Mark Riggins

Sunday's Coming

Love this video created by our partner church (North Point Community Church in Atlanta)!

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Want to know the latest news about San Angelo Church?

Want to keep up with San Angelo Church? Here are some ways to do that: 

1) Make a friendship with one of our current participants and regularly ask them for the latest news.

2) Constantly drive by our new location hoping to find us there. 

3) Join our Facebook page. This is probably the easiest option. :)

4 Distinctives of San Angelo Church (part 3 of 4) - Closed Small Groups leading to Community

Jesus gives every church its mission: the Great Commission. At SAC, we have chosen to word our mission - "leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ" . . . the Great Commission. 

How a church accomplishes this mission is what makes each church unique. At SAC, I believe there are 4 distinctives we are pursuing to best accomplish Christ's commission. I want to continue to unpack these in a series of four blog entries. 

This is part 3 of this 4-part series. (You can click here to view the 1st and 2nd distinctives.)

Distinctive: Closed Small Groups Leading to Community

As we set out to start SAC, we knew we would be pretty unproductive if all we did was give people another option on Sundays. Honestly, there are plenty of places to "go to church" in San Angelo. But simply "going to church" rarely produces sustained life change. Don't get me wrong. I think church is  important. I, along with several other families, are committed to starting one. :)  But I don't think the Sunday church experience is enough. 

Everyone desires genuine and meaningful relationships. That is why so much of our life is spent within the context of small groups of people (work, family, sporting teams, social networks, special interest clubs, etc.). 

Spiritual growth is also best accomplished in this format. In fact, we believe sustained life change happens best in the context of small groups (4 or 5 other couples or 8-10 singles).

Now, many churches offer small groups with varying levels of "success". Some of the frustrations with traditional small groups are: they become too big preventing genuine relationship development and/or people do not really commit to attend regularly.

One of our distinctives is how we do small groups. We call our small groups "closed groups". 

That means once you find a group of people you are comfortable with, you and the rest of the group commit to doing life together for a period of time (1 yr - 18 months). During this time, no one else can join your group. We have found that focusing on a set of relationships over a period of time builds trust resulting in greater transparency. This is the place where you experience accountability, belonging, and care. 

We emphasize these groups because we believe your spiritual growth depends upon them. Since we believe sustained life-change happens best in the context of closed small groups, we do not offer all of the other traditional programs and ministries that would "compete" with small groups. This focus allows for increased participation. (This also reflects our 2nd distinctive.)

Weekend Review

BUSY weekend!

- Some good times with kids riding bikes

- 1 flat tire, 2 tire repairs, and 2 oil changes on both cars 

- lots of final details completed in preparation for the San Angelo Church service

- preached Sunday morning for my Dad at his church

- Great service at SAC on Sunday night

+ I am amazed by the level of excellence our volunteers are achieving at each service

+ Great worship led by Ornan's Floor

+ Extremely practical message by Andy Stanley on gratitude (everyone received an IOU card)

+ A number of young families joined us as evidenced by the 29 children

- God continues to join people with His vision for San Angelo Church: creating a church unchurched people love to attend. 

- More and more people are becoming a "fan" of San Angelo Church Facebook page. Come and join us!

4 Distinctives of San Angelo Church (part 2 of 4) - Simple Church

Jesus gives every church its mission: the Great Commission. At SAC, we have chosen to word our mission - "leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ" . . . Great Commission. 

How a church accomplishes this mission is what makes each church unique. At SAC, I believe there are 4 key distinctives we are pursuing to best accomplish Christ's mission. I want to unpack each of these distinctives in a series of four blog entries. 

This is part 2 of this 4-part series of blog entries. (You can click here to see the 1st distinctive.)

Distinctive: Simple Church

Our mantra is "steps not programs". Every organization (especially churches) naturally drift toward complexity. As a church it is so tempting to always add something until we eventually offer a menu of programs and similar interest ministries. However, we believe that more programs/ministries are often the enemy of spiritual growth. "Living at the church" restricts relationships with unchurched people and often creates an "insider-focused" culture.

