Pick-up Lines….

“We are here to make this a great city.”

That is the line the folks at Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan NYC use to describe their church.   Provocative…I think so.    So what line have you designed to “pick up” a new relationship with someone?  OK, this does not have to be about church or your “ministry”….probably best that it not be!   The best “hook” is genuine interest in another person…or as Jim Henderson puts it, “pay unusual attention to people”!    But there are times when it is appropriate to share your ministry vision.  You only get 10 seconds to set a verbal hook.   Long rambling speeches only create a “glazed face”.  Call it your “elevator speech”.   Here are some I have heard recently….

My work is to build you a new house.

I help people help people.

My job is to improve your kids lives.

We are creating a community that accepts anyone.

My work?  I help people turn over a new leaf.

Suggestions………?

THRIVE NEW PLANTERS MEET THIS WEEK

Add it to your prayer list for the week…over a dozen new planting teams from coast to coast are meeting in GR this week to plan their new start in an intense environment.  From the Great Lakes Region we can celebrate the following new planters…..Aaron Kleinfelter who is planting in Cincinnati, Don DeVlieger who is planting along the lakeshore area, Eric Branch exploring a plant in Sparta/Greenville area and Toby Gruppen who is planting in North Holland.    Way cool…..    Pray for these people this week!

CCDA

Christian Community Development Association

For an amazing resource, go see the CCDA’s mp3’s at: http://www.urbanministry.org/ccda

If you haven’t heard of CCDA, if you are interested in seeing Christians actively blessing their local communities, THIS is the place for you!!

enjoy!

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where would jesus plant?

  Recently as I’ve sat with potential parent pastors to explore the planting subject I get asked a question.   “Where do you think we should be planting?”   Way cool….. 4 years ago when I began these conversations the more common question was “Why should we be planting?”  Times they are a changin’!

Then I sat with a planter prospect who asked the question with a slight yet significant twist.   “What area of this region has the greatest need?”  In this case, we talked about Greenville, a community north east of GR and recently ”gut punched” with major layoffs and economic downturn.   To plant there you have to understand the struggle of unemployment, depression and the human coping behaviors that kick in under such circumstances.   So where would Jesus plant….in Greenville?  How about a burned out neighborhood in San Diego?   Or do we only show up after the neighborhood has been rebuilt and ”saved”? 

 I like one pastor who said his congregation has been thinking about daughtering a new church the part of town with high density trailer parks and low income apartments.  Hummmm.   Honestly, some planters show up at my office with absolute clarity as to the location of their plant and when I hear it (OK, affluent people need Jesus too and surely God wants us all to stay close to our bio families), I have to wonder a bit about motive.   Is this about personal preferences & not disrupting our lives or about following Jesus in mission?  Jesus came to mess up my life………………….yours?    So perhaps we are getting better at asking the right question…wwjp?  (i am willing to pass along  your suggestions to people who are serious about an answer).

Who pays attention to you?

Paying attention to people takes energy.   Not that “pastoral care” is necessarily the biggest part of what pastor types do for a living.   Facts are, church planters often are not so hot at being quiet and listening to people like a pastoral counselor might.   Church planters, taken as a group, tend to not permit themselves to get deeply enmeshed in a prolonged crisis.   There is just so much to “do” relative to the plant that we often need others with listening and “care” gifts to step in and help.   But what happens when the planter gets “thumped”.    Attendance takes a drop (we all know that funk)…finances slip…and then nerves get short at home…and then….    So who pays attention to you?   Recently I reconnected with John Smith (yup, real name) who launched a Michigan chapter of Pastorcare (www.pastorcare.org).   I am grateful for John and his ability to “pay attention” to pastor types when they need it.    The Great Lakes Region is committed to the pastors that give their lives and hearts to plant.   Most times they are positive and healthy experiences.  Sometimes not.   We can count on John Smith to pay attention at a time like that.    (If you need help, give us a shout and we’ll do what we can to honor John for his time spent with you.)

SCHOLARSHIPS TO SIMPLE CHURCH with NEIL COLE

   Neil Cole, north American leader of the “simple church” movement, is coming to Grand Rapids for a workshop November 16-18.   Here is a chance to learn from a planter who sparked a multiplying movement of 300 churches.     Whatever your plant model, there is juice in this event for you.

The Great Lakes Region wants to encourage your participation by providing scholarships ($120. value) for any Great Lakes RCA planter AND key lay leader  and one member of each Classis CMT to attend….first come first serve.   The event begins Friday night at 6:00 pm, Saturday 8:30 am til 4:30 pm and Sunday 1:30 pm til 5 pm and is held at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College.    For details and to apply contact adeboer@rcagl.org 

Soularize Webcast – FREE!!

Tomorrow night, October 18th, at 6pm PST there will be a free Soularize webcast (also see http://theooze.com). This week, join Spencer Burke and author Ori Brafman – of “The Starfish and the Spider” courtesy of Soularize.net.

Ori Brafman is a peace and economic development consultant and activist. He is co-author of indie business cult favoriate “The Starfish and the Spider,” about leaderless groups and what makes them so powerful.

Spencer Burke is a “pastor alumnus,” author, speaker, heratic (see his book “A Heretics Guide To Eternity”) founder of TheOOZE.com and our friend. In Thursday’s interview, Spencer will talk to Ori about the Church that is primarily running as a Spider organization in a Starfish world; together, we’ll investigate Starfish front-runners and Hybrids – can organic and institutional models live in harmony?

You can ask Ori and Spencer questions, take live polls and more!

www.Soularize.net/feedlive click on “preview” and you are in!!

