new castle presbytery 9 th annual beach retreat evangelism & outreach the empowers rev. dr....

New Castle Presbytery 9th Annual Beach Retreat

Evangelism & Outreach the Empowers

Rev. Dr. Jerry L. CannonPresenter

Evangelism & Outreach that Empowers

Understanding the Culture and Context of Church Leadership

New England - Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island,

Massachusetts and Connecticut.

New England

Mid-Atlantic New York, Maryland, New Jersey,

Pennsylvania and Delaware

Mid-West

South-West

West Coast

West Coast- California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado,

Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho

South- . Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi

A number of research projects over the past four decades point to this trend. Healthy churches have leaders and members who believe the totality of the Bible.

1. Churches have a high view of Scripture

The simplicity of this trend often surprises church leaders. But we can no longer assume that all of the congregants read their Bibles every day. That is a practice that must be encouraged and monitored.

2. A large number of church members read the Bible daily.

High View of Scripture

This priority is manifest in short-term mission trips, in care and adoption of families and individuals in need, in giving to mission causes, and in the number of congregants who commit their lives to reaching the community with the gospel.

3. The churches have a priority and focus on domestic mission.

The leadership and members do not look at their community as a pool for prospects. Rather, they love their community. They serve their community. The live in their community. They have deep relationships in their community.

4. The churches have a missional community presence.

Missional Perspective

John Ansbach©

John Ansbach©

The Challenge

How do make New Castle Presbytery

become “attractive for the unchurched

and engaging for those who keep coming back?”

Missional Perspective

Healthy churches are high expectation churches. Membership is much more than completing a card or walking an aisle. Healthy churches have entry point classes that set the expectations of membership.

5. The congregations have membership that matters.

Church members are expected to serve, to give, to be in small groups, and to be accountable to others. Church discipline is practiced in most of these congregations. Because membership is meaningful, the assimilation rate in these churches is very high.

5. The congregations have membership that matters.

Focus on Christ….

As a consequence, the sharing of the good news is natural and consequential. But leaders in these churches do not simply assume that evangelism is taking place. There are constant reminders of the priority of evangelism. Accountability for ongoing evangelism is inherent in healthy congregations.

6. The members are evangelistically intentional. The gospel is central in healthy

churches.

John Ansbach©

Harvesting Walnuts

John Ansbach©

Walnut Rules

The farmer that shakes the tree FIRST will get most of the nuts.

Not all trees have nuts on them. A diseased tree or one that has not been

water appropriately may not produce that year.

If the tree has been effectively shaken before you got there, you will have to

settle for fewer nuts.

John Ansbach©

Walnut Rules

If other farmers are harvesting from the same tree, the one with the

biggest tractor will probably collect most of the nuts.

The quality of the crop will always be impacted by the growing conditions.

There are four kinds of farmers in every community: enemies,

adversaries, competitors and partners.

John Ansbach©

Walnut Rules

There might be a several years after the tree is planted before nuts can be

harvested.Before climbing a tree to hand pick the

nuts, a farmer has to calculate the effort and expense to determine if its worth it.

A wise farmer knows when to move to the next tree.

An even wiser farmer knows when to move to a new walnut orchard.

That love is obvious in their words, their actions, and their pastoral concern. It does not mean that a pastor is present for every need of a member of a church; that is physically impossible. It does mean that the church has a ministry in place that cares for all the members.

7. Healthy churches have pastors who love the members.

Research has confirmed over the years that pastors in healthier churches spend more time in sermon preparation than those in other churches. For that to take place, the congregation must understand the primacy of preaching, and they must be willing for their pastor to forego some areas of activity and ministry so he or she can spend many hours in the Word.

8. Healthy churches allow their pastors to spend time in sermon preparation.

Power of the brand….

In healthy churches, the ministries and activities are not just busy work; instead they have a clear purpose toward moving the members to greater levels of commitment toward Christ.

9. There is clarity of the process of disciple making.

They realize that they can't be all things to all people; and they shouldn’t have such a flurry of activities that they hurt rather than help families. So the leaders of these congregations focus on doing fewer ministries, but doing those few better than they could with an overabundance of activities.

