What is a 20/20 fully loaded? And why the new format?

As you might be aware, the name (20/20) originates from Acts 20:20 which says, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.” The Apostle Paul cared deeply for the church of Ephesus, so he consistently communicated the things that would lead to their edification. He preached the gospel to them, taught them theology for three years, and built deep friendships that were based on open communication.

The 20/20 has been a fixture at Maranatha since 1989. For nearly 30 years your leaders have pursued open communication in order to edify the saints and provide transparency in their decision making. Each month your deacon has put a 20/20 article in your hand so that you can be aware of the issues that have been discussed in each deacons meeting. Not only have they made you aware of the “business” of the church, but have sought your feedback on many decisions that are being considered by the leadership team. This has strengthened us as a body, and unified us as a church.

We’d like to take this article to the next level by providing what we call the “20/20 Fully Loaded.” We’ll continue to share the main topics that we discuss in the deacons meeting, but also provide several articles that address the various components of the ministry. There is so much that is happening at Maranatha, and we’d like to give you some visibility into all of these areas, not just the things that come up in a deacons meeting. Our desire is to communicate the blessings, challenges, strategic plans, and praise reports, so we can all benefit from the aspects of ministry that often go unnoticed.

Each month Pastor Andrew, Pastor David, and Pastor Ben will give you a preview of what is happening in the areas of ministry that they oversee. Believe it or not, there is much that takes place from Monday to Saturday, and the 20/20 will be a great way to give you some visibility into those things. We also plan to feature a different ministry of the church each month so that you can get a sense of what is happening behind the scenes. There will be times when we’ll ask some of you to write an article for the 20/20 so that you can share the ways God is helping you grow in Christ, and how he is working in your context. We’d also like to give a preview of what is coming so you can anticipate some of the changes that we’re considering. And we’d like to provide our vision for the ministry so you can get a taste of the Biblical priorities we’d like to emphasize.

Eventually, we’d like to make this article available to you throughout the month as an online blog. In this way, we hope to provide “real-time” visibility to the things that are happening so you can be aware of them in a timely way. Then, we’ll consolidate these articles once a month in a newsletter that you can either read as a “hardcopy” or receive directly to your computer screen. We trust that God will use this channel to continue to strengthen our body and unify our church.