Why i gave up serving the poor (Claudio Oliver)

I hope the title of this post is a little provocative — thankfully it’s not my title but that of Claudio Oliver a Brazilian Pastor and long term worker and advocate amongst the poor, who is one of SURRENDER:10’s keynote speakers, so I’ll leave him to do the job of explaining just what he means. Safe to say, the concept that Claudio is writing about in this article goes right to the heart of the message of SURRENDER. To read more click below:

http://www.surrender.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/why-I-have-given-up-serving-the-poor.pdf

Twelve Steps Toward Enhanced Church Decline

Another Twelve Steps Process?

Certainly nearly everyone has heard of at least one of the myriad of "Twelve Steps" recovery programs for addictions, eating disorders, etc.

Contrast those recovery systems with this special "Twelve Step" Program for increased congregational stress. Followed religiously and consistently over a period of time, this "Twelve Step" program will almost certainly guarantee that you will be pastoring a declining ministry in only a few short years...or sooner (that is, if you or the church lasts that long!)

The Twelve Steps
1. Blame someone else for your problems...and expect others to take care of them for you. After all, they are supposed to bear my burden, aren't they? Besides, how is this church ever to get anywhere as long as this church has any problems? We'll just have to wait until the problems are all taken care of. Then we can start to move ahead.

2. Be a victim, act like a victim, lead like a victim, and respond like a victim. After all, doesn't God help victims? Just sit and wait for God. Someday He'll fix your problem for you and make it all better. Then you can have a happy ministry.

3. Resist change regularly, religiously, and righteously. Avoid seeking new challenges and pursuing new initiatives. Divert initiatives which might prove uncomfortable, refreshingly different, or those things which "just won't work here." Be sure to structure a "sound" Biblical argument for your "pious" position. After all, you are the pastor. Isn't that your job?

4. Keep on doing more of the same. As they always say, "The old way always works better if you work harder." And didn't God, the Bible or some religious person say, "God helps those who help themselves?" If you're really dedicated, you'll work really hard...for Jesus of course. Now get to work...harder!

5. Make your organization as peaceful as you possibly can. Make for a peaceful today even if you have to mortgage the organization's future. After all, if we can make today peaceful, we can certainly make our future peaceful too, can't we?

6. Control everything you possibly can. Intervene whenever possible. After all, everyone loves a "hero"...especially religious ones. Grab for control at every opportunity. It is for their own good, right? If necessary, go down fighting for this control if you need it. Isn't that what "faithfulness" is all about?

7. Hang on to the expendable, the inefficient, the unimportant, the habitual, the comfortable, and the familiar. After all, God loves the simple things, doesn't He?

8. Pull back, take your time, minimize the risk, delay every decision possible and, above all, play it safe. After all, there's really no need to have members involved in visionary discussions which will only require pain, sacrifice, and growth to implement...is there? Besides, God wants His money used for more important things.

9. Fight as many battles as you can, defend the undependable, and take your eye off that which is important and essential for "winning the war." After all, who has time to look at the big picture when they're so pre-occupied with hustles and bustle of the the day-to-day and moment-by-moment tasks of ministry?

10. Attend to your own, your members', your leaders', your staff's, and your church's survival needs. After you have completely taken care of all their needs, then devote all of whatever energy remains for the unchurched. After all, the unchurched probably don't really care anyway. If they did, they'd be in your church, right?

11. Motivate others by guilt, manipulation, fear and other mind-games as much as possible. Watch over their every move. Intervene to "fix" what they did wrong every single time they fail. After all, it is their church. You wouldn't want them to be making mistakes now, would you? And, if it isn't just so, can you imagine how many people would be upset? We can't have that! After all, this is a church. It's God's house!

12. Take God off the "shelf" only when you want to bring Him to worship or when you need Him to get you out of trouble. After all, what more could He be doing in the church that you aren't already doing? Besides, if He gets the idea to do something miraculous and exciting, can you imagine how it would hurt this church? Do you know how many people would get upset? It would simply be downright ungodly, now, wouldn't it?

Positives, Negatives, Neutrals

Every ministry leader needs to be a positive. They also need to know who the positives, negatives, and neutrals are both in official leadership and unofficial leadership in their ministry.

Positives
Positives are people who do gospel things in gospel ways for gospel reasons. They are trusting, supportive, and encouraging. They build bridges and mediate conflict. Positives bring organizational health, work for the good of the gospel over any single issue or cause, and are a blessing because they humbly want the gospel to win. Positives are prone to turn neutrals into positives, while they also work to neutralize negatives. In the Bible, positives are often referred to as shepherds.

