Renewal

Jeff and I just returned from a week of networking and learning with other church leaders.  We came home with renewed energy.  Sometimes, reading books and listening to speakers can create some discouragement - speaking to real-life planters puts real-life perspective back into play.

We also came back with some new vision for the future.  That was really cool - how God worked in our week away - but that will have to be another blog....

When we returned, I was reading some articles and came across the following one.  It was another encouragement - that God has been in the plan for RFamily from the beginning and He is going to shape it as it goes... We wouldn't want it any other way!!!

5 Ways the Church Will Change

by Thom Schultz - as published on ChildrensMinistry.com

Is the American church fading away? Will the losses in membership and attendance lead to a marginalized church presence such as that in present-day Europe? What will the American church look like in ten years?

Church leaders, denominational executives, and religion researchers gathered in Colorado recently to examine the church's health and prognosis. The Future of the Church Summit was sponsored by Group Publishing.

After evaluating current trends, Summit members predicted a number of likely scenarios for the American church in the next ten years:

1. Emphasis on relationships. Whereas the church and congregational worship today are largely spectator-oriented, the new coming trend will prioritize spiritual growth through personal relationships.
2. Return to Jesus. The current church is preoccupied with the "ABCs"-attendance, buildings and cash. A Summit pastor said, "We need to deal with the idols of the church." The coming church will highly focus its mission, goals, measurements and message on Jesus.
3. Community focus. The church of tomorrow will be much more engaged in addressing the needs in the community. The church will be known more for its members' relational acts of compassion outside of church walls, taking ministry out rather than waiting for outsiders to come in and sit.
4. Conversationally oriented. The current church relies primarily on one-way messaging-from the preacher/teacher at the microphone. The new church will rely more on person-to-person conversation, sharing messages of God's love with one another. Churches will begin to trade pews for conversation tables.
5. Rise of the laity. Shrinking resources will trigger fewer paid ministry positions-and more reliance on unpaid ministry work. The concept of "the priesthood of all believers" will re-emerge.

Scott Thumma from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research shared data showing waning church attendance, the aging of congregational membership and the exodus of young people. The churches that are bucking the downward trends tend to be either small (fewer than 200 members), or very large (more than 2,000 members).

Thumma also cited that congregations' financial health has declined significantly over the past decade. In 2000 31 percent of congregations exhibited excellent financial health. By 2010 only 14 percent showed excellent financial health.

Congregations with high spiritual vitality dropped from about 43 percent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2010, according to Thumma.

To transition to the future, Thumma suggested congregations take a number of actions: create a listening team; get rid of the concept of church committees; learn how to be the church outside of Sunday morning.

Neil Howe, author of "Millennials Rising" and "The Fourth Turning," told Summit attendees that aging Boomers are shaping churches in a direction that young adults in the Millennial generation reject. He said Millennials are looking for environments that emphasize a sense of authentic community, variety of experiences, doing good deeds together, and student-centered learning (not teacher-focused).

Summit participants heard author Reggie McNeal predict that no one model of ministry will characterize the church of tomorrow. Rather, several different models will emerge to connect with the diverse American culture.

And British church leader and consultant  Mike Breen doubted that the American church would go the way of Europe, where the church has withered. He indicated that America's entrepreneurial spirit will provide the drive and the flexibility for the church to survive and thrive in the future.

I want to look at those 5 points one-by-one...

1.  Emphasis on Relationships.  Spiritual growth through relationship. 

          Our ministry plan incorporates relationship into everything we do - just as Jesus built relationships and did life with his disciples, so do we.  We identify people with passion and apprentice them, disciple them, into leaders.  We develop spiritual growth by doing life together.  And what's really funny is that our model is basically a pyramid scheme!  LOL  As each person grows, then will, themselves, meet and grow others under them, who will meet and grow others.... etc...  :)  No formal small groups, just life and God's leading.  We aren't filling leadership positions, we are creating positions for the leaders God raises within our church family.

