MIM EZINE, JULY 3, 2005 CONTENTS – Children’s Ministry Check-Up – Think Outside the Classroom – Helping Your Church Grow: Part I – Book Review – Can It Be True? – Classified Ads To read this ezine in its entirety click here --- Equip and Refresh Your Members via Speakers and Seminars Find Christian conferences and speakers. Promote your Christian speaking or conference. Visit Ministry in Motion's Speaker Directory and Conference Directory. http://www.ministryinmotion.net/speaker_christian_directory.html http://www.ministryinmotion.net/conferences_christian.html --- "Helping Your Church Grow: Part I" by Dr. John Jackson , President of VisionQuest Ministries © 2004 Athletes often describe hitting a "wall" of performance. It is a barrier where no apparent amount of effort appears able to push through the pain of the moment. Athletes who hit such a barrier either surrender to the lid or they devise new understandings of the mind and disciplines of the body to help break through the barriers of their efforts. Churches and church leaders face similar barriers. Often, it is a barrier that exists because of repeated patterns of behavior. Church consultant Lyle Schaller calls this behavior, "path dependency": once people/institutions travel down a certain path, it is difficult to choose a new road (Schaller, The Very Large Church, pg. 107). Having gotten what we’ve always gotten, we continue to do what we have always done. How many times have we constrained ourselves to destructive patterns in the church that prevent our growth? God wants our churches to grow…to reach new people for Him and to impact our culture for Christ! Barriers to your ministry vision do exist! Some of them you know about, others are perceptible, but others hide under the surface and threaten to damage your ministry leadership. A "growth barrier" is a set of qualitative factors that create a ceiling to quantitative progress. In this respect, a number of barriers have been observed that relate to various size plateaus. Schaller has suggested the following size groupings as a way to categorize church ministries: Small -100 Midsize 101-350 Large 351-750 Very Large 750-1800 Megachurch 1801+ Of these, the 200 barrier is the most notable in that 85% of churches in N. America stay below it. The dynamics that relate to this barrier are mostly predicable, and from the leadership perspective, it marks the quantitative divide between small churches and large churches. Tools to Break Barriers Each size has a different DNA and size constraint. In my observation, there are at least 6 fundamentals that will help you and your church break through ministry growth barriers: Clarity of vision Certainty of leadership Unity of leadership Connection with Community Excellence in Presentation Faithfulness in Follow Through In this article we’ll look at the first two fundamentals; successive articles will look at the remaining fundamentals . . . at the end of this series, you will be equipped to help your church to grow! Clarity of Vision Growing Churches have a heart for reaching people for Jesus Christ. If your vision is to care for the contented, then you will not produce passion in your people to reach those outside the boundaries of the church family. Walt Kallestad's book entitled, "Turn Your Church Inside Out" is probably the easiest reading and clearest reference that I have read in years on this topic. Clarity of vision must answer the question, "Who does my church exist for?" One of the exciting dynamics of having a clear vision is recognizing the need to be present in the community. Rather than waiting for the community to show up on the church’s doorstep, churches that break growth barriers practice what some call, "Presence Evangelism"; being present in the normal network of society, being present in the ministry to physical needs of people, and being present in the spiritual battle for people’s souls. "Churches that are effective reaching people for Christ see the needs of the unchurched, establish ministries that allow the church to be present in the community, and have a process by which they are able to draw these unchurched people into the safety of Christ and a local church" (Mcintosh & Martin, Finding Them, Keeping Them, Page 22). Leaders of Growing Churches know who they are, why they are, and where they are. They have learned to operate out of their strengths and to mitigate against their weaknesses. They know what their key role is and how to parlay that role into motivated ministry. Finally, leaders in growing churches know where they are going and where they are now. Leaders in growing churches build bridges to the future while they are walking there. Unity of Leadership Larry Osborne, pastor of North Coast Community Church in the San Diego area, has written a great book entitled "The Unity Factor". While it is a small book (like Kallestad's), it has a powerful message: "Get the key influencers in your church to share a common vision. Sacrifice today for the promise of tomorrow in these peoples lives." Without leadership unity, there will be no lasting ministry growth that breaks through barriers. Listen to this quote from a committed leader in a local church about the importance of leadership unity: "At our church my wife and I are giving time we don't have and tons of money because it's important. Do you think we are going to let sick people kill that work and investment? Heavens no! It's costing us way too much! For every sick, agenda laden, divisive, contentious, person in our church we aren't willing to confront (out of fear we say "oh that's just the way they are," "I don't think God wants us to treat people like that"), there are 10, 20, 100, 1000 people out there to be won to Christ that won't because they sniff out the contentiousness and will go somewhere else. Do we want to stand before God and say we did the math wrong, or that we didn't have the guts to make way for 100s more to come to Christ by not tackling these problems decisively?" (Don Nelson, personal conversation) Where are you and your church with these two fundamentals? Is the vision clear? Has God written the vision on your heart? How about unity of leadership? Is the