Negatives
Negatives are people who do ungospel things in ungospel ways for ungospel reasons. They are distrusting, unsupportive, discouraging, and contentious. They burn bridges, are wounded by bitterness from past hurts, and are often the center of criticism and conflict. Negatives bring organizational sickness, division, and trouble because they are proudly more interested in their cause winning than the gospel and the good of the whole. Negatives tend to draw other negatives toward themselves as factions, and they also prey on neutrals in order to increase their own power and control. In the Bible, negatives are often referred to as wolves.

Neutrals
Neutrals are followers who are easily influenced. They are prone to being unsure, confused, and fearful. Neutrals are often caught in the middle when there is conflict between positives and negatives. A neutral becomes a positive or negative depending upon who their friends are, whom they listen to, what information they have access to, which books they read, and which teachers they look up to. In the Bible, neutrals are often referred to as sheep.
Sadly, in most ministries, the negatives are the most vocal, most exhausting, and most distracting, as well as the least likely to contribute to growth and health. Though they are few, they are often loud and difficult, spreading—as Paul says—like gangrene through the church body (2 Tim. 2:17). Practically, this means that even a few negatives working together can become quite difficult. The Bible reveals that negatives often pair up like two barrels on a gun, as was the case with Jannes and Jambres opposing Moses, Sanballat and Tobiah opposing Nehemiah, and Hymenaeus and Alexander opposing Paul.

How to Stay Positive
For a ministry to remain positive, three things need to occur.

First, the senior leader and the other official and unofficial leaders who wield the most influence must be positives. Further, they must be continually exhorted to remain positives. This means that even when they deal with negative things, they do so in a positive way for the glory of God and the good of his people.

Second, the negatives must not be allowed into leadership. If they are in leadership, official or unofficial, they must be rebuked. Titus 3:10–11 describes this rebuke: "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned." Too often negatives are tolerated for too long; the longer their sin is tolerated, the more toxic the ministry culture becomes. Therefore, unrepentant negatives need to be brought through formal church discipline after their negativity has been documented and addressed; this process may end with their removal from the ministry, if needed. Ministry leaders are often reticent to deal so forthrightly with negatives; however, the longer they are tolerated, the more neutrals they infect with their gangrene.

Third, the neutrals need to be lovingly and patiently informed that they are in fact neutrals and that they need to take responsibility to not give in to negatives. Additionally, neutrals cannot be allowed into ministry leadership because they are prone to be influenced rather than be influencers. Sadly, neutrals are often nominated for and voted in to ministry leadership because they tend to be nice people who are likeable because they are amiable and easily influenced. But they are prone to work toward consensus rather than lead and are therefore not helpful for moving a ministry forward into innovation and growth. Change is controversial and requires someone who is a strong positive to build consensus for change and who is also able to neutralize the negatives rather than being influenced by them.

Enrich - Health Forum @ Enmore Nov 7th 2009

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

NazCare Updates: Seminary refuge for flood displaced persons, Taytay, Manila

From NazCare:

Three hundred people, displaced by the recent floods in Manila, spent the night on the campus of Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. People are returning to their homes to salvage whatever they can, but will likely return to APNTS who are providing whatever assistance they can to these families and individuals. Please pray for the Church as it responds with compassion and loving concern to those affected.

Please continue to pray for all of these, as well as our mission personnel, and for the relief efforts the Church is undertaking at this time.
NazCare welcomes any financial contributions to NCM's partnership with local disaster relief efforts in Manila, which will be used to provide direct assistance to those impacted by typhoon Ondoy.

More news will be provided as updates arrive.

Life After Church: God's Call to Dissillusioned Christians

So i finished reading this book a few months ago and as i was tidying up my book 'collection' i came across it and it got me thinking about dissilussioned christians (once again)

It is worth a read.

Life without Chruch. It's getting easier to imagine.

And maybe you already left. A leaver, one among a growing number of them, committed to Jesus, not an institution.

Whether Sunday mornings find you alone in a bedroom or isolated in a church of thousands this book is a call to a unifying task, to be the church. A church that Lives and Breathes, a church that births breathing and Living to the fullest.

I am longing for a church that facilitates and imparts life to all that are apart of her.

I am desiring a church that is more than a place for worship on sunday but a dynamic organism inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit.

