Letter from the Elders
It is with great joy and excitement that the Elders along with the Pastoral Search Team enthusiastically introduce to you Chris Boudreau, whom we unanimously believe to be God’s man to lead our church as the next Senior Pastor.
Very soon, documents will be available to help you get to know the Chris, his wife Elly and their family, and to prepare you for the Candidating Week: April 15 through 22. Chris will preach on both Sundays and involve himself in our weekly ministries; we want to have as many of you as possible meet him personally. A detailed schedule of events for the week is being prepared and soon will be available at church or on this website.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our phone calls and face-to-face visits with Chris and Elly and feel confident that you will as well. After the April 22nd morning church service when Chris preaches, the search process will culminate in a membership vote to affirm God’s call to Chris to become Twin Rivers’ next Senior Pastor.
We and the Search Team are honored by the trust you have placed in us during the search process. We deeply appreciate your faithful prayers, questions, and words of encouragement. This is an exciting time for all of us, and God gets the credit for leading and directing us to this point. It has been an honor for us to serve you in this way.
With great anticipation, and a great desire to reach the world with the gospel of Christ and to see our intentional relationships lead to biblical disciples, we are moving ahead to culminate the Pastoral Search process. Please pray for Chris, Elly, and their children, as well as for our church body, as we undergo the getting-to-know you stage with the Boudreaus, and they with us. We are eager and excited to see what God will continue to do, in and through us!
Sincerely,
Keith E., Jim, Keith S., Corkey, Steve, Doug and the rest of the PST, Mary Ann, Lisa, Mike, Bill, Luke and Joe
Introduction
Chris accepted Christ at the early age of six. It was during a chapel service where he heard that God wanted to be his Heavenly Father and that “he would never leave me nor forsake me.” The Gospel was explained as to how to begin a relationship with God and later that night he accepted Christ with his mother’s assistance.
Chris’s call to ministry began in High School as he began to serve in various ministries and invest his life in others. In 1979, his Senior Pastor invited him out for lunch to share with him that he had been observing Chris for several years and that he could see God working in him and through him. He challenged Chris to consider ministry training and seminary. Through an incredible story of God opening doors, Chris studied at Moody Bible Institute. There, God began shaping and affirming His Call on Chris’s life and prepared him for Christian Service.
Family
Chris and Elly have three children, Joshua 21, Kaitlyn 19, and Jacob 9. Elly currently serves as an account manager supporting major university and college bookstores. In her spare time, in addtion to being a mother enjoys walking, her women’s bible study, serving on the creative arts team, and supporting her husband in ministry.
Joshua is a student at Fullerton College, majoring in International Business. In his spare time he works at Nordstroms, plays hockey, and golfs.
Kaitlyn studies at Santiago Community College and is pursuing a career in elementary education. In addition, she is a lifeguard and swim coach. Both, are very active and leaders in the college ministry in their church.
Jacob currently attends Friends Christian School and is in the third grade. His weekend involves playing on a local soccer team and spends most of his time in the outdoors. As a family, they love the outdoors, walks, and spending time as a family.
Perspectives on Ministry
In Chris’ own words
Chris, how do you get people to participate in worship and in serving?
To lead others effectively, a leader must first be a worshipper both privately and corporately and have a heart of service. These two areas of the Christian life are essential to truly being a disciple. The best way I can answer this question is, first to lead by example, and second, to call others to engage in service to “honor” our Lord Jesus Christ out of love not compulsion.
In the area of service, I think it’s essential to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and how He is prompting people to serve and then helping them to serve in areas that exudes passion, joy, and fruit. I believe that our focus should not just be on those who have demonstrated years of service, but to raise up new believers, encouraging them to participate in the body of Christ. This involves recruitment, training, mentoring, team building, and empowering people to do the work of the ministry.
Tell us about your leadership/administrative style. How do you supervise, motivate, and develop staff and lay leadership?
