Connexus Community Church

Cindy Morris - Update 4

10:30 p.m. January 31st -  Cindy came out of surgery less about an hour ago.  She seems to have responded well to two surgeries they did consecutively -- one on her arm and the other on her leg.  She is stable and resting tonight.  So again, good news.  Her injuries are still very serious, but the movement does indeed continue to be in the right direction.  The plan as I understand is for more surgery over the weekend as her health permits.

We need to let you know that Sunnybrook has kindly asked that there be no more visitors even to the waiting room at this time.  The sheer number of visitors have been a bit overwhelming to the staff and the families of other patients, so until further notice, no visitors at all please.  Thanks for understanding and cooperating with the Sunnybrook staff.

If you want to channel your wishes somewhere, post your comments here on the blog.  We'll print them off and someone with much better art sense than I will put them into a scrapbook for her.  Naturally, you facebookers can write on her wall too.   

And so...we continue to pray. We'll give an update when there is more news and of course, we'll let you know if anything else significantly changes.

- Carey

Cindy Morris -- Update 3

It's 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 31st.  Cindy is in surgery as I write this.  And that's a good thing.  They are doing work on her arm and will also be working, from what I understand, on her leg in tonight's surgery.  That means she's stable enough to undergo some major work, and that's very encouraging.

We'll provide more information as it becomes available.  But again, the progress is encouraging.

I left late this afternoon for Charlotte, North Carolina for two short days on the Orange Tour, but am checking in regularly and receiving updates.  It was good to check in with everyone at Sunnybrook again before leaving late this afternoon. 

Again, thank you for your very incredible love and prayers for Cindy and her family. The kids and Cindy are being well cared for.

Also -- thank you to everyone who helped out in the Connexus office today.  Because of you, we are just about ready for the weekend service.  We all know how much Cindy is an instrumental part of making what happens around here happen...so thanks for stepping up the plate in her absence.  Looking forward to a weekend to gather, pray, and celebrate the goodness of our God.

I'll update again later when Cindy is out of surgery.

- Carey

Cindy Morris -- Update 2

It's almost 11 p.m. on Wednesday Jan 30th.  All things considered, today was a good day for Cindy, and we are so grateful for that.  She is still in critical condition, but stable, and they are hoping to be able to move ahead with some other procedures she needs over the next few days.  She appeared to respond very well to her surgery earlier this morning, and while we are not "out of the woods yet", the indicators in the last 30 hours have all been positive. God is always good, but we are grateful for the grace we have witnessed first hand with Cindy. 

There must literally be thousands of people praying for Cindy and her family.  I have hundreds of emails, text messages, facebook messages and calls about Cindy, and that's just me. You are one great community. You are being the church - at Connexus and way beyond.  Thank you.

Many of you are asking about the kids. They're really quite amazing and are holding up well. I think the highlight of the day for them was getting stuck on the elevator on the sixth floor with some friends at Sunnybrook for half an hour.  They were playing around and messed up the elevator. That was a little crazy, but it was fun.  Nice to see kids being kids. They are safe in the care of friends tonight. 

Thank you for asking how to help financially.  A trust fund is being established this week for Cindy and her kids to help with their future. We will provide details when they are available. And I can also tell you that as her employer, Connexus is going to make sure she is well taken care of.   We have a good benefits program and we are committed as a leadership team to provide for her. It is your generosity that will enable us to do that as a church. 

The response from all of you has been beautifully overwhelming.  Thank you for your incredible compassion and care.

- Carey

Cindy Morris -- Update

Cindy Morris continues to undergo treatment at Sunnybrook hospital for injuries in the car accident she was in yesterday.  She got out of surgery less than an hour ago (7:30 a.m.).  This surgery addressed her broken arm, and the doctors were pleased with the outcome.  The  good news is that she remained stable through the operation.  There will be more procedures over the days and weeks ahead, and the road to recovery appears long.

We continue to pray constantly for Cindy.  The kids had some sleep and are in great hands, and we have been overwhelmed with the responses of people around and offers to help.  What a great community!  While I'm sure many of you will want to visit, unfortunately, Cindy can't have visitors at this time.   The best thing you can today is to pray, and continue to lift up Cindy and her family.  We'll keep you updated.  What a wonderful community to be part of.

Your Prayers for Cindy Morris

As many of you have heard, Cindy Morris who is on staff with us at Connexus was involved in a car accident this morning.  Cindy is at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto.  There is a large group of people gathered in the waiting room, praying and supporting the family.

Your prayers are so appreciated and needed. Cindy's daughters and son are here with us at Sunnybrook, and they are in great care with friends and family.  Thank you so very much for all your calls and emails.  More visitors at this point is probably not a good idea, but we so appreciate all the concern and prayers.

It really is amazing to see what a great community we are a part of and to know how loved Cindy is. When are able to update you on her condition with an official word, we will do so. 

Carey

Rich from the Road

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I'm on the road at the Next Initiative Church Planting Conference and thinking about home.  Talking about IFTBUMs (It's Fun To Be Us Moments) and what I love about Connexus.

Thanks for being apart of this adventure together!

Rich Birch
rich.birch@connexuscommunity.com
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

Team Members of the Week: Ron Hooft & Marcel Chaloux

We've decided to make a shift in our "Team Member of the Week" posts.  We have had such an overwhelming response from people that we're going to feature one person from each campus each week.  Thanks so much for your submissions (to me via email) of Team Members of Week - keep 'em coming!  (Ron moves so fast that I don't have a picture of him - if you have one - email it to me!)