leadership team in your ministry united in passion, purpose, and process? God wants you to break through growth barriers. Take the steps necessary to see those growth barriers removed from your local church ministry today! Dr. John Jackson is the President of VisionQuest Ministries and the Founding and Senior Pastor of Carson Valley Christian Center . Dr. Jackson has written the books, PastorPreneur, and High Impact Church Planting. You may learn more about breaking growth barriers and creative approaches to church ministry by visiting the VisionQuest Ministries Website at www.vqresources.com --- Protect Your Family & Your Computer All-in-one security suite. The world’s first unified security suite adds an award winning anti-virus and firewall solution to protect your family and PC! BSafe Online Internet Filter Tamper Proof Reporting Option Pop-up Killer Spyware Killer Firewall/Intrusion Detection Anti-Virus (Powered By Sophos) New! Integrated SPAM Filter Simple 10 Minute Install! New, Flexible Control Center Free Support Free 10-Day Trial More Information --- Children's Ministry Check-Up: Think Outside the Classroom By Karen Wingate It's summer time, time to have some fun in your children's ministry program. Put your hair up in a pony tail, dig out the sun block, and plan for some interaction time between you, your kids and their parents. Here are some fun ideas you can do outside the classroom or church building. 1. Carnival: Are you planning a Vacation Bible School program, fine arts camp, or other week long program this summer? Kick off the event with an old fashioned carnival in the church parking lot, a local park, or a local shopping center. You can use the carnival to publicize your coming event, introduce the theme, music and games you'll be using and pre-register kids for the event. 2. Outings: While the more vocal kids in your group try to convince you the only way to have fun is to take them to an expensive amusement park, fun outings don't have to be pricey. One youth worker is taking her children's youth group to weekly one dollar kids' movies at the local theatre. Plan a trip to the zoo or a Children's museum. Plan a after church lunch at a local fast food restaurant or go out for an ice cream cone. Putt-putt golf, swimming or a nature trail hike can provide outdoor fun. 3. Lock-ins: With no school in session, kids have the time to sleep the next day away. If you schedule a lock-in, follow these hints. Have a schedule of activities planned through the night. As kids get tired, they'll get antsy and more apt to get into trouble. As you become tired, you'll be less able to cope. That's why having scheduled activities will keep everyone busy and on track. Provide a "quiet" room for kids who do want to sleep. Also, schedule a rotation of adults through the night so there is "fresh blood." I don't "do" lock-ins because I need my sleep, so I volunteer to be the breakfast crew, relieving the worker who has gone without sleep. With any youth event, remember to follow these guidelines: 1. Use permission slips and health forms for every event, especially events outside the church building. Carry the health forms with you so you have emergency numbers with you. Check with your church's insurance carrier to see if your group is covered for outside events including transportation to and from the event. 2. Plan for enough helpers. Have an adult for every three to four kids, more if your kids are younger. You need enough helpers to cover the group in case of an emergency or discipline problem. If one adult needs to deal with the crisis, you need to have enough adults to cover the rest of the kids. Ask parents, new members, and grandparents to help with chaperoning and driving. 3. Establish rules at the beginning of your event and be ready to enforce them when needed. Children's ministry does not need to be only serious talk about the Bible. We need to have times of fun together. Acts 2:42 tells us that the early church included fellowship as one of the four key activities of the early church. When we have fun together, kids can build friendship with other Christian kids. They can watch how adults and older kids live out their faith in an everyday environment. Finally, it's a great way to introduce new kids to your group. As they see how much fun your group has together, they'll want to come back for more, opening the door for you to invite them to join your regular teaching and worship times. Karen Wingate is the author of the just released SONday"SCOOL Story Lessons, Year 2 curriculum published by the Salvation Army. For more information on how you can obtain ordering information about this exciting 42 lesson curriculum filled with creative activities and interactive Bible stories geared toward unchurched kids, email Karen at kwingate@neo.rr.com --- Searching for a New Ministry Position? One of the needs we have perceived at Ministry in Motion is a service to help connect qualified ministers and church workers to ministry related and church staff positions. If you are presently in job search mode, or if you have a ministry position you are looking to fill, be sure to visit this page. ministry openings --- Book Review – Can It Be True? By Michael Wakely, Kregel Publications, 2002, ISBN 0825439442, 224 pages Reviewed by Teena Stewart Though not every Christian has experienced doubts regarding his or her faith and God, many do. Michael Wakely compares these doubts to pesky mosquitoes. Despite our attempts to pretend they don’t exist, they keep coming back to pester us. His purpose in writing the book is to build a more effective mosquito killer and he outlines attitudes that are crucial to holding onto our search for truth. Any number of things can cause mosquitoes of doubt to swarm around us. It might be the fact that we find some of the Old Testament events, laws, and teachings hard to swallow when we compare them to our opinion of what a loving, civilized God should be. It might be the fact that we’ve seen suffering and can’t understand why God would allow it. Sometimes it’s because those who claim to be followers of Christ appear spiritually and/or materially blessed and blame our lack of faith on our