Envisioning a Replant: Leadership, Mission, Values - Prt 4 (Scott Thomas)

Define Church Leadership
Identify the top three or four lay leaders of the church.
What will each of their roles be in leading change?
What resource or encouragement do they need to more effectively help guide the ship?
Do they fully understand the vision for replanting a missional church?
How could they lead organized groups of men as you work through this process of change? Try to identify at least six key positions of leadership.

Staff Leadership
Does the staff (if applicable) need to redefine their job descriptions to accommodate the changes desired?
What role will they play in the leading of the body?
What knowledge or encouragement do they need to be effective in their redefined roles?

Board, Officers, Elders
Identify the governing structure of the church. Is it congregational rule, elder rule, deacon/trustee rule, pastor directed?
Determine if the structure is a biblical model and if it is functionally healthy.
Examine the qualifications of the church officers according to 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5. Work through the process for purging the existing appointed leadership if necessary.
Whom do you believe God has appointed as lay leaders in your church?

Establish a Clear Mission (Prov. 29:18)
Write (and rewrite) a mission statement that is easily understood and easily repeated, and that reflects exactly what will guide the church when determining the value of ministries (establishment and continuance). An example of a mission statement is adapted from Willow Creek: "Turning unchurched people into fully devoted followers of Christ." Another example is "Making True Disciples" (our former statement) and "Penetrating the Darkness - Sharing the Light" (our current statement).
What are the values of the church that could be incorporated into a mission statement (evangelism, discipleship, worship, etc.)?
Write out a first draft:
Can it be recited easily?
Is it easily understood by non-theologians?
Who could be given the responsibility of forming the mission statement?

The mission statement acts as a filter for all ministries. Is this specific ministry contributing to or taking away from the God-given mission statement?
How will ministries be dissolved without creating division among the body?
How open are the leaders of ministries to exploring other ways of doing things to be more effective in your mission?

Communicate your mission statement often in as many avenues as you can.
Publish it on everything (bulletins, business cards, letterhead, websites, pens, etc.)
Preach the mission statement in detail at least once a year. Exegete every word. Include it in preaching regularly.
Determine Core Values
Your core values are the foundations which allow you to build all other ministries. Core values are expressed by the term "We will," not "We might." For instance, we will worship God passionately. We might have communion.
Think of ways you could creatively and visually express those core values to the body.

Replanting: The Story (prt two by Scott Thomas)

The Puritan Idea
In October of 2002, I felt the strong tug of God to become more effective in reaching the unchurched and in structuring the mission of the church more in line with the historical model of the apostles mainly found in the Book of Acts. As a Reformed Baptist, I have read extensively about the Reformation of the church and about the Puritans. Their goal for the church was to renew it back to the pattern of the Bible and away from the traditions of their culture.

The Dream
I dreamed of a body that loved the Lord, loved his word, loved the church, and loved the calling from God to be instruments of righteousness in their community. I dreamed of a people who practiced spiritual holiness, rather than judging others for their lack of adherence to man-made rules. I dreamed of marriages that visibly demonstrated the relationship of Christ and the church. I dreamed of homes that were led by the Holy Spirit, by godly heads of households and by the Scriptures.
I dreamed of a church that had influence in its community: spiritually, morally, evangelistically, and socially. I dreamed of a church that served willingly and enthusiastically according to their spiritual gifts, passions, and God-given abilities.
I dreamed of a church body that had a burning passion to share the gospel in their city, their state, their nation, and their world and to be a vital link for the establishment of churches all across the world. I dreamed of a body that had an insatiable thirst to encounter God in a real, personal, and intimate way.

The Recurring Nightmare
But was it just a dream? Could it be realized? Was I stuck in an endless continuum of leading one self-centered, apathetic, prideful, spiritually-arrogant, biblically-ignorant church after another with no real lasting change? I have always abhorred contented mediocrity, and yet I found myself again in an average church with an above-average indebtedness and a below-average love for one another. That was not exactly what I had hoped for. My own spiritual enthusiasm had grown average itself—and that was on a good day. Had my dream become instead a recurring nightmare of mundane Christianity? I was discouraged and disappointed with myself.
My discouragement did not lead to hopelessness. I fought through the overwhelming struggles to make financial ends meet with the clear call of God to be more spiritually effective. My top priority was to meet with God but that meeting was often overshadowed by meetings with refinancing organizations, with bankers, with creditors, with private loan resources. I felt as a church we had become more responsive to the call of finances than we were to the call of God. I had never made decisions based on finance, until this time. The financial demands were high ($16,000 per month mortgage) and the resources were weak (primarily low enrollment in the affiliated Christian school).

