| GROW
Magazine
by Dan Soliday Nazarene Disaster Response is pleased to announce the reopening of New Orleans First Church of the Nazarene on June 25th. A full remodeling of the building was made possible through contributions from across the country and the generosity of Flint (MI) West Church of the Nazarene, which organized the rebuild and donated most of the labor. The refurbished building will be an anchor supporting its community as neighbors continue to return and rebuild. The re-opening of New Orleans First is a very tangible result of NDR’s tireless work in the year since Hurricane Katrina first struck in August of 2005. Other results have come with less fanfare, but are no less appreciated. Nearly 1,000 families received either long or short-term housing. Hundreds of homes have been cleaned, gutted and repaired, many of which would still be unlivable without the support of more than 6,000 NDR volunteers to date. A full-color, eight-page brochure, “Katrina: Destruction, Response, Hope!” was sent to every local church in the US and Canada, detailing the cash, volunteer and in-kind contributions of the Nazarene Family. Included along with pictures, stories and quotes are results of a survey conducted to determine the total value of all aid given to NDR for hurricane relief. As of May 1st, this total was more than $18.5 million. We cannot thank our donors enough for their generosity of time, resources and money. So much has been accomplished, but so much more is yet to be done. NDR continues to be actively involved along the Gulf Coast through its rebuilding and recovery initiative: Restoring Hope. Already, 150 work teams have been scheduled from May to December 2006 to help at sites in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. These teams encompass more than 3,200 volunteers and an additional $1,000,000 in aid for the region. For information on joining or sending a team, please visit www.ndrrestoringhope.org or call 866- 485-4483. The Multi-Site Church Revolution The new book entitled The Multi-site Church Revolution, offers a wide range of information and guidance for churches considering the multi-site model for ministry. Two of the three authors of this book will be presenters at the upcoming M-7 Conference in Kansas City on February 19-21, 2007. One of the sections in this helpful volume gives a helpful overview of this ministry model and answers some of the more frequently answered question, like the following: What is a multi-site church? A multi-site church is one church meeting in multiple locations—different rooms on the same campus, different locations in the same region, or in some instances, different cities, states, or nations. A multi-site church shares a common vision, budget, leadership, and board. What does a multi-site church look like? A multi-site church can resemble any of a wide variety of models. For some churches, having multiple sites involves only a worship service at each location; for others, each location has a full range of support ministries. Some churches use video-cast sermons (recorded or live); others have inperson teaching on-site. Some churches maintain a similar worship atmosphere and style at all their campuses, and others allow or invite variation. What kind of church uses the multi-site approach? The multisite approach works best for already growing churches but is used by all types of churches. The majority of multi-site churches are suburban, but many can be found in urban contexts and some in rural contexts. Multi-sites are found among old churches and new, mainline and nondenominational, and in all regions of the country. Smaller churches (30-200 people) tend to do multi-site as a niche outreach or as a regional-campus approach. Medium-size churches (200-800 people) that go multi-site tend to have only two or three campuses. Larger churches (800-2,000 people) and mega-churches (2,000 people and up) are the most likely to be multi-site and to do it in a way that develops a large network of campuses. Why become multi-site? The purpose of becoming a multi-site church is to make more and better disciples by bring the church closer to where people are. The motivation is to do a better job of loving people, including different types of people, with an outcome of making significant advances in obeying Jesus’ Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37-40) and Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). How long do multi-site churches last? Several churches have been multi-site for up to twenty years, and a handful for even longer. Some churches use a multi-site approach as a transitional strategy during a building program or a seasonal outreach. Other churches intentionally choose to be multi-site only temporarily as a churchplanting strategy to help new congregations start out strong. These insights and others are available for you in this helpful new book. To order your copy of The Multi-site Church Revolution, you can call the NewStart offices toll free at 1-800-306-8294. Compassion Conference “Compassion fatigue” was a new term to the (U.S.) Gulf Coast pastors and spouses assembled at the Tennessee District Campground May 25-29. Nazarene Disaster Response and Clergy Development assembled 40 ministry leaders whose roles ranged from front-line responders to distribution center coordinators to discuss the topic. The conference was designed to come alongside clergy caregivers of Hurricane Katrina and similar disasters of the Gulf Coast region. Phil Budd, director of graduate programs in counseling at Southern Nazarene University, led several sessions with the clergy caregivers. Budd, who played a significant role in supporting Nazarene clergy affected by the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing as well as those affected by the trauma of 9/11, offered insight into “compassion fatigue.” Another major component of the conference was encouraging the faith of the clergy caregivers. Dan Copp, Clergy Development director, incorporated heartfelt worship each day. Guest speakers included Dan Soliday of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (USA and Canada) and Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University. The inspirational stories of Nazarene clergy opened the door for shared experiences and the devotional times ushered in the assurance of God’s grace and hope in the midst of tragedy. Clergy Appreciation Month: Clergy Development has encouraged every congregation to prepare for Clergy Appreciation Month this coming October. This year’s resource C. D. includes a planning guide for the church board secretaries, serving in over 5,000 Nazarene congregations. The Clergy Appreciation Planning Guide provides thoughtful expressions of gratitude for all clergy serving across the denomination. The brochure includes the rationale behind Clergy Appreciation Month, committee planning guides, and resources to enhance creative planning. There will be nothing for the local church to purchase. The Planning Guide will also be translated and published in Spanish for the growing Hispanic population in the USA and Canada. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and said, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17). Should you have any questions about this initiative or need additional brochures in your church, please call Clergy Development at 800.306.7651. Additional ideas are available at http://www.parsonage.org/cam/index.cfm. Annual Evangelists Gathering The annual Evangelists Gathering is scheduled for December 11-13, 2006. The group will be returning to the beautiful Oakwood Retreat Center in Syracuse, Indiana. All Nazarene evangelists are encouraged to attend this special event. The special speaker will be Dr. Nina Gunter. Dr. Nina G. Gunter is a general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene with an office at the International Center of the denomination in Kansas City, Missouri. She was elected at the 26th General Assembly in Indianapolis, Indiana, in June 2005, the first woman to be honored with the highest office in the church. At the time of her election, she was serving as general director of Nazarene Missions International (NMI), a position she had held since 1986. During her tenure, she initiated many missions programs, and the annual giving to missions increased from approximately $30 million to $62 million. She is a respected leader, motivational speaker, and inspiring visionary. The special music will be provided by Adam’s Voice. The purpose of Adam’s Voice is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through music. Our greatest joy is to help people come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior as well as strengthening the faith of those who already follow Him. For further information on this special event, call the Revivalism offices toll free at 1-800-821-2154 or log onto their website. New Website Resources The website network of the USA/Canada Mission/Evangelism Department has recently undergone a major redesign overhaul to provide more and better access to resources for local churches and districts. The revamped sites utilize a content management system (CMS) that will render content more quickly and easily than before. “Our website is the primary delivery system we use to provide resources, news, and information to Nazarene clergy and laity across the United States and Canada, and even around the world,” reported UCME Director Tom Nees. “Our goal is to provide people serving on the front lines of ministry everything they need to help start and strengthen churches.” The site redesign provides a user experience that is easier to navigate and find needed material. The network of resources is part of a greater Nazarene Headquarters initiative to provide the denomination with a corporate website that has a consistent look and feel for all users. The most visited websites for useful ministry
resources to date are: Anyone seeking more information about the UCME website redesign and its progress can e-mail questions to Bryon McLaughlin, site coordinator, at bmclaughlin@nazarene.org. The NewStart Assessment Centers A vital part of the NewStart Strategy is the Assessment Centers that are offered in various locations around the USA and Canada. Each year, there are many future NewStart pastoral couples who attend one of these events. The process is thorough and very focused on assessing the ability of each person to lead in the starting of a new church. Charles Ridley conducted a study of church planters in the
United States and Canada. His subjects in the study represented
13 Protestant denominations. Based upon his research and
subsequent field testing, he developed a list of 13 prominent
performance characteristics. For over a decade, these
characteristics have been used in the assessment process. The 13
characteristics are: At each NewStart Assessment Center a team of assessors
diligently seeks to understand each candidate through the lens of
the above characteristics. Many district superintendents now
understand how critical assessment is in starting new churches.
