HALF STEP: THE BIRTH OF A NEW OUTREACH MINISTRY

LOOKING AHEAD

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE OUR COLLEGE STUDENTS?

We sat down with the co-creators of a new outreach ministry at Faith called Half Step. Brayden and Abby Lans launched the new ministry last summer and dozens of high school students, both churched and non-churched, have connected through the ministry.

Interviewer: If you could describe Half Step in one sentence, how would you describe it?Abby: Only one? That’s hard! We’ll just share our vision statement.Brayden: We use music to break barriers and build relationships with students and in turn create a bridge to invite students into Christian community within Half Step and within the local church.

Interviewer: You talk about creating a bridge. There are a lot of things that could be a bridge… why music? Abby: It’s not just music that is special, it’s just one (of many) different elements. In my mind, music is an outside source that people can relate to and it takes attention off themselves and breaks down some of the social awkwardness. For example, one of our students, Taylor, would not talk to people (when Half Step began). But as soon as you put a piano in front of him, it was a triangle of interaction between him, the keyboard, and his leader.Brayden: It also gives students an opportunity to express themselves in a way they relate to.

So how did this all get started? Brayden: God definitely gave Abby the mission first to do youth ministry!Abby: We got the idea from our time in Slovakia. But before that, for me, being a part of the youth group, I felt a void for people to connect with each other. And, at the time, there weren’t many opportunities for people to get involved musically. I personally connect better with people when I have something to relate with. If we introduce music as a connection point, I am able to connect with students better.

Talk about the beginnings of Half Step. What was it like?Abby: (Laughing) Chaos. Absolute chaos. Brayden: We started a trial run last summer to work out some kinks. We had 12 students total.Abby: I had an idea and a goal in my head, but there wasn’t much layout of how it was going to work. We had a lot of volunteers who were very gracious.Brayden: It was like, “Oh, we need music! Let’s go print it off right now with all these kids here!” Abby: We were learning what was working, what got their attention and what didn’t. The students loved it so we figured out how to refine it for September. Brayden: We realized we needed a goal to work toward so we decided to do a concert.

Talk more about that concert last fall at the Downtown Artery – it was awesome!Brayden: Yeah, before the semester started, I started putting some feelers out there for concert venues. When I reached out to the Downtown Artery, they gave us a spot for free! They were on board with our mission of encouraging young artists to explore their gifts. Abby: We had over 120 people come, which was totally unexpected! We didn’t want to have the concert at Faith because we kept thinking, “How can we truly make this an outreach?” It’s not serving just Christian people, it connects outside people to the church. That’s why we chose something in Old Town and will continue to do that, too.

Switching gears a little bit… What is the greatest joy for you in leading?Brayden: Being on mission with my wife! Having the same passion and direction, but using our very different perspectives to achieve that. I know it’s sappy, but it’s true.Abby: I absolutely love watching locked-down kids open up. After seeing kids have some success in something, they just start opening. Like Maleah – in the summer she refused to do anything on stage. She wanted to learn, but would

never do band time. Now she plays drums every week at Encounter (high school ministry)! She really loves it.

What’s next for Half Step? Anything you’d like to see happen?Brayden: We’re hoping to do a summer camp! We’ll have to pray hard for leaders.Abby: Yeah, what are you doing next August? (Laughs)Brayden: We also want to get to a place where we can have other Half Steps in other local churches. The ultimate goal is for students to get connected to the local church.Abby: It’s been inspiring to us to create something students understand and connect with where they can be in contact with genuine Christian people. We have about 13 leaders and 28 students this semester! It’s all about building relationships and being a part of a community.

Interested in getting involved in Half Step? Contact abby.j.pahlau@gmail.com for information.

This ministry year, we have at least four college students who took the plunge to get out of their comfort zone and serve somewhere new through internships. From New Zealand to Thailand to Latvia, and plenty of places in between, here is a snapshot of what God is doing in and through them around the world.

Name: Matthew CraneInternship Location: Latvia with Josiah VentureMinistry Assignment: Holding English camps for high school-aged students, teaching conversational

English, connecting students to local churches and share the gospel with them.Favorite thing God is showing you: “be faithful and trust that God will provide what you need no matter what the circumstance.”Biggest prayer request: “I am very intimidated by the price which this trip will cost so just prayer that God will provide like I know he can. Also that our camps will be effective and we will have a lasting impact on the students.”

