Paul Harvey is a Midwesterner who has made his mark on the radio world with his wit, news and comments. In particular, Paul Harvey famously has delivered his bit, The Rest of the Story, for some 31 years. In that bit, Harvey tells a story with his storied dramatic pauses only to share the surprise or the twist of the story at the very end, all in an effort to share the rest of the story.

We have our own "rest of the story" going on as we are processing some pieces to our incorporation at GracePoint. Grace Chapel has commissioned me in partnership with the steering team to lead and guide the process for GracePoint to incorporate as a legal, independent church.  We sent out a letter to our network of Life Communities along with accompanying working documents for the Statement of Faith and Membership Covenant. (To see these documents for yourself, visit www.gracepointne.org/incorporation.htm where you can download them.)

Why? Because we are seeking input from our church community and answering their questions about the Statement of Faith and Membership Covenant so that the steering team and I can finalize those pieces of information for our by-laws to incorporate. In fact, we've met with a number of Life Communities about these two pieces and have received valuable input and perspectives on them that will definitely figure into the finalized by-laws for GracePoint. If you've participated in these meetings, THANK YOU because you've been of tremendous help and encouragement to us.  If you attend GracePoint and want to lend your voice to these two aspects of our emerging by-laws, then by all means, download the documents, review them, and initiate a meeting with me where we can talk through your thoughts and questions. We want to hear from you if you count GracePoint as your spiritual home to ensure everyone who forms GracePoint lends their voice to reflect themselves in the by-laws.

The next step after that is another round of meetings in March where we anticipate being able to interact around the issues of the governance structure and women in leadership. In preparation for those meetings, we will provide documents around the governance structure and where we believe women can and should serve. And we will want to interact with you around those issues and answer any questions you may have in preparation for finalizing our by-laws.

The last step will be a forum in mid-April where we will present the full set of by-laws for your final interaction and questioning so that we can incorporate by May 1^st.

So be sure to lend your voice where you are able. Be sure to read the necessary documents and ideas so that you can lend your voice in meaningful ways. And embrace this process so that we can solidify our culture as a church and organize ourselves in light of our mission to take steps of faith in Jesus Christ, to be known by our love for God and others, and to offer hope to our world, one life at a time. And in the words of Paul Harvey, "And now you know...the rest of the story."

Looking forward to hearing from you,