First Baptist Elgin » Jason Poland

First Baptist Couseling Services – Crystal Lake

Jason Poland — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:03:32 +0000

First Baptist Counseling Services has added an office in Crystal Lake!! Due to the expanded need and connections to the far north we are excited to add a new counseling location in Crystal Lake.

Building Plans 2010

Jason Poland — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:51:24 +0000

Since the beginning of 2009 the Diaconate has had two teams working to address our current facility needs. At our 2010 Leadership lunch, May 23rd the plans that have developed out of those groups were shared with our leadership teams.

Here are some links to what was presented. (click on the links for more info.)

Facility Strategic Plan document

Phase One Concept Images

Phase Two Concept Images

Sunday June 13th 2:00PM
We will be having an informational meeting about the building project. Come and see what the Design Vision and the Nesler Development Teams have been working on. There will be a short presentation of the recommended facility improvements and then a Question & Answer time. Be sure to stop by the display in the east lobby by the church office.

Sunday June 27th Special Business Meeting (immediately after second service).
The purpose of this meeting will be for members to vote on the proposed recommendations for facility improvements.

Classifieds

Jason Poland — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:11:05 +0000

If you are having a difficult time finding a place to serve and get involved you are in the right spot. We have created a classified section with current serving opportunities and descriptions. It is in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we learn that God created each of us with the idea that we may be a part of the body of Christ (the church). It is through serving one another and the community that we may attain all that Christ intended through giving his life for us. you can click here to go to current serving opportunities in our classified section. If after viewing opportunities you are still unsure you may consider taking our two hour workshop “D2 Wired for Ministry”. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

On Your Way 2010

Jason Poland — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:35:49 +0000

As the new year begins do you find yourself lacking direction? Over the next four weeks Pastor Greg will be walking through our focus as a church on four key waypoints in our spiritual lives. Now is a great time to refocus and get a great start to a new year.

Building Renovations

Jason Poland — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:46:56 +0000

If you have not heard yet we are looking into facility improvements for The First Baptist Church of Elgin. In order to move things forward in an organized fashion two teams have been commissioned by the diaconate to pursue development with the Nestler Road property as well as our Highland Ave facility. Vic Ribando is heading up the team for Nestler road to look into the possibility of developing 15-18 acres of our 48 acres currently owned in order to raise funds for facility improvements. The idea is to save 30 acres for future ministry expansion. Vic is communicating with real estate and development professionals to develop realistic proposals to consider.

Bill Duzet is the chair of the Highland Ave. vision team. Team members include.. Bill Boscaljon, Vivian Bartt, Floyd Cork, Gary Green, Mary Pierce, Jason Poland, Dave Pohlmeier.

We have contracted with a church design firm Wildesign Group Architects Inc. to evaluate our current facilities and develop realistic proposals for improvement. Our first meeting with the architects and the vision team is set for this Monday 8/31. This process will involve three parts.

1. Ministry and Facility Visioning. During this step we will be taking a look at our current facility from a visitors perspective. We will evaluate our existing facility and how it serves our current ministry. Finally we will begin to set financial parameters as well as time lines to begin planning facility improvements. At the end of this phase our hope is to have clarity about purpose.

2. Facility Design Concepts – during this phase we will be meeting with various ministry groups involved at the church as we begin to discuss concepts about facility improvements. We will start to look at preliminary concepts and probable costs associated with improvements. We will begin to look at doing one big project or a project with multiple phases and address a time line for the project. At the end of this phase we hope to have conviction about a plan.

3. Facility Strategic Plan – During this phase we will communicate the scope of the project with the congregation at large. We will finalize concept plans consistent with city guidelines and restrictions. Our hope at the end of this phase is to clearly communicate to the congregation the strategic plan and look at the possibility of construction.

Thorough out this process if you have any questions or ideas share them with someone on vision team. It is exciting to see what God is doing through our ministries and how we can continue to dream about the future possibilities.

Communication

Jason Poland — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:06:38 +0000

For most people it is pretty easy to talk. That doesn’t mean that it is easy to communicate. To say the right thing to the right person at the right time takes more than just saying what is on your mind. If you want to take it even farther to truly communicate well it requires the ability to listen and adapt information to be more clearly understood. A great challenge for us as a church is to clearly communicate with the community and the congregation what God is doing in and among us. To this end we have put together a communication team to help get the word out with regards to the mission of our church as well as all of the awesome things that are going on. This team will also be listening to make sure that the message is being heard by the appropriate audience. Currently we have a website, two monthly newsletters, blogs, bulletins and announcements to get the word out. We are excited about a new opportunity to install two digital signs in our common areas to share information in an eye catching and relevant way. If you have any ideas on how we may communicate more effectively post a comment here.

