Calling Out The Called

Ridgecrest has a simple mission statement… REACH THE LOST, BUILD THE BELIEVER, AND CONNECT the people of God to the mission and purpose of God for their lives. One of the tasks of the church has always been to call out those who God has “called” for a particular kind of ministry service. Aaron Dickinson recently passed along to me a survey report on Worship and Worship Ministry leadership that reminded me of the importance of this task. The study reports on the lack of forthcoming trained/called worship leaders in our SBC. One of the key findings reported was that by the year 2040 we will need to have prepared and raised up over 20,000 worship leaders just to replace the ones who will retire between now and then, and that doesn’t even include those who will leave the ministry for other reasons. Wow!

As a pastor I can certainly testify that it has become more challenging to find good, gifted, and called people to the roles that help fulfill the mission and ministry of the Church. I hear from a network of Pastors frequently who are searching for such staff positions and how difficult finding those people has become.

Through the years, Ridgecrest has been blessed with a wonderful team of men and women that are called and committed to our church and its work. While our staff has been stable for many years, we have also been a sending church—that is, we have trained many for the work of God only to see them snatched away by other churches. While I am not bothered by that, it can present challenges sometimes, but it is also a blessing to see them equipped to carry the work of God to other places. And we have also been a mission sending church. This past summer, there were people from Ridgecrest, called to take the gospel to the world, serving God as missionaries on 6 of the 7 global continents! And still there are more from our church that have responded to God’s calling and are currently preparing to serve God in ministry with their lives.

For this we can rejoice and praise the Lord, but we must remain ever vigilant in our commitment to help identify, encourage, and call out the “called.” And to that end, you may be surprised to know that almost all our current staff are “home-grown”. That’s right, most of our staff have responded to the call of God right out of our congregation! What a blessing. In fact, it has been a particular blessing to see a number of them grow up in our church, get saved in our church, and later surrender to God’s calling in our church. I believe it reflects church health.

And the journey of the called continues… Last year you recall we added a Director of Senior Adults and Women’s Ministry. And now, in the coming weeks our staff committee will bring the recommendation to fill a ministry position that I have purposely not filled for more than 3 years as I sought the Lord and the right person for the role. But now, the time is right, and the person is right for us to fill the position of Minister of Young Adults and Families. The Lord has favored us with so many families and young adults, and this will assist us in maximizing our ministry in this area.

I believe this among the other amazing work that God is doing in our church is part of the promise God gave me a decade ago from Haggai 2:9 “‘The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former’, says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’” And remember, God is always trying to take us someplace new. I love being your Pastor!

For God’s Glory Alone,

Pastor Ray

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