A church that does not use holiness as a weapon of judgement and power over people, but a cup of cold soothing water for a parched, sin dryed soul seeking somethin more than an institutional lip service.

There are dissillusioned christians sitting in our pews each sunday, some of them we would never suspect.

May the Gospel draw each of us dissilussioned or not into something deeper than cliche words and meaningless verbage towards another level of love and service for Jesus.

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.

The Great Generational Transition - Darlene Zschech

This Book facinates me and I think I will be purchasing it next time i visit Koorong. Darlene has her critques, however, i believe she may have alot to say to us about forging a way forward for current leaders and leaders to come in harmony and unity.

Has anyone read this book? I will let you know what it is like when i eventually get it and read it.

get it HERE

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

4 Lessons for Living in a New reality - Bill Hybels (from Dave ferguson)

The following are some of the highlights of Bill's opening talk at the 2009 Leadership Summit:

I want to share some lessons with you that I am learning in this new reality.
I'm not sure we are going to experience the old normal anytime soon...if ever. The normal we all knew and loved has left the building.
In the middle of this new reality we hear the whispers of God saying, 'this is why I gave you this leadership gift...for times like these."

PHILOSOPHICAL LESSON
In a single week the stock market lost 20% of it's total value within a week. As a result of that hundreds and thousands of people began to lose their jobs. In the middle of that we made a critical decision that we will be an Acts 2 church for today. We still believe that the church is the hope of the world and we will be the dispensers of that hope. We are the church and we will still be the church!

FINANCIAL LESSON
When you head into a financial downturn you see the financial forecast going down and the financial needs going up.
Advice from Jack Welch: "Cash is king!" Cash simply gives you the time needed to make the important decisions you need.
At Willow they have 25% of the total annual budget in cash reserves.
Follow these "golden rules" if staff reductions are necessary:
Give as much as advance notice as possible.
Be clear about the cause for the reductions.
Be as generous as possible.
Suggested budget disbursement: 50% or less of total budget is for staffing; 10% is for Spirit-led initiatives; 15% is for debt reduction and 25% for ministry expenses.
People will still be extremely generous if the cause is compelling.

PEOPLE LESSON
I have been learning a lot of lessons in regards to the people who work with me and for Willow:
Ask yourself, "Are we hiring fully yielded, rightly gifted, fired up people for the mission who want to see God do great things."
Ask: How many "key" seats do we have in our organization? And then ask how many of our "key" people are filled by a fully yielded, rightly gifted fired up person?
Recommended book, How the Mighty Have Fallen by Jim Collins

PERSONAL LESSON
This lesson started with a conversation with a friend where we both admitted to each other, "I'm a little worried about you." It remind me of a dangerous time when I wrote in my journal 20 years ago these words, "The pace at which I'm doing the work of God is destroying the work of God in me." We must reinvent replenishment strategies for the new reality. The best thing you bring to your church or organization is a "filled up" person. You need it and they need it.

Imperatives for Creating Change - Gary Hamel

I came across this interesting piece, its short but may get your thoughts ticking over.

Gary Hamel was ranked as the #1 Business Thinker of 2008 by The Wall Street Journal and called "the world's leading expert on business strategy" by Fortune Magazine. He is the author of Leading the Revolution and The Future of Management.

The following are some of the thoughts from Gary Hamel's talk Manage Differently Now given at the 2009 Leadership Summit:
Our problem is not greed or materialism; our problem has to do with change...we live in a time of unprecedented exponential change.
The reality is that most organizations get shackled to one model and stuck in one paradigm.
Over time visions become strategies and strategies get codified and and you get stuck in an old paradigm.
Success is a self-correcting phenomenon.
The really hard thing is not inventing, but re-inventing yourself and bringing about change.

IMPERATIVES FOR CREATING CHANGE1. Overcome the temptation to take refuge in denial.
Overcoming denial usually requires that we go through four steps:

1. Dismiss 2. Rationalize 3. Mitigate 4. Confront.
"Microsoft is only two years from being irrelevant" - Bill Gates

2. Generate dozens of new possibilities
We are in too big of a hurry to find a solution; we need to first spend time thinking through all the crazy possibilities.