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The A to Z Classis

I spent an hour today with an Asian American church planting couple from Atlanta.   They are visiting exploring a relationship with Zeeland Classis and were at the Classis meeting last night held at GVSU.    Billy and Celia Cho have been in Atlanta for 2 years and have seen a congregation of 200 emerge quickly.   Billy reports prayer meetings that take place Monday through Friday at 6 am as people seek God in this new ministry.   Now they have come to Zeeland to find a family of faith to affiliate with .   The cool thing is that only 2 years ago another planting family, Lewis and Lisa Tait, approached Zeeland Classis saying they too are in Atlanta seeking affiliation with the RCA as they plant a new church.   And the attitude of Zeeland Classis……?    As Steve Smallegan shared it with me….while some may question the distance, when God opens a door, we walk through it!   Bravo!   Lead on A-Z Classis!

Planters at WTS October 18th noon ’til 2:00

    This Thursday planters and interested students from Western Theological Seminary will be lunching together as a way of building relationships and vision for planting in the WTS world.   Thanks to folks like George Hunsburger and Dennis Voskuil, Western has been warm to planting.  Our hopes would be that in time that results in an academic concentration in church planting.   For now the WTS lunch experience has been a great environment to help students connect with actual planters and the mission to multiply.   Granted, it’s a big step from Hebrew exams to a planting conversation but over 10 students are already signed up for Thursday.   If you plan to attend be sure to RSVP at adeboer@rcagl.org

Church Planting Behind Bars

  South Dakota is ahead of our times.    The department of corrections in the state long ago realized that the cost of putting a person in prison (around 40k annually) is too high to not engage faith based ministries as part of the solution.   So Prison Congregations of America was born ( www.prisoncongregations.org).   The idea is to surround a prison with congregations that will together to send a church planter to work with inmates developing a congregation (elders, deacons, worship team etc.) and work with the congregations surrounding the prison to create a support net for the inmate when they return to society.    Repeat offending is a major problem, in some cases the percentages are nearly 90%.  With the PC approach that rate drops dramatically.   So church planting behind bars has become a stated value by the Michigan Department of Corrections.   We may even have our first planter.  Cool.   

Tonight I am in So. Dak. where I spent an two hours with a prison congregation behind bars in worship and then interviewing inmates.   Jeffery shared with me his 40 year sentance (he murdered his own 3 year old child).  I grieved, listened and was sobered by the stories and desperate need.  Jeffery has given his life to Jesus but without the prison congregation that has been planted to nurture him and grow his commitment he would have much less chance of redeeming the next 40 years.    As it is, he ministers with the congregation here of 45 baptist believers to reach incoming inmates who are facing “hard time”.    How many hundreds of inmates are there like Jeffery in Michigan?    Pray as we work with the Michigan DOC for a new day in faith development behind bars. 

Tim Keller on Missional Church

Here’s a good piece on what makes a “missional” church by Tim Keller

From Missio…Denver with Michael Frost

 

Frost, missional leader and professor of missiology from Australia, tells the story of three chinese pastors who were smuggled out in 2005 for a meeting with western leaders.   When asked how they could be prayed for the pastors of underground churches shared three requests.  First, pray about the fact that the government will not permit churches to grow larger than 15 people…after that they need to split.   Second, pray about the fact that the government would not allow them to own buildings such that they had to meet in bars, coffee shops, homes or cafes.  Third, pray that they may be able to form organizations for the training of leaders.   At present the government would not allow christian training organizations which forced leaders to be trained for ministry exclusively in the church.  

The western leaders, hearing these prayer requests and reflecting on the situation in their countries, saw the remarkale circumstances of the chinese church and reported that they found it difficult to pray those prayers.    As the chinese church grows, the assumptions of the western church are deeply challenged.    Food for thought from Missio….

Prayers for Aaron and Eric

Aaron Kleinfelter is exploring a relationship with the RCA as a planter in Cincinnati where he lives.   A grad from Fuller, he is working in a school while he develops an organic chruch in the city.   Eric Branch is also poking around the RCA considering planting a missional community having experience from his seminary days in Denver.   While there, he planted with Scum of the Earth in Colorado Springs.   Both of these guys will be looking more closely at planting in the Great Lakes Region and will be at THRIVE later this month.   Many of us recall well the earliest days of planting and can easily empathize with where Aaron and Eric are at.   Let the prayers begin….

www.assessme.org easy tool to use with new people

Many of us need a simple usable tool to help new people find a place in a local missional movement.  Check out assessme!

2008 Planters Retreat Features Alan Hirsch!

   January 26-28, our national church planters retreat,  is taking shape with some great elements that will juice the movement of new churches from east to west.   Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways will be with us to share and engage our vision.   You can learn more about Alan at www.theforgottenways.org     ONE THING is a scholarshiped event for planters and spouse who have been deployed for at least 3 months and no more than 4 years.    Planters are expected to cover their own travel fee while the Region covers the cost of their spouse.   To register or for more detail contact adeboer@rcagl.org   

RCA National Church Multiplication Team Meets in GR…update.

This week, planting leadership from New York to California is meeting in GR to advance the planting of new churches in the RCA.   Some quick updates on progress….OUR CALL has led us to launch 110 new chruches to date, 80 new leaders are being nurtured toward planting, the church multiplication movement in the RCA has become central (as opposed to “on the margins”) to the RCA as results begin to speak loudly, 39% of our new starts are ethnic or multi-cultural and 65 churches have parented a new start.  

As the movment unfolds, old attitudes are being replaced by missional, kingdom and diverse perspectives.  That reality is beginning to impact classes and congregations.   Good news….give thanks!     Looking ahead, to complete our call we need 60 million dollars and hundreds of new leaders.  God has shown us more than we expected at this point.   We have every reason to believe that the Spirit that birthed OUR CALL will continue to suprise us and meet every need.   Lead on planters…the kingdom comes in and through your work!