Assessment goes well beyond the causal interview and allows
sponsoring districts and churches access to a vital first step in
the process. Each Assessment Center includes the following
elements: The NewStart Church Strategy has proven to be a working and effective model. In the last 12 years, nearly 1,200 new Nazarene churches have been started and registered in the USA and Canada. The assessment centers are held across the various educational regions throughout the year. If you are passionate about starting new churches make sure you include the Assessment Center as a part of the process. For more information on future NewStart Assessment dates and locations, or to register for one of these events, please log onto the NewStart website at www.NewStartUSA.org or call their offices toll free at 1-800-306-8294. Mid-Quadrennial
Evangelism
Conference
M7, the Mid-Quadrennial Conference on Mission and Evangelism, is set for February 19-21, 2007 at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City, MO. The M7 Conference is built around the successful format of inspirational plenary sessions, significant speaker line-up, and hundreds of practical workshops. M7 attracts church leaders, pastors, laypersons as well as college students interested in mission and service. Details about registration, accommodations, travel discounts and the M7 event schedule are provided online at www.M7conference.org. When asked to describe the upcoming mid-quadrennial mission / evangelism conference, Mission 2007 (M7), conference planners stated: M7 offers a creative, dynamic environment in which to encounter God’s grace and glory, the insights of trailblazers, and refreshing motivation to break through comfort zones to where God is working in our world.” Opening on Monday night, February 19th, 2007 in Bartle Hall, downtown Kansas City, MO, M7 launches with powerful worship and praise led by Eon Trotman, worship leader from the previous regional PALCON events. Dr. Paul Cunningham will be the host General Superintendent for the Monday night service. The theme focuses on affirming both the call to ministry and those who have responded to that call. Dr. Dan Boone, Trevecca Nazarene University president, will be speaking. Each of the five plenary sessions will feature a theme as well as be hosted by a General Superintendent. The praise and worship times will feature great music representative of the wonderful diversity of our church. David Hubbs, Olathe College Church music and worship director will be assisting Rev. Trotman. M7 will present over 240 workshop options illustrating a commitment to equip leaders for ministry in the everchanging kaleidoscope of post-modern culture in the USA and Canada. Another example of this commitment is M7’s offering of the multi-site conference-within-a-conference. This event will feature strategic resources from proven presenters like, Larry Osborne, North Coast Church; Dennis Choy, North Coast Church; Geoff Surratt, Seacoast Church; Chris Mavity, North Coast Church; Mac Lake, Seacoast Church and Greg Ligon, of the Leadership Network. The previous success of M3 and the Millennial Celebration in 1999 have taught us much about the critical elements in these mid-quadrennial conferences. At the heart of these events has been a concern to involve Nazarene college and university students as participants in the conference. Building on the support, interest and concern of the Board of General Superintendents, Tom Nees is working with NYI, Nazarene campus chaplains and others to extend a special invitation to students. Tom Nees has said, “Our goal is provide hotel rooms for students who will attend M7. We would like to see 1,000 college students attending this event.” Working in tandem with Clergy Development office, M7 planning groups will be working with campus chaplains to ensure a quality conference environment for our students. It is their intent that students not only network with other mission / ministry minded students, but can also offer their input and perspective as Christians living in a post-modern environment. Representatives from missions and volunteer opportunities will be present to dialogue with students about opportunities and options for mission and ministry. Numerous organizations will be utilizing the “free” time from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM to connect constituencies, explore in-depth topics related to the theme, “Into faith…out to the world.” For up-to-the-minute information, registration (no charge), travel / accommodations as well as program information, please visit the M7 web site: www. M7conference.org. The Multi-Site
Church Revolution: Fueled by a desire to reach people for Christ, a revolution is underway. Churches are growing beyond the limitations of a single service in one building. Expanding the traditional model, they are embracing the concept of one church with more than one site: multiple congregations sharing a common vision, budget, leadership, and board. Drawing from examples of churches nationwide, this new book The Multisite Church Revolution shows what healthy multi-site churches look like and what motivates congregations to change. This book will assist your church to: • Cast a vision for change As an introduction to the multi-site strategy, an overview of the five basic models are outlined and described. Five Models for Multi-site Churches Video-Venue Model—Creating one or more on-campus environments that use video-cast sermons (live or recorded), often varying the worship style. Regional-Campus Model—Replicating the experience of the original campus at additional campuses in order to make church more accessible to other geographic communities. Teaching-Team Model—Leveraging a strong teaching team across multiple locations at the original campus or an offsite campus. Partnership Model—Partnering with a local business or nonprofit organization to use its facility beyond a mere “renter” arrangement. Low-Rick Model—Experimenting with new locations that have a low level of risk because of the simplicity of programming and low financial investment involved but that have the potential for high returns in terms of evangelism and growth. In addition, helpful chapters outline the key definitions for multi-site ministry, with terms like the following. Definition of Multi-site terms Multi-site church: Short for multiple-site church, or one church with multiple locations. A church is considered multi-site if it has more than one worship venue, more than one campus, or a combination of both. Campus: Any location where a complete church ministry (i.e., adult worship, nursery, children’s programming) takes place. A multi-site church may have several campuses. Branch or satellite: An off-site campus. Venue: A location where a worship service for adults is held, such as a church’s fellowship hall, gym, or chapel. For example, Grove City Church of the Nazarene has one campus in Grove City, OH but that campus currently has several venues for adult worship. Worship service: Christ-centered community that usually includes singing, praying, and preaching. It happens regularly, usually weekly. Also know as a celebration, service of worship, worship experience, and sometimes simply “church.” Strategic partner: At North Point Community Church in Atlanta, where this idea is most actively being pioneered, a strategic partner is a church that shares North Point’s mission, strategy, values, and beliefs but remains a separate entity. Note: In this strategy, a “multi-site church” is one that develops
worship communities in multiple locations. Many
churches sponsor off-site ministries (for example, helping
out weekly at a local soup kitchen), but those alone do not These topics will be presented in a series of workshops at the upcoming M-7 Conference in Kansas City, February 19-21, 2007. See the feature in this issue of GROW. You can also order this practical new book today by logging onto the NewStart website at www.NewStartUSA.org or by calling their toll free number at 1-800-306-8294. About the Authors and Presenters . . . Greg Ligon has spent the last four years pioneering and building a network of more than fifty multi-site churches on behalf of Leadership Network. These networks are known as leadership communities and involve each church making a two-year commitment to share with its peers what it learns. Greg’s role involves ongoing dialogue with each church to track its progress and needs, as well as making numerous visits to multi-site congregations. North Coast Church
Seacoast Church Community Christian
Church Multi-sites: Multiple New Ministries As one of the fastest growing Nazarene congregations in the USA, Valparaiso (IN) began implementing the multi-site strategy some time ago. In his interview with GROW, Pastor Gene Tanner outlined some of the reasons the multi-site approach has appealed to their church. He also describes how multi-sites offer specific advantages to assist them in fulfilling their mission, including the regional campus concept and the teaching teams at Valparaiso Church of the Nazarene (VCN). GROW: What is it about doing a multisite ministry that interested you? Gene Tanner: I think part of it is the statistics out of Kansas City aren’t false. Brand new churches tend to bring brand new people. You can’t fight with the truth. But yet we want to take advantage of what we believe is probably true and so we created off-sites. But it was designed in such a way that it was not alone. It was tied to us. It was VNC. The time of their service is designed in such a way that those parents could bring their kids to our nursery and then go worship. Parents could drop their kids off and the off-site worship center is one mile and a half away from our church. And people will say “Well people are not going to drop their kids off at one church and go worship at another one.” Sure they will. It’s about the childcare. GROW: How many are doing that? Gene Tanner: It’s fairly young over there. It’s not gigantic. Maybe 20%. So what happens is the off-site campus becomes part of us. It also gave us a chance to target a different market. Their worship service is not like our service. We’re trying to attract a different group. Now what we’ve found is sometimes in that small environment, which is totally seekersensitive, they want something a little deeper. They will want to find their way more into discipleship and they find their way into here. So it begins to become kind of an unusual feeder. The guy who coordinates that church in “Common Grounds” is on our staff. When we have all church events, well, that’s part of us. What’s kind of fun is when there’s baptismal services, we’ll be baptizing people I don’t know because they started out at “Common Grounds.” Those people come over to our membership class because they’re joining VNC, they just happen to be in a satellite. GROW: Isn’t that the best use of your resources? Gene Tanner: Sure. There’s no need for Pastor Tracy to create a new membership class. And periodically Pastor Tracy comes and speaks over here at the Glendale campus. I go over there and speak at the Evans Road site. They need to know that I am the pastor. And Pastor Tracy will come over here and share with the people again about what Common Grounds is. We’re very careful about the language we use. We never call that the “little church” or this the “big church.” No labels like that. We call all of this church, this happens to be on Glendale Boulevard. It’s the VNC campus on Glendale. Common Grounds is the VNC campus on Evans Road. We never call the Glendale campus the “big church” or “main campus.” GROW: And so, what’s the Java Spot? Gene Tanner: Java Spot is the name of the building itself. A member of our church bought the building, but allows us to use it unlimited. Java Spot tends to be more focused on the youth ministry. We’ve redesigned the building. Part of it is games, computers, video games, pool tables, and a snack area. The other side is worship center with chairs, sound system, band, stage and big screens. So they’ve made it into two large rooms. Java Spot is the name of the building itself because we have other ministries meet there. We have different classes that are held there offsite. It becomes our off-site campus in a lot of ways. Common Grounds is just the name of the worship group that happens to worship there. The building we call Java Spot. GROW: So, you’ll do youth ministry there and Common Grounds and Bible studies with your men’s group. There are multiple things going on at that site. Gene Tanner: It’s sometimes an off-site place, because it’s a coffee house atmosphere. One thing