3. Deconstruct what you are already doing.
Most churches end up doing the same stuff because they read the same books and use the same consultants. We need to reconsider everything..spare the gospel. Why can't a sermon be created though an open-source conversation? Why can't we bring laptops into the sanctuary to take notes? Why is the sermon more of a lecture and not a discussion? Why...
Mental models of leadership teams are increasingly irrelevant but at the same time their power is increasing.
Is the challenge finding great leaders OR leveraging the people that God has sent us?
Young people want to work for corporations that functions more like the web where everyone has a voice and is judged by what they produce.
Jesus is the answer and He is the hope for humanity. And the church is God's plan A for delivering that message. There is no plan B!

Building Compassion in Jamaica

The island nation of Jamaica sets aside one day a year for the purpose of serving communities. On the National Labour Day, May 23, Jamaicans are encouraged to put aside any spirit of divisiveness as they participate side by side in local community projects and selected national projects — everything from planting trees to painting or refurbishing hospitals, schools, clinics and homes for the aging. This year the Burnt Savannah Church of the Nazarene in Jamaica's West District, decided to show their community what it really means to serve.The Burnt Savannah church, in keeping with a spirit of compassion that comes from Christ and under the direction of pastor and district superintendent, Rev. Lionel Brown, decided to labour together by constructing a house for a brother in need. Several members gave cash and other items, and the church gave a major contribution for the purchasing of material. As early as 7:30 a.m., the atmosphere was filled with excitement and a flurry of activity as some 30 brothers and sisters, including youth and children, picked up tools and jumped into their various roles in the construction work. The day’s event was punctuated with Jamaican work songs and hymns, such as “To the Work, to the Work ... Toiling On.” The NYI sponsored and prepared lunch for the day. And when it came time to dall it a day, no one wanted to stop. At nightfall, they finally went home, and the home was 90 percent complete.As the day progressed, a number of onlookers gathered to investigate what was happening and eventually even a few unchurched neighbours joined in the labour of love. Several of them could be overheard commenting on this practical outreach and the demonstration of love and compassion they observed. They realised that the Church of the Nazarene ministers to the total person.Today our brother, whom we will call “Bro D,” is a step closer to fulfilling his dream of owning his own home and caring for his young family. The Burnt Savannah church sees this gesture as a ray of hope in what is often an uncaring, callous world. The spirit of compassion is alive and well on the Jamaica West District, and the Burnt Savannah church continues to find renewed energy as together they serve the community outside their four walls.
— Submitted by Jennifer Brown, Global NMI President

The 'Sickness Within' (an online video sermon)

Hi all,
One of our blog readers suggested we post this link for a sermon.

"Is it really what’s inside that counts? If so, what’s going on inside you? Worry? Doubt? Loneliness? Lust? Sometimes the internal struggles that no one else sees are the ones that blind us the most. We’ll get the inside story on how God offers hope and strength for overcoming these battles in this series, The Sickness Within."
http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive/watch/the-sickness-within/5

Peace

How to Start a Disability Ministry (from building church leaders)

I found this video clip,had some good points to help us think about this often unspoken ministry. Yes, it is very american but it is a good starting point.

Has anybody been involved in ministry to people with disabilities of any kind? Share your experience with us, let us know what you have learnt or think we need to learn.
Hope this clip it may be of use to you.

http://www.buildingchurchleaders.com/multimedia/articles/howtostartadisabilityministry.html

11 Ways to make Church more Meanigful for Kids (from childrensministry.com)

11 ways to make the worship service more meaningful to kids...
Children's choirs. Children's bulletins. Children's sermons. Children's church. Sounds like kids in our churches today are really a part of the action, right?

WRONG!

I've asked pastors and other worship leaders how they involve kids in worship. These people usually list the standard things-bulletins, choir, sermons.

Are these the only ways children are part of worship services? Sadly, yes. The churches that break this pattern are few and far between.

And the kids are paying for it. Two-year old Morgan cries when no one speaks to her during greeting time. And 11-year-old James is really in between-too old to be part of a children's sermon, too young to join the "adult" choir. Kids such as Morgan and James need to be involved in relevant worship experiences.

In a CHILDREN'S MINISTRY Magazine survey, 60 percent of churches say they provide alternative experiences to involve kids in worship. Forty percent of churches said they involve children in the regular worship service. For both types of churches, involving children in the worship life of our churches should be a priority, a privilege, and a blessing.

But how can you make children feel part of an adult corporate worship service? Try these ideas:

*Form a committee! Not just any old committee, but one that includes children of several different age groups. Also include at least one adult who'll be the children's advocate when discussing changes with the worship committee. Some of our best ideas in children's ministry come straight from the kids themselves. Do they want to help pick hymns to sing? light the candles? be ushers? What about having a regular Kids' Sunday where kids do everything-from reading the gospel message to singing special music?

