Dear Oak Pointe Church family:
In Pastor Bob’s email to the congregation on July 11th, 2020, he indicated that the elders would be meeting to review the Conversations series with a goal of identifying words, phrases and thoughts that have provoked questions, confusion, and disagreement. The email also stated that we would be communicating to the congregation our position on the various issues that were raised. This note is to provide you with an update on our current status.
We have met several times now and the discussion has been challenging but helpful. We are wrestling over concerns, terms, phrases and cross referencing everything with scripture. As part of that process, we have been circulating resources (books, blogs, podcasts, etc.) among the Oak Pointe Pastors and Elder Team for careful evaluation in light of scripture.
One significant part of our evaluation process was to invite Pastor Chris Brooks into our elder team meeting on July 21st. Pastor Brooks is the Lead Pastor at Woodside Bible Church and has been a friend of Oak Pointe for many years. We asked Chris (in interview format) to share his feelings and views on racial injustice. As a Black pastor, community leader, theologian, and Moody radio show host, Chris has extensive experience and valuable perspective on the issues related to biblical justice. His input has been extremely helpful to us.
While our evaluation work is still in process, we remain committed to communicating our position as soon as possible. One approach that we are finding helpful is to state what we “affirm” related to the issue of racial injustice. The elders and pastors are making good progress on this list of affirmations, which will be the basis for our next letter related to the Conversations series. We plan to send out the affirmations statement to the congregation in the next 2-3 weeks.
Please know that we remain committed to the process and have been diligently working towards follow-up. Please also know that we love you, we are grateful for you, and we acknowledge that there are people hurting within the church body.
We are thankful for your feedback and love for the church.
Warmly,
The Elder Team at Oak Pointe Church