Eagle Brook Church Blog

Structure Changes at EBC-WBL

Okay—those of you that like to keep up on the “behind the scenes” activity of EBC may have heard that we are undergoing some massive organizational changes.  Let me try to start by explaining what these changes mean directly for our campus, then at the bottom of this post, I’ll attach a note from our Executive Pastor Scott Anderson to give a little more context.

To be put simply, in order for us to start and develop more sites (i.e. Blaine, Woodbury and beyond) we need a better system in place.  Most all of these changes you will never notice, but there’s a few that you will notice.  Let me start with those that you will probably not notice but might be interested in:

- First – We have added a Centralized Team that will be developing curriculum and supporting what happens at the campuses.  It used to be that all ministry people were involved in creating, developing AND teaching through certain curriculum.  Now, we will have a Central Team ready to develop and a Campus-Based team that is prepared to deliver it.  This is significant for our staff, but probably something most people won’t notice.

- Also – The ministry staff that is assigned to our campus will all report to me for the first time.  Up to this point, I’ve had no staff reporting directly to me.  As of this last Tuesday, I now have 16 people assigned to our site (with a few openings). Pray for these people who I’ll be supervising.

Now for some of the changes that you might notice.  Many staff members have been re-assigned to new roles with new supervisors.  At our site, here’s some of the changes that will affect us.

- Dawn Dixon is changing her title to Elementary Pastor (from Director).  Give her a high 5!

- Sue Lennartson is moving from Groups Pastor to Connections Pastor.  This new role will have Sue focused on getting people connected to volunteering and to groups.  She’ll also be given some more time to focus on pastoring at our site.

- Trent Anderson and Amy Carlson have been re-assigned to our Central Team.  You’ll start seeing much less of these 2 on the weekends, although both have made it clear that WB is their home and they will be attending with their families.  Trent’s new role will be to help with Care on a church-wide basis and Amy will be helping to develop leadership curriculum for our entire church as well.  While I’m happy that their gifts and talents will be used church-wide I’m sad that we’ll see them around less on the weekends at the Bear.  Make sure to give them a hug or slug – whichever’s appropriate in the next couple of weeks as the transition plays out.

- We also have a new position being added to our campus called Ministry Director which will be charged with overseeing all of our ministry staff and serving as a key ally with me in pastoring at WB.  This is a key position we are looking to fill ASAP.

I think I’ll stop there for now – if more questions pop up, feel free to email me or pull me aside on the weekends and we can chat more about it.  I do think these changes will be a bit complicated up front, but as we settle in, our church will be better off because of them.

If you’ve got more reading time available – I’ll add Scott’s letter that was sent out recently.

Eagle Brook Church

Staff Transition Update

Being ready to add a fourth and fifth campus, and someday even beyond, has been an overarching goal of the staff transition that has been taking place around Eagle Brook for the last month. As someone in a serving role at Eagle Brook, you will likely see some changes that others will not notice as we continue on this path.

First, campus roles have become more focused and more intentional. In the past, virtually all of our staff participated in developing the ministry areas and also in delivering that ministry. This system served us well for a long time, but as we have added campuses, it has become clear that it was time to separate these roles, allowing people to become experts at development or delivery—not both. For you as a volunteer, it means that your pastors will have the freedom to fully serve at your campus, with a focus on investing in the most important asset we have as a church—you.

Second, the staff pastor(s) that you have become accustomed to seeing at your campus are likely transitioning into new roles. In many cases, they will serve in a slightly different capacity at your campus, and in some cases, they will be moving to a different campus; in a few cases, pastors and staff are being placed in a central role, responsible for ministry development.

We ask for your patience with us as we navigate through this change. Eagle Brook has a bright future ahead, but getting from here to there has a few bumps along the road. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at scott.anderson@eaglebrookchurch.com if you have any questions or comments.

In the coming weeks, we will contact you regarding specific changes that will take place at your campus.

In Him,

Scott Anderson

Executive Pastor