Barrie - Ron Hooft
Ron has been "anchored" in our music teams as a great bass player.  But it doesn't fully describe all that he's up to when we just talk about his great musical talents because he has helped in a number of ways at Connexus.  It's not the volume of "work" that Ron does at Connexus that multiple people commented on about Ron - it's his attitude.  Ron has the ability to approach whatever he's doing - whether it's flying the line array, playing bass, or helping with another project - with an incredible sense of passion, and positivity.  People love being around you Ron!  Thanks for serving!

So today we name Ron the "Best Bass in the Place" for all his help in so many different ways with such a positive attitude!

Orillia - Marcel Chaloux
Marcel has been a part of the small but incredibly decided team of volunteers that sorted out all of our electrical problems at both of our campuses.  This is probably one of those areas that lots of people don't even think about but is a critical "backbone" to us hosting irresistible environments.  Over the Christmas break Marcel spent hours working to pull together these snazzy rolling electrical panels that mean we aren't blowing fuses and that our power is evenly distributed.  But Marcel isn't satisfied to just say "the job is done" he has been working these last number of weeks on Sunday morning to ensure that the power is implemented really well.  Marcel - you are such a servant!

As way to honour Marcel today we crown him "Prince of the Power" because he has served regally to help us in this area.

Rich Birch
rich.birch@connexuscommunity.com
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

Get Connected at Connexus: GroupLink

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Are you in a Community Group?  If not you are missing out on so much of the Connexus experience.  Sure our weekend stuff is good . . . but our Community Groups are great. 

If Connexus was a great meal the weekend would be the vegetables and Community Groups would be the steak.  If Connexus was a car the weekends would be the shell and Community Groups would be the engine.  I think you get the idea - Community Groups are what it's all about.  How do you connected to a Community Group?  Great Question! You're next step is to come to GroupLink and get into an 8 week "try before you buy" Community Group.

GroupLink is a two-hour event where you will connect with others and form a community group. Community groups are small groups of eight to twelve people that meet weekly in someone's home for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.  They are the best place at Connexus for you to be exploring your faith and getting to know people!

The next GroupLink is this Saturday!  Saturday, January 26th, 2008, 7:00 p.m. - Best Western Mariposa Inn, Orillia

Email groupsadmin@connexuscommunity.com if you want to attend or simply want more information!  We'll see you on Saturday!

Rich Birch
rich.birch@connexuscommunity.com
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

Caution: A Rant

Ok . . . ok.  I don't know if we've met but I really am a pretty level headed guy.  It can take a lot for me to get bugged about something.  If this post is all you know about me . . . I'm sorry.  I'm going to rant a little bit about a term that is sometimes used to describe "the way we do church" that does get in under my skin.

Have you ever heard the label "Video Church"?  This phrase is sometimes used to described our approach.  There lots of people that I think rock use this term.  But frankly, I think it kinda stinks!  This term is used to describe multi-site churches that export a sermon through some video technology to other locations.  There are literally hundreds and hundreds of churches around the world using this tool to build churches that reach out to the world around us.

So what's my "beef" with this term?  (I warned that I might be ranting.)

This year represents my seventh year in leadership of a multisite church using video in it's adult services to extend it's ministry beyond one geographic location - and one of the the great ironies I have found over the years is that the "video" portion of what we do is the easiest part of doing church this way.

It's not a video that is waking up early to set up our environments on Sunday mornings.
A video doesn't take time to care for a child in WaumaLand or UpStreet.
I have yet to see a video help a first time visitor feel welcome to church - without overwhelming them.
We don't have a series of videos that we play for people in our Community Groups to help people develop closer relationships with each other and God.
I don't think we've ever had a video donate to help propel the mission forward.
I think you get the picture . . . .

Yes.  We do use video as a simple tool to help us have a shared experience across a wide geographic area.  It's one tool we use to craft irresistible environments for our friends.  That's it.  At this point it makes the most sense for us as we move forward together in crafting the kind of church that we can invite our friends too.   We can talk more about the "why" of video in another post - today I want to dispel the rumor that it's all about the video.

We are so thankful for the hundreds of people that serve and give sacrificially to help us launch Connexus.  And yes, we're thankful for our great video team that helps us capture and send a great video every week.

So whadda think?  Do you think I'm way off on "video church" being a term that bugs me?

Rich Birch
rich.birch@connexuscommunity.com
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church

You Rock!

So...on staff we're now simply starting to wonder what it would be like to have about four Sundays in a row with no snow...just to see what it might be like to actually do church without impediments.  For like the fourth time in the last six services, we had some serious snow or weather issues Sunday morning.

But tough conditions bring out the best in people.  Our e-teams showed up.  And for the most part, you showed up.  Our attendance was off by just a little bit over last week (when it was really nice).  And some of you have already written in or stopped by to say you'd asked friends to join you today.  Sweet. And I heard it was a great day in Orillia where both services rolled so smoothly.  Nice.

So I'm just saying thanks...that's all.  I like hanging out with you.  You're one fine group, and thanks for your dedication and serious commitment to Jesus and all that.   This is a winter and a start-up period we'll be talking about for years to come.  Thanks for making it memorable in a good way! 

If you missed today (or want to hear it again...come on, you know you do), just go to www.connexuscommunity.com and listen on line or download the podcasts on iTunes.  Everything should be uploaded from today within 48 hours.

- Carey