A Whole New Church
I felt the only way to be effective and remain faithful to this church (having served for less than a year at that time) was to start a new church in our youth center with a whole new approach to church ministry. I presented the idea to my pastoral staff. Their response was mixed, but they believed in me and hung on to that even though they couldn't fully catch the vision I had received from God.
They were enthusiastic, however, about the possibility of doing ministry like the New Testament instead of in accordance with the much-too-common phrase heard around the church, "This is the way we've always done it." No one really knew why we did it that way; it was just familiar and comfortable to the staff and congregation.
As a staff, we worked on details and vision for the new church, now called The Encounter Church. It was a regular part of our weekly staff meetings. In fact, it was the most fervent part of our meetings. I passionately worked on ideas for our new church plant and shared them with staff at our subsequent meetings.

First Approval
In January 2003, the church officers (highest ruling body at the time) approved the starting of The Encounter Church. I am not sure they fully knew what it was about, but at least they accepted the idea enough to pursue it from a church-wide basis. I announced it at the annual church business meeting in mid-January and held my breath when I said it would be a church, not just a Bible study.
Very little excitement was generated from that meeting. I guess they had heard unusual ideas at those business meetings before. Perhaps they never came to fruition and they were expecting (hoping?) this one would die as the others. Their silence to me, however, was the primitus annuo (first approval) that we needed to go forward.

God Changes The Plan
One unsettling incident happened in the early spring of that year. Tyler (the student pastor) and I were visiting a church member in the hospital. The hospitalized lady was not available for another hour. While waiting for her, we went to lunch and discussed the ideas we had for the new church. We were both caught being more interested in The Encounter Church than we were in discussing our current church.
I stopped and looked at him and said, "Do you realize we have been talking about Encounter for over an hour and we are both filled with energy and zeal. Do you think that would be true if we had been discussing our original church?" He was silent. I did not realize at the time how that incident would be a seed that would not germinate for a few months.
In May, Tyler and I went to Seattle to attend a church planting conference and to view a couple of churches in that area who held to a similar vision to the one we were pursuing. After attending a 100-person church on Sunday morning and a 1,700-person church in the evening, I pulled Tyler aside and asked him if he felt God was calling us to plant a new church or if he was calling us to replant our current church. He didn't know what to say.
I had heard the disconcerting statement that 3,500 churches in America are closing their doors every year. I had also heard the alarming statement that the church planting organization we were there to learn from (

the Acts 29 Network) had a 100% success rate, compared to the 20% success rate of other church planting attempts.
During the conference and immediately afterward, I sensed a clear call of God to get into the replanting of churches in America, beginning with our church. That is all God had used me to do in the previous pastorates and I had acceded to that calling. I didn't know the extent of that call and I didn't know it included our current church, a 60-year-old church with a rich history.

A Missional Church on Purpose
Many churches had indeed started out as missional churches. To be missional means that the individual members and the body as a whole understand and follow their calling from God to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ fervently to as many people as the Holy Spirit would lead. It means that we are engaged in personal relationships with the lost on purpose in order to show them the love of Christ and how he sacrificed his Son to die for our sins so that we could escape the condemnation already placed upon us as sinners by birth. It is not unusual for a church to lose their vision—our church was no exception.
In general, the congregation where we served did not spend time with unbelievers. In fact, every effort was done to ensure that we would come out from among them and remain separate. Our accompanying Christian school sometimes fed that separatist philosophy. Our church had become a church that had been trained to rapidly identify the lost (by outward appearances) and run from them, fearing their personal holiness would be stained by some contagious strain of sin.

Church Business Is Not The Mission
This church had become an institutional church and I had no interest in running an institution. That would be crazy! It had become a church business staying busy under the roof of the church, and had forgotten that our business is to share Christ with those who have never been under the roof of the church. Our mission is to share Christ with others who, when redeemed themselves, will be affected in such a profound way that they will in turn share Christ with their lost acquaintances, relatives, and friends.
Before my tenure, our church had contracted a consulting firm, and their conclusion was that it was a church for the "already churched community." We had to become personally missional and not leave the evangelism up to the paid staff and the foreign missions program, in which the church found inordinate pride.

A Whole New Church, Again
God called me to lead this church to become a whole new church. We did not try to turn the Winnebago around in a tight cul-de-sac, but we rather traded it in for a whole new vehicle. Jesus said we can't put a new patch on an old garment. Instead, we start again brand new so that Christ's message will be as fresh now as it was in 33 A.D. (

Matt. 9:16-17). I felt strongly called by God to lead the entire church body to follow Christ and replant this church, instead of planting a brand new church with those who desired change. We had to decide if we had the faith to follow God's leading. We did not ever want to be the same!
“And who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the patch shrinks and pulls away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger hole than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. That way both the wine and the wineskins are preserved.” (Matt. 9:16-17 NLT)
To be continued.