We desire to see everyone get involved in a community group because this is where we believe sustained life-change happens. So everything we do will be to create a clear, simple step toward a community group. Instead of offering "competing" ministries that are good, we want to put all of our resources into the ministry that we believe is essential. 

Our model (foyer, living room, kitchen) reveals our strategy. Click here to see a 10 minute video explaining our model. 

So here are our steps: 1) Attend the Sunday service (foyer), 2) Then join one service team (living room), and 3) Then attend a community group (kitchen). Simple . . . "steps not programs". 

4 Distinctives of San Angelo Church (part 1 of 4) - Partnering with Families

Jesus gives every church its mission: the Great Commission. At SAC, we have chosen to word our mission - "leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ" . . . Great Commission. 

How a church accomplishes this mission is what makes each church unique. At SAC, I believe there are 4 key distinctives we are pursuing to best accomplish Christ's mission. I want to unpack each of these distinctives in a series of four blog entries. 

Distinctive: Partnering with Families.

One of the things we are passionate about at SAC is partnering with families. We believe that what happens at home is more important than what happens at church. After all, with holidays, illness, and vacations, your child will probably only spend about 40 hours a year at church. We will work hard to partner with you by: 

1) Making Every Sunday Fun & Helpful

We want your children to know that learning the Bible is important, helpful, and fun. Each week we will utilize the 252Basics curriculum. Each Basic Truth is amplified by a weekly key concept which is systematically taught over a three-year track. The curriculum includes 150 Bible stories and is based on a Core and Memory Verse as the framework for each month. 

2) Equipping You

Yes, we want your child to have fun, learn Biblical truths, and love coming so much that they drag you to church each Sunday. We also know that YOU want to be the primary spiritual influence in your child's life. Therefore, we want to partner with you as YOU raise your child to become a Christ follower. However, many parents feel ill-equipped or lack the time to invest spiritually in their child like they would like.

We want to partner with you each week by providing you with a "God-time Card" each week when you pick up your child after the service. This card will provide you a review of the Biblical story/principle your child "discovered" that day, offer some follow-up questions for you and your child, and provide some suggested conversations. Additionally, we will give you some websites where you can further develop the principle/virtue of the week. This helps equip YOU to be the primary spiritual influence in your child's life. 

3) Offering Another Voice 

As part of our model, we believe that sustained life change best happens in small groups. That applies within our children's ministry. So each week your child will be in a small group with the same adult small group leader. So each Sunday your child will begin in a small group for initial activities and then the small groups will combine for a large group production (worship, Bible story, etc.). Then everyone will return to their regular small group. The purpose of this approach is to teach each child personally and to hear each child personally. I have talked with several small group leaders from other partner churches who have told me that they have fallen in love with their small group children and they have chosen to promote each year to stay with the same small group for 5 or 6 years. They have literally become an extended part of the family. Awesome! This allows your child to have another mature voice in their life who loves your child like you do. As a parent of four young children, this is a high value for me and my wife.

So one of the distinctives of SAC is we want to partner with you as YOU raise your child to become a growing follower of Jesus Christ.

Stay tuned for the description of the other three major distinctives . . . 

Introducing the newest addition to our SAC Team

As we set out to create a church that unchurched people love to attend, I am excited to introduce a couple that God has brought to serve on our staff team.

Stephen and Jenn are both ASU graduates who have been married for 7 years. They have three great boys: Aiden, Liam, and Keagan. 

Stephen has been serving in ministry for the past four years primarily as a youth pastor. He enjoys following the weather and chasing storms in his spare time. He is a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and has a love for soccer. In fact, he once traveled to Sweden and Denmark to play in soccer tournaments. Stephen also went to Alaska on two different occasions to work for a fishing cannery during salmon season. It was one of those trips that turned his life around as he committed to following Christ for the rest of his life.

