Over the last couple of days, we have come across a number of people that are still unclear about what Encounters is and what it is not. In an attempt to help clarify, I want to offer the following details:
Encounters is the name that we have given to a very large outreach program here at the United Methodist Temple. Currently, there are a number of different ministries that are occurring under the "Encounters - an outreach of the United Methodist Temple" label.
#1 - Saturday evenings we are having a worship service (currently taking place about every other week, but scheduled to be weekly after the first of the year). This is a third worship service at UMT and is open to EVERYONE. The service follows a different order of worship and has a different style and feel to it, but it is a worship service that is open to anyone that wants to come. At this service, we preach a relevant gospel message that is applicable to everyone. This is not, I REPEAT IS NOT, just a service for folks in recovery. This is a service for anyone wanting to grow in their relationship with Christ (just like any other service here at the Temple).
#2 - On Thursdays we are offering a Bible study that we are currently calling Midweek Encounters (but the name is subject to change) that discusses the 12 steps of recovery from a biblical perspective. Because the steps came out of the scriptures we feel that they have some relevance to all Christians whether they are in a 12 step program or not. We believe that the 12 steps are 12 steps to a life of freedom in relationship to Jesus Christ and as such, everyone can benefit from studying them. Very basic Christian principles are at the heart of these steps. Things like honesty, faith, hope, love, confession, amends making, etc are all taken directly from the scriptures. These are things that all Christians are directed towards. As such, this class is open to anyone that wants to explore the relationship between the scriptures and the steps as it relates to their lives.
#3 - Came to Believe is the name of our Christian 12 step meeting that is specifically directed towards people in recovery. It operates like any AA, CA, NA or other 12 step group, but is open to people wrestling with any kind of addiction. This is a place where we can hold one another accountable to our programs of recovery and process what is going on in our lives from week to week. It is also a place where we do not have to check our relationship with Christ at the door.
#4 - Random Acts of Kindness are just our ways of being missional and evangelistic. Maybe a better way to put it is that these are additional opportunities to reach out to our community with the love of Christ. Sometimes this means taking care packages to families waiting in ICU, while other times it means working on a house (painting, etc). Through small gifts of service we are able to share the love of Christ with people in our communities.
#5 Lifegroups - Because the larger faith community meets on Saturday evenings, they miss out on Sunday school opportunities. Lifegroups is the small group version of Sunday School. These groups get together to pray for one another, study together, and serve together. These little communities help keep people from becoming disconnected in the larger community of faith here at the United Methodist Temple.
I hope that these descriptions have been helpful. I would ask that you do me a favor: if you are still unclear about any of the new outreach ministries or about our new worship service, please ask. It is important that everyone know and understand what is happening. With the right information, we can help direct people to the best fit for their worshiping and growing needs here at the Temple. To meet with me or find out more information about these happenings, please call the church office or email me at acts242@hotmail.com.
Many thanks and many blessings,
Russell
Showing posts with label New Ministry Start Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Ministry Start Up. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
NCLI - A Wrap Up
I neglected to finish up my posts on my time in Arkansas last week; I thought I would offer a little wrap up.
The last day was by far the best. We spent the morning with the creative minds of Len Wilson and Jason Moore from Midnight Oil Productions. I gotta tell you these guys are hilarious!
We spent the morning talking about creative collaboration, worship planning, use of creative media and metaphor, and all kinds of pertinent stuff. If there was a day that made my week in Arkansas worthwhile, it was Friday morning. My only disappointment was that we didn't get a full day with them.
In the aftermath of a week long look at church and ministry planting, I have begun to kick the journey into high gear. I have begun working on two main fronts. The first front is building the prayer team that will pray for this ministry from now through its actual birth or launch. The second front is refining the ministry plan and moving forward with developing the launch team in Port Arthur.
All I can say at this point is that I am excited about the response and looking forward to actually getting on the ground in Port Arthur.
