Questions & Answers
Will Woodland launch a Young Adult Ministry?
Woodland has a variety of small groups and activities that are tailored towards young adults. Pastor Mason and our team are considering what a more “structured” ministry/service may look like and how that could unfold across our campuses. If you are interested in learning more about this; or would like to get plugged in with Young Adults - contact Pastor Mason at masonr@woodlandchurch.com
Can we have access to the financial numbers that were on the screen in print?
Absolutely, Woodland is committed to financial transparency and healthy stewardship practices. All contributing members can request a print out of the content that was presented during the House and Heart Gathering and explanation of budget numbers from our Executive Director of Operations, Kurt Parker, at any time. You can contact Kurt at kurtp@woodlandchurch.com.
Will the Marshall Campus Parking Lot be paved?
The Executive Leadership Team is discussing the need/possibility of making that a reality. At this time we sense that the current lot meets the needs of the ministry but will continue to discuss and evaluate in coming months and years. One of the biggest considerations in this discussion is the long term outlook for that facility and whether other expansions or strategic moves would alter that decision. In the meantime we will continue to steward the beautiful property we have and use it to the best of our ability.
Is Woodland looking to start a prayer room or a weekly prayer and worship meeting?
Woodland Church has weekly prayer meetings at each campus. These take place on Wednesday evenings at 6pm. Prayer is one of our ministry gauges and a core practice within our church. We would love to see these meetings expanded and new meetings added in the future. We would encourage everyone in our church to make attending these gatherings a priority and believe they will be vital to the future growth and health of our church body!
What is the vision for discipleship for Christians new or "old"?
Your Pastoral Staff and Woodland leadership are committed to creating pathways and opportunities for you to grow in your faith walk and spiritual disciplines. From the day you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior to the end of your life; our goal is to help you grow. This year we are launching two new classes that will help in that; a New Believers Class and an Evangelism Class. We are also offering other events and conferences to contribute to the discipleship process as well as engagement in small groups. In these classes we will help teach practical ways to grow in your walk and equip you to walk with Jesus in the context of your church community! If these classes are interesting to you and you would like to serve in helping prepare and facilitate them, please contact our Executive Pastor, Pastor Thayne Asaro at thaynea@woodlandchurch.com
Is the Personnel section of the church’s spend referencing staff earnings alone?
No, The Personnel section on your brochure represents all costs of having staff within our Organization. This includes wages, employee benefits (healthcare, pension, etc.), reimbursable accounts, development accounts, and other staffing related expenses. Our current spending plan also includes the full compensation cost for a new Lead Pastor for the entirety of the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
Will we have mission trips available for people in the future?
Yes, our Going Team is looking for ways to create serving opportunities locally, nationally, and around the world. We will likely accomplish this by leveraging relationships we have with other ministries and missionaries. Strategically we would rather have a deep and profound impact in one area instead of smaller surface level impacts in several! Once we feel we have identified our timeline and location for such a trip, our leadership team will share more details!
Has the Search Team considered any internal candidates?
Internal candidates are allowed in the Pastoral Search Process and they would be required to go through the same rigorous and thorough review process as any other candidate. The candidating process is confidential to not create any stir or distraction to a potential candidate's current ministry appointment or church - so in that, no information about any candidate can be shared until the Search Team and Elder Board come to a unanimous decision to recommend a candidate to the membership body of the church.
How can students/ kids help Woodland?
We believe that serving and supporting the ministry can start at a very young age; three ways that you as a young person can support the ministry is by remaining fully committed and engaged in the student ministry, this will help equip you and grow you as you enter adulthood. We also ask that you pray, Pray for the church, the people, the leadership, intercede asking the Holy Spirit to do the work that only He can do, and finally you can serve through volunteering; talk to a member of our Family Ministry leadership team to find out how you can volunteer!
Instead of incurring debt in the future, would you consider multi-year saving or restricted fund giving to pay for the project up front?