From the Grounds up TWO

Jason Poland — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:51:23 +0000

Just a quick update. After the final cups have been collected this week we have raised over $5,000 to help those who are without employment in a variety of ways. We have continued to have a great prayer time on Monday morning at 9:30AM. A number of men have been keeping busy helping us fix things up around the church. From our Monday morning prayer time the idea came up to offer a career path assessment to help make choices about future career decisions. That is now available if you attend the church and contact Jason Poland at the office. It is amazing to see how God can work when His people draw near to Him and one another. God Bless.

Awana Grand Prix

Jason Poland — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:27:25 +0000

We had a blast at the Grand Prix. I can’t thank Randy & Janet Kmieciak and all of the Awana volunteers enough. I happen to have a daughter that is very competitive (she gets it from her mother ). Prior to race day we talked about competition and good sportsmanship. I hope that she works hard and does her best, but always values her fellow competitors and celebrates their victories as well. I know that Awana is a program that helps me as a parent build those values into my child’s everyday life. As a parent of young children I have concerns that they often get the message sent to them that there is no such thing as foundational beliefs. Anything goes and all options are equal. Tolerance and acceptance appears to be the rule that guides our society. I believe there are such things as values and beliefs that are foundational to how we live our lives and how we hope our children live their lives. One of those is to love others and accept their opinions and beliefs as their own. That is only one of many core beliefs that we value as a Christian family. Awana is a program that helps us as parents establish that foundation in our children’s lives in a fun and exciting way.Now, onto the results for speed and design from the race day they are as follows….

Speed

1st Joshua Eadler, 2nd Riley Bloomberg, 3rd Brett Bloomberg

Design

1st Ashley Poland, 2nd Ashley Lawson, 3rd Joseph Farqhuar

Congratulations to all the competitors for a great race day!!!

Spiritual Life Survey

Jason Poland — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:02:16 +0000

We are off to a slow start. I got the email yesterday that 41 people have taken the spiritual life survey (I think 10 of those are Pastor Greg). We really have no idea exactly what to expect, this is something new for us. Our hope is to have somewhere between 100-200 people by the time the survey is completed. We will be sending out an email remider to people about taking the survey. The problem with a small number of people taking the survey is that it will not give us a great deal of confidence that this survey represents our whole congregation. We still have about 1 1/2 weeks left to complete our surveys. If you have not taken it yet please do so. Chances are that if your reading this blog, you have probably already taken it, and I thank you for your participation. Check back and I’ll let you know how things have been going.

Ministry Fair 2009

Jason Poland — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:31:07 +0000

I feel the need to admit I wasn’t too excited when the idea of a ministry fair was brought up. A pastor probably shouldn’t admit that, but that is how I was feeling at the time. I was in a meeting with the children’s leadership when the idea was brought up. It seemed like a lot of work and I really couldn’t see what kind of impact it would have. The leaders were persistent and so I said, sure maybe we can plan something for the fall. Almost in unison they said, no sooner. OK when? Next month. We didn’t pull it together in one month, it was more like six weeks. With a lot of help from Sandy and Paul Brotzman the fair came together and went off really well. In hind sight I am really glad that we did and some of the benefits were not what I thought. Often when I have a conversation with leaders I can sense they are bracing themselves. I can almost picture the wheels in their brains wondering what crazy thing is Jason going to ask them for this time. Sometimes I am even disappointed because my ideas don’t translate as well to others. The opposite was true with the ministry fair. Leaders were excited at the opportunity to share what God was doing in and through them. As we promoted the fair some even came to me with new ideas. Jennifer McMahon, one of the young moms here, came to me with the idea of starting a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers Group). I found myself excited and encouraged by others enthusiasm. It didn’t end there. The day of the fair a number of leaders expressed the success of the fair because people were excited about their ministry and signed up to serve or participate. The community table I was at was next to Work Force, I noticed about 13 new people signed up to help with their ministry. I love being in community where people are excited about serving their savior.