I’ve discovered is part of our growth is because we’ve turned our men loose. Our guys go through it. I’ve put together a worksheet and we have a “Band of Brothers.” Once we finish it, I start with a whole other group of guys. Well, that building is a great place we have coffee, donuts, for a half hour of fellowship and then go in for the session. So a building like that can become a perfect place for these kinds of ministries. GROW: What percentage would you say at Common Grounds, who are coming there to worship have no previous church background? Gene Tanner: Of the entire body over there maybe 25%. It’s not a huge group yet. GROW: How many would be attending over there? Gene Tanner: I’d say about 125. Remember that ministry is only a couple of years old. GROW: That’s not unusual in multi-sites to have different size groups scattered around. They’re not all large, but they’re all different. Gene Tanner: We just wrapped up our fiscal year. We’re just a little over 1,200. We’re not a mega-church or gigantic. We’re large but we’re not huge. So they’re almost 10% of our church. The thing is we have some of our people that are there as part of the team; greeters, you know preparing the breakfast stuff. We have one guy who is a police man that sat at the round table with somebody that he arrested. He has been discipling a new believer that not too long ago he arrested. That’s when you realize it’s worth it. GROW: Besides Common Ground, what other multi-sites does your church have? Gene Tanner: The other multi-site is called The Stain, named after stained glass windows. We have been impacted by the book “The Emerging Church.” The up and coming collegiate age, they may not want some of the things that we’re doing here. Because you know VNC is, I don’t want to use the word slick, but it is production oriented. This is a generation that is saying “I don’t want that. I want experience where I have hands on, where I am doing something. I don’t care how slick it is I am basically going and sitting. What I would rather do is participate.” And so, The Stain takes us back to our roots – it’s got pictures of stained glass windows. There’s a speaker at tables all around the room. They can get up at any time. There’s music first, then a speaker. It’s geared toward collegiates They go to a table where they can write out on a piece of paper their sins and then put it in a shredder and then go to another table where there is communion prepared and they can serve themselves communion. There’s another table with lots of candles. They can light those candles and just make that a private time of prayer. We have a table where they can come and draw and paint their emotions. When this was designed, I bought into it but I said I’ve got to tell you no one’s going to go over to that table and paint. Boy, I was wrong. These college kids are doing it like crazy. So it’s very experiential. You don’t go and sit. If you want to go and sit you can. At any time it’s not rude to get up and go to a table and do something. If you’re speaking at The Stain you have to be very focused because while you’re speaking shredders are going off. But you realize these people are shredding their sins and then going to take communion so it’s kind of powerful. And so this service begins on Thursday nights at 9 o’clock at night. The time helps us designate that it’s not for grandma and grandpa. It’s really designed and goes from about 9 to about 10. They’re part of the culture that goes to Barnes and Noble and sits ’til midnight. Shawn Evans is overseeing that ministry. For him to get home at 11 o’clock or midnight is pretty good. After that they will go sit and have coffee and talk for a few hours. It’s a very free, very non-structured time. Now the other worship services tend to be loud. Rock bands, here at VNC the main campus, are pretty loud. Common Grounds is louder. They’re seeker-sensitive – that is louder. Now, The Stain is the exact opposite. It’s not a live rock band. It is acoustic and bongos. It might be an acoustic bass. It is the exact opposite of volume. It reminds me of the former beatnicks, those little coffee houses two generations ago. You know, they didn’t clap – they snapped their fingers. It kind of has that quieter, slower, participatory thing. And remember, we’re in a college town. And so, we wanted to find ways to touch the university campus. GROW: So how many would you say are active in this? Gene Tanner: They’re all over the map depending on the school year. Right now not very many. During the school year you could have 40-50. GROW: How have these multi-sites helped bring new progress for the church? Gene Tanner: You can’t have something like this, especially for collegiates, because that’s a tough age. It’s not like you could open a door and say we’re going to have this cool service and people are going to come. But we have had in-roads in the university and our college kids here at our own church. Reading the book Emerging Church has really made a lot of sense. We’ve put all of that together and our team designed that worship opportunity because we have the building and Thursday nights free. Now we have a leader in Shawn Evans, who has a burden and says “I’ll lead it.” GROW: Your recent church newsletter used a word-picture of your church being “prodigal huggers.” Do you think that atmosphere of grace has to permeate all of this to have a ministry that will really connect with people? Gene Tanner: Of course. If you have been here I’m sure you looked around and noticed people came in flip flops and shorts. Now equally true you probably noticed there were no suits on stage. We had to be permission givers. And so we’ve pressed that story to Sunday School classes. It’s not a matter of not respecting Jesus, it’s a matter of giving permission. If you feel like you need to worship wearing a suit –wear a suit. But if you can be comfortable in a shirt and pants, then you have permission. And so it’s not by accident. It’s really by design. You know I look at seeker-sensitive churches that have a great big pulpit and a guy in a suit and I’m thinking “Forget your message. You’re sending a message by your appearance.” You’re telling outsiders they don’t fit. We’ve really thought this thing through in terms of the way we dress, the way we act, the way we greet people at the door, it is all built around the person who does not know Christ. GROW: So this atmosphere of grace is more than just being friendly. Give us some other examples that you’ve done intentionally to help people become more connected. Gene Tanner: Let me just put a caveat in. I’m not trying to make the statement that, you know, thank God for me. But one thing that I think is extremely important: it’s got to begin with the senior pastor. Sunday afternoon we invite them to fill out a card. Now we always word it carefully, if you choose to be anonymous, you can but we want you to know that’s not our first choice. We would prefer to get to know you. If you fill out a card, we’ll be in touch. OK, let’s say you filled out that card. Those cards go to my office and after lunch on Sunday, I’m calling every person. Nothing more than I’d call you and say: “Mr. Smith, this is Pastor Tanner. You’ve visited our church and I just wanted to phone you right away. I got your card. Thank you for filling out a card. You know you’ve honored us today by coming to worship with us. I hope you felt comfortable and you enjoyed the worship.” Now I also have an address and the second half of the week I go calling to every visitor. Sending a staff guy doesn’t work, they didn’t see that staff guy in the platform. To them, he’s a total stranger. But they saw me, so I stop by and I always say: “Thank you. I don’t want to sign you up for anything. I don’t want to badger you to come back. I just hope you felt comfortable in our worship service.” But I always ask, “I’m curious why people walk into a church? Were you driving down Glendale and you saw the church? Did somebody invite you?” GROW: And what are most of the people saying when they come there for the first time? Gene Tanner: They were invited by somebody else that was brand new. Most of the people who have been at our church for 30 years, all their friends are now in the church. I think we’re not unusual. Every church that’s growing is growing because of new people. New people know people who don’t go to church. And so number one – follow up is gigantic. One thing I’ve discovered is I can walk in your living room, thanking you for visiting and without you knowing, I can walk out and have a hunch who I have to call. You know if you take me in the back and show me this fish you’ve mounted on the wall, we’ve got a small group called “Anglers.” I’m calling the leader of that team. If I walk in and there’s a bowling trophy, or there’s knitting the wife has done over a chair, I know who to call. People tend to exhibit what they’re proud of. So doing better when I finish calling about coming back and calling somebody I think would have an interest in them. And then they’ll do their very best to make some connection. GROW: In closing, how are the new building plans coming along? Gene Tanner: We recently spent a whole Saturday with the children’s department, Sunday School department, music department, youth department, all the different departments came in for 45 minutes and had a chance to dream with us. We asked, “What would help their ministry in a new facility?” That was fascinating. So we’re going through the process. The plan they’re looking at right now has 2,200 theatre seats. Pretty hi-tech. The seats will be in such a way that they’ll be able to put laptops on them and put things on the laptops through the house to follow the sermon. If you walk in as a visitor and you want to find out where you are and where you’re going you can walk in, push a button that say’s “Here you are and here’s where you have got to go.” GROW: And you were redesigning the sanctuary for a children’s center? Gene Tanner: Exactly. That’s looking like its going to ball park out at a half a million dollars to re-do for what we’re going to want in the children’s ministry area. Interesting . . . as we’re talking, I just pulled up an email. This is a guy that visited our church yesterday. He visited and so I left a message on his voice mail. His email reply says: “Greetings Pastor Tanner, I wanted to thank you for calling me the other day, it was such a wonderful surprise that just blessed our hearts. The service was absolutely wonderful. It was a blessing to attend yesterday. It was a gift from God. Thanks once again for the phone call. God Bless.” I have no clue who this guy is but I’m thinking we’ve just landed another new family. New Jerusalem Multi-site: One of the five models for Multi-site churches sponsors new ministries as a low risk experiment. This “Low Risk Model,” as described in the book The Multi-Site Church Revolution by Surratt, Ligon and Bird, has a simplicity in programming and limited financial investment that still promises high return in terms of evangelism and growth. Usually this model is used by effective ministries with experience in starting healthy new churches. Essentially that’s the way the New Jerusalem Church of the Nazarene in Brooklyn, (NY) has sponsored another new church in their community. As a primarily younger Haitian fellowship themselves, they have attempted to launch a new ministry in their area to impact the wider, unchurched black community. Pastor Luc Pierre serves as the founding pastor of the New Jerusalem Church, which models so well the faith for starting healthy new churches. And Pastor Pierre also understands the value of faith and vision for starting a new church. In June 2003, Pastor Pierre and his congregation were featured by the Nazarene Communication Network in sharing their inspiring story. Too often, the story of immigrants arriving in the United States is laced with unfortunate circumstances and failure. But here’s a refreshing story of Luc and Vonette Pierre, and their success and determined efforts that have made a remarkable difference in their community of Brooklyn, New York. Luc and Vonette Pierre moved to the United States from Haiti in 1974. The Pierres came to the U.S. in search of their dream of a better day. In 1978, Luc Pierre began serving as the founding pastor of the New Jerusalem Church of the Nazarene, on the Metro New York District. He was ordained in 1980. In 2001, Pierre took advantage of the opportunities available and obtained the degree of Juris Doctor from St. John’s University Law School. He was admitted to the New York State Bar Association as a lawyer in January