"So do you like your new job at CPC?" is a question I've been asked a million times over the last year. For those of you just tuning in, after 32 years of youth ministry 17 of them at the current church I serve, I moved into a new role for me and a new role for the church. August 1 the communications team at CPC celebrated their one-year anniversary as a ministry. What a year it has been. Our team has been drinking from a fire hose this first year as we learn how each other work, our personalities and what we are actually supposed to be doing! Today I found myself staying late at the office to look through "The Drawer." "The Drawer" has a copy of every project we have created or worked on this last year. Many of those projects were the outgrowth of an amazing team of people that I have the privilege of working with every day at CPC. Many of those projects are also from an extended team of people from a company called 5by5 A Change Agency.
As I'm sitting here being nostalgic about the year, I can't help but see how God has been in this whole transition for me personally, for CPC, and how God led us to 5by5 through a mutual friend in Jenni Catron. It's hard to believe that just over a year ago I was sitting around a table with the 5by5 team telling Shannon, Jenni, Josh, Grant, and Mike that "I had no idea what I was doing, except that I was passionate about reaching more people for Christ, clarity in our communication as a church and that part of my gifting is to bring order to chaos in ministry." Communication at our church was described as the "wild, wild west." I'm not sure how we managed to exist 50 years and not have someone in charge of communications.
The best way to describe this year is changing out the wing of a plane while it's still flying. Not only were we trying to build a strategy, systems, and audit our communication channels, but ministry had to go on. Ministries still need their graphics and promotional assets. In my naivety I said "sure, let's do a rebrand, build a new website, add an app, overhaul social media, write a weekly e-newsletter, be one of the first women to preach in the pulpit in our church history, oh, and kill the physical church bulletin!" Also to add to the mix, our North Campus spinning off to their own independent church, our South Campus re-launching in a new location, and the 50th-anniversary celebration of our church. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. But I also know that none of this could have been done without the Lord in the midst of it leading the charge or with the following groups of people: 5by5 and their creative and brilliant team, the CPC Comms team, our CPC elders, staff and the body of CPC, thatcc, Carrie and the coaching group I've been a part of as well as Church Marketing Sucks. Each of these groups of people has given me great wisdom, advice, encouragement, prayer, constructive criticism, and friendship.
So do I like my new job? I do! I've been challenged and stretched more this year in ways I couldn't have imagined. I've gained new leadership skills, I've learned a ton about communication and the HUGE communication sub-culture there is for the church. I look forward to what year two brings!
