tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91942153521219847032024-03-05T18:00:25.492-08:00Kairos Church PlantingThe Kairos blog is a place to think through the process and struggles of church planting and to share news, insights, and victories along the way. Check out our main site too: <a href="http://www.kairoschurchplanting.org/">www.kairoschurchplanting.org/</a>Dr. Stan Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09167127646239901938noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-41257598911487038222017-04-04T07:14:00.000-07:002017-04-04T07:14:32.786-07:00How to Make a Good Decision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How does your church make decisions? Who makes the decisions? How timely are decisions made?<br />
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What we experience in many churches is that making decisions is difficult and that many churches do not have a process that helps them. In fact, the decision-making process is so poor that I now ask churches, "What is your process for making decisions?" Most often these leaders do not have an answer.<br />
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Here's a decision-making tree to help you and your church make better, more timely decisions:<br />
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<b>Step 1: Values</b><br />
Your core values are the foundation that gives your church its sense of individual identity, provides direction, and are foundation upon which decisions are made. Run the decision through your core values. Your goal is to determine the consistency of the decision with your core values. The values decision answers the question <b>can</b> <b>we</b> <b>say yes</b> to this decision? Ask these two questions:<br />
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1. Is this decision consistent with and connected to our core values?<br />
<ul>
<li>If yes, write a statement that describes how it is consistent and connected to your core values, then move ahead.</li>
<li>If no, stop. Write a clear statement of why the decision does not meet your core values test and clearly communicate the reason to the person who brought the decision in question.</li>
</ul>
2. Do our core values warrant spending dollars on this decision?<br />
<ul>
<li>If yes, are those dollars available in the regular budget or would it require extra-budget funding?</li>
<li>If no, what is it about the decision that makes it not reach the level of importance for funding? Write your statement and present it to the person bringing the decision</li>
</ul>
<b>Step 2: Mission</b><br />
Now you are looking at how this decision connects with your church's mission, that statement that describes why your church exists. Your mission statement answers the question <b>should</b> <b>we</b> <b>say yes</b> to this decision?<br />
<ul>
<li>If yes, write a clear statement of how this decision moves you ahead in your mission.</li>
<li>If no, stop. Write your statement describing why it does not connect with your mission and communicate the reason.</li>
</ul>
<b>Step 3: Vision</b><br />
Your vision is what you wish to see come to being in the next few years. Ask the question: does this decision contribute to accomplishing our vision? At this step you are answering the final question of <b>will we</b> <b>say yes</b> to this decision?<br />
<ul>
<li>If yes, write your statement that describes how a positive decision substantially contributes to accomplishing your vision. Clearly describe what you will gain by a positive decision.</li>
<li>If no, write your statement describing why it does not and clearly describe what you will lose by making a negative decision.</li>
</ul>
This decision-making process runs your decisions through your core values, mission, and vision and by writing your reasoning at each step it will help you be more clear and more certain about your decision as well as having clear communication to give to your church.<br />
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<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-17521318368563774822015-02-15T10:14:00.001-08:002015-02-15T10:15:43.829-08:00SEED TEAM - Gathering the Right People<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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They used to be called a <a href="http://www.acts29network.org/acts-29-blog/7-top-issues-church-planters-face--3-teams/" target="_blank">core team</a>. Sometimes people speak of a launch team. But we're talking about your seed team: <i>the four to six committed Christians (or families) who are going to bring their giftedness to the task of gathering new people together to become a new church</i>.<br />
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In our Kairos strategy lab training we speak of both a seed team and a launch team. The seed team is your original group of people who will do the hard work of gathering your launch team. The seed team are those ten to fifteen adults who are going on mission you. Your first missional communities will form around these seed team members. The launch team are the next thirty or so people whom your seed team will gather into their missional communities to give you the bulk you need to launch your regular Sunday worship experiences.<br />
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In our experience the planters who have had the easiest time have also had strong seed teams. Here are the kinds of people who make strong seed team members:<br />
<ol>
<li>Christians of good Character. They are going to be the first faces of the new church. You want them to show Jesus well.</li>
<li> Competent to be ministry leaders. You are going to depend on these
people to carry leadership in the work. They need to know how to do ministry and to do it well.</li>
<li>Good Chemistry with the vision God has given you. Everyone will come with their own set of expectations and wishes, but your seed team members should be willing to follow your lead over and above their expectations.</li>
<li>Sacrificial givers. You will ask and lead your seed team to tithe to this new church. This money will be your primary source of working funds for the new church.</li>
<li>Reaching out to and inviting their friends and relationships into relationship with Jesus in the new church. They need to be(come) evangelistic bringers. </li>
</ol>
Learn more about gathering a seed team from these <b>videos</b> on the <a href="http://kairoschurchplanting.org/resources/video-resources/" target="_blank">Kairos website</a>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Jared King, <i>Gathering Your Seed Team</i></li>
<li>Tim Blair, <i>Seed Team Development</i></li>
</ul>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-27036751750307443292015-02-01T20:31:00.000-08:002015-02-02T06:55:22.322-08:00KEYSTONE HABITS FOR CREATING RENEWAL ENERGY<h2>
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Last week I listened to Andy Stanley's <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-stanley-leadership-podcast/id290055666?mt=2" target="_blank"><i>Leadership</i></a> podcast on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Business-ebook/dp/B0055PGUYU" target="_blank">keystone habits</a> (by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-duhigg/the-power-of-habit_b_1304550.html" target="_blank">Charles Duhigg</a>) as a culture changing/energizing action. <i>A keystone habit is a critical action that creates and rearranges other habits</i> for the potential to dramatically energize your church's culture. Keystone habits are able to create this new energy and culture because:<br />
<ol>
<li>they provide a focal point for action; </li>
<li>they serve as the soil
from which other habits grow; and </li>
<li>they give you energy and confidence to
do more</li>
</ol>
Stanley described how <a href="http://northpoint.org/about/" target="_blank">North Point</a> staff identified the habit of "inviting people to church" as their keystone habit. If they could help their people begin to practice regularly inviting people to church they saw power to energize their mission to create a church unchurched people would like.<br />
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What was so attention grabbing to me was that last weekend I think Gena and I saw a keystone habit discovered at the church we were facilitating a <a href="http://patersoncenter.com/" target="_blank">StratOp</a> weekend with. What was their keystone habit?<br />
