July 30, 2006
National Conference 2007
I am pleased to announce that the 2007 National Conference will be held May 31 - June 3 (Thursday through Sunday) at the Sawmill Creek Resort, in Huron, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. The resort is about 45 minutes to an hour west of Cleveland. The speaker for Thursday and Friday evenings will be Pastor Brad Powell from Northridge Church. Registration information will be coming later, but I wanted you to get the dates on your calendar. This conference will be a great re-focusing time for our churches.
Also at this National Conference, each church will be able to send voting lay delegates to represent their congregation to the highest governing body of the US National Conference. Plus, all conference ministers who are actively pastoring a United Brethen church or serving in an appointed or elected position are also voting members of the National Conference. For further information regarding the US National Conference, see Part VII: The National Church, page 19, of our current Discipline.
You will receive further information regarding the registration for the National Conference in a few months. But just wanted to give everyone a "heads up" on the dates. Each church will be responsible for the expenses of its delagates (lay and pastors), so you will want to include this item in your 2007 Budget.
July 26, 2006
Is your church an island?
I had breakfast the other day with three UB pastors. One was pastoring a large church that is well established, and the other two were pastoring smaller congregations that were planted 5 – 8 years ago. All three pastors live within about a half-hour of each other.
Another thing you need to know about these churches--they all want to bless people beyond the four walls of the buildings they meet in. These leaders honestly want to move their congregations to a greater level of engagement in a lost and dying world, both around the corner and in the far corners of the world. And, to their credit, they are taking deliberate steps in that direction.
But on this particular morning, as we waded through the Cracker Barrel menu and feasted on oatmeal (this ordered by one of our senior members) and pancakes, the question was not, “What is your church doing these days to be and bring the Good News to people?” (which is a very good question), but rather, “What can our three congregations do together to ‘go and make disciples’ that we can’t do on our own?”
And that is a very different question.
We talk a lot about the “Body of Christ” at the local church level. Most of us would agree that helping the members of our congregations discover and engage their giftedness and calling is one of the most important things we do. I remember my days as a church planter and senior pastor. For me the concept of an interdependent body--with each member doing what the Holy Spirit had equipped them to do – was a matter of survival. There was no large, red “S” imprinted on my chest. After a short period of time I learned that I desperately needed others to step forward and live out their giftedness if our church was going to be healthy and fruitful.
Could these same principles be true on a regional level? Is it possible that our local churches were meant to function with other local churches in an interdependent way as we focus on the unfinished mission of making disciples?
Those of you who have spent a lot of time in the book of Acts might have some good insights on this. How many churches were there in Corinth? Were there many churches, or one church of Corinth with many members spread over the region? And if there is only one church of Detroit, or Fort Wayne, or Lancaster, then how do we function together to accomplish the mission that Christ initiated and promised to fulfill?
Can we plant more churches that make disciples of more people by taking joint ownership of our region and intentionally working together for something far greater than the “success” of our own, individual churches?
I would love to get some feedback on this!
July 19, 2006
It Wil Be Different for Me
I've come alongside some broken situations lately. My heart aches. I've seen it all through the years, and there are some patterns that continue to make no sense to me. A spouse is told that the "feeling" is gone and suddenly feelings have developed for a person that they've just met. This rush of "feelings" supersedes any vow of commitment that was ever made. Forget the vows, forget the kids, forget the oneness, forget the commitments. It all comes down to what I "feel." Love has lost the buzz. It's gone, and it won't return. (At least that seems to be the logic.) And the number one priority is "my happiness."
I've seen it in broken spiritual lives too. No work is put into developing the relationship. Other ventures and voices seem fresh and alluring. And suddenly Jesus is not worth following any longer. Pull back from fellowship. Pull back from Bible reading and prayer (the conversational aspect of relationship with Jesus). Pull back from serving anyone in any way. Listen to the voice that says, "Its all about you."
And we walk away, chasing after our new friend.
The amazing thing to me is that while this scenario has failed to deliver on this ominous promise of happiness for people throughout the ages, everyone who walks through it feels it will be different for them. It is right for them, because it "feels" right.
Feelings are deceptive. They can change directions like the wind. That is why a wise man once said, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its path leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12).