*Include children. Get kids doing things often during the service as readers, soloists, acolytes, greeters, and ushers. Give them each a job and teach them how to do it. Pride of ownership is an important part of belonging.

*Teach kids about your worship traditions. Incorporate the parts of the worship service, such as a special prayer response or offering hymn, into the Sunday school hour. Periodically, kids can learn a new part of the worship service-it's more fun when they can join in!

*Involve specific classes. Have different Sunday school classes and their teachers lead the prayers of the church during the worship service. And remind congregation members to pray for the children throughout the week as well.

*Have kids create prayers. During Sunday school, have a class write a special prayer or litany to be used during the service by the entire congregation. Then allow that class to lead the congregation in that prayer or litany.

*Use kids' artwork. Ask different classes to design bulletins to be used for the worship service. Photocopy their artwork to make the bulletin covers for everyone in the service.

*Educate parents. For the smallest children, print a brochure for their parents with suggestions about appropriate church toys and snacks. See the "Church Survival Kit" box for ideas. Although some people object to these diversions during the service, it's better to make the worship experience enjoyable for small ones. A gradual introduction to the worship service is a good way to teach children proper behavior during the service.

*Provide resources. Put your children's library books on a cart or shelf near the church entrance and encourage children who might be restless to check out a book or two to look at quietly during the service. So much the better if the books you place on the shelves correspond to the sermon message!

*Make sermons relevant. Encourage the pastor to include examples that involve children's lives and experiences within the sermon. If the pastor's sermon is about loving your neighbor, why not use an illustration about two friends fighting over a bike and how to resolve the conflict? Children have an easier time grasping the true meaning of the message when they're clued in that it also includes them.

*Use various mediums. Although children thrive on predictable routine, encourage worship leaders to vary parts of the service. A drama that retells the Bible story or even a puppet show can share God's message in a meaningful way to children and adults alike. Have the children act out the Bible story as an adult narrates.

*Revamp the children's sermon. Encourage the children's sermon leader to sit and speak on the kids' level. Suggest that he or she focus on one point at a time, using props, and citing examples from a young child's perspective. If a children's sermon is truly for children, then it must be simple and to the point. Advise the children's sermon leader to avoid abstract object lessons that often go over a child's head. Rather, check out this article: "5-Minute Messages". Or buy the exciting children's sermon book Let the Children Come by Brant D. Baker (Augsburg). These interactive messages will transform children's sermons.

Another point: The children's sermon is just that. It's for children, not adults. If your children's sermon leader is using the sermon to subtly (or not so subtly) communicate to adults, gently correct him or her. If a children's sermon is all your church does to involve children, it's a crime to make it so heady and adultlike that kids still feel worship is not for them.

Take another look at your worship service. If you have children running cars over the pews, climbing between parents' legs, or just bored to tears, you need to do something. When you welcome and involve children in worship, you'll follow Jesus' admonition to "let the little children come to me"-for they belong to the kingdom of God.

N.T. WRIGHT'S RESPONSE TO JOHN PIPER ON JUSTIFICATION

Here below (see the link) is an interesting but all too brief interview of Tom Wright as he talks about his forthcoming book on "Justification". What Tom is stressing is that final justification when the Christian stands before the judgment seat of Christ, does indeed involve the review of our moral actions inspired and empowered by the Spirit as well as our immoral acts as well. This contrasts with initial justification which is by grace and through faith. In addition he argues that Paul does not suggest that Christ's moral righteousness is imputed to the believer. Rather initial justification has to do with forensic or legal right standing with God, not the imputation of Christ's moral righteousness to the believer.
anyway...check out the link.

http://trevinwax.com/2009/01/13/interview-with-nt-wright-responding-to-piper-on-justification/

Why people 'pick' a church

Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church(research conducted by Ranier)

90% - Pastor/Preaching
88% - Doctrines
49% - Friendliness of Members
42% - Other Issues
41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
38% - Family Member
37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
25% - Sunday School Class
25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
12% - Other Groups/Ministries
11% - Worship Style/Music
7% - Location

Top 9 Reasons that Church-Attenders Choose a Church(research conducted by the Barna Group in 1999)

58% - Doctrine/Theology
53% - People Caring for Each Other
52% - Preaching
45% - Friendliness
45% - Children’s Programs
43% - Helping the Poor
36% - Denomination
35% - Like the Pastor
26% - Sunday School

Top 6 Things that Keep the Formerly Unchurched Active in the Church(research conducted by Ranier)

62% - Ministry Involvement
55% - Sunday School
54% - Obedience to God
49% - Fellowship of Members
38% - Pastor/Preaching
14% - Worship Services

The statistics speak for themselves. Overall, doctrine, the pastor and his preaching, and the friendliness and fellowship of the congregation are the most influential qualities.

http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2009/07/why_people_pick.html

Is the Church of the Nazarene in danger of losing its 'Wesleyanism'?