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<b>Spiritual Conversations</b></h2>
For the past three years we have worked with this church as they learned how to be a church whose members were comfortable with having spiritual conversations. They are still early in the process of turning the concept of spiritual conversations into a keystone habit, but they are already seeing the results. Their baptism rate went from 0 three years ago to 21 baptisms last year.<br />
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<b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
<b>If you want to know more about how to have spiritual conversations with others order our <a href="http://kairoschurchplanting.org/" target="_blank">Sharing Faith</a> workbook.</b></span></b></h4>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-46777874357392920732015-01-14T09:49:00.000-08:002015-01-14T12:20:23.933-08:00LEADING YOUR CHURCH TO MISSIONAL LIFE: Shawn Lovejoy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/joetye/12-reasons-culture-eats-strategy-for-lunch-25988674" target="_blank">Culture eats strategy for breakfast</a>." While this quote may or may not have come from <a href="http://www.quora.com/Did-Peter-Drucker-actually-say-culture-eats-strategy-for-breakfast-and-if-so-where-when" target="_blank">Peter Drucker</a>, the truth of it is indisputable. While strategy gives direction and guidance, culture tells us how we do life.<br />
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So how does a church change its culture? How do we dig down to the bedrock of how we do life as a church and change it?<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/shawnlovejoy1" target="_blank">Shawn Lovejoy</a>, founding pastor of Mountain Lake Church, began <a href="http://mountainlake.tv/north-forsyth/" target="_blank">Mountain Lake</a> in 2000 as an attractional, Sunday morning, worship experience based church. God blessed this infant which which became a mega church of almost 3,000 people. Yet Shawn felt something was wrong, something was missing. Their worship was great. People were inviting their friends and networks. By many standards Mountain Lake was a successful church plant. Yet deep within Shawn's heart was a disquieting seed of doubt. Were they growing a church or were they making disciples of Jesus?<br />
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This doubt led Shawn to rethink Mountain Lake. For the past four years Shawn has been working with missional thinkers like <a href="http://www.alexabsalom.com/" target="_blank">Alex Absalom</a>, <a href="http://hughhalter.com/" target="_blank">Hugh Halter</a>, <a href="http://www.vergenetwork.org/tag/alan-hirsch/" target="_blank">Alan Hirsch</a> and others to answer this question:<br />
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<b>How can we move an attractionally based church towards missional action without blowing it up?</b><br />
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Shawn walked our Multiplying Church Cohort through "9 Steps to Culture Change." The audio portion of this presentation with video notes is available for you to view on the <a href="http://kairoschurchplanting.org/resources/video-resources/" target="_blank">Kairos</a> <br />
website. Shawn gives practical, down to earth advice based on their experience at Mountain Lake. You'll be blessed, encouraged, and informed by Shawn.<br />
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<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-1730885077564952202014-12-30T07:25:00.002-08:002014-12-30T07:25:47.692-08:00A Culture of Generosity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How's your church doing financially? At this time of year most churches are hoping that the Christmas spirit and tax incentives work together to motivate their people to give the year-end gifts that will balance their cash flow.<br />
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Tim Spivey (newvintage.org) brought his research and experience on developing a culture of generosity in churches to our final Multiplying Church Cohort meeting of 2014. Here's some highlights:<br />
<ul>
<li>Generosity is a big, bold biblical theme</li>
<li>Generosity is a leadership driven outcome</li>
<li>Rule of thirds: 1/3 of your people give $10/week or $500 or more per year, 1/3 give less than $10/week, and 1/3 give nothing</li>
<li> What it takes to raise money is a worthy cause and a worthy asker</li>
<li>Don't plow under your own field by de-emphasizing giving with statements such as, "Separate and apart from" or "you may choose to give your time"</li>
</ul>
Tim suggests a 2-year process to develop a culture of generosity in your church. <br />
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You can view Tim's presentation at the <a href="http://kairoschurchplanting.org/resources/partner-resources/" target="_blank">Kairos website</a>.<br />
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-7237449272800447822014-10-26T20:11:00.000-07:002014-10-26T20:11:22.492-07:003 Seasons of Planting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Kairos Strategy Lab is designed
around three seasons of Planting: Groundwork, Launch, and Grow. Each season has
its own set of objectives and purpose. We use this picture board to illustrate
these three stages and the key tasks of each season.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Groundwork</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Groundwork is the preparation time,
beginning from Discovery Lab until the planter is on the field and at least 75%
funded. The purpose of Groundwork is for the planter to lay a strong foundation
for his work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Goals of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Season One: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GroundWork</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Develop a ministry plan</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gain a partner church </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Raise funding up to 75%</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Practice casting vision by
organizing 3 large group events</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Initiate two prayer teams (mass and
personal)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Move onsite</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Launch</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Launch begins when the planter is on
the field and continues through the first year after the launch of the regular
Sunday worship experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Goals of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Season Two</i>: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Launch</i></b> are to accomplish the launch
benchmarks, those tasks that will raise the planters probabilities of success:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Seed Team committed (five to six
family units)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tithing (by seed team)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Financial team is in place</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cast vision to 1,000 people who are added
to the cultivation database</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Missional Communities (three with
twenty people each)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">10 Baptisms</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Grow</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Grow season usually begins about
the third year of the church’s life. At this point the planter has experience
under his belt, real people in the church, and all the challenges that come with
church life. It’s easy at this point for the planter to settle into an “as
usual” way of doing things that puts a brake on growth. The Grow season is
designed to keep the church growing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Grow season begins when the new
church is at least twelve months past the initial Sunday launch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Goals of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Season Three: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grow</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Begin using Natural Church