The prophet also observed, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
The key for all is to revisit the commitments and vows taken at the beginning. We must begin to do the things that we were doing at the start (Revelation 2:5). Marriages, believing communities, relationships with Jesus, all take work. They take daily investments. Rather than walking away, get back to work!
The one reassuring promise is His: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Matthew 28:20).
July 12, 2006
Do Others Have a Similar Passion?
Mt. Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., is partnering with a UB church in Mexico that has a big vision to make a difference in a city of 70,000 people. But they are wondering, "Could we work with other UB churches in North America that share our interest in Mexico? We would enjoy working with others and not just doing this on our own.” They have asked Global Ministries to work as a “clearinghouse” for churches and individuals interested in partnerships and ways God’s people can work together.
In a similar way, the Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich., has a passion for helping our churches in Nicaragua. The UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., is highly focused on church planting work in the Copan region of Honduras. Salem Chapel in southeast Ohio has involved itself with the new churches in San Jose, Costa Rica. A new church plant, Bethany House of the Lord, in Cumberland, MD, has intentionally sought to enhance kingdom work in Africa and India. These are just a few examples.
Working as partners enables you to do things you could never do on your own as a "Lone Ranger." It's a joy to watch UB churches work alongside each other, and alongside churches in other parts of the world. It may be helpful to know who else shares your church's specific passions. This might also provide the opportunity to do a work team together, or to join forces to accomplish a specific project.
People in your church may have a passion for sports outreach ministry, and you wonder if other UB churches feel the same way, and if that can be used in cross-cultural ministry? Or perhaps your passion is in children's ministry or music, or medical outreach, or leadership development, or in helping pastors' families. The list could go on.
I'd love to get UB churches connected so they can do things like this together. Global Ministries is developing some ideas along this line, and plan to use the UBMissions.com website to help churches network with each other over places and projects. You'll be hearing more about this. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from you about specific missions-related interests your church may have, whether it involves a country or a type of ministry. Just send me an email at: gary@ub.org.
So Who Is Driving Your Church?
Years ago, Denny Miller, Bob Bruce and I traveled together to attend seminary at Evangelical School of Theology in Myerstown, Pa. Denny and Bob would pick me up along the way and from my home we would alternate driving so we shared the gas expense. It became apparent after a while that there was a clear difference in how quickly we arrived at the school depending on who was driving. I won't elaborate the difference, but it was clear. Keep that thought in mind.
Now picture your church as a car. There are four people, or entities, in the car. One is vision. One is relationships. One is management. And the final one is programs. There are two main drivers in the car: vision and management. The progression of the journey will be dependent upon who is driving.
When vision is driving the church, relationships are up front riding shotgun and they work closely together. Management and programs are along for the ride but the focus is on how vision is setting the pace and relationships assist the vision. It is exciting, focused, fun, and enjoyable. The journey "feels" exciting and breeds anticipation. You always wonder what the Lord is going to bring around the corner.
But when ministry in a church gets sidetracked, and vision is not clearly communicated or existent, suddenly management moves into the driver's seat and programs hop up front with it. The high priority becomes preserving what is as opposed to seeking and driving toward what God desires. Policies, procedures, processes and programs become the focal point now. Vision sinks into the background and relationships along with it. The atmosphere becomes strained, deliberate, slow, and discouraging. The machine may even seem to be running well, but the vehicle is slowly moving nowhere.
This can be further defined using two other words: fruitfulness and faithfulness. We can be faithful to having the same few people attend, giving money, and showing some level of care to each other and never be fruitful at all. We are simply "managing" those who are already there. Our focus is inward. And there is no fruit.
But Jesus in John 15 said that we would (and should) produce lasting fruit. Fruitfulness is reproduction. Reproduction is seeing new people come to know Christ and eventually assisting in multiplying new congregations. Faithfulness is important and necessary. But faithfulness without fruitfulness is death.
So who is driving your church? Is a clear, outward-focused vision driving, enhancing and encouraging growing relationships? Or is the major focus managing and programming your church, with vision and relationship taking a back seat?
Whoever is driving will determine where, how and when you will arrive at a destination. They will also determine what your destination is. There is a way that seems right to a man, but it leads to death.