Over the past 3 months, I have been working with our Christian Education Pastor (Mark Antram) to develop a new assimilation process for HBC. There are tons of definitions for assimilate/assimilation but the easiest way I have defined this term is this: It is the basic process of taking new attendees of a church and giving them easy steps to become part of the local body.
My boss (my father and pastor) has given us the challenge to create this new process. We did plenty of research into other churches who have successful processes but we felt we needed to create something that fits our DNA. This has been a HUGE undertaking because we are creating from scratch a process that is original with us and fits into the purpose of HBC (Making much of Jesus by Worshiping, Growing, Building, Serving, and Reaching).
We have been blessed by God at HBC over the last year with many new families/people coming and many people trusting Christ. But if you know me, I’m never satisfied with how things are. I always think things can and should be better. Because of our lack of a process over the years, I believe we have hindered the spiritual growth of many and have made it difficult for new Christians to be effectively assimilated.
I believe more now than ever before that a successful assimilation process is a successful discipleship process. They go hand in hand. Not only will our people be encouraged to take their “next steps” in their faith, but they will be taught what it means to make much of Jesus by Worshiping, Growing, Building, Serving, and Reaching!