Development to build and maintain healthy systems</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Establish a 3-deep leadership </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Recognized as an active,
contributing part of community, the city gov’t and key community partners know
and value you</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reach an average worship attendance of
200 people</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">Initiate plans for a daughter church
plant</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-56546836399395582152014-10-19T15:27:00.001-07:002014-10-19T15:27:48.560-07:00Kairos Planters at Exponential West 1014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week a good Kairos crew of staff and planters spent the week together at the Exponential West planters' conference hosted by the Saddleback church. We were treated to a feast of presentations and classes on evangelism.<br />
<br />
After Exponential we took a few days together at Manhattan Beach in a men's retreat. We got to pray, play, eat, talk, walk, bicycle and play on the beach together. It was a great time of refreshment.<br />
<br />
<b>Exponential Reflections</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are a few key nuggets from Exponential:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://edstetzer.com/" target="_blank">Ed Stetzer</a>: <span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">No real researcher believes Christianity is dying in America. However, there is a radical shift of influence. Where in the 20th century non-believers looked towards Christians for influence in the 21st century they are looking towards the cultural for influence. The 50% of Americans who are non-practicing religious are moving into the category "nones," not having faith.</span></li>
<li><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><a href="http://theresurgence.com/authors/jeff-vanderstelt" target="_blank">Jeff Vanderstelt</a>: "</span><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">People don't know how to share the gospel with unbelievers because they don't know how to share Jesus with each other.</span>
" </span></li>
<li><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><a href="http://www.alexabsalom.com/" target="_blank">Alex Absalom</a>: "</span><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">Discipleship is imitation more than information.</span>" </span></li>
<li><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">Hugh Halter: "</span><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">Evangelism is changing the assumptions people have about us and God."</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><a href="http://shawnlovejoy.com/" target="_blank">Shawn Lovejoy</a>: "Becoming </span></span><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;">missional is moving people along the discipleship journey to become a disciple making people.</span>"</span> </span></li>
<li><span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"><a href="http://northcoasttraining.org/resources/" target="_blank">Larry Osburn</a>: "Come and See evangelism (inviting people to church) works. It: 1) lets people see how Christians worship and work, 2) provides instant and built-in followup and 3) everyone can do it </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font: 13.0px Arial;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</span>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-84916528657972809332014-09-29T15:27:00.005-07:002014-09-29T15:27:54.280-07:00Strategy Lab for New Planters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Today was the final day for the tenth <a href="http://kairoschurchplanting.org/" target="_blank">Kairos</a> Strategy Lab. Six new planting projects trained for new churches in Seattle and Kennewick, WA; Phoenix, AZ; Temple, TX; Memphis, TN; and a new campus ministry at the Univ of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR).<br />
<br />
<b>Strategy Lab Prep</b><br />
<i>Fundraising</i>: Kairos sends all our planters through the fundraising bootcamp taught by <a href="http://supportraisingsolutions.org/bootcamp/" target="_blank">Support Raising Solutions</a>. Most planters go through the SRS bootcamp before coming to Strategy Lab.<br />
<br />
<i>Pre-SLab Workbook</i>: Strategy Lab is the first creation of a new church. What will this church be? Who will it serve? How will it connect with new to share the blessings of Jesus together? Planters develop answers to these questions as they work on their Basic Biblical Beliefs, mission, vision, and core values prior to lab. The lab workbook helps them develop their <a href="http://www.churchunique.com/discover-your-kingdom-concept" target="_blank">Kingdom Concept</a> (<a href="http://www.churchunique.com/author" target="_blank">Will Mancini</a>). The Kingdom Concept ties the planter to the reality of their planting site rather than the love affair that exists only in their own minds (see <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.path1.org%2Fcustom%2Findex.php%2Fhome%2Fgetdownload%2F20090401090459FDC5F0%2F117615%2Ften_common_mistakes_%2Farticles%2Fpdf&ei=ctkpVLSHKpadygTdjYGoBQ&usg=AFQjCNE2kZ5nGxHkDS0Q8IZ0kDXxawKiUQ&sig2=gUpl1TtJaWbNFwvwWo-5Kw" target="_blank">Easum and Griffith</a>, chp. 3).<br />
<br />
<b>During Strategy Lab</b><br />
Our Strategy Lab training helps the planters develop their ministry plans. We work the planters throught the three seasons of planting: Groundwork, Launch, and Grow.<br />
<br />
<i>Groundwork</i> is the preparation work as the planter develops their vision, assesses their spiritual rhythms, fundraises, gains partners, and engages in coaching.<br />
<br />
<i>Launch</i> is the season when the planter is on the field and raising their seed team, developing their financial system, engaging their growth engines, and developing their missional communities.<br />
<br />
<i>Grow</i> is distant, three to four years in the future, so we just touch on this season. Since our goal is to see these new churches reach an average worship attendance of 200+ the grow season focuses on solving problems, developing 3-deep leadership systems, Natural Church Development, StratOp, and implementing Beyond 200 activities on a regular basis.<br />
<br />
<b>Post Lab</b><br />
In the next thirty days the planters write their quarter million dollar ministry plan. One mantra we repeat over and over is this:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>If it's only in your head it's just an idea, it's not a plan until it is written</b></div>
<br />
<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-23217597692363702742014-05-08T12:48:00.002-07:002014-05-08T12:48:30.158-07:00Planter Classes in Video from Pepperdine Bible Lectureships 2014<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZeVjCsRCQhg" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Kairos planters and staff presented six classes, a public dinner, and a network dinner at this year's Pepperdine Bible Lectureships. These planters are innovative, practitioners and they share from their best practices in the field.<br />
<br />
This year we've created video summaries for you so you can catch the best of what these men and women shared. Click on the links provided to view these videos.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/RykO6dufxNM" target="_blank"><i>Answering the Call of God's Lost People</i></a><br />Shaun and Marci Dutile, Laconia, NH <br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/ZF4mUWuxdSE" target="_blank"><i>Growing a Mobile Church</i></a><br />Tim Blair <br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/nhyYzC-uID4" target="_blank"><i>Learning from the Inside Out: Ethos Apprentices</i></a><br />Jared and Laura King<br />
<br />
<br /><a href="http://youtu.be/QvIXU5dYMaA" target="_blank"><i>The Challenges and Future of Campus Ministry</i></a><br />Chris Buxton and Neil Reynolds <br /><br /><i>What Churches Can Learn from New Churches</i><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/STyxhQN_quQ" target="_blank">Kevin Wood</a><a href="http://youtu.be/STyxhQN_quQ" target="_blank">s</a> <br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/so8qOnN7syM" target="_blank">Brenda Woods</a><br /><br /><a href="http://youtu.be/gemArvSvdjA" target="_blank"><i>Lean and Mean or Running on Empty</i></a><br />Vancouver Church of Christ with Gena Granberg, Craig Brown, Stan Granberg, and DeAnne PerrigoDr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-62506500163752207442014-04-27T17:39:00.001-07:002014-04-27T17:39:04.427-07:00Kairos at Pepperdine Bible Lectures 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Are you planning to attend the Pepperdine Bible Lectures next week? If you are, we'll see you there!<br /><br />Here is where you can meet Kairos church planters, dreamers, and doers:<br /><br />Answering the Call of God's Lost People<br />Shaun and Marci Dutile, Laconia, NH <br />