Stay tuned for more updates and if you get a chance to go to a Midnight Oil Productions workshop anywhere in the country, I would highly recommend it.
The last day was by far the best. We spent the morning with the creative minds of Len Wilson and Jason Moore from Midnight Oil Productions. I gotta tell you these guys are hilarious!
We spent the morning talking about creative collaboration, worship planning, use of creative media and metaphor, and all kinds of pertinent stuff. If there was a day that made my week in Arkansas worthwhile, it was Friday morning. My only disappointment was that we didn't get a full day with them.
In the aftermath of a week long look at church and ministry planting, I have begun to kick the journey into high gear. I have begun working on two main fronts. The first front is building the prayer team that will pray for this ministry from now through its actual birth or launch. The second front is refining the ministry plan and moving forward with developing the launch team in Port Arthur.
All I can say at this point is that I am excited about the response and looking forward to actually getting on the ground in Port Arthur.
Stay tuned for more updates and if you get a chance to go to a Midnight Oil Productions workshop anywhere in the country, I would highly recommend it.
Friday, May 8, 2009
NCLI - Day 4
Yesterday was about par for the course for this event. We had a church come and visit us and share a worship experience. It was a praise and worship experience front heavy with music followed by 35 minutes of preaching. There were several decent elements with the service, but there were some flow issues (or at least they would be in our future context).
After the worship experience, there was some discussion about application preaching (which of course would drive some of my preaching professors nuts). One of presenters said that heavy borrowing from other preachers, cooked in your own sauce, was perfectly acceptable. This of course cuts across the grain of a purist.
Later in the afternoon, we had another conference leader from yet another state share with us about worship. We discussed hiring a worship leader and forming the worship team. Finally we discussed some forms and types of worship music.
This was one of the days I was looking forward to most, but must say that my expectations weren't met.
In defense, over the more than 10 years of my ministry experience, I have worked with 3 consultants, 1 coach, started 2 different ministries, worked in the TX Annual Conference transformation process for churches, etc. With this as the backdrop, there is much information that has been repeated during this past week.
Today is the final day (Friday, May 8) and we are having a presentation by Midnight Oil, so I will post about it later this evening.
Blessings,
Russell
After the worship experience, there was some discussion about application preaching (which of course would drive some of my preaching professors nuts). One of presenters said that heavy borrowing from other preachers, cooked in your own sauce, was perfectly acceptable. This of course cuts across the grain of a purist.
Later in the afternoon, we had another conference leader from yet another state share with us about worship. We discussed hiring a worship leader and forming the worship team. Finally we discussed some forms and types of worship music.
This was one of the days I was looking forward to most, but must say that my expectations weren't met.
In defense, over the more than 10 years of my ministry experience, I have worked with 3 consultants, 1 coach, started 2 different ministries, worked in the TX Annual Conference transformation process for churches, etc. With this as the backdrop, there is much information that has been repeated during this past week.
Today is the final day (Friday, May 8) and we are having a presentation by Midnight Oil, so I will post about it later this evening.
Blessings,
Russell
Thursday, May 7, 2009
NCLI - Day 3
Well, we didn't get to the daily update yesterday, so here it goes.
We covered a number of topics yesterday. These included:
Assembling the launch team (gathering the people)
Organizing people through connecting and tasking
Calculating the public launch timeline
I have to say that this was probably the day that makes the trip all worthwhile. The dynamics of the speaker continued to be interactive and engaging.
The key component was the working out of the launch timeline...it looks like we will be working on a six month launch schedule (more about this in an upcoming post).
As the day begins on this fourth day, we are back to monotonous reading and story telling and there appears to be a lot of duplication. Much of what we are dealing with so far this morning is first impressions and visitor vs. guest stuff and signage. For someone that has been through the conferences church transformation process (or has had any experience with church consultants) this is all old hat stuff (think Igniting Ministries, etc). The upside is that later today we move into the third of three training workshops with new speakers.
