Defining a “Win”
from David Ludwig
The first time I heard the word “win” used to describe a success in ministry was when I read “7 Practices of Effective Ministry” by Andy Stanely, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones. When they’re referring to a win, they’re saying that the purpose was reached. What are some “wins” you’ve experianced in your area of ministry? Share them with us, we’d love to celebrate with you.
7 Practices of Effective Ministry
by Andy Stanley
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Is the discipleship process at your church “Simple” or way too complicated?
By David Ludwig
Lead Christian Education Consultant
Those of you who know me know that I read a lot of books, and without hesitation I can say that one of the best books I read in 2006 was Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger…hands down it’s a “must read” for every pastor and church leader.
From the very first chapter I began to connect with the dilemma being presented, and as much as I don’t like to admit it the discipleship model I practiced for years was way to complicated. Simple Church reminds us that disciple making shouldn’t be program, class or series, but rather a process of maturing believers that is enfolded into the existing ministries of the church.
If you’re still not sure you need to buy this book (you know I wouldn’t steer you wrong), check out the “free” download below, then share your thoughts with us.
Discipleship is our mandate, the Great Commission, and a key to becoming a “Kingdom Focused Church.” As you think about a “simple” process for discipleship, share your comments and ideas that might help others develop a simpler discipleship process at the church they serve.
Free 25- Page Download from Simple Church
Evaluating the Teaching Ministry of the Church (Part 2)
Have you ever asked the question, “Why isn’t our Sunday School/ Small Group ministry as effective as I’d like it to be?” I think most pastors or Christian education leaders have asked that question, and often the answer is simpler than they think. There are no sure-fire solutions or formulas for “success”, mainly because of what we mentioned in Part 1, the definition of success is determined by the church and its leaders, and what is success for one, may be failure to another. Here are some questions for evaluation: Do you have the proper ratio of teachers to students? Do you have a plan for pre-service training for new teachers? Do you meet weekly, monthly or quarterly for ongoing training? Have you clearly communicated your expectations to the teachers (ministry descriptions, etc.)? These are a few ways to raise the bar for your Sunday School/ Small group ministry, what are some others you’ve found to work?
To learn about more best practices purchase: “Ten Best Practices To Make Your Sunday School Work – Resource Book (LifeWay Christian Resources).
Evaluating the Teaching Ministry of a Church
There has been a lot of discussion recently among the Church Strengthening staff regarding the topic of Spiritual Transformation, and among that discussion the topic of “teaching” has surfaced. There are two questions I want to ask, “What is the purpose of our Sunday School/ Small group ministries” and “How do you measure success.” The first question addressses the need for goals, as John Maxwell once said, “If you aim at nothing you’ll hit it every time.” Before we can deterime if our Sunday School/ Small groups are successful we need to know what it is we’re desiring to accomplish. This leads to the second question, how do we define success? What does a “win” look like? As it relates to spiritual transformation (changing into the likeness of Christ) how do we measure our effectiveness? Think about this and share your thoughts, we’ll talk more about this again soon.
Here is a book that every pastor and Christian education leader should have.
The Teaching Ministry of the Church: Integrating Biblical Truth with Contemporary Application
by Daryl Eldridge
It’s about Intentionality!
from David Ludwig
Matthew 28:19-20 I’ve never considered myself to be a statistician, but there are some statistics that I find I once heard a pastor say, “If we were going to win the world to Christ with a program we would have done it by now…we’ve got lots of programs.” Those words echo in my ears as I think about how often the church is guilty of “just doing programs.” The question we need to ask is “Why are we doing what we’re doing, and what do we hope will come out of it?”
Reaching them and keeping them!
From David Ludwig
In a small booklet titled ”3-D Sunday School,” David Francis writes a paragraph reminding us that ”Connecting Starts with First Impressions.” Francis states that “long before the pastor begins to preach or the congregation is asked to greet those around them, most first-time guests have already decided whether they feel welcome.” I believe this is true, so the challenge for us is determining what they are basing their decision on? Some might say it’s the appearance of the building or the grounds, others the cleanliness of the rest rooms. Often times it is whether anyone greeted them at the door or on their way to the pews. What are some “First Impression” deciders that you’ve had or heard about? What are some ways you’ve found to “keep them” coming back to the church? Your comments will benefit all of us.
Spiritual Transformation
Several months ago some of us (PA/SJ convention staff) attended a meeting at Camp Skycroft in Maryland. This was a meeting bringing together state counterparts to discuss ways in which we can better work together by networking and sharing resources. Also, we discussed the possibilities of joint conferencing opportunities, and some of the issues we face in serving the churches of our respective conventions. One of the primary issues that emerged within the church strengthening group was the issue of “Spiritual Transformation,” specifically: Are we seeing spiritual transformation take place among the churches we serve and even among ourselves. One definition of spiritual transformation is – “God’s work of changing a believer into the likeness of Jesus by creating a new identity in Christ and by empowering a lifelong relationship of love, trust and obedience to glorify God.” The question – is this taking place in our lives and in the lives of the people we minister to? To answer this question we were given the assignment to come up with strategies on how we as church strengthening personnel can place spiritual transformation at the core of all that we do. We will be meeting in New York in January 07 to dialogue about ways in which we plan to make “spiritual transformation” a true core value of all that we do in serving our churches and partnering with them to advance God’s kingdom. Please share with us your ideas on how to make “spiritual transformation” the foundation of all that we do as God’s people.
Becoming the Leader God wants You to Be
from David Ludwig, Lead Christian Education Consultant
There have been many good books written on leadership, and one of the best in my opinion was written by Henry and Richard Blackaby called Spiritual Leadership: Moving People On to God’s Agenda. The book was written in a way that it helps a person understand what God requires and expects of a leader. The authors of this book have also released a companion study guide by the same name. The authors begin the first chapter by recognizing that leaders face challenges and can sometimes wonder if they are being effective. This chapter also discusses the pressures leaders face, one of the pressures that Blackaby addresses is the draw on their time. Blackaby states that not only do leaders have “unprecedented opportunities to impact their organizations” but that there are great demands on a leader’s time. How have we addressed these demands? One way is that we’ve turned to technology for the answer, with hopes of capturing every second of time. Today’s technology offers things like email, cell phones, PDA’s, video conferencing and more. Blackaby says that “the Information Age has inundated leaders with new data that must be processed as rapidly as possible” and that in the past leaders wrote letters, recognizing that it could take weeks to get a response, and that was acceptable. What are your thoughts? I believe the Information Age is here to stay, and new ideas are being thought of every day. So, how can we use technology to help with the pressures of leadership? Does technology pressure leaders to make rapid decisions? What forms of technology have you found to be helpful?
Welcome, we want to hear from you!
Welcome to the blog of the Church Strengthening Division of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania/South Jersey. My name is Ted Johnson and I’m the Director of the Division. We’re composed of mostly consultants from around the state convention. Read our ‘about us’ to find out the who and where.
When you click into our blog we hope you will be enlightened by the entries we post. We want your feedback. We want your questions. We even want your challenges to how we are doing things because we want to be able to better serve our churches. It’s a growing world, changing faster than most of us can keep up with. We need to know the best way to not ‘do church’ but to tell people about Jesus Christ.
So, please read and comment. Come back often. We’re an eclectic group and you will find many areas of the church life that we discuss.
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