Pastor Search Team Prayer Guide Resource

July, 2022

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City View Family,

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Below is a link to the prayer guide for the church to use this week.  The elders and the search team are calling the church to unite together this week with the purpose of lifting up the pastor search process, and asking the Lord to guide the search team to the candidate that the Lord desires to call to pastor City View.  This task is too big and too important to be entrusted to men and women apart from the guiding wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and so we must pray!

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Download the guide and set an alarm at 7am and 7pm each day for the next 8 days and at those time City View will come together to pray in unison for God to move to bring this task to completion.  The prayer guide will encourage and guide your prayers each day and list the names of specific members of the search team to pray for.  Thanks to Ron Tyndale and Margaret Collins for organizing the prayer guide.

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Click to Download Pastor Search Prayer Guide

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Pastor Scott's Resignation

May 17th, 2021

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City View Family,

Yesterday morning following our worship service Pastor Scott announced his intention to resign as Lead Pastor of City View Church.   Please read below his statement in its entirety followed by some next steps for our church.
 
I would like to share with you briefly how the Lord is leading in my life and the life of our family and our desire to joyfully submit to his leading.
 
In 2019 we entered into a new and unique season of ministry as I accepted the opportunity to serve our convention, and in particular the North American Mission Board, by discovering, developing, and deploying church planters around our state.  I was afforded the freedom to remain as the pastor here at City View Church for which I am exceedingly thankful.
 
When we accepted the opportunity our elders along with our family agreed that we would periodically evaluate the ongoing relationship of those two roles.  In God’s kindness to our church and to my family this relationship has worked very well … perhaps too well.
 
Several months ago Jessie and I entered into a season of assessment, seeking to evaluate these two roles and the Lord’s leading and direction.  We came back together after a season of prayer, seeking wise counsel, and personal evaluation with the same conclusion … I can no longer continue to serve both roles effectively and this is largely due, in God’s kindness, to the growth and success of both.
 
I believe City View is poised to thrive and for her to do so I believe I must step out of the way and allow another who has been prepared by the Lord to take the church into this next season of effective ministry in our community.
 
I came to City View as a 29 year old with no experience as a lead pastor and yet you welcomed me and my family.  You are our family. You have celebrated with us at various milestones, including last week at Josie’s baptism.  You have loved and served us through difficult days and circumstances. We cannot thank you enough and we love you dearly.
 
In the years since our arrival I have also seen my passion for planting churches and the gifts the Lord has granted me in that area continue to grow and develop and so I look forward to serving our Lord, perhaps as a Barnabas, used by the Lord to encourage and support the advance of the gospel and the planting of churches.
 
My family and I will continue to love and serve this church through the 13th of June at which time I will be taking a bit of a sabbatical throughout the remainder of the summer.  We will then find a local church where we will plug in and serve just as you have each done so faithfully here.
 
I thank God for the elders, deacons, and ministry leaders He has provided for us at City View and I can confidently hand the reins to biblically qualified and capable men and women.  In the days to come I ask that you pray for and encourage your elders in particular, but all of your ministry leaders.
 
We have been praying for clarity, and the clarity the Lord has given now requires courage. So we step out in obedience, trusting the Lord and believing that if this is his plan for us in this season, it is also his plan for this church we love so much.

Pastor Scott
 
City View has been tremendously blessed by Scott's leadership and preaching over these last eight years, and we are deeply saddened to see him and his beautiful family moving on. 

However we can't help but celebrate and encourage the calling and obedient following of Pastor Scott into broader and wider ministry service.  In a way he will continue to serve our church as he seeks to strengthen and encourage churches across our state, and to water the seeds of brand new church plants.  Our Gospel witness in our community can only be strengthened by the addition of more churches faithfully heralding that same witness.  For that reason, we are excited to send him out in this way.

Over the next four weeks the focus of your elders will be two-fold: honoring Pastor Scott and the McDowell family as they exit, and finding and implementing an interim pastor to take over preaching responsibilities.

On the first matter, we intend to hold a fellowship meal and reception for the McDowells the evening of June 13th, Scott's last Sunday.  More details are forthcoming, but mark your calendars and please plan to attend an event showering Scott and family with gratitude, prayers, and lots of love! 

Second, the elders have already been working to secure an interim pastor to serve our church for three to six months while we search for a full-time replacement for Lead Pastor.  We are near to making a decision and could be presenting this person to you as soon as this coming Sunday.  We will share details with you as we have them.

As a believer in Christ and as a member or attender of City View Church, your role in this time of transition must not be overlooked.  We need you to pray!  Pray for Pastor Scott and his family.  Pray for the elders and leadership of City View Church.  Pray for the man that the Lord is already preparing to call to City View.  And pray for your fellow church members, all of whom are being impacted in different ways by this announcement.