Wednesday, 8:30 AM<br />AC 280<br /><br />Growing a Mobile Church<br />Tim and Lisa Blair <br />
Wednesday, 9:30 AM<br />AC 280<br /><br />Kairos Church Planting Dinner<br />Speaker: Jason Locke<br />Wednesday, 4:30 PM<br />Hahn Fireside Room<br /><br />Learning from the Inside Out: Ethos Apprentices<br />Jared and Laura King <br />
Thursday, 8:30 AM<br />AC 280<br /><br />The Challenges and Future of Campus Ministry<br />Chris Buxton and Neil Reynolds <br />
Thursday, 9:30 a.m.<br />AC 280<br /><br />What Churches Can Learn from New Churches<br />Kevin and Brenda Woods <br />
Friday, 8:30 AM<br />AC 280<br /><br />Lean and Mean or Running on Empty<br />Vancouver Church of Christ with Gena and Stan Granberg <br />
Friday, 9:30 AM<br />AC 280<br /><br />You are also invited to join us in prayer on behalf of God's lost people Thursday at 7:45 a.m. on the South Balcony off the dining hall. <br /><br />Or you can always drop by our table in the Firestone Fieldhouse.<br /><br />See you in Malibu!<br /><br />The Kairos Staff<br />Stan, Gena, Scott, Kim, Bruce, Laura, and PattyDr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-71409321318057417612014-04-21T21:35:00.002-07:002014-04-21T21:35:30.756-07:00The Monday After Easter by James Emory White<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Amongst church planters Easter is what is called a "BIG Day." That means it's a day when we expect to see more people at our worship experiences. We expect our people to actively invite their friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join them. We expect to end the day tired yet fulfilled. Sometimes these things happen. Sometimes they don't.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">What BIG days do show us is what I call "reach." Big days show us not the new people visiting for the first time but the people who are sometimes with us and sometimes not. We see the reach of our influence in the lives of people with whom we're connected.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The following blog post is from <a href="http://www.churchandculture.org/blog.asp?id=5832" target="_blank">James Emory White and</a> well worth the read.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">[<b><i>Editor’s Note: </i></b><i>This blog was first published in 2012. It has received so much positive feedback that we have decided to offer it again.</i>]</span><b> </b>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">This is a blog with a very specific audience. I know it may exclude some of you, but it may be healthy for you to eavesdrop.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">This
is for all the church planters and their volunteers on post-Easter
Monday, struggling to make it from week-to-week, as well as the leaders
and members of established churches which are anything but “mega” – well
below the 200 threshold in terms of average attendance.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">I don’t know how Easter Sunday went for you, but I have a hunch. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It
was bigger than normal, but less than breakthrough. It was good, but
not great. Your attendance was large, but not staggering; worth being
happy about, but not writing home about. You are grateful to God, but
now that Easter is over, there’s a bit of a letdown. You wanted so much
more.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It was, in the end, a typical Easter Sunday.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">And you are normal.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">When
you lead a church, you can't help but dream, and dream big. I think
that’s one of the marks of a leader. But for most, it’s not long before
the dream comes face to face with reality.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">When
I planted Meck, I just knew the mailer I sent out (we started churches
with mailers in those days) would break every record of response, and
that we would be a church in the hundreds, if not already approaching a
thousand, in a matter of weeks or months.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Willow Creek? Eat our dust. Saddleback? Come to <i>our</i> conference.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The
reality was starting in a Hilton hotel in the midst of a tropical storm
with 112 dripping wet people, and by the third weekend – through the
strength of my preaching – cutting that sucker in half to a mere 56. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Actually, not even 56, because our <i>total</i>
attendance was 56. This means there were fifteen or twenty kids, so
maybe thirty or so people actually sitting in the auditorium. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">(As a good church planter, I think we also counted people who walked slowly past the hotel ballroom doors in the hallway.)</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Yes, we’ve grown over the years. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">But that’s the point. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s taken <i>years</i>.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It usually does.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">I
know the soup of the day is rapid growth, but please don’t benchmark
yourself against that. It’s not typical. It’s not even (usually)
healthy. So stop playing that dark, awful game called comparison. It’s
sick and terribly toxic. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Really, stop it.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">I
don’t care who you are, there will always be someone bigger or
faster-growing, so why torment yourself? Or worse, fall prey to the sins
of envy and competition, as if you are benchmarked against other
churches?</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">(Rumor
has it the true “competition” is a deeply fallen secular culture that
is held in the grip of the evil one. Just rumor, mind you.)</span></i></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The
truth is that on the front end, every church is a field of
dreams. After a few months, or a year or two, it's morphed from a field
of dreams to a field to be worked, and your field may not turn out as
much fruit – much less as fast – as you had hoped.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">That’s okay.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">You
can rest assured that it probably has little to do with your
commitment, your faith, your spirituality, your call, or God’s love for
you. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">I know it’s frustrating. We’ve got a lot of the world in us, and thus look to worldly marks of success and affirmation.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">But
what matters is whether you are being faithful, not whether you are
being successful. You’re not in this for human affirmation, but a “well
done” from God at the end.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Did you preach the gospel yesterday?</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Then “well done.”</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Did you and your team do the best you could with what you had?</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Then “well done.”</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Did you and your church invite your unchurched friends to attend?</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Then “well done.”</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Did you pray on the front-end, have faith, and trust?</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Then “well done.”</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Ignore the megachurches that tweet, blog and boast about their thousands in attendance.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Yep, even mine.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s
