Sturgis, SD – Foothills Community Churcn – June 2008

We bring you greetings in the name of the Triune God from the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.
We are a small church (less than 100 communicant members) but the Lord is doing wonderful and exciting things among and through us.

When I came to Foothills as the pastor in July of 2004, I came without much of an agenda. I wanted to preach the Word of God and show the people how the Reformed faith is the most careful and thorough expression of what the Bible teaches in all Christendom. I had no plans to change their worship service or institute a bunch of programs. I just wanted to teach folks the Bible and let the Spirit of God move among us as He desired. That’s just what happened.

Women’s ministries have spontaneously arisen, driven by volunteers in the congregation with a passion for what the Bible specially says to women. Men and women have come to saving faith in Christ Jesus. Those who already professed Christ have grown stronger in their understanding of Him. A family-centered youth ministry has sprung up among us almost spontaneously. Relationships with other Christians in the community have been formed and strengthened. Some Foothills families have moved from the area, but the Lord always seems to replace them with new families within a few months. One of the things I especially like about Foothills is that we represent all different segments of our community. Two of our elders are doctors. One is a coal miner. One handcrafts gunstocks for a high-end shotgun maker. We have dentists and ranchers, nurses and secretaries in membership in our congregation. I think that’s how the Lord’s church is supposed to be. We ought not segregate ourselves by age or socioeconomic status or race or preferences about what style of music we listen to as we drive our cars. Our oneness is in Christ, not in which marketing niche we belong to. This church doesn’t do that.
While money is not the most important thing in the church by any means, I do think money is a measure of people’s spiritual maturity and commitment to the Lord’s church. Last year our budget was approximately $120,000. Our giving by year end was just shy of $330,000. I know the source of some of those gifts, and I think last year was probably an anomaly. But without ever preaching a stewardship sermon, tithes and offerings have increased dramatically because people love God and love his church and trust the elders of Foothills to distribute the Lord’s money wisely. In December, 2007 the session felt led to give an extra $10,000 to various missions and ministries and individuals as an act of gratitude to God for His provision. For the last three years we have come through the summer in the black, something I’ve never seen in any church of any size. Over $60,000 was raised apart from the budget for our support of Peruvian missions.
Just tonight we took a bold step. We’ve been struggling a little bit with our worship music for the last couple of years. We have people with the giftedness, but organizing and channeling that giftedness has been a growth edge for us. Recently a very godly professional musician has felt a call towards serving the local church. Several large churches have tried to hire him, but he feels that the Lord might just be drawing him in the direction of our little, less than prestigious church. The session voted to extend an offer of employment to this man and we have every expectation he will accept.
The elders have given me, as the pastor, a great deal of latitude to spend my time as I see fit. I teach Latin to seven homeschool students. I used to be a mechanic and sometimes I fix people’s cars who are in need. If I think I need to go fishing with a guy or go on a motorcycle ride on a Wednesday afternoon with somebody, I have the freedom to do so. I started the CS Lewis Society of the Black Hills as an evangelistic outreach, and the elders supported me in it. The elders recently gave me permission to preach at two OPC churches in North Dakota, even though it meant my being out of the pulpit and the church having to pay a supply so that I could serve two churches that aren’t even part of our denomination.
We are not without our challenges, and for those we covet your prayers.
Firstly, we are seeking God’s face concerning the building of a new church building. We are moving forward carefully and prayerfully. We haven’t decided how we will pay for the building if we choose to build, but there are some among us who are strongly opposed to encumbering large debts (myself among them.)

Secondly, a new book has recently taken the Evangelical world by storm. It’s called The Shack. It’s a very emotionally engaging fictional story that’s a very clever and compelling apology for 19th and 20th century liberal and neo-orthodox theology and thus is very heretical and dangerous. I was originally ordained in the PCUSA and am a graduate of a liberal seminary, so I spotted these ideas very quickly for what they were. The book has made its way into the life of our congregation. After having read it and researched the author a little bit, I did something I’ve never done before. I preached against a book. Some folks are very attached to this book and are having a hard time seeing the harm in it. Beware, brothers and sisters. This book will come up in the life of your church. Be prepared to deal with it and the issues it raises. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have questions about this book.
Thirdly, I am praying that the Lord will see fit to birth a classical Christian school out of our congregation. I am a firm believer in the value of the classical model and would like to see a generation of godly boys and girls turn into godly men and women who have learned how to learn, and can take their places in this world as salt and light.
Fourthly, I am laboring to show that the Reformed faith is more than the Five Points of Calvinism. Issues such as the Regulative Principle of worship, and sins concerning the Second and Fourth Commandments are especially present in our body as they are in the PCA at large. Among many of us there is still not a clear understanding of Covenantal theology as expressed by the Standards. I am patiently and gently laboring to show my flock that we must search the scriptures carefully concerning these things and others.
Fifthly, I would like to see more attention given to family worship, especially in the families that have small children. I’d also like to see a Sunday evening service begun so that we could experience a fully-orbed Christian Sabbath.

When people ask me how it’s going, I always say that there’s enough right to keep me encouraged and enough wrong to keep me from getting bored.

Respectfully Submitted,
TE Brian Carpenter
Pastor, Foothills Community Church