problems. And what about that narrow belief that there is one and only one way – a narrow gate that leads into heaven? How can Christians who are a reflection of Christ’s love make such a claim? Doesn’t this attitude show a lack of tolerance? Isn’t God big-hearted enough to accept anyone who believes sincerely in their religion? What happens when different people in different faiths each believe they have the one and only truth? We can’t all be right. What is the truth about hell in this regard? What about the inconsistent behavior of those who claim to be Christians? Are they truly what they say they are? And what about the "name it and claim it" theologians who tell us to simply have faith and believe and we will receive. Wakley approaches doubt in as fair and unbiased a manner possible. He admits that he has deeply questioned these and many other problem areas. His years on the mission field in the Middle East have put him in face-to-face encounters with many different situations that raised doubts in his own mind. Despite these struggles, he stands firm in his faith and his honest exploration of these and other topics that cause many Christians to doubt and sometimes even to give up their walk. He tackles each mosquito one at a time, giving an explanation of his comprehension based on his Biblical knowledge. For instance, Wakely speculates that some of our struggles with doubt in regard to the Old Testament spring from filtering the latter-day standards through our ‘modern’ cultural spectacles. He does not succeed in eliminating every mosquito. Some remain because even he admits that with our finite understanding some answers will stay ambiguous. In the case of God’s seeming indifference to some of our prayers, Wakely believes that our human perspective is skewed by our fallen nature, therefore our expectations are often out of kilter. Prayer is where we must face our own short comings and wonder at God’s acceptance. We should not be surprised that prayer, and God’s answers, to it remains a mystery. This book is an excellent tool for pastors, Christian counselors and leaders, as source of validating with those whom they counsel, that doubting and questioning is OK. But the book is also appropriate for any Christian who has wrestled with or may continue to wrestle with doubts regarding their faith. As long as Christians remain earth bound they will battle mosquitoes of doubt. This book assures us that we are not alone in the battle and that doubting is fairly common place with even the most devout Christ followers. Can It Be True? : A Personal Pilgrimage Through Faith and Doubt --- Book Reviewers Wanted Would you like to review books for Ministry in Motion? We could use more reviewers. Please send us an email indicating your interest and include sample of your writing. Book review experience is a plus. No pay but you get to keep the book. Contact us: http://www.ministryinmotion.net/contact_us.html --- Discover Your Spiritual Gifts. Help Others Discover Theirs. Ministry in Motion has developed spiritual gifts resources and assessment tools to help you and your congregation learn how they are gifted and how to best use those gifts in service. Be sure to visit our Spiritual Gift resource page. http://www.ministryinmotion.net/gift_spiritual.html --- Important Links Ministry in Motion Home Page Ministry in Motion Bookshop. Ministry resources developed by Ministry in Motion Ministry in Motion Christian Bookstore. Order Christian books online while comparing prices Ministry in Motion Christian Jobs. Search for and post Christian jobs & ministry related jobs --- Classified Ads Advertise with Ministry in Motion Just $10 per classified listing. For more information on advertising visit our advertising page --- Wanted: Your Ministry Tips and Ministry Success Stories Ministry in Motion would love to share your ministry tips and experiences with others. Do you have a successful church-related ministry you'd like to talk about with our readers? Let us interview you. Do you have a ministry idea or tip you would like to share with our readers. No pay, but great exposure for you and your ministry. Contact us at the following link. http://www.ministryinmotion.net/contact_us.html Looking for Family-Friendly books at affordable prices? Visit www.pcpublications.orgfor a variety of books for the entire family. And shipping is always FREE! --- Did you know that Irena Sendler saved over 2,500 Polish Jews from certain deathduring World War II? Learn more about her and other great women at www.historyswomen.com --- Revolutionize the Way You Do Ministry SermonWorld.com is the monthly sermon subscription service that will revolutionize the way you do ministry! Imagine always being prepared a month in advance with complete sermon manuscripts and accompanying PowerPoint files, all in relevant, biblically based series. Your congregation will be blessed as you preach the Word with power, ministering to their needs and equipping them to fulfill their calling. Get more information --- Join the Christian Connection Ezine A free ezine for people who love the Lord. Easy-to understand devotionals, testimonies, biblical questions answered, pen pals listings and resources to help you grow in the Lord. To Subscribe: Send email --- The World's Largest Selection of Sheet Music. Sheet Music Plus. Sheet music, songbooks and guitar tabs. Fast shipping, low prices, and no hassle returns. Sheet Music Plus. --- Revolutionize the Way You Do Ministry SermonWorld.com is the monthly sermon subscription service that will revolutionize the way you do ministry! Imagine always being prepared a month in advance with complete sermon manuscripts and accompanying PowerPoint files, all in relevant, biblically based series. Your congregation will be blessed as you preach the Word with power, ministering to their needs and equipping them to fulfill their calling. Get more information Join the Christian Connection Ezine A free ezine for people who love the Lord. Easy-to understand devotionals, testimonies, biblical questions answered, pen pals listings and resources to help you grow in the Lord. To Subscribe: Send an email to: christianconnectionzine-subscribe@yahoogroups.com