Replanting Church - Living by Dying Prt 1 (by Scott Thomas from Acts 22 Network)

A Cemetery of Churches

Christ established the church, is the head of the church, appoints elders to lead it, and personally died for its members. Yet an alarming number of churches all over America are closing their doors for good. Empty, neglected church buildings stand with their peeling paint as morbid headstones for these former houses of hope.
Alongside many of these decayed bodies are bouncy baby churches toddling along with limited resources, stability, and identities. Most of the newly planted churches are led by young, energetic, talented (though not always experienced) men who have a vision for a living body—one without the stench of death emanating in every worship gathering.

Flabby Church
Decaying churches are somewhat interested to find a solution—but only if it's a quick fix. Like a couch potato who hopes to get healthy by watching Richard Simmons' workouts (short shorts and all), the flabby church likes to see faith in action but are much too comfortable in their spiritually lethargic Lazy Boy to get up and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called them in Christ Jesus (

Phil. 3:14).

Seeds Die To Give Life
Instead of signing "Do Not Resuscitate" orders or trying one more fad-laden religious program, the sickly body could instead become alive by replanting itself. Churches are attempting life-saving measures by transitioning their bodies or by turning them around. They are trying to bring about change in the church without killing it.
What I am proposing is that we intentionally bring death to a comatose body so that it could become the seed planted in nutrient-rich soil that gives life to a new body. Jesus said that unless a seed dies, it cannot give life (John 12:23-25). Jesus himself was the first fruits sacrificially planted in the ground (in a tomb) as an offering to his Father, and by doing so he made life possible for others.
"Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel" (2 Tim. 2:8).

Again or Anew
Dictionary.com defines replanting: "To plant (something) again or in a new place." In a church replant, a church avoids permanent death by recognizing it will no longer flourish unless conditions are drastically changed to facilitate growth. A "transition church," on the other hand, starts with a healthy organism and applies biblical principles to foster new growth.

Living By Dying
Instead of holding on with inordinate pride to the past, a replanted church dies to its former glory, its methods, its structure, and its practices and strategically plants its resources (body, budget, and buildings) in the spiritual ground. The result is a virile replanted church with a God-renewed mission to give life to the spiritually dead community in which it ministers.
I believe God is glorified significantly when this happens. It can be a corporate example of the spiritual renewal many individuals need. Is your church ready to live by dying?

Excellence - Why don't we believe in it?

Over the past 18months or so i have been thinking about about the idea of 'Excellence in Ministry' and why in the church of the Nazarene we do not believe in it...well, at least we do not practice it.
I have attended many other churchs where they pay attention to every detail of ministry including the worship service, and how things look, feel, and 'communicate' to the people who are present.
Hillsong Conference is one example of many where excellence in ministry is something that is high on the agenda. They want to do everything they do the best they can with what they have. This means that timing, mood, feel, brand and 'presentation' is important in promoting the gospel. They also believe that when they 'do' ministry that they do it with excellence, excellence of attitude and spirit.
So why does the church of the Nazarene in Australia shy away from and in fact neglect this important aspect of ministry?
Why is it that we seek to do things 'on the cheap' every time?
Why do we not feel it is important to make sure we do everything with excellence?
Why do we feel that it is not important to do things right even if it cost us something?
my answers is this:
1. I think we continue to have an inward, brethren like mentlity where weare seeking to exclude ourselves from the reality fo a changing world and thus are in denial.
2. We shy away from things that cost money and thus alwasy skimp on prmoting the gospel with excellence.
3.We have never allowed ourselves to be 'taught' a better way, in reality we suffer from arrogance...thinking we really do have the best message and so the 'message' should be enough.
4. We are stuck in a time warp.
Maybe these are possible answers...no....maybe?

If we are to call ourselves a holiness people we must realise that a holy life is a deep life where we seek that Jesus be lifted high in all we do, where we want to do our best in all we do, where we want to shine the love of Christ and the good news in a way that glorifies God with our best not our second rate offerings.
It is time for us to evaluate the way we 'do' ministry and the way we use mediums such as the Web, facebook, twitter etc etc and get with the times.
I have passion for this and i pray we all would come to a place where we see excellence as more than a grade but a way of life for the church in service.
Peace

A different Angle

I don't believe we will ever see revival in our churches until we return to some very basic principles. I know we love our church, it's doctrine and it's heritage. But we are part of a far greater church with a much more enduring heritage .... the bride of Jesus Christ. Please note .. the "bride" singular, not 'brides'.