not that we don’t matter. We do, and we’re very proud of the hard work
of our volunteers and the lives we have the privilege of
changing. There’s a place for us.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">It’s just that you matter, too.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">And you may need to remember that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">And perhaps most of all on the Monday after Easter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">James Emery White</span></div>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-22851043175934728982014-03-31T15:26:00.001-07:002014-04-01T06:12:29.610-07:00Multiplying Church Cohorts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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How do we minister as relevant, effective, life-giving churches in this drastically changing world of ours? This is the challenge of our times as a fellowship and congregations.<br />
<br />
This year Kairos is organizing groups of churches into what we're calling <i>multiplying church cohorts</i>. For a year these churches will work together on some aspect of multiplication: increasing attendance, adding worship experiences, or starting multi-sites or new churches. By working on these multiplying projects as a group we get to learn from each other and share the resources, as well as becoming good friends together.<br />
<br />
We'll be starting other cohorts as this year moves along. Your church may be ready to get into one of these. Let me know.<br />
<br />
<b>Discovery Lab this month at Camp Manatawny, PA</b><br />
<br />
This week four couples and two single men will be engaging in the Kairos Discovery Lab, our premier church planter assessment process. This is often a life changing event. Please pray for both those people coming to investigate their possible future in church planting and the interview team as we seek to listen to God and give valuable insight to these people for their future and God's use in the his kingdom.<br />
<br />
<b>A New Christian Responds</b><br />
Recently I received a letter from a man who is supporting a church planter because of the impact this planter has had on his life. Here's a short excerpt from that letter:<br />
<br />
<i>I was raised a Roman Catholic and attended French Catholic Schools. The French Catholic God was an Old Testament God with a long laundry list of "don'ts" enough to choke a mule. There was no love, compassion or tolerance. When I eventually made my own way into the world, I gave up Catholicism, and God entirely.</i><br />
<br />
<i>I met (the planter) at the gym we were frequenting at the time, and one thing led to another, I studied and was baptized. I experienced the most fantastic feeling as I emerged from the water. It was as though the weight of the entire world had been lifted from my shoulders, after a long life of sin. WOW.</i><br />
<br />
Father of heaven and earth. You pursue your people for your name's sake. Thank you for letting us be involved in your mission of grace. Amen.<i> </i>Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-66079041994651377192014-03-10T12:58:00.002-07:002014-03-10T12:58:48.146-07:00How Do We Share Faith in Post-Christian America?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last week I was in Memphis working with a church leadership team on <a href="https://www.churchsmart.com/" target="_blank">Natural Church Development</a> and teaching an intensive course--<i>21st Century Missional Strategies</i>--at <a href="http://hst.edu/" target="_blank">Harding School of Theology</a>. It was a powerful week as both groups were discovering a change in paradigms for what they are about.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>21st Century Missional Strategies</i> is answering the question that titles this blog: How do we share faith in 21st century America? Here's the big revelation that came from my students:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>We know we ought to share faith but we keep suppressing that impulse so it won't bother us.</b></div>
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Do you feel like that too? You know sharing faith should be part of your life but you just keep suppressing it and putting the thought out of your mind so you don't have to feel guilty?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Here are a couple of thoughts about this. First, this way of thinking is still guilt based. OK, Matthew 28:18-20 sits like a pretty big stone mountain out there that we can't ignore. Jesus does say get out in the world and make disciples of all nations, which, as I read the text, pretty well means EVERYBODY. But why the guilt? Why do we work from the assumption that sharing faith is so gruesome, so intimidating, that to do it is an onerous task and not a grace-filled joy? We've got some reorienting to do as God's people so that we actually experience and believe that Jesus is the good news he claims to be.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Second, why isn't sharing faith the grace-filled experience of joy it seems like it should be if Jesus is in fact good news? Two parts to this answer. First, if Jesus is the resurrected Lord he presented himself to be (Mark 16; 1 Cor. 15:3-11) that's a game changer! It changes everything we do. Paul puts it very succinctly, if Jesus was raised from the dead then we win and death loses. There's a new book, a small one of just a hundred pages, that's a great read on the implication of the resurrection: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raised-Finding-Jesus-Doubting-Resurrection/dp/0310517354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394478045&sr=8-1&keywords=raised%3F" target="_blank">Raised?</a> by Jonathan Dodson and Brad Watson. We need to wrestle with our doubts until we too become convicted believers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And what makes sharing faith so difficult as well is that we do live in a post-Christian context where it's not acceptable nor politically correct to be a "proselytizer." That means it takes more than a bit of courage to open our mouths and make sort of confession of faith. In fact, experience demonstrates that when we meet someone new and don't let our faith out of the closet the next time it will be twice as hard and after our third meeting the only way that person will discover we're Jesus followers is by accident.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you really want to explore sharing faith you need to order the workbook <a href="http://www.kairoschurchplanting.org/" target="_blank">Sharing Faith</a>. It's not a read, it's planned activity that course that could just possibly release in you the joy of sharing faith that you long to experience. God bless you in that direction.</div>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-54187187463932926732014-02-10T11:14:00.000-08:002014-02-11T05:16:12.443-08:00A Culture of Leadership Development<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The U.S. military is one of the most prolific leader developing institutions in the world in part because each promotion provides a new set of skill competencies and increases the number of people being led. Early officer <a href="http://www.army-portal.com/pay-promotions/officer-promotions.html" target="_blank">promotions</a> are almost certain but the higher the rank the more stringent the promotion requirements.<br />
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Most of the time I've heard leader development in churches made as an announcement: <i>Hey, we need some people to volunteer to teach, or lead a small group, or be an usher, etc., etc.</i><br />
<br />
What if we began to think of developing leaders in a more consistent, intentional manner? Could it be possible to provide, through increasing levels of responsibility and numbers of people, a pathway for leaders to follow that provided them personal development, experience, and a sense of confident growth?<br />
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Kairos is working with a number of churches to create leader development pathways. Here's the general model:<br />
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<br />
Across the bottom are personal leader development stages. Any person can move through all five of these stages at whatever level of leadership of which they are capable.<br />