Stay tuned, especially after the conference is over, as we process some of the things we learned this week. I am very curious what other church planters have experienced.
I will update you about Day 4 either later this evening or early tomorrow.
We covered a number of topics yesterday. These included:
Assembling the launch team (gathering the people)
Organizing people through connecting and tasking
Calculating the public launch timeline
I have to say that this was probably the day that makes the trip all worthwhile. The dynamics of the speaker continued to be interactive and engaging.
The key component was the working out of the launch timeline...it looks like we will be working on a six month launch schedule (more about this in an upcoming post).
As the day begins on this fourth day, we are back to monotonous reading and story telling and there appears to be a lot of duplication. Much of what we are dealing with so far this morning is first impressions and visitor vs. guest stuff and signage. For someone that has been through the conferences church transformation process (or has had any experience with church consultants) this is all old hat stuff (think Igniting Ministries, etc). The upside is that later today we move into the third of three training workshops with new speakers.
Stay tuned, especially after the conference is over, as we process some of the things we learned this week. I am very curious what other church planters have experienced.
I will update you about Day 4 either later this evening or early tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
NCLI - Day 2
Today was a better day...there were no long drives, etc. Plus, we had a different (and I would say more dynamic speaker) which helped to hold my attention. Add to that that some of the information was actually applicable to my upcoming appointment, and it made the day much more bearable!
Today we took a look at the following topics:
10 most common mistakes new start pastors make
Managing our selves and our intercessors
Creating Mission alignment
Raising Virtual Capital through both investors and stewardship
Assembling the Launch Team (and Networking)
We are told that there will be 5 more modules tomorrow...but the really good news is that we will start a little later (8:30) and end earlier (4:30). So tomorrow a few of us will be making a trip into town during the late afternoon and evening.
Church and ministry planters (and anyone else that wants to answer), what are you studying or doing for your continued education? What recommendations would you make (courses, conferences, books, etc) to someone getting ready to plant a church or ministry?
Until tomorrow, shalom
Today we took a look at the following topics:
10 most common mistakes new start pastors make
Managing our selves and our intercessors
Creating Mission alignment
Raising Virtual Capital through both investors and stewardship
Assembling the Launch Team (and Networking)
We are told that there will be 5 more modules tomorrow...but the really good news is that we will start a little later (8:30) and end earlier (4:30). So tomorrow a few of us will be making a trip into town during the late afternoon and evening.
Church and ministry planters (and anyone else that wants to answer), what are you studying or doing for your continued education? What recommendations would you make (courses, conferences, books, etc) to someone getting ready to plant a church or ministry?
Until tomorrow, shalom
Monday, May 4, 2009
NCLI - Day One
After getting up at 5 am this morning and driving for about 6 hours, I arrived at Mt. Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center unscathed and in one piece. After a quick bite at a local fast food establishment, we got under way with the first group of discussions.
Today's topic was strengthening mother/daughter church plants. I have to admit that I didn't have any aha moments today. If you keep an eye on new church start blogs from our denomination and others, all of what was given out in today's information is readily available on line.
Some of the highlights include:
1) Checking your real motives for planting
2) Insuring adequate buy in(ownership of vision and ministry) from birthing church and future new community
3) Birthing church continuing to have prominence in the senior pastor's mind
4) Knowing how long to nest (as the church planter) before leaving the mother church
5) assuring proper financial responsibility in the new start
6) Making sure that the DNA of the plant is at least partially missional (I would advocate a more radical position of completely missional)
7) Pastor of the mother church doing site visits at the new plant
8) Continuing the supervisory role for an appropriate length of time
9) Making sure that the planting pastor embraces and fulfills his or her pastoral role as the spiritual shepherd of the new plant (from planning to launch and beyond)
10) Teach others how to do the same
The stories of some of the folks around the tables proved to be far more interesting than the material presented, but at the end of the day, it was survived.