Jenn has always had a love for children and has worked, volunteered or taught for most of her adult life. Recently she served as the Children's Coordinator for a local church. She has a teaching degree and taught for awhile before settling down to have kids of her own. Jenn currently stays home with her 3 active boys and gives beginner piano lessons. In her spare time you will find her singing, playing the piano, or dancing around the kitchen with her boys. Jenn once traveled with a Christian music group for two summers all around the western United States.

Stephen & Jenn will initially oversee the launch of the children's ministries (Waumba Land & UpStreet) at SAC. They will also be creating the visual arts in the adult environment. Stephen & Jenn have a heart to come alongside families and impact the next generation for Christ. 

I am grateful to team-up with Stephen & Jenn to create a church that unchurched people love to attend. 

Over the next week or so I will publish a recent Q&A with Stephen & Jenn so that you can get to know them a little better. 

Sunday Night Reflections

Today was such a good day! 

- This morning our family ate breakfast together at Baker Street Coffee & Cafe. I LOVE moments when our family is together and enjoying a relaxed and fun time together . . . especially on a Sunday morning (rare for ministry folks). I discovered that my oldest two girls like hazelnut coffee too.

- This morning our family visited a local church that I've wanted to visit for years. So glad I got to go. I always learn a lot visiting churches. Always evaluate the kids ministry (easy to do when you're dropping off 4 kids), how "visitor friendly" the first few minutes are (signage, greeters, helpers, information, etc.), the level of excellence, the music style, preaching style, how welcome an unchurched person would feel, etc. Always fun!

- Lincoln and I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon. He loves it when just he and I go to the store. So do I! Amazing how he always finds a toy car in every store. :)

- Tonight we had 35+ people over to our house to watch North Point Online. It was a blast! It is so much fun to take a step of faith and then watch God show up and honor that faith. As we prepare for our 1st preview service next month, our launch team is kicking it into high gear. Tonight, some of our launch team got to meet a new family that God has brought to SAC. More details about this great family coming soon . . . needless to say, I am extremely grateful and PUMPED about what God is getting ready to do.

- We are crazy enough to believe that God has called us to create a church that unchurched people love to attend. God is honoring this vision and our faith! Wow! This is going to be fun. 

4 Things

 What does it mean to do life with San Angelo Church?  It is simply being a part  of the four things listed below:

Small Group - Who am I doing life with?

At San Angelo Church, the community group is the best place for sustained life change to occur. In a community group, people study God's Word together and discuss the issues and challenges of life. It's also where they pray, care for one another, and are missed if they don't show up. For more information about community groups at click here.

Strategic Service - Where am I using my gifts?

San Angelo Church is committed to volunteer leadership as we pursue our mission of leading the people of San Angelo into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Volunteers are vital to the success of this mission and we want each volunteer to be well trained and well prepared as we anticipate our launch. Also, this will be a great way to connect with others at San Angelo Church by joining one of our Strategic Service teams. Strategic Service teams will make the Sunday service happen. There are a number of ways to get involved. To find out more, click here.

Invest and Invite - Who am I investing in?

The far majority of people who attend any church were simply invited by a friend. Relationships are a powerful thing. It is our goal for all of us to invest in people relationally so that we can invite them to church. Relationships are the most influential method to invite someone to church. For a helpful website to invite others, click here.

Percentage Giving - What is my giving %?

San Angelo Church is 100% supported through the generosity of its supporters.

There are 3 ways to give:

1) Attend a small group and donate in person.

2) Give on-line by clicking here.

3) Mail your donation to San Angelo Church, PO Box 62854, San Angelo, TX 76906

 

   

Pool Party

Our small groups are hosting a Pool Party on Friday, July 10th from 6-9pm at the Goodfellow Rec Camp. If you're in the area, come and hang out with your family and meet some new friends.

We will meet at the large pavilion at 6pm. Grab a hot dog and enjoy the "family friendly" area (playground, basketball courts, and lots of shade).

We have the pool (adult and kiddie pool) reserved from 7-9pm. So come and bring your family, appetite, and swim suit!

Please RSVP at markariggins@yahoo.com.