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</ul>
<b>Emerging</b>: these are people who are developing a self-identity as leaders. They move in and out of leadership roles as they explore the fit of being a leader.<br /><b>Developing</b>: these people view themselves as leaders and they are developing their leadership skills in small groups, Bible classes, and performing entry level leadership tasks. They are learning what is required of leaders and developing basic leadership skills.<br /><b>Recognized</b>: these people have gained enough skill and experience so that others, those they lead and those who lead them, recognize their leadership abilities and give them ongoing leader responsibilities.<br /><b>Experienced</b>: these people have become effective leaders in their roles and have a well developed set of leadership behaviors, skills, and experience.<br /><b>Mature</b>: these people lead confidently and capably at their level of leadership.<br />
Up the side are four levels of leadership. Levels are based on both the capacity and capability of leadership with which any given person is gifted.<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<b>Doing</b>: technically this is not a leadership level because a person may be doing a task yet not leading other people. This level sets below the heavy line which distinguishes between personal leadership and leading others.<br /><b>Directing</b>: this is where the leader begins leading others, providing them the direction they need to accomplish the doing tasks.<br /><b>Planning</b>: leadership becomes more complex at this level as the leader now leads not just people who are doing, but other leaders. At this stage a leader is involved in higher function planning and organizing that requires more complex leader ability.<br /><b>Generating</b>: leaders at this stage now work in abstract areas of creative thought. They are able to bring solutions to organizational problems. They create new ministries, activities, and events that do not yet exist but that will propel the organization forward. Leaders at this level may also create entirely new organizations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This simple pathway provides a way to visualize how leaders can be developed.<br />
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<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-68207054410258664912014-01-29T10:40:00.000-08:002014-01-29T10:40:07.937-08:003 Growth Challenges to become a Multi-Site Church
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Multi-site
churches, that is one church meeting in multiple locations, are a growing trend
across America. <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/june/multisite-evolution.html" target="_blank">Ed Stetzer</a>’s</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">research has identified over 5,000 multi-site
churches in America. In our fellowship of Churches of Christ there are not many
multisite churches. Oak Hills in San Antonio, The Hills in Fort Worth, The
Branch and Highland Oaks in Dallas are examples of churches with heritage in
Churches of Christ that have become multisite.</span>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Over
the past year Kairos has worked with a small number of larger churches in our
fellowship whose leaders are exploring the option of becoming multisite. In
2013 we invited <a href="http://geoffsurratt.com/" target="_blank">Geoff Surratt</a> to conduct a multisite workshop and this year we
are working with several churches in a multiplying church network where we can
plan and pursue multiplying activities together.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
month some of these churches met together to envision what multiplying projects
would look like and engage in some vision development. As we worked together 3
critical growth challenges emerged that churches in our fellowship of Churches
of Christ will face when moving to a multisite expression:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Multisite</b>
<b>Challenge #1: Family Identity</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
heritage works from a nuclear family identity, that is, we all expect to see
everyone when we gather together for worship. If your church has ever tried to
go to multiple services you’ve experienced the lament, “But we won’t ever see
everybody.” It’s this expectation that in our family we all gather around the
dinner table together that makes multiple services so difficult. It’s also the
first critical challenge for multisite. We find it hard to envision “one church
in multiple locations.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To
address this challenge we need to change our identity from nuclear family to
extended family. An extended family still loves one another and cherishes those
times when we can get together, but we don’t expect to see everyone at every
meal. Pushing this analogy a bit further, we need to see ourselves as uncles
and aunts, nephews and nieces rather than brothers and sisters. We understand
the emotional challenge of this change when, as in the congregation in which I
grew up, one of their identifying songs says, “You’ll notice we say brother and
sister ‘round here.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Multisite
Challenge #2: Expanding Geography</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Distance
and number of sites has a multiplying impact, not an additive one. A surprising
insight gained by early adopting multisite churches is they thought having one
administrative system across multiple sites would give them an economy of
scale. Paid staff could manage volunteers at multiple sites, multiplying both
themselves and their impact. What they found was the distance and number of
sites actually multiplied the complexity needed to manage and maintain the site
ministries. Multisite churches are matrix organizations. It takes well-defined
connections, communication patterns, and reporting to manage a multisite. Planning
and decisions must be communicated up and down the reporting line. There is no
central water cooler in a multisite church around which news, emotions, and
relationships are naturally shared and developed. Intentionality becomes
critical.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Multisite
Challenge #3: Intentional Leader Development</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">How
do you deliberately identify, train, and deploy leaders from within your
church? Even with my association with many congregations across our country I
could not come up with one good example of a church that had a systematic
process to develop their leaders for the multiple leadership roles that exist
in a church. Most churches tend to look for who has developed leadership skills
in their vocations that are usable in the church context and hope that they can
translate the use those skills well in the church setting. Successful multisite
churches have well defined pathways for leader development for volunteers and
paid staff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Changing
from a congregation with one worship service to one church with multiple
congregations in multiple locations requires meeting these three challenges as
major steps in their evolution as a church body. The process won’t be for every
church. For those whom God has prepared and is calling for this journey their
promises to be a lot of work with the potential for rich, kingdom rewards.</span></div>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-29392659720748966302014-01-12T15:51:00.001-08:002014-01-12T15:51:25.086-08:00Do you live in a post-Christian city?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHC2Uby1DOfPfYLk6Zd_6O52DvsioRLU7SCQnjtV3Unu2m5_BjeUjQ8U4n3bfXttEBr7KdAMO4Tecl_OGv9QTZyfqdgV5t2QQ1FJw4ufFnuqQgNmPIWjGmcxmUS5KR3D0l0rkfCyo8bE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-12+at+3.06.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHC2Uby1DOfPfYLk6Zd_6O52DvsioRLU7SCQnjtV3Unu2m5_BjeUjQ8U4n3bfXttEBr7KdAMO4Tecl_OGv9QTZyfqdgV5t2QQ1FJw4ufFnuqQgNmPIWjGmcxmUS5KR3D0l0rkfCyo8bE/s400/Screen+Shot+2014-01-12+at+3.06.14+PM.png" width="340" /></a></div>
Where you live makes a difference in your faith. Do you believe that? let's say you lived in Knoxville, TN. Most people you know are likely to believe the Bible is true, helpful, and a positive influence in their lives. But if you live in the northeast, say Burlington, VT, more than half of every adult you knew would be unchurched. <br />
