A Pastor's Perspective 01-30-2024

 In his book "Good to Great", Jim Collins uses the analogy of a bus to describe how great organizations attract and grow talented staff. He notes that as you look at these organizations, you will see they get the right people on "the bus" and, often, shift their seats enabling "the bus" to move more effectively in the desired direction. In Snyder's case,  this shifting is to accomplish our purpose with ever-increasing effectiveness, to see people led to Discover God, Develop faith, and Display Christ-like love in attitudes and actions. This is another way to state the historic mission of the Church, Jesus' Great Commission, as recorded by Matthew, to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 18:18-20).
   Our staff team has done some “shifting of seats” in the past few months and we want to share them in more details with you.
   Kate Pearson is our Communications Director. Kate’s initial focus is external: Leveraging various communication tools to compel people in our community to accept your invitation to join us.
   Kate's second focus is internal: She is especially focused on the "First-time guest experience". A driving question for her is, "What about all the people who have never been here before? A second question will be, "What about people who are new here?" Are we clear about what a "Gathering Hall" is? Do people understand what a "Cammack Lobby" is if they are new here? Do all those who call Snyder home know our purpose: We seek to lead people to Discover God, Develop faith, and Display Christ-like love in attitude and actions?
   In November, Jon Nahlen transitioned from Minister with Students to Minister of Discipleship and Connections. His focus is primarily discipleship – adult education and small groups, but he's also working to help people make the "next steps" between
"discover", "develop", and "display". Jon Nahlen and Jen Rabon will work together on connecting guests to the life of Snyder by seeing and serving every guest that comes onto our campus.
   Jen Rabon joined us last year as an Assistant to Children's and Family Ministries and helped Karen develop a cadre of volunteers to support systems in children's ministry. With these systems in place, we have realigned Jen as Executive Assistant to the Pastor. From this position, our church can leverage Jen's previous experience in other organizations as an executive assistant, volunteer coordinator and welcome team director.
   This is an exciting time in the life of Snyder and we’re glad you’re with us on this journey.
Geron Gambill
Church Administrator