My main issue was that after a 6 hour drive, I was hoping for more interaction and activity. Instead, what we received was a presenter that sat down in front of us and read off of lists for us to fill in the blanks and spaces in our handouts. In the presenter's defense, he was filling in for the person who was supposed to be leading the session that was out on leave because of a family medical issue.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Today's topic was strengthening mother/daughter church plants. I have to admit that I didn't have any aha moments today. If you keep an eye on new church start blogs from our denomination and others, all of what was given out in today's information is readily available on line.
Some of the highlights include:
1) Checking your real motives for planting
2) Insuring adequate buy in(ownership of vision and ministry) from birthing church and future new community
3) Birthing church continuing to have prominence in the senior pastor's mind
4) Knowing how long to nest (as the church planter) before leaving the mother church
5) assuring proper financial responsibility in the new start
6) Making sure that the DNA of the plant is at least partially missional (I would advocate a more radical position of completely missional)
7) Pastor of the mother church doing site visits at the new plant
8) Continuing the supervisory role for an appropriate length of time
9) Making sure that the planting pastor embraces and fulfills his or her pastoral role as the spiritual shepherd of the new plant (from planning to launch and beyond)
10) Teach others how to do the same
The stories of some of the folks around the tables proved to be far more interesting than the material presented, but at the end of the day, it was survived.
My main issue was that after a 6 hour drive, I was hoping for more interaction and activity. Instead, what we received was a presenter that sat down in front of us and read off of lists for us to fill in the blanks and spaces in our handouts. In the presenter's defense, he was filling in for the person who was supposed to be leading the session that was out on leave because of a family medical issue.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
On the Road
This next week I will be on the road to Arkansas (Mt. Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center to be exact). We will leave early tomorrow morning for a week long endeavor of training. I am traveling with my former mentor pastor and future 1/4 time boss and my soon to be new District Superintendent.
We will be attending a set of workshops on strengthening Mother-Daughter church starts, New Church Leadership Institute (the boot camp for new church starts in our denomination), and a day or so on strengthening launch day worship services.
As I prepare to move to my new appointment in Port Arthur in June, this training is necessary for a new ministry that we are planning on launching in Southeast Texas.
I am not yet sure of what all the facilities have to offer. I will do my best to update the blog from the road (not to worry, the daily prayers will keep coming in my absence), especially if there is wireless internet where we will be staying. Just in case that option is not available, I will still be updating my FB status and Twitter account from my phone. If you would like to follow me using one of these other forms of social media, you can find links on the right side of this blog that will connect you to me in those other venues.
I am looking forward to the opportunity to fine tune some skills for my future ministry in Port Arthur.
If you have already been to church start school or to the NCLI boot camp, I would be curious to hear what you thought about it. Leave me a comment.
If you are a church planter/ministry starter and have attended other helpful forums, I would be interested in hearing about those as well. Again, just drop me a line in the comments.
Blessings,
Russell
We will be attending a set of workshops on strengthening Mother-Daughter church starts, New Church Leadership Institute (the boot camp for new church starts in our denomination), and a day or so on strengthening launch day worship services.
As I prepare to move to my new appointment in Port Arthur in June, this training is necessary for a new ministry that we are planning on launching in Southeast Texas.
I am not yet sure of what all the facilities have to offer. I will do my best to update the blog from the road (not to worry, the daily prayers will keep coming in my absence), especially if there is wireless internet where we will be staying. Just in case that option is not available, I will still be updating my FB status and Twitter account from my phone. If you would like to follow me using one of these other forms of social media, you can find links on the right side of this blog that will connect you to me in those other venues.
I am looking forward to the opportunity to fine tune some skills for my future ministry in Port Arthur.
If you have already been to church start school or to the NCLI boot camp, I would be curious to hear what you thought about it. Leave me a comment.
If you are a church planter/ministry starter and have attended other helpful forums, I would be interested in hearing about those as well. Again, just drop me a line in the comments.
Blessings,
Russell
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