2.  Return to Jesus.  

          In our church, ABCs aren't Attendance, Building, and Cash, they truly are Admit, Believe, and Confess.  As much as we do struggle ourselves (Jeff and I) against our years in ministry counting numbers, we celebrate growth.  When we stand in front of our state ministry group to give our yearly report, we focus on salvations, rededications, baptism, and personal growth.  

3.  Community Focus.

          This is where I LOVE to see how we are different!  Our church is ALL about the community where we were planted!  We have adopted a school and we serve there regularly.  When the schools have teacher-training days, we provide childcare for the parents that is a community service day for the kids.  A lady has risen-up to begin a MUCH-needed groups for grandparents who are raising their grandkids.  The women's ministry group is service-oriented and has begun a program to provide formal attire for teens who cannot afford it for prom and other such dances.  It is amazing!  While we DO have bible study, it is not our FOCUS.  

4.  Conversationally oriented

          This one is pretty cool - our ministry plan has this built-in.  We have couches and tables, not rows of chairs.  When Jeff speaks, he invited comments and encourages other to talk back to his questions.  Nothing happens that isn't based in communication.

5.  Rise of the laity

          We have a few staff, but for the most part, that is all we will ever have.  Because of the pyramid scheme we have designed, there should not ever be a need for a large staff.  Each staff is simply a higher point in the pyramid - we have designated areas we oversee, but the ministries are run by the laity.  Jeff and I are the planters, the founders, but we do not pretend to possess powers or a connection to God that is any different or any better than those around us.  God put us in place to lead this group of people, not be in power over them!

We have seen and continue to see God's hand at work through the work we are doing.  It is awesome and amazing.  It is beyond anything we could do - only through God has this been accomplished.  I can't wait to see what He has in store for the future!

In the Beginning

It has been an amazing few weeks - giving definite confirmation that God is behind RFamily and leading the way!
Let me take you back to June last year when we first came to Republic to pray over God's leading.  During our visit, God led us to an empty storefront on the north end of town and clearly led us to housing on the north end.  When final decisions had been made, Jeff made another trip down with new eyes.  The empty site had been rented, which was a disappointment, but we both knew God was in control.  Sure enough - as we searched, visited, and prayed over sites, we kept returning to that original storefront.  Then one day last week Jeff noticed that the current renter was moving out and made the important phone call - sure enough - it was available.  We knew it was a gift from God so we jumped on it!  Last Wednesday evening we began moving in.  Then the REAL whirlwind began!
When we moved-in, I noticed that the next-door business had a dog grooming as a side, so I went to check it out and met a great lady who owns the place - she has been awesome about encouraging us and has introduced us to several potential people we can help and reach!  So through her we have added 8 new contacts into our database - with more to come as we get contact information!
THEN - we went looking for office panels - you know the ones... the cubicle walls.  Jeff thought he had a lead, but it fell through, so we went searching again and found SUCH a deal!  A used place had a lot of older walls they wanted to get rid of, so we grabbed it!  $100 for what ended up being 34 panels!  Quite a deal considering that most used panels are running around that much just for ONE!
Oh - and I forgot the deal of 4 matching chairs (just need some paint on wood to match colors) for just $20!
Then we went to Lowe's to buy paint and were able to purchase upper-grade premium paint for the cost of the lower-grade paint!  Because it is so deep in color, it is taking 2 coats, but I can't even imagine how many coats the other paint would have taken!!!
Then today, when we went to church at a sister church in Springfield, the people were so absolutely welcoming!  The leadership team of the church had been informed that we were coming, so it was much easier than it could have been.  Many people seem to believe that their members who live in Republic will switch, but we tried to make it very clear that we weren't going to try or expect that.  We also got the name of a family (from the grandma) to pursue LOL  AND the youth team is expecting us on Wednesday nights - they want to 'be' our youth group while we get going.
I am just so overwhelmed by the blessings God is sending our way - I feel so absolutely wonderful and special to be able to be a part of His plans!
Please continue to pray for us - the hard work is just getting going.  We will haul the kids up to Springfield for Youth and Kids groups on Wednesday night and we will begin our Family Groups this Sunday night.  Here we go!  Time to hang on for the ride!