Name: McKaila KiernanInternship Location: New Zealand and IndiaMinistry Assignment: Children’s and youth ministry, preaching, leading worship, evangelism, slum ministry and orphan care New Zealand and India with YWAM (Youth with a Mission).Favorite thing God is showing you: “God gave me a vision and placed a passion in my heart to

join the prayer and worship movement, while working alongside and serving the Church however God would lead me.”Biggest prayer request: Be praying for ministry here in Fort Collins – that many people would join in prayer and that ministry would be effective.

Name: Ryan WesselInternship Location: Slovakia with Josiah VentureMinistry Assignment: Evangelistic ministry through musicFavorite thing God is

showing you: “I haven’t started my internship yet, but God has shown me that as long as I ask, people are usually willing to give towards my trip.”Biggest prayer request: My biggest prayer request is raising sufficient funds to pay for travel, food, and lodging so I can go minister to students.

Name: Rachel MorleyInternship Location: Honolulu, HI, Cambodia and Thailand with YWAM (Youth with a Mission)Ministry Assignment: Evangelism, homeless ministry, visitation ministry to orphans and victims of sex trafficking.Favorite thing God is showing you: “Experiencing full

surrender. God has brought me to a time and place in my life and given me opportunities to just release all baggage, fear, and doubt to Him.”Biggest prayer request: I want to maintain an open-minded attitude, allowing God to open the eyes of my heart to see how He does, so that I can live how He calls me to.

March 9-16: Spring break Haiti team April 14: Good Friday service @ 7:00pmApril 15: Easter family event at FaithApril 16: Easter Sunday & One Day Giving

April 21: Kick-off of new sermon seriesApril 23: Membership ClassApril 30: Olson Lecture SeriesMay 14: Mother’s Day

Here’s a look at what’s coming up at Faith this quarter.

QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT

CONTRIBUTIONS $ 1,402,476 $ 1,365,000 $2,525,000

EXPENSES

CONTRIBUTIONS MINUS EXPENSES

$ 1,223,505

$ 178,971

$ 1,280,110

$ 84,890

$ 2 ,525,000

Year to Date - Actual Year to Date - Budget Annual Budget

Brayden and Abby Lans, co-creators of Half Step, launched their new outreach ministry in summer of 2016.

Over 120 people came to watch Half Step’s fi rst concert at the Downtown Artery in Old Town in December.

When students aren’t playing in the band, they’re singing in the choir. You don’t have to love singing to love being in the choir – members are always having a blast on the risers!

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MEET FAITH’S FACILITY TEAMWe caught up with our Facility Team who works tirelessly to keep our building in tip-top shape. Their team mission is to remove distractions and provide support so people can attend, meet and have a successful event in Faith’s facility.

In 1994, Faith Church was still meeting in a building on Drake road and Fort Collins was 50,000 residents smaller. The city gained two new residents that year when Arlyn and Judy Kettner moved across the country from Miami, FL.

Arlyn’s career leading the design and construction team for Burger King headquarters had come to a close and the Kettners decided it was time for a change. One of their first tasks upon arriving in Fort Collins? Finding a church.

“It was an easy decision to come here to Faith,” says Arlyn, now 77. “I was born into the Lutheran

church, but denomination is not very important; what matters is what goes on in that local church.” After only a few weeks at Faith, Pastor Saylor tapped him on the shoulder to lead a Sunday School class and Arlyn had begun his ministry at Faith that would lead him to leave his impact in dozens of ways over 22 years.

By the end of the decade Arlyn was leading the Design and Construction Team that helped transition Faith to its new facility. A few years later he joined Faith’s staff as the Administrator, where he served from 2003-2009. His first big task on staff was to prepare the administrative staff for a successful transition to our current facility, which is much larger than the previous one. The design and care of our current facility is one of Arlyn’s favorite accomplishments from his time here. He says, “The architects (of our facility) always come back and comment on how nice our facility looks. It hasn’t atrophied or deteriorated. We’ve had to work at it – we work hard at it. We do a good job maintaining out facility – it’s a good place for people to be and they want to be here.”

Following his role as Administrator, Arlyn remained on staff in a part-time administrative role, leading Faith’s Adult Education classes, maintaining record services, and writing standard practices for staff and volunteers. He also managed a hodgepodge of facility projects and participated on Faith’s Lead Ministry Team (LMT) until 2015. Among his favorite tasks was organizing a WWII Veteran’s Day celebration each year from 2004-2012. Around 120 veterans attended each year, 20 of them from Faith. It was Arlyn’s time in the Marine Corps that, in part, led him to his passion to honor veterans each year.