of 2003. Rev. Pierre now serves as Assistant District Attorney in the King’s County District Attorney’s Office. Also a graduate of Nazarene Theological Seminary only four years after arriving in the United States, Pierre went on to complete a B.A. Degree in Political Science in 1997 from the City University of New York. Not only did the Pierres find their dream of a better day, they provided opportunity for their five children who were born in the U.S.A. Their oldest child, Joelle, is a doctor of medicine graduate from Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University and is presently a resident surgeon at the Downstate Medical Center. Their next child, Abel, is a Juris Doctor degree graduate from Fordham University Law School and has been admitted to the Bar. He is presently employed by the New York City Council as a legal consultant and teaches criminal justice at John Jay College of the City University of New York. Danielle, is a Princeton University bachelor’s degree graduate in microbiology, as well as a Ph.D. candidate in microbiology at Columbia University. Gabrielle and Emmanuelle, are both National Honor students at the high school level. And in addition to their family’s progress, their church family at the New Jerusalem Church of the Nazarene has prospered as well. From its early days in 1979 with less than a dozen members, the worship attendance has grown over these years to 309 in 2005. And the newly sponsored congregation runs 40 to 50 in Sunday worship services. They are in the process of totally renovating the property at 2431 Church Street in Brooklyn into a beautiful new worship center for serving their community. To learn more of this growing Haitian congregation, visit their website at www.churchofnazarene.org. Haitian Conference When Rev. Pascal Permis started in his new assignment as Haitian Mission Director for USA and Canada in July 2005, significant challenges were waiting for him. As the immigration of Haitians has continued across the continent, new Haitian Nazarene churches are needed to reach these new families. But this proven strategy for starting new Haitian congregations is complicated by a threefold reality. First, there’s the challenge in recruiting Haitian leaders for the new churches. “These leaders,” says Rev. Permis, “have to be able to reach the old, as well as the younger generations. They can help bridge the language, generational and cultural gap among our people.” Most would agree, the key strategy for every new church effort, regardless of geography or demography, involves recruiting, assessing and training capable new leadership. Second, sponsoring churches are needed for these new Haitian congregations. The formula for sponsorship involves finding the right place for these new churches to meet, as well as providing some kind of financial assistance for each new ministry. In many places where new Haitian congregations could be started, no other Nazarene congregations exist. Third, and equally important, is the shortage of leadership training resources in the French and Creole languages. Rev. Permis affirmed the capable team of zone coordinators and district leaders who are assisting in this mission to reach the Haitian population. Together, they are addressing each of these three significant challenges. One of the key responses in the Haitian strategy has been conducting an annual convention for Nazarene Haitian church leaders. This year’s conference was held on July 6-9 in Brooklyn, New York. The theme for the gathering was “The Salvation Miracle and the Passion of Service”. A large group of Nazarene Haitian ministers gathered with other church leaders to address the challenges facing their Haitian Mission. Representatives from International Headquarters in Kansas City interfaced with district and local leaders to discuss topics ranging from effective youth ministry, to funding strategies for new churches, as well as leadership development. The registrants heard inspiring sermons and informative workshops by a wide variety of guest speakers and presenters. Multiple developments signal new progress is being made in several fronts, according to Rev. Permis: “My first year in this position has been such a great experience. I have come to learn the desire to reach the Haitian population in the USA and Canada is a shared vision among many pastors, districts and national church leaders. “A couple of our more exciting stories are the new Haitian churches being started by Pastor Simon Jordany in Gainesville Haitian Church with the help of Rev. Paul and the Gainesville (FL) Church. We’re also celebrating the NewStart Church by Odell Alusma in Decatur, Georgia with the help of Rev. Husband. “My special thanks to our church that has placed its confidence in me and allowed me to serve in this capacity. Please continue to pray for our Nazarene Haitian churches throughout the USA and Canada.” Further information on the Nazarene Haitian Mission can be found in the multicultural ministry website at www. Nazarene.org or by contacting Pascal Permis directly by email at pascase@aol. com or by phone at 772-260-5029. Hospital Chaplain Starts a New Church:
When David Hudson became a fulltime hospital chaplain in November of 2001, he found his new assignment “incredibly challenging and rewarding.” He said in his interview for GROW. “The hospital chaplaincy brought with it a rather steep learning curve - and a totally new schedule for my weekends.” Prior to his hospital chaplaincy assignment, Rev. Hudson had served as founding pastor of Crossroads Community Church, formerly Elkhart First Church of the Nazarene. During his tenure at Crossroads, he found himself placed in the new and uncharted waters of ministry redefinition for the Elkhart First ministry. It was during those days that Bill Sullivan asked Hudson to be a part of the original NewStart Taskforce. Little did anyone realize how that assignment would be the seed of a future new congregation. After a year into his assignment, Chaplain Hudson accepted frequent interim pastor engagements. His last local assignment lasted for ten months. He realized that strategic interim service is rewarding but any attempted ministry guidance by the interim pastor is often unwanted. Soon after his interim assignment, a group of young adults contacted the hospital chaplain about serving as the lead pastor in a proposed new church endeavor. Initially the prospect for such a venture seemed overwhelming. But Hudson recalls, “Nevertheless after several weeks of refusal and a lot of prayer, I accepted the challenge to assist in starting Waypoint Community Church.” In his description of the vision for Waypoint Church, Chaplain Hudson agreed “Waypoint is an unusual name for a congregation, but it succinctly describes our mission. A waypoint is a place on a journey where a traveler can adjust or change his course. It is within the framework of that dictionary definition that we then believe our mission to be: providing 360 degree access to Christ. “In other words, it doesn’t matter where you are coming from, it is our mission to assist you in finding Christ, the only true center of life. We will endeavor to do this through transformation, nurture and expansion. Developing Operative Ministry Values that appropriately reflect this mission statement is indeed a challenge. “The launch Sunday for Waypoint came this past Easter in the Middlebury Middle School. The event went well, with over 250 people attending the Easter celebration. The school cafeteria they worshipped in was completely full; the children’s ministry was prepared for all the extra children; the music was strong and God’s providential design for Waypoint was evident on that day.” Reflecting on these exciting weeks, Pastor Hudson says, “Waypoint started with a group who sensed God’s call, assessed the need and made the determination to start a congregation, even without outside sponsorship. When the initial proposal was made to me, I immediately thought back to those early NewStart Assessment Centers and reminded myself that one of the criteria that we always examined was the prospective church planter’s ability to plan and fund this effort. It was always assumed there would be at least a sponsoring parent congregation. But the launch team I was dealing with had no such sponsorship, and was quite comfortable with that arrangement. A waypoint is a place on a journey where a traveler can adjust or change his course. We believe our mission is providing 360 degree access to Christ. “After selecting our staff, purchasing equipment, ministry supplies, paying the rent and insurance, doing some rather aggressive marketing and then starting the payroll, Waypoint Church remains financially sound and self-sponsored. This is certainly not the way church starts usually happen, but the beauty of a new start is once again being vividly illustrated: every new congregation will be unique and that particular DNA must be encouraged.” One of the driving reasons for starting this new church was a strong passion for youth. Only minimal publicity was used to announce the first youth meeting at “The Barn,” but the ministry still saw over 100 teens gather on that first Sunday evening. Over seventy teens returned on following Sunday evenings. When the Gospel was presented a few weeks into these youth meetings, fifteen teens made a first-time commitment to Christ. One of them was Katherine (her name is changed for this article) who recently talked with the church’s youth leader, Stacie. In an email to Pastor Hudson, Stacie describes their exchange and how this new church has impacted this young lady’s life and her faith. Stacie wrote the email at the end of this article. Pastor Hudson says, “We are now four months beyond that launch Sunday. Although more equipment has arrived, new ministries have been started and visitors are present on each Sunday, the clarity of our mission statement guides all happenings. Waypoint is a place where we seek to provide 360 degree access to Christ!” Witness “Last night she said she had been thinking about your sermons on forgiveness. She said she sat and listened closely all 3 Sundays. Then she told me how her Mom left her and moved to Florida years ago (she lives with her dad). She asked how she can forgive her Mom for leaving her. She said she never even talks about her Mom because she cries and is so angry. Her Mom has never seen her cheer, play sports, seen her proms, or graduation – nothing. “We talked and talked and I reminded her of many of the things you said in the sermons, and how God will help her with this. I literally saw walls begin to crumble. Her heart is softening. It was a great conversation. “Then she asked me if she should call herself a ‘Christian.’ I have never had anyone ask me this. I asked her about the prayer she said in the spring and if she understood about Jesus dying for her sins. She had tears in her eyes and answered yes to everything. And so, I said, ‘Of course you can say you are a Christian.’ I talked to her a bit about baptism and promised her I would be right there with her. “The reason for you to know this, Pastor David, is your words about forgiveness spoke to the heart of a young girl whose Mom had abandoned her. ‘The Barn’ has provided a non-threatening environment for a teenage girl to learn about the simple love and grace of Jesus. God is doing some amazing things. Lives are changing. I am so grateful. And, I am humbled and blessed to be a tiny part of it. “Wow!” Insights Nazarenes are committed to disciplemaking. The new birth is just the first step in becoming the people God intends his children to be. Even being filled with the Holy Spirit is “for life and for service,” not the end of the spiritual journey. Fifty years ago, disciple-making was primarily a function of the Sunday School. More recently, the small-group movement has been recommended as a good way to make disciples. Which of these methods is being used effectively by Churches of the Nazarene at the beginning of the 21st century? Large Churches The Research Center first studied the largest Churches of the Nazarene in Canada and the United States. In 2005, there were 114 churches that reported at least 500 in worship. Where were they concentrating their discipleship efforts? In the last five years, these large churches have gained an additional 20,000 more in worship, to just over 100,000 in an average week. During the same time period, their Sunday Schools have grown by 9,000 and their small groups by nearly 12,000. Small groups are increasingly important in making disciples, at least in larger churches. But the Sunday School remains a strong discipleship tool as well. Traditionally, small groups have been focused on adults rather than on families. The Research Center notes that children and teen Sunday School in large churches grew by 4,500 during the last five years, which is the same amount that the adult Sunday School grew. Perhaps this tool is most useful for the families who are being won. What about churches averaging less than 500 in worship? After all, ten times as many churches run between 100 and 499 in worship. Mid-size Churches Of the 1,370 Churches of the Nazarene that averaged between 100 and 499 in 2005, worship gains also totaled about 20,000 over the last five years. Sunday School grew about 5,000 and small groups by 17,000. These midsize churches are incorporating many more disciples into small groups than into Sunday School, though the Sunday School is still growing. For these churches overall, however, fewer children are involved in Sunday School than five years ago. Smaller Churches There are 2,504 Churches of the Nazarene that have consistently averaged less than 100 in worship. Among these churches, worship has increased about 1,000 over the past five years. Overall, Sunday School has declined by about 1,500 while small group ministries have grown by 4,000. Again, children and teen Sunday School has declined, while adult Sunday School attendance has actually gone up by about 1,000. Another 1,124 churches used to run over 100 in worship but have dropped below that level in recent years. Not surprisingly, their Sunday School has also dropped in all categories although their small groups are reaching slightly more people today than five years ago. Implications A traditional strength of the Church of the Nazarene has been to include children and teens in discipleship training. As churches respond to the adult desire for small group discipleship, it will be important to find ways to include the next generations as well. The mid-size and smaller churches are not seeing increases in children’s Sunday School. This raises the question of discipleship for young believers. Are our small and mid-size churches no longer attracting families with children? Or have they learned to incorporate children into small group ministries? Or are they depending upon large groups for such discipleship? Of course, some discipleship can take place in larger settings, such as a lively children’s worship service. But most discipleship studies indicate that smaller settings have been more effective in encouraging life transformation. Since discipleship is usually more effective in small groups, our next observation is about those not yet involved. Overall, the ratio of worshippers involved in discipleship rose from 83% to 85% in the last five years, with a slightly larger increase in the large and mid-size churches. While such increases are good, this still indicates that at least one in six worshippers does not seem to be involved in regular discipleship training beyond the worship service itself. Churches that believe in life transformation will actively look for ways to encourage all their people to grow in Christ. Exhortation from the pulpit is good, but usually insufficient. While small groups and Sunday Schools are helping most Nazarene worshippers to become better disciples, innovation may be needed to attract more worshippers to a deeper walk with Christ. One-on-one mentoring and shortterm groups may be appropriate. They are frankly harder to maintain than small group ministries or Sunday School. But churches that intend to make disciples will find ways to help all believers grow in grace. —prepared by Dale E. Jones, Ken Crow, and Rich Houseal Come to the Water:
by Carla Sunberg “So, just what goes on at one of those Women Clergy Conferences?” This question is asked most often about attending the recent Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy (WHWC) conference in San Diego, California. I am happy to report that the Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy Conference is one of the most positive and upbeat meetings I have ever attended. This is a place where women celebrate their calling and worship together with others of the same calling. As a woman in ministry, there are times one feels very alone. You wonder if anyone else out there in the world feels the way you do. It was a powerful feeling when I arrived for the first worship service on Thursday evening. The meeting room was filled to capacity as over 500 women in ministry gathered to worship God. We were quite a group, made up of a number of denominations. That evening we were moved by the dramatic portraits of the lives of three women: Tamar, Ruth, and Mary the mother of Jesus. Each of us could identify with one of these women, who had overcome adversity and gone on to change the world. They were faithful followers of God. Could we simply look on the face of Christ and follow Him? What a challenge! During the daytime hours we attended numerous workshops. Often I heard the comment that this was the finest workshop someone had ever attended. If one ever doubted we have great women leaders, no one would ever have doubted after these sessions. Some of the finest female Christian educators made themselves available to teach their sisters and brothers in the Lord. Yes, there really were brothers present. We were challenged to go home to our ministries and not just do a good job, but to do a great job. The WHWC introduced the Miriam Project during one of the evening sessions. Dr. Jeanne Serrão from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University has been heading up the project. A curriculum will be available for educational institutions and local churches to help educate the church on the role of women in ministry. In a day and age where the holiness movement is being encroached upon by fundamentalism, it is important for our churches to understand the Biblical response, and encourage young women of today who are being called into ministry. Young women from a number of colleges and universities were able to attend. Some schools sponsored and brought entire groups of students. I cannot imagine anything better than having this kind of experience as a young student: Feeling so encouraged about what God has called me to do, and knowing there are many women behind me, encouraging me. Really, this is what it is all about, women being positive and encouraging one another. In this setting, I believe God brought out the best in His women; women who wanted to encourage and to build up, especially those who are just beginning their days of ministry. Another regular question has been: “Can women preach?” To that I would have to respond with a resounding, “Yes, they can!” On Saturday evening, Dr. Jossie Owens, the first woman elected district superintendent in the United States for the Church of the Nazarene, preached a powerful message. Her text was the story of Ruth, and how Ruth was willing to go against all the odds to be faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi. As Dr. Owens preached, one could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. By the time she finished, the altars were lined with women seeking God’s help and guidance in their lives. Soon, there was no room around the altars and they had to kneel around the front row of chairs. One could hear the cries as people lifted their voices to the Lord. As the music continued to play and the presence of the Lord continued to minister to all present, we were indeed in the presence of the Lord. Dr. Owens began to walk around the meeting room, praying and praising God. Women began to join her as they were now nearly marching around the room, praising and worshiping the Lord. There was the sense of an old-fashioned campmeeting as God’s Holy Spirit just continued to minister to all present. By now hundreds of people (yes, men and women) were following Dr. Owens around the building praying, singing, and praising the Lord. It was one of those moments where one would like to have stayed and built three tabernacles! Sunday morning arrived, and I believe we all met with a little bit of sadness in our hearts. We hated to leave. It had certainly been a mountain top experience. Colonel Margaret Hey from the Salvation Army preached the final message, the story of Mary the mother of Jesus. Again you ask whether women can preach? This woman was recognized as the Preacher of the Year in the United Kingdom. Yes, she can preach! Again God came and met with us. Following the service we said our reluctant good-byes, to the old friends we had seen, and to the new friends we had made. I was curious as to whether those who had come for the first time would want to come again. One response really sums it up, “I have been to many conferences that taught me how to do my particular job in ministry better; this is the first one that encouraged me, in my personal ministry.” Yes, if it is at all possible, they want to come again! Turnaround Churches: Turnaround churches usually present a combination of challenges, each unique with their own ministry context. Declining attendance, sagging financial support and low morale may only be symptoms of greater concerns. When C.B. Glidden came to Fort Worth (TX) First Church of the Nazarene, he discovered a range of issues that negatively influenced the ministry impact of the church. But “the tipping point” for this church’s turnaround occurred with the passing of 13 month old Reece Clark, who died unexpectedly from an allergic reaction to antibiotics he was given for an ear infection. The Clark family regularly attended worship services at Fort Worth First Church, and were known in the community. Greg Clark had become renowned for playing football at Texas Christian University. Parents Greg and Stacey Clark asked Pastor Glidden to conduct the memorial service for their little Reece. At the memorial service, there was standing room only. Many family and friends of Greg and Stacey Clark rallied with the First Church congregation in support of their family and friends in their time of loss. But in the days that followed, the Lord used the passing of this little boy to touch the hearts of his grieving family and friends. The first impacted were the mother and sister of Greg Clark’s best friend. Francine, and her daughter Misty, were having a conversation later in that week after the memorial service. Francine remarked to Misty that she needed to go back to that Nazarene church that next Sunday. They both came to the service. And, both came to faith in Christ during the worship service. Then the mother invited her sister, Marie. Marie accepted Christ, and other family members followed their example. Faith’s ripple effect moved through their friends and family over the following weeks, and over 30 people came to faith in Christ. One of the young ladies who came to faith was Heather. She attended the church as a teenager and grew in her new found faith. Although her parents were unhappy with her new Christian beliefs, Heather grew spiritually and found a spiritual home with her church family. Several years later, she married Pastor Kirk Plaxco. Now they pastor the Stephenville (TX) Church of the Nazarene. And the story of faith keeps unfolding. This last year, Heather’s parents began attending Fort Worth First Church, and have become believers. Pastor Glidden commented they have quickly become key ministry supporters in the congregation. During these months of turnaround, the Sunday School ministries set up a memorial in tribute to little Reece Clark, to assist in renewing their efforts in ministry to the children and youth in the area. When Pastor C.B. came to Fort Worth in October of 1996, the average worship attendance had been around 50 people. The Training Depot Daycare was running around 80 in enrollment. The Academy, their Christian School enrolling from K to 5th graders, was running around 50 in attendance. But by the end of the first year, things began to change. The worship attendance had moved up to around 90, with total income for all purposes at $100,000. But the church’s monthly mortgage payment was $5,700, which was over 60% of the total income. Looking back now, Pastor Glidden says, “The children’s ministry was key to our recovery as a church. The Training Depot Daycare began to rebound and grow again. Today there are over 270 in the Training Depot Daycare ministry, with a waiting list for each class. “Now the Academy has expanded from kindergarten to high school, 9th to 12th grades. The Academy experienced significant progress as enrollment climbed to new levels. Today the Academy is running around 240, and will have