My point is that we really need to somehow, start to work together with other Christian groups within our community in order to reach our community. I don't know how, but some churches have facilites, some have resources, some have programs, some have leaders etc. All of us are trying to do the same things ..... run a church service, Bible Study, men's group, youth group etc.

Every group or church is frightened of loosing members to another group, and our disagreements are pathetic to say the least. One thing we all have in common, is the one thing Jesus came to change. We all agree that we are all sinners and that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Wesleyans believe this, Lutherans believe this, and Calvanists believe this. There is only ONE big problem that we have to deal with ..... "SIN."

Another thing we all have in common and we can all do together .... is pray. Every single Christian church believes in the power and importance of prayer. So where will the Church of the Nazarene be in 10 years time? I have no idea. But if we continue to isolate ourselves from the rest of the Christian community .... then no where. Perhaps we need to start reminding our people that we are "Christians". We don't hear other denominations proclaiming proudly "I'm a Baptist" or "I'm a Church of Christ" ...... except us "Nazarenes".

No .... we are not special. We are simply saved by grace just like any other Christian who has found Jesus Christ. No, we are not more holy and No, we are not more sanctified either. May God have mercy on the Western church in it's lukewarmness, and may those Nazarene churches that are embracing community outreach and community Christian fellowship rub off on the rest of us.

Dreams & Visions

I have been thinking alot about dreams. I was watching the last speech ever given from Martin Luther King on youtube and what a surreal speech it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8

It has this prophetic nature about it, almost like he knew what was coming his way in the coming day. He had a dream for society that was much bigger than a single man or voice! His dream was in a sense 'eternal', it was a dream that looked beyond his own life and abilities.

So what are our dreams and visions that God has given us?

What dreams and visions do Nazarenes have for the church in Australia?

What would you like to see God do in our Church?

What would need to happen to see that vision fullfilled?

Church Planting - thoughts and views

Hi all,

I have a deep belief that the Australian church of the Nazarene needs to 'plant' new churches. How we go about this is the million dollar question.
What are your thoughts regarding our current church situtaion and should we be intentionally seeking ways to start new churches?
I know we dont have the pastors, and maybe we could say we dont have the 'money' but i do believe we have a mission to fulfill.
How many people would be interested in starting a new church?
How would you go about doing it?
where abouts in Australia do you think a new church plant is needed and would work?
Thoughts, ideas, rebukings?

Ten Fatal Flaws that Derail Leadership (from neoleader)

I thought these were great, certainly spoke to me....

Lack energy and enthusiasm. They see new initiatives as a burden, rarely volunteer, and fear being overwhelmed. One such leader was described as having the ability to “suck all the energy out of any room.”

Accept their own mediocre performance. They overstate the difficulty of reaching targets so that they look good when they achieve them. They live by the mantra “Underpromise and overdeliver.”

Lack clear vision and direction. They believe their only job is to execute. Like a hiker who sticks close to the trail, they’re fine until they come to a fork.

Have poor judgment. They make decisions that colleagues and subordinates consider to be not in the organization’s best interests.

Don’t collaborate. They avoid peers, act independently, and view other leaders as competitors. As a result, they are set adrift by the very people whose insights and support they need.

Don’t walk the talk. They set standards of behavior or expectations of performance and then violate them. They’re perceived as lacking integrity.

Resist new ideas. They reject suggestions from subordinates and peers. Good ideas aren’t implemented, and the organization gets stuck.

Don’t learn from mistakes. They may make no more mistakes than their peers, but they fail to use setbacks as opportunities for improvement, hiding their errors and brooding about them instead.

Lack interpersonal skills. They make sins of both commission (they’re abrasive and bullying) and omission (they’re aloof, unavailable, and reluctant to praise).

Fail to develop others. They focus on themselves to the exclusion of developing subordinates, causing individuals and teams to disengage.

http://www.neoleader.org/?p=1235

Where will the Australian Church of the Nazarene be in 10 years?

This question has been bouncing around my mind for quite a while now.
Where will we be? and more importantly how will we end up there?
The choices we make as an Australian church TODAY will make a difference as to where we are in 10 years time.
some issues to think about:
1. how many pastors (who are not retired) will we have in 10 years at the current rate of 'recruitment'?
2. how many active churches (ones with actual people attending) will we have in 10 years at the current rate of church planting?
3. what will be the Australian Nazarene church's demographics be?

what are your thoughts?