10. Healthy churches do less better.

A member is almost guaranteed to leave the church or become inactive in the church if he or she does not get involved in an ongoing small group. These groups have a variety of names: Sunday school; small groups; home groups; life groups; cell groups; and others. The name is not the issue. The issue is getting members connected to ongoing groups.

11. The process of discipleship moves members into ongoing small groups.

Prayer is not incidental in these churches. The leadership regularly emphasizes the importance and priority of prayer. The congregation is led regularly in times of corporate prayer.

12. Corporate prayer is intentional and prioritized.

Honor the commitment to Christ….

Welcoming Congregations

1. Good Seats -They make room for you to take a "good seat." In other words, friendly church people move down the pew and let you sit on the corner seat.


2. The Welcome Lady, Youth or Man - Somebody is going to speak first and make you feel welcomed. Quite often there's at least one person that sees that as their role.


3. Personal Escorts -It's not hard to find your way around because someone is always there to say, "Can I help you find something?"


4. Christian Love - The worship experience feels right because you can sense the presence of God from the moment you walk in the worship space.


Honor the commitment to Christ….

1. Identity - To create a purposeful culture in your church, you must be unapologetically clear about two things: Vision and Mission. Vision is a future-oriented picture of what you see or what you want to be. Mission tells me why your church exists and what your church does.

8 Words That Define Your Church’s Culture

2. Values - Values are one of the greatest influences on culture. Values tell me what your church considers important above everything else. Values are the internal rules of the game. Values are the driver behind behaviors and programs. Here’s a good way to help you identify your current values: “Our church does (fill in the blank) because we value (fill in the blank).”


3. Philosophy - Every leader has a “philosophy of ministry” that guides their decision-making. The problem is many leaders cannot clearly articulate their philosophy, and therefore experience conflict with other leaders.. Sometimes a philosophy is tied to deeply held beliefs, values, attitudes, or ministry approaches. Other times, philosophy has a specific label such as purpose-driven, emergent, seeker-sensitive, or multi-site.


Power of the brand….

4. Norms - Your church has a set of standards that are acceptable. These “norms” are a huge part of your church’s culture. But don’t misinterpret norms as a sense of mediocrity or a “don’t rock the boat” mentality. While this is the norm for many churches, it isn’t for all churches. Norms are whatever you decide you want to be the norm of your church. Innovation, creativity, risk-taking, faith, and bold vision can be the norm of your church.


5. ….all of us have traditions. And every church, even churches just a few years old, have developed traditions. Traditions are not necessarily bad unless, of course, they become more important than the mission of the church. If you can be honest about your traditions, it will help you gain clarity about your church’s culture.


6. Language - The words you choose create culture. Sound simplistic? Every word has benefits and baggage that come with it–some more than others. For example, what comes to mind when you hear the following words: Sunday school, VBS, crusade, outreach, preacher, teacher, Bible study, or committee.


6. Or, what do you think of when you hear different labels for a specific ministry such as small groups: Community groups, connection groups, life groups, cell groups, or home teams…just to name a few. Every word conjures a different emotional reaction…some life-giving…others deflating…each different for every person.


6. The point is this: The language you choose defines your church’s culture in the minds of the people you lead.

Choose your words carefully.


7. Measurements - Every church measures something….attendance, offerings, testimonies, answered prayers, missions giving, conversions, changed lives…the list could be a mile long. But whatever you choose to measure will do two things: It will reveal your culture (what success means to you) and reinforce your culture (drive your understanding of success deeper). The real question is this: What measurements will create a healthy culture that’s aligned with your vision, mission, values, philosophy, and norms?


8. Behaviors - The greatest influence in organizational culture is the behaviors of its people. You can shout vision from the rooftops, create a mission statement, hammer your core values with inspiring speeches, and yet develop a culture that is completely opposite of your aspirations. How?


8. By behaving in a way inconsistent

with what you say. Culture follows behavior, not the other way around. And the behaviors of your church’s leaders will ultimately determine the culture of the church.


new castle presbytery 9 th annual beach retreat evangelism & outreach the empowers rev. dr....

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