Children’s Ministry Mission for 2013 “It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, […]
This has powerful implications for leadership. Unconsciously, the church will mimic you. This means: If you are late to meetings, your people will be late to meetings. If you don’t take notes in meetings, your people won’t take notes in meetings. If you are angry and defensive when you get negative feedback, your people will […]
I have a vision of a Generous Church… gen·er·ous 1. Liberal in giving or sharing. 2. Characterized by nobility 3. Marked by abundance; ample 2. free from pettiness in character and thought, 3. full or plentiful Generous in their praise of God and care of others. Generous with their resources to fulfill a mission that is challenging, inspiring, and […]
The church council exists to create and supervise the strategic plan for your local congregation so that the congregation fulfills its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. This twofold function includes both leadership and management. Leadership is the visionary, “big picture” work that assesses critically where your congregation is at the present moment, where God is calling […]
thanksgiving is a special time for me and my family. It connects us in a spiritual way and speaks to us of a deeper reality than the Pilgrims, turkey or cherry pie can even begin to capture. I suspect if we only looked at Thanksgiving as a feast of mega proportion and fuel for […]
Crisis! 1. A crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. An emotionally stressful or traumatic change in a person’s life. A crisis constitutes any circumstance or situation which cannot be resolved by customary problem-solving abilities. It require a new way of thinking, being and doing. It changes the world as you knew it […]
Is Violence Senseless? Once again I’ve been jolted back to reality by the horrific news coming out of Colorado. What started out for many as a simple night at the movies with friends, family or sweethearts turned into a nightmare when evil came out of the shadows and reminded us that we are not […]
In his excellent book, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Richard Swenson, M.D. describes margin like this: Margin is the space between our load and our limits. It is the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. Margin is the […]
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:29-31 (NIV) With the development of the Internet comes all kinds of fun tools to become more intentional about healthy living. That means stretching our perspective, our muscles, our compassion […]
With the discover of the Gospel of Thomas in 1943 in Nag Hammadi, there has been renewed interest in the importance of the Non-Canonical Gospel as important revelation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. As we continue to study the source and significance of the Gospels collectively it is only appropriate to consider the relevance of […]
In their book A Faith of Their Own: Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America’s Adolescents (Oxford University Press, 2011), the authors follow up with 2,530 young people, age 16 to 21, surveyed about their faith and religious practices at two points in time. The authors identified five types of religious identity among these […]
We all deal with craziness from time to time and usually believe everyone sees the world as we do. But the Bible is clear that some people are just fools and more conversation is pointless. I share this post in the hope it will as helpful for you as it was for me. ~ steve […]
Almost all of us guys get up every day and go to work. Work involves people, and we deal with all kinds of attitudes. Some, we’d just rather not have to deal with at all if we didn’t have to. But others are a joy to be around. And I’m not just talking […]
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson As we step into the flow of God’s story, I feel there is a growing excitement that God is moving us, shaping and equipping us to live beyond the ordinary. We are, after […]
What is our task in this world as children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus? Our task is reconciliation. Wherever we go we see divisions among people – in families, communities, cities, countries, and continents. All these divisions are tragic reflections of our separation from God. The truth that all people belong together […]
By Bill Easum Over the next few days, I will be blogging on the essentials to breaking the following worship barriers- 200, 500, 1000, 1500, and 3000. Today I will begin by listing the essentials for breaking 200. Breaking the 200 in Worship Barrier A full time worship leader who functions also as a pastor […]
State of the Church Address for 2011 Present January 30, 2011 Related posts: 2011 State of the Church Address Good News for Ladder People – Easter 2011 2011 Annual Report Images of a Church Picnic
A copy of the 2006 Budget Narrative for First United Methodist Church 2006 Narrative Budget Related posts: Funeral Announcement for Charles Hardman Leadership Development Team At the End of Our Story Welcome New Members
Leadership [polldaddy poll=5333439] Related posts: How do you handle Money? Leadership Development Team Self Esteem Leadership Values
Deuteronomy 11:1-32 Most of the greatest Biblical dialogues were recorded and preserved because they contain within them a powerful message that spoke to the heart of a people longing for a word from God, a word that in most cases either clarified the present or changed the course of the future. In typical fashion these […]
The Challenge of Leadership When you’re in leadership it is tempting to think your job is to get the people to the Promised Land. But that’s actually God’s job. Your job is to bear their burdens while they’re in the wilderness. We prefer just the opposite. Let God love the people and we’ll just move […]