its first graduation for 12th graders this coming year. Amazing progress has also been made with the academics at the Academy, with the high schoolers enrolling in a nearby community college to receive dual high school and college credit.” When Pastor Glidden first came to Fort Worth First, people in the community didn’t understand that the Daycare and the Academy were a part of the ministries of the church. Now the identity of these children’s ministries with the Christian School have been a positive influence. And as only God can do, somehow the tragic loss of the Clark family in the community had raised a new awareness of Forth Worth First’s ministries to children and youth. Today the church has returned to a new health and vitality. Early on the church made a strategic decision: “We targeted children and the Sunday School ministry. Our goal was to make all of the children’s ministries upbeat and positive. Our Children’s Pastor came from within our congregation,” Glidden says, “and she does an awesome job. She’s come up through the ministry here.” Like most turnaround ministries, the money was a year or two behind the new people. Pastor Glidden emphasized “As we stressed the mission of our church around the world and throughout our community, our first Faith Promise Weekend became the reversal point in our church’s finances. Our goal for that first Faith Promise Weekend was $17,000 - and we surpassed it. That was an amazing experience for our congregation. That step of faith breathed new life into this ministry.” About that time, the church also started the “Leather Bound Prayer Book.” On Wednesday evenings, half a dozen of our members would gather to record prayer concerns with the date requested in the church’s special prayer journal. They would pray and later write in the answers to prayer for later celebrations. “I remember especially back then that one request was for a piano player,” said Pastor Glidden. “We all began to pray, and within a few months we had three piano players attending the church. And gradually over time, the number of people involved in the prayer ministry continued to increase. Another memorable prayer request was for a long time member’s unbelieving husband. Soon our team celebrated his conversion. That happened over and over again, and impacted the way our church began to come to life.” Today there’s a long list of prayer requests recorded in the “Leather Bound Prayer Book.” On each fifth Sunday, the evening service is dedicated to worship and praise, and sharing together in the celebrations from the church’s “Leather Bound Prayer Book.” As for the future, Pastor Glidden is optimistic. He notes, “We have 20 acres and desire to be ministers for our people from the cradle to the grave. Maybe that means a new retirement center in the future. Who knows? The next plan for building involves a $4 million project for a multi-purpose building, with additional new classrooms for further extending the children’s ministries.” Apparently the focus on children’s ministries and Sunday School continues to accelerate the church’s transformation. According to Pastor Glidden, “Now 60% of our new members have been families initially contacted through our Training Depot Daycare and Academy. The strategic step for us has been linking them through our Sunday School and children’s ministries. And the finances have reflected that progress too. Our total income for all purposes last year was $2.4 million.” New Multi-site or NewStart? One of the more common questions in the expanding multi-site strategies involves the difference between new sites and new churches. Both approaches offer distinct advantages, depending upon the particular vision and needs of that ministry. When the new ministry from Wichita First Church launched at Christmas in 2004, the plans were to develop into an indigenous new church. As a staff member at Wichita First Church, the sponsoring church, Pastor Mark Pennington had cast a vision from the very beginning for a new church that would be a self-governing, self-propagating and self-funding new church. That focused approach has served this team very well, with significant progress for First Family Church of the Nazarene. The original launch team sent from Wichita First has nearly quadrupled with new members which have connected with this new church. When First Family officially organized on April 30, 2006, the congregation celebrated the day with 166 in worship. Of that group, 117 charter members signed the organizational papers. Of the 117 new members, 80 were new Nazarenes and 70 were new believers with no previous church affiliations. Even though their new ministry was in the northwest suburbs of Wichita, the new members reflected another demographic group previously unreached by Wichita First Church. Pastor Mark Pennington describes the process as “seeing God’s grace at work.” Many in this new church’s membership had never been acquainted with the Church of the Nazarene before. One mother of two said, “My husband and family are so excited about joining, and you probably don’t realize that my husband and I hadn’t gone to church since we were married in 1993—until First Family came along. We love it, sign us up.” And this isn’t just excitement about new Nazarenes. People of all ages are finding personal relationships with Christ and growth in discipleship. This past March, Pastor Mark watched a final four basketball game with one of the newest regular families. Their little girl was so excited the pastor had come over to be with their family. And today, the little girl’s father has been coming like clockwork to services, hungry to learn about Christ. That original night of visiting, the pastor also met the father’s brother for the first time. This brother recently asked if the pastor would hold a marriage ceremony for his live-in girlfriend and he so they could be a family with their two-year-old son. And just a few Sundays ago, this new husband and father gave his heart to Jesus, along with a grandmother and another family member of that same little girl who was so excited to have Pastor Mark as a guest in their home. Pastor Mark Pennington says, “We’re seeing total life reorientation to God and his church from largely secular families. This isn’t about draining the other churches in town—it’s about 35,000 people in a 5 mile square mile area in northwest Wichita who have no church home at all and don’t much care or think about what they are missing. “Please keep praying for First Family Church, because we’re only starting to be known in the northwest area of Wichita, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, and a lot more faith steps are required. Along those lines, pray specifically for land in a prime location that could be used for God’s glory to reach people through First Family Church. We’ve only just begun to see a hint of the awesome things God has in mind for the Church of the Nazarene in Northwest Wichita.” Collaborative Conference 2006: By Michael W. Vail, USA Clergy Education Coordinator From the opening keynote address to the closing challenge, 110 participants engaged in conversations about preparing ministers for service in the Church of the Nazarene. Participants represented regional universities/ colleges, seminary and Bible College, Alliance member districts, and districts using the Modular Course of Study and Pacific Rim curricula. The dominant theme in these conversations was a common commitment to an educated clergy and the diverse contextualized means necessary to be faithful to that commitment. Clergy Development joined with Nazarene Bible College and Alliance for Ministry Development to host the conference at NBC in Colorado Springs. Dan Copp, Director of Clergy Development and keynote speaker, opened the conference by defining the present reality of Nazarene clergy preparation and casting a vision for how we can partner together in this important work in the days ahead. Dr. Copp chose Ephesians 4:1-16 to remind participants of what it means to be Worthy of the Call to fulltime Christian ministry: to be humble, patient, and keep unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He emphasized that to be worthy of the call, one must accept the responsibility to prepare people for service, unity and maturity. Dr. Copp invited participants to engage together in synergistic partnership, take a long run view, and embrace a compelling calling as we investigate assumptions and explore current practices of ministerial preparation. The denominational outcomebased definition of the course of study opens various options for districts and educational institutions as they prepare women and men for ordained ministry. The Manual establishes a procedure for validating course of study curricula through the regional Course of Study Advisory Committees (COSAC) and the International Course of Study Advisory Committee (ICOSAC). To date, ICOSAC has validated over 70 curricula worldwide. Having many validated options sometimes leads to misunderstanding about how others are preparing ministers. This conference was critical in beginning the conversation to address these misunderstandings with district and institutional representatives. Within the conference plenary sessions and workshops were used to frame critical issues and parameters for initial clergy preparation and ongoing clergy development. Participants shared their experiences of the best ways to conduct district training centers and prepare ministers. One panel discussion focused on various instructional and learning assessment methods. They also fielded questions on the benefits and challenges of various educational delivery systems from traditional classrooms with face-to-face teachers to online systems and mentored individualized instruction. Representatives of Nazarene regional universities/colleges, Bible College, and seminary expressed their willingness to resource and support district programs. They shared examples of existing programs to offer online and classroom instruction in cooperation with districts, resource pastors who teach in district programs and sponsor regional continuing education events for ordained and licensed ministers. Presenters for concurrent workshops helped participants develop practical knowledge and skills. Presenters were selected from district superintendents and pastors with fresh ideas and proven skills in developing ministers in training. Kuhrman Cox (Mississippi) shared a database for tracking district students through the course of study. John Nielson (Mid-Atlantic) gave examples of how he has blended the Alliance Curriculum and the Modular Course of Study to enhance the learning experience of ministers in training. John White (New England) described how his district is conducting initial assessment of applicants for district licenses to assist the applicants as they explore their call to ministry. Randy Craker (Northwest) presented a restructuring plan for district boards to facilitate licensed ministers on their ministerial journey. Three NBC faculty presented workshops. Tom King and Dan Powers conducted a preaching workshop emphasizing biblical exegesis. And David Phillips reviewed changes in technology and its impact on instruction. A portion of the conference focused on lifelong continuing education as part of holistic clergy development. Continuing education is designed for ministers who have progressed beyond initial educational preparation for ordination. Clair MacMillan, Canada Atlantic District Superintendent and Canada National Board chair, reinforced the motivation for being a lifelong learner. He emphasized the role continuing education has played through his own stages of ministry. His introduction was followed by small group interaction that generated ideas for continuing education topics and preferred ways to deliver continuing education to Nazarene ministers. Ken Mills, Mid-Atlantic District Superintendent, closed the conference with a look to the future. Conference planners asked him to address how to develop ministers for today’s post-modern culture and society of the future. Dr. Mills described how more and more women and men are acknowledging God’s call to ministry but not to pastoral ministry. The church must make a place for these new ministries that move the church into society. Dr. Mills challenged participants to find ways to prepare clergy that are Christ to their world—prepared for incarnational ministry. Throughout the conference participants were encouraged to maintain a longrange perspective. “This conference” said Dr. Copp “is just the beginning of our conversation about clergy development.”