In December 2016, Arlyn retired from his time on staff at Faith. After his many roles serving at Faith, he reflected back on his time on staff and said there was one part of his ministry that stood out above everything else: “It’s the people. It isn’t the work you did here, you remember the people. When I look back through my entire career, that’s true. It’s the people.”

The staff misses his daily wisdom, stories, and poignant phrases around the office, but Arlyn’s 22 years of service at Faith are still on the upward count. For now, he leads the Adult Education ministry and he’ll continue in whatever role God calls him to next. His 22 years and counting will undoubtedly continue to leave an impact on countless people at Faith.

What’s better than a night out? Free babysitting and a night out three days after Valentine’s Day! When you’re a parent of young kids, getting away for a night can be tough on time and the wallet. For the second year in a row, Faith Kids’ Ministry decided to help by hosting Parents’ Night Out. The result? Kids had a blast and so did their parents – without paying for childcare!

22 YEARS OF SERVICE AND COUNTING

PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT 2.0

My favorite thing about working on facilities is the people. I love these people. We do the same tasks from week to week, but, even when they get mundane, the people make it so much fun! - Hannah Schall

Who’s on the Team? How They Keep Busy• 1 full-time staff member, 8 part-time staff members and 4 volunteers• Ages 17-73• Several team members are worship ministry volunteers – it’s not a requirement but it’s a huge asset in setting the stage every week!• Longest serving member: Bill Elder – 20 years!• Newest kid on the block: Daniel Van Farowe, who joined the team 3 months ago

Give us a little bit of your background. What did you do before you began working at Faith?I spent 14 years at JAX (outdoors store) in Fort Collins. It gave me a lot of critical experience in areas like accounting, HR, customer service, returns. Before that, I like to say I was in hardware since I was born. My dad was a carpenter and I would go to job sites with him to sweep. I learned tools and was in hardware retail since I was 16. So I guess looking back, I’ve had over 20 years of helping people in this area.What is your favorite thing about your job?I really enjoy this job for many reasons but probably to narrow it down, I enjoy the fact that after all the repairs, setups, cleaning, etc. are done – we leave a space where people will have minimal distractions. Joy can be found in having a space with minimal distractions. I love overhearing the singing, quality discussions, seeing groups of people grow in their personal relationships with God and one another, or hearing how well an event went.You’ve worked on a couple really big projects since you got here. What are those like?I oversaw the installation of the new soundboard in the Worship Center and now the renovation in the Worship Center and foyer. With big projects like that, it’s neat to see the end result and see how it better facilitates ministry at Faith.What is your team vibe like?There is good comradery between staff members as I regularly hear about how they bond while working. The facilities team has fun in how we complete our tasks!What are your hopes for your team in the future?For me personally, I take it all as it comes. I have a huge running list of projects so it’s just managing whatever comes next!

Andrew Daharsh joined our full-time staff as the Facility Manager in June of 2015.

• Average number of setups per month: 442• Number of resources used in the last 6 months (projectors, chairs, tables, etc): 23,112• Support tasks: setting up and tearing down for events, cleaning, painting, patching, managing storage rooms, connecting phones, IT, running A/V, small repairs, roof repair, church vehicle maintenance• Prep for Sunday: every Saturday the team vacuums, wipes down chairs and tables, empties trash cans, cleans windows, sets up classrooms, and prepares the worship center so we can worship each week without distraction. (It’s also not infrequent for the team to enjoy donuts while they work.)

Tools and a cup of coffee – our Facility Manager Andrew Daharsh in his natural habitat.

The offi ce wouldn’t be the same without facility mascot Scooby. If you visit the church offi ce on Fridays he’ll be there to greet you.

A favorite Facility Team task is operating the lift to replace light bulbs in the Worship Center.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FEARLESS TEAM LEADER

The offi ce wouldn’t be the same without facility mascot

A favorite Facility Team task is operating the lift to replace light bulbs in the Worship Center.

Arlyn’s career leading the design

What the Kids Did:What the Parents Did:• Photo booth• Inflatable slides• 9 square in the air• Minute-to-win-it games• Puppet shows, charades and more!

• “Dinner and pleasant conversation that we never get to have!”- Kyle & Hope Rehme• Girls’ night at Café Vino• “We went on a triple date to East Moon with half our small group!” – Mark & Raenell Kubichek• Downtown Fort Collins, restaurants like Austin’s, Locality and even Whole Foods!• “Our friends are in town from Minnesota so we’re going to have some adult time because that doesn’t happen very often!”

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