What we are most committed to both as people and as the church define who we are and what we will become. As we look to the future we must come to terms with what kind of church are we now and what kind of church we want to be. When I think about FUMC, […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxfLK_sd68&feature=player_embedded] I hope you enjoy this video; I found it helpful and challenging. The purpose of the Missional church is to equip those who attend on Sunday morning to take the church to the community. Instead of having altar calls and invitations giving by professional clergy, the church experience is to engage, equipp and encourage […]
“I will say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be Free!'” Isaiah 49:9 The highest aim of mission-minded people is not self-protection but self sacrifice, to empty themselves of themselves in order to be used by God and filled with the Spirit of God. They know first hand what addictions […]
Kingdom Focus “Love each other with genuine affection,and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:10 The Kingdom is our true home, the place we most long to be and the place where Christ in all and through all and above all. In the Kingdom of God people experience life differently than they do in this […]
Staff Parish Relations Team Communicate between the church staff and the church body on personnel issues and ministry focus. Make recommendations to Church Council on regarding staffing needs Confer with, consult, and counsel the pastor and staff on matters pertaining to the effective use of gifts, skills, and time to fulfill the mission and ministry […]
Leadership Development Team The charge conference elects members for the committee on nominations and leadership development (formerly the nominating committee or committee on lay leadership). This committee or team serves throughout the year to guide the church council or alternative structure on matters regarding the leadership of the congregation (other than employed […]
First United Methodist Church Leadership Values Christ Centered: Leads a Spiritually Surrendered Life We serve others as a reflection of how Jesus served and gave his life for us. Our first priority is to be spiritually centered in order to mentor other on our team into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Our personal goal […]
Christ Centered ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ Acts 17:28 Jesus is the starting point for our story. What came before this is insignificant compared to what comes after it. We are captivated by Christ, by His life, His message and His mission. They resonate within us and we feel […]
I spoke to a man the other day who does market research (focus groups and interviews) with a wide range of people: what they like and don’t like; what they think and feel about various things. He said that overwhelmingly what people want more than anything else is belonging: to fit in and be accepted; […]
Leo Tolstoy once said: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, no one thinks of changing himself.” God wants to do greater things in our community and in our church, but He also wants greater things in our homes, and in our marriages, in our families, in our finances, and in our future. It has to […]
THE POWER OF C-H-A-N-G-E Part 1 – Connect I’ve always heard that religion is about reformation. But Christianity is about transformation. Those two things are not the same. The former is about what a person can do to make self-improvements – Ladder People. The latter is about a person totally yielding to the Person of […]
THE POWER OF C-H-A-N-G-E Part 1 – Connect Part 2 – Help Others I’ve always heard that religion is about reformation. But Christianity is about transformation. Those two things are not the same. The former is about what a person can do to make self-improvements – Ladder People. The latter is about a person totally […]
There are no “do-overs” in life and ministry. But there are always opportunities to learn, correct, and improve. So here are seven of the key mistakes I made as a senior pastor. Obviously, the list is not exhaustive. Seven just seemed to be a good, biblical number. Seven for Starters As I began thinking about […]
“a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Luke 13:11-12 This passage is part of a bigger discussion […]
Evangelism, Missions, and the Internet Information – The Internet is bringing an enormous amount of timely strategic information into the hands of even the smallest church or mission agency. Ratiocination – People “think aloud” in cyberspace. The theology and practice (including ecclesiology and missiology) of most Christians is now primarily formed as a peer-to-peer online […]
In one of his books Paul Tripp and Tim Lane, How People Change, identify seven counterfeit gospels—-“religious” ways we try and “justify” or “save” ourselves apart from the gospel of grace. I found these unbelievably helpful. Which one (or two, or three) of these do you tend to gravitate towards? o Formalism. “I participate in […]
The Hijacker Picture the perfect church visitor. He walks in, eager to meet people. He’s enthusiastic about your little church and wants to participate. He even has skills to contribute to your worship service! He seems mature and willing to serve. Nothing makes a little church wet its pants faster than new visitors. And if […]
http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com/2009/07/ten-people-who-will-kill-your-church.html I was part of a church that died. What made it even more painful was that my family had planted the church. My Dad was the pastor. Despite our best intentions, our plans, our prayers, the church did not just die, but was killed. It was as if no matter how many times we […]