Research & Trends The Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey was mailed at the end of October 2005 to the pastors of a random sample of Nazarene churches in the United States (732). Responses were received from 369 (50%) pastors. The response was generally representative of the distribution of Nazarene churches by size and region, however, the smallest churches (under 50 in attendance) are a little under-represented and mid-sized churches (100-249) are a little over-represented. Has Worship Changed Over the Last 5 years? This survey may be compared with a similar study of Nazarene churches conducted in 2000. A report from the 2000 survey is available at www.ext.nazarene.org/nazfact/factnazarenereport.pdf. These studies were conducted in cooperation with multidenominational surveys sponsored by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership. Information from the larger studies may be found at www.fact.hartsem.edu/. Worship: Most Nazarene pastors in the United States (81%) say the phrase “Filled with a sense of God’s presence” describes their worship services “Quite well” (51%) or “Very well” (30%). This is similar to the 84% of Nazarene worshipers who on the U.S. Congregational Life survey said the “Always” (42%) or “Usually” experience “A sense of God’s presence during worship services. A majority (61%) of the churches have changed the format or style of their worship services either “moderately” (35%) or “a lot” (26%) during the past five years. Changes described include music, instruments used, praise teams, use of technology, participation, and multiple services. Programs: Key programs or activities for most churches include Sunday school classes (84%), children’s programs (67%), fellowships or other social activities (64%), youth ministry (63%), prayer groups (61%), and Bible study groups (58%). A majority of churches also report providing, or cooperating in providing, a food pantry or soup kitchen (58%) and cash or vouchers for families/individuals in need (58%). To reach out to non-members or to make their congregation better known in the community, a majority of the churches have scheduled special worship services intended to attract the unchurched or non-members (74%), mailed or distributed newsletters, letters or flyers (73%), advertised in a newspaper (68%), and established or maintained a web site for the congregation (51%). Identity: More than three-fourths of the Nazarene pastors in the USA “Somewhat agree” or “Strongly agree” that their congregation “Holds strong beliefs and values” (91%), “Desires growth in attendance and membership” (89%), “Deepens members’ relationships with God” (88%), “Is like a close-knit family” (85%), “Is spiritually vital and alive” (84%), “Is a fun place to be” (81%), and “Celebrates its Nazarene identity” (77%). How Churches Are Staffed Leadership: Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the churches have a solo pastor. Seven out of ten (71%) of the pastors say they are a “Full time pastor, without other employment.” Their average age is 50 with the youngest at 24 and the oldest at 83 years old. The highest level of education for 39% of the pastors is a graduate degree with another 36% reporting a bachelor’s degree. Finances, History, & Facilities: Looking back five years, 30% of the pastors say their church was experiencing financial difficulty compared to 17% in 2005. Over the past 20 years, 24% of the pastors report that their church has moved to a different location; 20% have helped plant to grow a new congregation; and 15% have changed the church name. More than two-thirds (69%) of the pastors describe the overall physical condition of their church’s worship facility as “Good” (44%) or “Excellent” (25%). The full questionnaire with percentages choosing each response option is available on the Research Center web site. The report is with the “Occasional Papers”. Go to Research Center at http://www.nazarene.org/research_center/occpapers.html. Adding
Worship
Venues: Like many other transformational ministries, the Biker Sundays at Grove City (OH) Church of the Nazarene grew from one leader’s own personal spiritual journey. When over 7,500 gathered on July 15-16, 2006, Pastor Steve Combs remembered the early Biker Sundays and the beginnings of the “Leave a Mark Ministry.” Pastor Steve shared in his interview with GROW, a few weeks after one of the early Biker Sundays, he had a specific impression from the Lord. He sensed he was to take teams of volunteers to the area Biker clubs and bars and invite people who were far from God to worship with them. Pastor Combs said, “At first I argued with the Lord. Going back to those areas was the last place I wanted to be, since the Lord had delivered me from all that life. I had grown up in a dysfunctional family, with an alcoholic Dad and a Mom who was much too young to have three children to raise. The Lord had rescued me from that kind of life, but now it seemed the Lord had asked me to go back where I came from.” Eventually, Pastor Steve was obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leadings, and his team of leaders joined him in visiting these areas, inviting folk to worship with them. One of the bars that Pastor Combs and his team visited was called Ernie’s. As Pastor Steve and his volunteers met Ernie and some of his patrons, they convinced them to come to church with them for the next Biker Sunday. As hundreds of people came for that next Biker event, Ernie came on his motorcycle to church that week. “Everyone in the crowd was talking about it,” Pastor Combs remembers. But a month later, the call came to Pastor Steve that Ernie had been tragically killed by a drunk driver while riding his cycle. The family and friends asked Pastor Steve to conduct the memorial service, which he agreed to do. No one expected that over 1,000 bikers would show up to the funeral. After the message, several dozen came to faith in Christ. Through that tragic accident and ministering to the family and friends, Steve Combs became the pastor to the Biker community around Columbus, Ohio. A couple of months later, Pastor Steve stopped by Ernie’s to be with a group of Ernie’s friends and family. They had gathered to have a party to initiate a new floor in the bar and were marking the new floor with their Harley’s spinning tires. After several had gone through the exercise, Ernie’s sister, Becky, called across the room to Pastor Steve. “Hey, Pastor Steve, why don’t you bring your cycle in here on Ernie’s new floor too? You and your church have loved all of us here like no other church group has, and we’d like you to leave your mark here too.” Steve said it was like a rite of passage with the group, and after he had left $10 of his cycle’s tire marks on their floor, then signed the black line like the rest of the group had done. He wrote “John 3:16” under his name, and thought to himself that was the mark God had left for us in this world. On his way home he realized he now had the new name and logo for their Biker ministry: “Leave a Mark.” And, the rest is history in the making. The Biker Sunday over the years has become the largest Sunday at Grove City, well above Easter and Christmas Sundays. This past year over 2,000 Bikers came to worship on the Biker weekend, and 80 made first time commitments to Christ. During those early years, several hundred people came to know the Lord from the Biker events. It was then the church began to realize they faced a whole new challenge. For the special events, the whole church had joined in to welcome all the Bikers into their worship services. The congregation dressed down in jeans and T-shirts to make all their new guests feel more comfortable with the casual dress code. But by the next week, when the Bikers returned to the regular worship services, everyone was back in their suits and dress clothes. They wondered what had happened to the Biker Church from the previous Sunday. The church leadership sensed a new worship venue was needed to stay connected with these new attenders. So a new worship venue was started especially for the new believers and attenders from the Biker Sundays. Saturday evening worship services were scheduled each week in an available multi-purpose auditorium on the church campus. The lively music came from a worship band. The sermon appealed to the more relevant themes and topics for the newly churched Biker group. The fellowship grew to an average of 700 in the Saturday evening worship venues each week. Small groups and Bible studies have continued to develop and grow, as new believers are being discipled in their new found faith. Pastor Steve says, “The ministry has grown over the past 9 years primarily from the church’s genuine love and acceptance of lost people.” And perhaps, the message came through best this past Biker weekend when a first time guest waited after the service to visit with Pastor Combs. “Pastor,” he said, “you speak so romantically with our church.” “Well,” Steve replied, “I’ve never heard it described that way before. What do you mean by that?” “Well, anyone can tell how much you love all the people in this Saturday night service.” Steve says “That’s one of the greatest complements I’ve ever received, and that’s what the vision of this ministry is all about: lost people do matter. We want to love those people to faith who seem the very farthest from God.” Training
Future
