Hello, wonderful community of Platt Park Church!
As you all know, we have had a transition around here over the past year. From time to time, people have asked, “Who’s in charge at Platt Park Church?”
Personally, we love this question. It is a wonderful thing to be a part of a church community where this question gets asked and we can answer honestly, “Well, we are trying to develop a community where God is in charge and we are all trying to listen and follow Him.” That is truly exciting to us!
When the church was forming in the years after Jesus ascended and after the persecution in Jerusalem, the early church leaders often traveled to start churches. They would stay in the area for a brief time and then leave. When they would return to visit the community, they would see who seemed to be leading the community, and then appoint those people as leaders/elders of this newly planted church. As we read these stories in the New Testament, the appointed leadership always seemed to be plural — a group of leaders.
So, in trying something “new” here at Platt Park Church, we are actually trying something very old and foundational to the early church.
That being said, there are times when you want to talk to someone in leadership about a specific question. Anne, Charlie, and Holly function in a flat leadership model where decisions are made as a team and no-one is “higher” or “lower” than anyone else. However, we do all have specific roles in how we serve the church:
- Charlie Dodrill, Pastor of Spiritual Formation & Worship: I lead the Teaching Team and the Worship Team, as well as the Blessing Team here at church. I am here for anyone who wants to talk about anything, and I especially love talking about your relationship with God. I love asking questions and listening.
- Anne Coughlin, Spread Love Pastor: I lead the Children’s Ministry team (made up of our Preschool, Kids Club, and Youth Ministry staff) in addition to coordinating all small groups and serving opportunities.
- Holly Ingels, Executive Pastor: I get to be the primary contact for all of the people who are newer to our church and love helping them get to know this amazing community. I also coordinate all of the communications and operations of the church (the “business end” of things.)
Joining us in caring for this community is the Elder Board (an elected group of volunteer leaders) and the staff team. As you all know, Platt Park Church has an incredible staff team. In large part, we are able to have such talented people working at the church because the entire staff team is part-time. Each team member has other contract work, businesses, or full-time positions besides what they do on Sundays. Ask them about the cool things they do outside of the church!
If you have a pastoral care need — if you’d like to pray with someone, if you have questions about what you’re hearing in sermons, or if you just want to talk to somebody about life — we would love to talk to you! You are welcome to come to any one of the Leadership Team. You can choose the person you know the best, the person you feel most comfortable with, or you can email all of us at leadership@plattparkchurch.org. We are available and are so grateful to be walking this path with all of you and God.
With love and gratitude,