I for one love the 'Big Tent' image thatn is often portrayed in the church of the Nazarene. We have a more inclusive approach to church and ministry. This is evident in how the church of the Nazarene came to be over 100 years ago (only just). But in recent times i have been having more and more conversations with church people, and hearing some interesting views on our district assembly floors, that leads me to think something is missing.

So, Are we (Australian nazarene church) in danger of losing our 'Wesleyanism' when it comes to our understanding on issues such as Bibilcal Innereancy, the Atonement, Sin, Baptism just to name a few?
With the ever increase of people from other denominations joining the CotN(which is a great thing, not a bad thing and i welcome it) we increasingly have people 'objecting' or 'misunderstanding' our churches view and stance on MANY issues which can and does divide communties of faith and puts pastors and preachers in difficult positions.

Do we, the Australian church of the Nazarene, need to educate our people about our 'Wesleyan 'views of scripture, missions and the world?

The CotN position on Scripture:
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments given by Divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith."

What are your thoughts? Are we in danger? Have we come across this in our ministry? What are the ways forward? Do we as pastors need to be 're-deucated'?
Many have 'dissagreed' with our Theological college, however, we are in desperate need (in my opinion) of some deep discussions with our people and the support and teaching from our college (which they are more than happy to help with if we pick up the phone) in our Local churches if we are to remain 'Wesleyan' at the Local church level.
Peace

Church Blesses Fathers with Beer!

Something worth a quick read, maybe they are a little more progressive than i thought? :)
Here is the Link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5587035/Church-blesses-fathers-with-beer.html
Peace (or should i say 'cheers' *burping and clinking of glasses*)

Why young adults leave the church part 5 of 5 - Mark Sayers

Reason #5 -Commitmentphobia
Last time we spoke about the effect of the worldview of consumerism on the spiritual lives of Young Adults. One of the flow on effects of the worldview of consumerism is that it has a caustic, corrosive effect upon our ability to commit. I remember asa kid seeing a shirt that I wanted to buy, I had my money, and was ready to head to the cash register, when my mother taught me a key tactic known to every shopper, that is shopping around for a better bargain. We headed off to the others stores to see if the same shirt was on sale for a cheaper price. Hyper-Consumerism has taught us all to be good shoppers in almost every arena of life, we have learnt to not commit and hang on for the better bargain. For consumerism tooperate effectively as a system, it needs a low commitment environment.
We only have to look at the arena of human sexuality to see how the world view of consumerism has shaped our behaviour. Consumerism shapes our civic life, and our community habits. In all areas we are taught to hold off, and not commit. In my book The Trouble With Paris I write,

"We run from those promises and covenants that humans have made to each other for thousands of years because they frighten us to death. Many today fear such commitment-based social institutions because self now takes precedence over commitment. As the worldview of hyperconsumerism has taken hold of our imaginations, everything has become shopping. We must not become entangled in commitments, because they could limit our options on finding something better. This constant search for something better means that the supershoppers of hyperconsumerism are still waiting for a better deal after the mall has closed and then are forced to return home empty-handed. Or we find ourselves always on the move, searching for a home that shifts and shimmies over the horizon. We keep up this restlessness as our fears of not being stimulated take over.
The key to life, we are told, is to keep holding out for that perfect bargain. But the less we commit, the more we become passive. We never make a move; instead, we simply stand and watch life go by. Our fear of commitment has turned us into passive consumers."

Of course this deeply effects how we view church. In my experience most young adults would view staying in a church for three years as a long term commitment. Most seem to re-examine their commitment to communities of faith on a rolling 12 month basis, this contractual view of church attendance is based on a fear of ‘missing out’ on something better. I would say that this level of commitment is pretty standard wherever I go. Needless to very few churches or denominations are taking this issue very seriously despite the obvious devastating effect on our churches both now and in the future.