If you were to ask other staff members and volunteers, they would say my leadership style is very relational and team oriented. My goal is to move a team in the direction of desired goals, while at the same time utilizing everyone’s ability and expertise properly to get the task done. They would also say that I empower them and encourage them as a team leader. In addition, this is how I would describe myself.
- Out of the box thinker – Forward and creative thinker.
- Catalyst for change – Let’s not keep doing the same thing expecting different results.
- Relational – It is about people our greatest resource.
- Team oriented – Someone has to lead, but we all have to take part.
- TIME with staff – coaching them to become more effective and personally driven rather than top- down managed.
- Creating a cross ministry platform – one that fosters interdependence among ministries rather than independence
- Empowering staff and volunteers. They need to be the “heroes”.
- Servant leader – There is nothing that I would ask of others that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.
What have others viewed as your particular mix of giftedness? What do you see as your mix?
- Pastoral/Shepherd Leadership – This is seen above all else. This is my unique calling.
- Team Builder
- Mentor/Coach
- Change agent
- Strong Networker
- Intuitive discerner
- Honest and straight forward counselor God called them to
What were your parents, childhood, school years, and young adulthood like? What lessons did you learn?
I grew up on the south side of Detroit in Lincoln Park, Michigan. The general area is known for its labor in creating steel and building automobiles. My parents divorced when I was a year old and my mother raised me. I am thankful that my mother chose to sacrifice and send me to a Christian school. In addition to these things there are three other “pillars” that all helped shaped me as a young child: the First Baptist Church, my Christian school, and my aunt who modeled Christ to me and nurtured me spiritually.
I became a Christian at the age of six. It was during a chapel service while attending my Christian School that I heard about God’s love for me. The speaker shared of God’s love, referring to him as our Heavenly Father, one who watched over and cared for us at all times. He also explained how God as a heavenly Father would never leave us nor forsake us.
He furthered explained from John 3:16 why we need to be born again and how we need to become part of God’s family. Later that night, I knelt down next to my bed. I asked Jesus into my heart, to forgive my sins, to cleanse me, and to be my Heavenly Father. Afterwards, I shared with my mother what I had done.
This life-changing experience was significant because being in a home affected by divorce I was hurt and felt abandoned. I wanted more than anything else to know that someone was for there for me and would never again leave me. I claim this promise because I have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
My relationship with Christ became much more personal in my early teen years. It was two Junior High leaders who poured a great deal of love and time into my life, helping me become a follower of Christ.
The Pacific Northwest, specifically Springfield/ Eugene, is one of the most unchurched regions in the country. How do you view your role in transforming this community?
Given the opportunity to lead Twin Rivers Church, I see our church transforming the community by first becoming
a “community” of transformed believers. In this, God’s people will naturally “spill” out in the community. As the lead pastor, I would lead our church towards making the most impact through a dynamic weekend experience, corporate outreach, leading in personal evangelism, and creating bridge opportunities to reach people for Christ. I have over 28 years of experience in leading different size of churches and all have the same elements. I see my role as…
- Creating a weekend “service” experience that engages both believers and seekers in an experience that draws them closer to God.
- Incorporating in messages when appropriate challenging people to “own” their Christian Faith, taking advantage of every opportunity to lead a family member, friend, co-worker, student to take a step towards choosing Christ as their Lord and Savior.
- Praying and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading for our church. I would see us researching what other churches are doing in the area and then strategically figuring out what Twin Rivers can offer to the community. How can we have city officials, schools, and the community know that we are there for them? What could we do that no one else has done?
- Creating fun “Bridge events” that either get people on to our campus so they are introduced to us, or engage in the community for people to see our “people” really care and believe in what they are living for in life.
- I have 28 years of Marriage and Family Ministry experience. We need to value families and be a church where families come to our church because we do things with excellence and really care for all members. We would develop a “Faith-at-home” philosophy. Strong Families make for a healthy church.
- Building a staff and leadership team that has the same heart to reach people and the community. This would be accomplished in annual goals, accountability, and working together as a team when necessary.
- Creating a short and long-term strategic plan for how we accomplish an increase in conversions, baptisms, and increase the number of people in groups.