begun Bible Study/Small Group ministries that reach beyond our church.
Our church loves projects. We want to get more out of them.
Here: We're expanding our support of local food pantries and looking for ways to add evangelistic emphasis to our generous outreach.
Near: After a year of supporting FBC Hawarden in their pastoral search, we'll be praying for how we can impact our region.
Far: In addition to financial and prayer support for a variety of overseas missions, we will seek to expand our already-burgeoning engagement with the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox campaign.
By the end of this year, we want to build our engagement with local ministries and needs.
We thank the Lord and His generous servants for such great provision.
Besides regular maintenance, there are two projects we need to pursue: Northwest corner where water comes in during hard rains, and the parsonage roof that is nearing the end of its useful life.
By the end of this year, we want to have decided on solutions and obtain bids, and take it from there.
We want a structure that best supports our mission and utilizes our gifts.
After moving to a simplified leadership model earlier this year, the Overseers will help the church discern how best to make the nuts and bolts of it work. We also know that strong communication and Godly leadership will produce the best results.
By the end of this year, we will have completed our first cycle of goal setting and review, and hope to complete our constitutional review.
For many years, the structure of Big Springs resembled many twentieth-century organizations: many committees, elected positions, and constitutional regulations. In recent years, though, two concerns rose to the surface. First, we didn't have the manpower to fulfill all these roles. And second, even if could fill all those slots, there was no real way for the church to pull together in a direction. Our current organizational structure looked like a horizontal line: no one is responsible to anyone else, so no one knows exactly how to make an idea happen.
So we're trying something: making that horizontal line vertical. Basically:
• The Congregation elects the overseers and approves the budget.
• The Overseers set goals with the pastor, supervise the pastor, and appoint the officers of the church (Treasurer, Clerk, etc.)
• The Pastor oversees the ministries, recruiting and equipping ministry leaders to help lead them.
• The Ministry Leadership Team works with the pastor to engage the congregation in meeting our mission and goals.
While necessary constitutional changes have already been proposed (subject to vote in summer 2025), our overseers are working through remaining structural questions. Our goal is to equip the ministry and ministers of Big Springs with clear expectations, attentive oversight, and authority that matches responsibility. We hope to motivate and equip the people of Big Springs to do their best, most important work: follow Jesus, love the Bible, serve their neighbors, and make disciples.
What do we need? Prayer and encouragement! This is a big change for a church that has been doing things the same way for generations. We ask God for small wins, for discernment, and for encouraging signs of His favor over our beloved church.
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