Did you know that we have three Tims on our staff?

We also have an Erin and an Aaron!

Well, we are soon going to have two Davids!

2021 is the final year of a five-year strategic plan that we put together in 2017.

The most significant push of our plan was to increase our investment in discipleship. We wanted to intentionally reshape our ministry strategies to increase our focus on the mission of our church happening Monday through Saturday. I like to say it this way: over the past 20 years, we invested in the BIG (Sunday morning worship) to energize the SMALL (small groups, ministry groups, etc., that meet during the week). It is now time to flip that and invest in the SMALL to energize the BIG!

Looking back on this past year or so, I am so thankful that we made this shift. When COVID forced us to temporarily close our large gatherings on Sundays, we were already moving to see folks be discipled in the small!

Our commitment to resource our disciple-making efforts is the reason why we are thrilled to announce that we have hired a new Student Minister. Our first David, David Rimarski, his wife, Jordan, and their two young daughters (Emery and Kennedy) will be joining us in September. Both David and Jordan are graduates of Mid-Atlantic Christian University in North Carolina. They both have degrees in Youth and Family Ministries. David has been serving since 2017 as Youth Minister in a church in Bath, North Carolina. David is a big guy! He is 6’4.25” tall, and he will definitely raise the height average of our staff. But more importantly for me, David has a big heart for students to come to know Jesus. I am excited by the passion and energy he’ll bring to our ministry.

David Rimarski will replace Aaron Adams, who will move into the role of Groups Minister. Remember I said it was all about investing in our efforts to be a Jesus disciple-making church? While Aaron and his wife Elyse will help transition the Rimarski’s into their new roles at Mount Carmel, Aaron’s new focus will be developing, growing, and reproducing all the various “small”-gathering happenings during the week. Since joining our staff in 2012, I have witnessed Aaron grow as a ministry leader, and I am thrilled that we did not have to look far for a minister in this very significant role for our future.

Aaron’s movement to become our Groups Minister relieves Tim Peace, our Teaching Minister, of that part of his current ministry role. This will allow Tim the bandwidth to take on his new role, beginning January 1, 2022, as our Teaching and Worship Minister. Tim will still be our primary Bible class curriculum writer and resident Bible know-it-all! He will still preach on rotation on Sundays as well as teach the Bible Seminar classes. Tim will also “teach” with a guitar in his hand, taking over the leadership duties of Rick Anderson as our Worship Minister. He will be provided support by Joe Hubbell, who will be focused on the music aspects of our Sunday worship services.

After leading worship for over 30 years at Mount Carmel, Rick and Barb Anderson still have a calling with us, but to new roles. On January 1, 2022, Rick will move into the role of Pastoral Care Minister (another addition to our discipleship efforts!). Rick’s role will be to ensure that we continue to love one another as the body of Christ – through prayer, comfort ministry, funerals, weddings, benevolence, and pastoral counsel. Rick will also be working with me to be the “Chaplain” of our staff – making sure that our staff members are strong and healthy in the Lord. Barb will still be connected with our creative efforts for ministry – bringing her artistic talents to her new role as Creative Director.

This brings me to the second David. COVID has brought about a change in the way we do ministry. The word used to describe this change is “Hybrid” ministry. To reach people with the good news of Jesus and to fulfill our Matthew 28 mission, we have to gather with people ONSITE and ONLINE. So that means to be effective in what we do on Sunday, we need to think about lights, sound, cameras, and streaming! It means planning for ProPresenter and RESI feeds for Church online and Youtube. If you don’t know what I am talking about – no worries – I don’t (all the way) either! The point is that to be effective in moving forward in our mission, we will need to learn new skills with new tools. That is why we have decided to hire David McGuire.

David McGuire will join our team as Tech Director on August 23, 2021. David is a musician (drummer) who loves to be in the background making sure the production comes together. (Yes, it is a production – which means work – which is what it takes – a lot of work!). David and his wife, Jenna, are native Buckeyes (both grew up in Westerville, Ohio). Both are graduates of Cincinnati Christian University. Jenna is a school teacher at Taylor Elementary. David has served in worship ministry in a number of churches in various capacities. His most recent ministry was as Technical Director in a church in Madison, Indiana. David will be responsible for bringing together all the elements from technical know-how to training volunteers to ensure all of our services (Sunday and during the week) effectively reach folks in this “Hybrid” way!

So there you have it – welcome to the two Davids! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at dbacon@mtcarmelchurch.org

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 NIV