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May 2026 Pastoral Letter

 Dear Lakeside, 

 

                  As we are concluding our seventh year together, I thought the time was right to send a pastoral letter for the purposes of updating you on some important work we’ve been accomplishing. Before I dive in, however, allow me the opportunity to share my deep gratitude and appreciation for you. It’s been a joy to serve as your Senior Pastor. We’ve had a front row seat to God’s faithfulness and provision. We’ve launched new ministries, welcomed new members and currently average well over 200 people in worship. Praise God! It is such an honor to serve Jesus with you! 

                  One of our goals in 2025 was to clarify our church culture and align our teams around a shared set of values to help navigate the changes that come with a growing church. In the spring of 2025, I shared with our staff that Year 7 would be a great opportunity to review and evaluate our processes, accounts and vendors. And we’ve seen some fruit from those efforts. Let me give you three quick examples. First, our active shooter training in January inspired us to take our first steps to envision a security team, which we are actively working to form. Secondly, Mother’s Day Out was inspired to establish a new scholarship fund to ensure that students from all economic backgrounds can receive a foundational pre-school education. Finally, we’ve made a concerted effort to beef up our long-range Trustee fund to prepare for future capital needs, and we are in much better shape than a year ago! 

                  With the same goal in mind, our SPRC recently commissioned a small task force to review our accounts and processes with several of our staff members. The task force was comprised of Alice Cousins (Chair of Church Council), Doug DeVallance (Lay Leader), Donna Overdorf (Endowment and Finance) and Joe Reft (SPRC). Together, they worked with our staff to complete a thorough review of our administrative accounts to ensure our church operates with clarity, consistency, and confidence. The task force noted areas that could be strengthened, such as building security, emergency preparedness and administrative access, and offered some wise recommendations to improve and strengthen possible areas of weakness. Over the next several months, the appropriate committees and individuals will begin to act on these recommendations so that we can continue to make disciples of Jesus Christ who know, love and serve Jesus and others! We are grateful for this task force and all the efforts to establish a church culture that is vibrant, transparent and committed to the mission of Christ. If you are interested in seeing a full report of this task force, we will make a copy available in the church office. If you have any questions, you may email our SPRC chairperson, Valerie Sutton at valeriejsutton@outlook.com. 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                  Proud to be your pastor! 

                                                                                                                                                                  

Pastor Brett

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