<br />
If you lived in Jackson, MS chances are better than 50/50 that you not only worshiped this weekend, you also attended Sunday School. If you lived in Albany, NY, however, 59% of people who say they are Christians have not made a commitment to Jesus (from the <a href="http://cities.barna.org/the-most-post-christian-cities-in-america/" target="_blank">BarnaGroup).</a><br />
<br />
If you live and are a member of church somewhere in the southern portion of the US you probably feel faith is pretty strong, that most people you know are Christians, and that your church is doing pretty well. If you live in the northeast or the west coast you know it's not cool to talk about faith, most of your neighbors are not Christian believers, and you may be worried that your church won't be around many more years.<br />
<br />
Where you lives makes a difference in how you experience faith. We could take these numbers and get depressed. Or, we can choose to be proactive. Is your church helping to expand the influence of Christian faith in our country? Do you share your faith with the people God has put around you?<br />
<br />
Planting new churches is about influencing our country for God and sharing faith as individuals. If your church is not helping new churches begin, would you champion that cause to your leaders?<br />
<br />
Stan Granberg, 360-609-6700<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-16207058643954076212013-12-24T17:48:00.000-08:002013-12-26T07:36:33.622-08:00Christmas Blessing: The Bible in 10<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://youtu.be/evd9kAJfiTc" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://youtu.be/evd9kAJfiTc" border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYijGpCaCshve7a-lRy8YnLuvzMI2JoYCBYXVCZjzzcphzjSiZx004ID4nvkn28pyDSwXpTgdMJ4yDCVqgSuNAzAjFMMXktYmJSC8hu561GusBXBOJciW7WlCclnan51pD0EuMd_cD78g/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-12-24+at+5.31.30+PM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click photo to go to YouTube</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Kevin Woods, church planter of Renovatus Church of Christ in Vancouver, WA, asked me to deliver the story of <a href="http://youtu.be/evd9kAJfiTc" target="_blank">The Bible in 10</a> minutes. It was a wonderful experience for me to read and think through God's story to condense into something coherent yet full enough to draw novice and mature Christian again through the biblical text.<br />
<br />
There is a Prezi to accompany the text, available at: <a href="http://goo.gl/ohPCoU">http://goo.gl/ohPCoU</a>.<br />
<br />
During this Christmas season I pray this video provides you and yours a blessing and a reminder of God's faithful love to us all.<br />
<br />
MERRY CHRISTMAS<br />
<br />
<i>Stan Granberg</i><br />
Kairos Church Planting<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-81130276984050890952013-12-10T11:31:00.001-08:002013-12-10T11:31:26.561-08:00A New Scorecard for Your Church Members
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74MQlnv1XuxG5suv7rRGscjk5bdlHFrTbat3UPWKGs1b4JEVxD4Gss381XBQCv_JzDku52k9Vl5WOeE-cRzb00fb8z7-MRfpWuiGjgS3GyGXPkrM-HN6yQE51db3ZlJPe_psX01p9wK8/s1600/report+card.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74MQlnv1XuxG5suv7rRGscjk5bdlHFrTbat3UPWKGs1b4JEVxD4Gss381XBQCv_JzDku52k9Vl5WOeE-cRzb00fb8z7-MRfpWuiGjgS3GyGXPkrM-HN6yQE51db3ZlJPe_psX01p9wK8/s200/report+card.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
idea of a church scorecard has been around a long time. Typically we church
leaders count nickels and noses, but lately the talk of a new scorecard has
grown. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformational Church:
Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations</i> Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer
define a Transformational Church as one that “transforms people to look like
Christ” (p. 33). Well of course that’s what we all want. The perplexing
question is how do we get there?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is a reinterpretation of our more traditional measures that is occurring that I
think is quite healthy. Think of these changes as “moves.” Here are three big
moves:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: .5in 94.5pt 112.5pt; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Membership to Discipleship. A member
may have relatively little expectations made of them, and what expectations are
made are generally minimal. Discipleship, on the other hand, is the maximum oriented
approach of Phil. 3:14, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward
call of God in Christ Jesus.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: .5in 94.5pt 112.5pt; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Attendance to Activity. With
attendance as the criterion the punch card approach is what’s active. People
come to services to get their cards punched. Christian action is relegated to a
few hours at the church building. With activity as the criterion the field of
involvement as well as the time span becomes infinite. “Whatever you do, work
heartily, as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: .5in 94.5pt 112.5pt; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Giving to Generosity. When we work on giving we end up talking about an activity. Giving becomes a matter
of counting. With generosity we are working on a lifestyle. “As for the rich in
this present age, . . . They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be
generous and ready to share (1 Tim. 6:17-19).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Last week I asked a younger minister what a personal
scorecard for church members might look like from his vantage point. His answers were simple and
specific. As you read them think of how your church might use these as part of
your year-end reviews and challenges to your people. What?! You don’t do such
reviews? In my life I’ve never been part of a church that did. I think this
kind of scorecard could make a huge impact. Let’s try it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#1<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Worship Experience: How have you engaged in
your worship and experience of God? </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to be part of
our community worship experiences 75% of Sundays. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 100% of our people
making community worship a life priority for themselves and their families.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#2<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Relational Community: How have you developed
your relationships with others in this body? </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to be part of a
relationship building community. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 100% of our people
taking part in our relationship groups.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#3<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Financial Generosity: How have you
contributed to the mission and ministry of this church through your giving?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to be generous
givers, using a tithe as a keystone point.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 50% of our people
tithing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#4<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Body Service: What have you done to serve
and add to our church body? </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to use their
gifts and abilities to bless the life of our church.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 75% of our people
sharing their giftedness with our church.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#5<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Community Service: What have you done to
serve our community as a witness of Christ in the world? </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to do good in
the world, not just in the name of Jesus, but to express the name Jesus with those whom
they serve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo6; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 75% of our people
sharing their faith as witnesses of Jesus to our community through word and