Transitions like these are never fun or easy, but we must fix our eyes on Jesus, remind ourselves of our purpose as a church, and press on together into the mission to which God has called us - reaching the lost in Avon, Indy, and beyond!  The harvest is plentiful, and there is work yet to do!

Your elders love you and are available for any questions you may have and any needs or concerns you want to discuss.  Please feel free to reach out to us anytime.

Jon Hearing
City View Church Elder

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A Message from the Elders & Deacons of City View

June 13, 2020

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One of the core values of City View Church is to “Impact the City and the Nations.”  As a church we desire to reach our city by proclaiming the good news of Jesus.  One of the many ways we do this is by faithfully reflecting the love of Christ in our interactions with each other and the community in which we live.  Due to the way recent events have unfolded, our community needs the good news of the love of Christ now more than ever.  And we know that good news to be this: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).

 

In response to all that has taken place over the last few weeks we feel it important to highlight and recommit ourselves as members of City View Church to the following truths:

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1. All people are made in God’s image and have inherent value.

   1. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

   2. God’s people are pro-life.  From the beginning of life to the end of life, all human beings, male and female, of all ethnicities, colors, and ages, are sacred to God.  All people therefore have inherent value and should be respected as such.

2. The Bible condemns murder, injustice, and the misuse of authority and force.

   1. Jeremiah 22:3 says “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”

   2. God’s people grieve to see examples of racism, prejudice, and of the misuse of force.  We grieve with our minority brothers and sisters in the wake of George Floyd’s death, pray for his family and friends and greatly desire to see the misuse of force and any inequitable distributions of justice come to an end.  We grieve that for our fellow citizens of color this incident connects to a long history of unequal justice in our society. 

3. God’s people are called to protect the vulnerable. 

   1. Isaiah 1:17 says “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”  

   2. As a church we are called to love all people, including those who are societally vulnerable.  We are to care for their needs, grieve with them in brokenness, and to labor for their well-being.  We are grateful for the police officers and public servants who commit their lives to doing this very thing – protecting the people of our community – and we recognize that the evil actions of one officer do not represent them all.  However, when the vulnerable in our community are mistreated, abused, or killed needlessly, we have a duty to speak on their behalf, to “seek justice,” and “correct oppression.” 

4. The Gospel is the hope of the world.

   1. Romans 10:9-10 says “the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

   2. Racism, abuse of authority, hatred, murder…all these are examples of the sin that condemns all mankind before a holy and perfect God, and that condemnation can only be paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross is the payment for those sins, and it is a free gift to all who would believe.  There are no requirements of a Christian beyond receiving that payment and confessing him as Lord.  For the person who receives this free gift, they are given a new heart, and their affections are changed to love God and love others.  The follower of Christ does not serve the Lord in order to earn their salvation, but out of gratitude for the gift of salvation freely given.

 

** Parts of these statements were taken from the SBC’s “Statement on the Death of George Floyd” and the

SBC’s 2019 statement “On Biblical Justice.”  Read these statements in their entirety here and here, respectively.

 

Practical Applications for City View Members

 

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” John 15:12-13.

 

1. Love for one another means respecting one another

   1. There are many complex and sensitive debates that have arisen as we attempt to sort through just what is going on in our city and country.  You are encouraged to involve yourself in these discussions as much as you want, however the church ought to show the world what it looks like to lovingly disagree on some of these things.  The bond formed between believers by the shed blood of Christ requires that we love and respect one another in both our words and our actions, regardless of the depth of our disagreement on a social or cultural topic.

2. Love for one another means listening to one another

   1. If we love and respect one another, then we will listen to one another.  Listening to one another doesn’t simply mean hearing but seeking to understand one another.  If a brother or sister speaks on a topic that raises questions in your mind, love that brother or sister by reaching out, by listening intently, and striving to understand their perspective.

   2. Recognize that Social Media is not where this kind of understanding best takes place.  Social media are great platforms for sharing and expressing one's views in short, but are not conducive to conversation and understanding.  Social Media gives just a glimpse into a person; we are called to love one another deeply, like family! 

3. Love for one another means unity around the Gospel at all costs

   1. We must recognize that the Gospel that unites us is a bond that cannot be broken.  This is part of the glory of the Gospel that makes it so beautiful!  That people who are completely different – in appearance, in background, in talent, in ability, in perspective, in passion, and in calling – can be united in Christ in such a way that they can be used to take the mission of Jesus forward! 

 

The unity of a body of believers in the midst of a constantly changing world is evidence that the power of the Gospel has transformed a bunch of fallen individuals into the body of Christ!  We praise God for the way he has uniquely formed City View Church in Avon, Indiana, and we pray that our unity and love for one another would be a great testimony to the Gospel! 

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