Absolutely - Barring unforeseen, unexpected circumstances beyond our control, it is our intention to incur no additional debt until the current debt is eliminated. Although we are committed to no longer take on any new debt until our existing commitments are fully paid off, we remain dedicated to expanding the reach of our ministry. We will have a time in the near future where we will present a plan to the church body as a whole to go after and fundraise for some capital improvements and debt reduction. These initiatives will be funded in their entirety through a restricted giving fund and paid for up front.
What is the vision of reaching those who are struggling with substance abuse?
We are researching the possibility of launching a Celebrate Recovery post at our Marshall Campus and are exploring other avenues to support those navigating substance abuse. One thing that we know is that we aren’t designed to do life alone, so if you are navigating a season of challenge or addiction please reach out to us at info@woodlandchurch.com or fill out a connect card and we want to pray for you and walk with you in that journey!
How can we, the people, help Woodland get out of debt?
When you give to Woodland Church, you could consider giving an offering above and beyond the tithe to the Debt Reduction Fund. 100% of donations to this fund will be used to pay down and keep down our debt commitment. You can do that by writing “Debt Reduction” on a check, or by visiting our website or app and using the drop down to select the Debt Reduction fund. You can find that link here. https://woodlandchurch.churchcenter.com/giving
The Marshall Campus is growing! How do we make room for the growth at Marshall without utilizing debt?
The Marshall Campus growth has been very exciting to see! Pastor Devon and leaders at the Marshall Campus are actively working on drafting a plan to propose to the Executive Team and the Elder Board for some renovations that will allow for the addition of over 50 new seats in the Worship Center space. This renovation will allow the campus to experience even more growth with a relatively cost efficient solution! Future capital expansion will be done in partnership with both campuses and will be done utilizing cash. We will also be open to exploring other creative avenues for growth like launching a new campus or finding ways to expand seating capacity. It is also a realistic possibility that a third service could be launched to help accommodate the continued growth.
Why did the church go into additional debt to build the parking lot at the Battle Creek Campus?
The Battle Creek Campus parking lot had deteriorated over decades of heavy use to the point where it was no longer safe and was causing water issues around the campus. If left unresolved we could have seen more significant damage done to our facility. Our hope would’ve been to fundraise for this project, but when considering the financial climate with COVID and in the midst of a Lead Pastor transition, leadership elected not to. We were able to fund the majority of the project using cash savings and have a maintenance plan in place to ensure we steward this investment well to ensure this lot will be in great condition for years to come. The project received multiple competitive bids, and was reviewed and approved by our Finance Team, Lead Pastor, and Elder Board at the time, and by the time we were broke ground, our new Executive Director of Operations in partnership with a team of lay leaders were able to cut back the cost of the lot by over $400,000. The project was completed on time and under budget.
What exactly are we looking for in a new Lead Pastor? It seems like we have an A+ team as it sits that have clearly proven they can make Woodland sustainable.
We are incredibly proud of the Executive Leadership and Teaching Team we have in place, and it’s encouraging to hear that many of you see the stability and growth we’ve experienced in this interim season. A Lead Pastor will be able to build a stronger relational connection to the leaders and congregation of Woodland Church resulting in a higher level of vision casting and leadership to this great team and allow each of them to operate within the roles that they are gifted in. A Lead Pastor will also be responsible for developing a teaching team that will serve all the campuses of Woodland Church. A Lead Pastor will be able to pray, collaborate, and plan in a more long-term way that will result in building a strong relationship between all campuses, longer term vision, longer term financing, longer term leadership development and empowerment of lay leadership, that makes it possible to have a greater impact in Calhoun County and beyond.
The Marshall Campus has had an insane amount of babies arrive recently. Are there plans to expand the nursery or our kids ministry areas?
The thing we are most interested in is creating spaces where the children within our ministry are getting one on one time with teachers and leaders to hear about the good news of Jesus and learning to know who He is and who they are in relationship with Him. This past year we’ve been able to update many of our children’s ministry spaces and in partnership with the Battle Creek Campus we were able to move and install the mobile classroom that now hosts elementary kids. We will continue to evaluate and adjust room assignments as numbers require and do everything we can to help every kid get one to one attention and know that Jesus loves them. We are so grateful for our incredible Kid’s ministry staff and volunteers and the investment they make into these families!