Leaders: The Glenview Church of the Nazarene in Medicine Hat, Alberta has set plans in motion for future multi-site ministries by hosting a training event for developing effective ministry action plans for new churches. Host Pastor David Skidmore noted the training event resulted from a growing interest in developing workable launch plans for several dozen new churches that are now in the planning stages. All of these new churches are being sponsored from local Nazarene congregations across the Canada West District. After many months of strategy meetings with churches and pastors across the Canada West District, a growing awareness of the importance of developing NewStarts has resulted in 28 different NewStart initiatives in the formative stages, many of them will be multi-sites. The Glenview Church and Pastor Skidmore have projected the development of twelve new ministries sponsored from their local congregation, with ten pastoral leaders already in ministerial training. These twelve new satellite churches sponsored by their church will be strategically located in smaller rural communities across their ministry area in Alberta, Canada. NewStart District Coordinator Larry Dahl said, “This NewStart training event seemed to be the next logical step for us on the Canada West District. We sensed the need to help local sponsoring pastors and churches with their NewStart leaders in drafting a more detailed and long-term plan of action for launching these new ministries. We were delighted to have over 20 participants from across the Canada West District enrolled for the event.” Geographic distances remain a major challenge on Canada West District, which covers an area of just under 2 million square miles. Even with the good turnout at this training event, additional plans are underway to host another NewStart training event in Manitoba, which is on the eastern edge of the Canada West District. Several NewStarts and multisites are also being planned in this area of the district. Pastor David Skidmore noted “It was interesting to see the variety of people involved in this training. There were pastors and leaders of churches doing multiple satellites, as well as those working on one new indigenous church. We had some solo new church pastors who attended, as well as teams of new church leaders attending together; to get a sense of what might be possible for their local church situation.” One church, at the time of the meeting, did not have a plan in place for initiating new ministries – but since the training event they have actively started working on beginning two new outreach ministries using the NewStart principles learned in this workshop. Pastor Skidmore also pointed out “We have created the Medicine Hat Bible Institute which is a three year educational and training program using the Nazarene Clergy Modules from the Clergy Development office. Since its inception, nearly 3 years ago, the Institute has enrolled about 50 people from across 5 different denominations that are committed to a ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ philosophy. We have ten Nazarene clergy from our congregation in the modular education track; most of them have set their sights on NewStarts. We are projecting to launch multiple NewStarts and worship sites to eventually enroll 1,000 new people in our Nazarene church family.” When asked about the potentials for growth at Glenview Church, Pastor Skidmore said, “They are huge. We live in a small city of 60,000 here in Medicine Hat, but the reality is that our church will never be able to effectively reach everyone in this area. We need more help with other sister congregations and worship venues. We believe starting new churches is the only way to do it.” Pastor Skidmore also pointed out the reasons their church was making such significant progress: “The Canada West District has an amazing leadership team in our District Superintendent, Danny Gales, and our NewStart District Coordinator, Larry Dahl. They have created a ‘climate of permission.’ Together they have cast a clear vision for new churches. They have created policies and district infrastructures that promote our churches sponsoring other NewStarts. I’ve served as a NewStart leader for 20 years now, so that experience has been helpful. But their input is encouraging us all to move ahead in this effort.” The evaluations of the event were overwhelmingly positive, with all the participants able to leave the workshop with the beginnings of a detailed ministry action plan. Every leader had a new course of action for each project. The books and resource materials supplied by the NewStart ministries were appreciated by those attending. The Front Line Why are some churches growing and others declining? I’ve seen the difference leadership makes under some of the most unlikely of places and circumstances. • The Lima (OH) Community Church is serving over 2,000 members and growing in a declining small-town. After combing through data on thousands of churches over several decades I’ve concluded that there is little or no predictable cause and effect between geography, demographics or the age of churches and their prospects for finding and advancing their mission. In two recent books the authors claim that pastors and denominational churches need to develop the right kind of leadership skills for serving faith communities. Most surprising is the corrective from Jim Collins in Good to Great and the Social Sectors, subtitled, Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer. It’s a brief (35 pages) corrective for church leaders, among others in the social sector who may have been overly enamored with examples of successful corporate leaders in his popular book Good to Great. On the back cover is a Collins quote: “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” This could apply to both the business and the religious community. In The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World, Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk – who have organized the Missional Leadership Institute (www.mliweb.net) describe their experiences using techniques common to techniques for executive coaching. Roxburgh and Romanuk claim that strategic planning and goal-setting – models from the corporate world – produce dysfunctional faith communities already frustrated over their lack of numerical growth in spite of their best efforts. In a time of unpredictable change, congregations need leaders who know how to unite congregations around core missional values where success is defined as faithfulness to a vision inspired by scripture and their own spiritual narrative. If the CEO business leadership model and the traditional pastor as care-giver model are not helpful – what is? What do pastors need to know and do to be missional leaders? —Tom Nees What’s New? “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19) When Isaiah prophesied those words, he predicted endless changes for the people of God in their spiritual journey. Providential wisdom says the only thing in this world that will not change – is change. God seems to delight in the unexpected. His Spirit breathes new life; sheds new light to our spiritual understanding and inspires us to sing “a new song.” To know God is to experience a new birth, a fresh beginning as “old things pass away and all things become new.” While His truth remains the same, and God promises He will never change, still He seems to love working in new ways. How easy for us to become familiar with the sacred, assuming we know God’s intentions. Like Moses, we try to predict how the miracles happen and when water flows from the rock. But in ministries all across the USA and Canada, new movements signal God’s Spirit continues to do “a new thing.” At the upcoming M-7 Conference in February 2007, special attention will be given to various workshop tracks to discuss some of these new movements taking place across our continent. You and your church leaders will want to be a part of these interesting workshops and discussions. The Prayer Movement happening now across North America and around the world is unprecedented in its scale. Thousands are gathering in united intercession in prayer rooms, chapels, cathedrals and stadiums from diverse denominational backgrounds. Prayer meetings are turning into 24-hour vigils. These 24-hour prayer vigils are expanding into seven days of focused prayer. In cities around the world, different denominations are linking their prayer efforts to form 365 days of unbroken prayer. Cities are being transformed. Lives are being changed. God is doing “a new thing.” Are you aware of this growing prayer movement? New venues for worship are springing up in the most unlikely places. Public high schools, places of business, city parks and community centers are being commandeered to serve as new worship venues. Existing congregations are creatively extending their ministries and influence by providing additional worship venues at various times to reach new people for Christ. Many Nazarene congregations are considering how to implement this new strategy for reaching new people with the good news. New worship venues and satellite ministries are another new thing God seems to be blessing. Where might your church extend the Kingdom in a new place to reach new people? Emergent Churches are developing in response to a whole new generation of believers. A pastor recently emailed me to describe his visit to a nearby emergent church. He said, “Part of my reason for wanting to visit was to help me think about the worship needs, tastes and desires of the next generation. It is easy to become ‘stuck’ in a particular style of music or worship as the world changes, resulting in churches that eventually stop connecting with their own children as they grow up. It is important for us to be aware of changes in culture and musical tastes among children and youth, and to integrate elements into worship, or design separate worship experiences that speak to them. The gospel is unchanging, but the forms of worship and particularly musical styles do change over time. What’s interesting about the emerging churches is that they are rediscovering ancient worship practices, yet tying them to modern forms of musical expression, sometimes called, ‘ancient- modern worship.’” Emerging churches seem to be another expression of God’s Spirit. Who might your church reach in an emergent service? New churches express new life all across the USA and Canada. People with no church background are coming to faith in Christ through new ministries from the Church of the Nazarene. Specific language groups – and nearly invisible sub-cultures in many communities – are being impacted by new ministries intentionally designed to connect with them. We are reaching record numbers of new people each year through hundreds of new home cell groups and new churches. What could your church begin to do to reach new people? God loves doing “a new thing.” Connect with other faith-filled believers to collaborate in one of these new ventures of faith. Without this kind of risk-taking faith, nothing new will ever happen. What new discovery waits for you and your church? God says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” —Jim Dorsey
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