deed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 22.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">#6<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Personal Life: What spiritual disciplines
have you practiced this year that have helped you grow in the life of faith?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We expect our people to grow in
their abilities to be mature Christians, able to handle well the word of truth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: .5in 1.5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our goal is 75% of our people are
deliberately developing their spiritual lives in a planned, intentional way.</span></div>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-28697463710145474512013-11-19T12:49:00.001-08:002013-11-19T12:54:40.039-08:00Church Growth EnginesMarcus Bigelow, then president of <a href="http://www.stadia.cc/" target="_blank">Stadia</a>, first introduced me to the concept of church growth engines for visitor assimilation. Since then, as I've continued to work on the idea, I've broadened it to include those key areas of activity that provide a church growth energy.<br />
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There are three primary cylinders involved in constructing a church's growth engine: 1) the worship experience, 2) the relational/discipleship groups, and 3) individual Christians sharing faith. For many established churches some sort of Bible class for children and/or youth programs act as a fourth cylinder.<br />
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<b>Cylinder 1: The Worship Experience</b><br />
The gathering of God's people in worship is one of the great <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gathered-People-Revisioning-Transforming-Encounter-ebook/dp/B00EKY6WAO/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384891391&sr=1-5" target="_blank">ordinances</a> of Christian life and history. <br />
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Something powerful happens that creates unique experiences of God with regularity as God's people gather. For every church context, whether that church works first from an attractional beginning point or a missional one, our gatherings are points of entry where unbelievers experience our meeting of God and--perhaps--may have their own experience (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). The worship experience is often the first cylinder of growth for an established church.<br />
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How do we measure the strength, the functioning power, of the worship experience for growth? We count the number of new people who come to our worship experiences and provide them a pathway into our community of belief. This is where a <a href="http://resources.kairoschurchplanting.org/modules/resources/?tac=36" target="_blank">strong assimilation process</a> is a must, beginning with collecting information on all our guests. We activate this growth engine through the invitations our members give to their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. When our members are so moved by their experience of God in our worship they will gladly tell others!<br />
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<b><b>Cylinder 2: </b>The Relational/Disciplship Groups</b><br />
We people are made to live in relationships with other people in which we find support and encouragement. That's what families are intended to do for us. Relational groups that provide discipleship growth, service, and mutual ministry are the second cylinder of a church's growth engine. We like the name <a href="http://weare3dm-store.3dcartstores.com/Leading-Missional-Communities_p_234.html" target="_blank">missional community</a> better than small group because it has an external, active focus.<br />
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How do we measure the strength of our missional communities for growth? We count the number of groups and the number of people involved in those groups. Here is where we know our people are praying and caring for one another, sharing in significant life together, and taking their witness out into their neighborhoods and networks through the mission of service. For new and emerging churches the missional communities become the starting points for growth as they reach into and invite new networks of people to explore faith.<br />
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<b><b>Cylinder 3: </b>Sharing Faith</b><br />
The old word was evangelism. But somewhere along the way the idea of evangelism was associated with the high-pressure, salesmanlike, "just tell them what to do" approaches. Most of us feel awkward in those kinds of situations, as if we're in the clutches of a used car salesman. Sharing faith, however, is inviting people into conversations where we do more listening than telling. Sharing faith is us being authentically curious about what God may be doing in the lives of those people around us and initiating the opportunities to find out.<br />
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How do we measure the strength of sharing faith for growth? This is much more difficult because it is so much more personal, but here are some ideas:<br />
<ul>
<li>Let our people share testimonials</li>
<li>Ask our guests how they connected with our church</li>
<li>Have our missional community leaders keep sharing journals in their MCs that collect the stories their members tell about sharing faith</li>
<li>Let our members record their sharing faith conversations as part of their prayer responses</li>
</ul>
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<b><b>Cylinder 4: </b>Children's and Youth Programs</b><br />
One of the times in life when people are most receptive to God is when they start having children. People want good things for their children and there is still enough shadow of Christian understanding in many people that draws them towards church when their family begins. Strong, positive children's and youth experiences are often a compatible growth cylinder for a church's growth engine.<br />
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How do we measure the strength of children's and youth programs for growth? The most obvious way is by counting the number of participants. But let's go beyond that. How about the number of families involved? How about the number of faith commitments made as children grow into young adults?<br />
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If your church is looking to jump start any growth activity pick one of these cylinders that makes the most sense and provides you the easiest entry. Pay deliberate attention to what you are doing to make that cylinder start working for you. Then, when your first cylinder is working add a second. By the time you have three cylinders working well you will have an active, vital growth engine creating growth energy in your church.<br />
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Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-57948955403340573872013-10-22T09:52:00.001-07:002013-10-22T10:17:34.390-07:00The Difference A Life Can Make: Ryan WoodsThe desire for significance is part of being human. Last November Ryan Woods passed away from a spinal <br />
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cancer--glioblastoma. Ryan's journey into the future touched a lot people, so much so, that the Vancouver, Washington city council has dedicated October 26 as <a href="http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cmo/page/volunteer-make-difference-day-0" target="_blank">Make a Difference Day</a> on which they will name the first recipient of the Ryan Woods Grassroots Community Award.<br />
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Here is a portion of reflection Ryan's father and church planter of the <a href="http://www.renovatus.com/" target="_blank">Renovatus Church of Christ</a> wrote about this event:<br />
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<i>One of the blessings during Ryan's illness was that amazing moments when friends and family would rally around the needs of the family: house cleaning, fund raisers, meals, etc. It was humbling and certainly a blessing. It has left a "forever" mark on us. And it has been a testimony to the serving nature of Ryan & Jessica's ministry to the downtown Vancouver neighborhoods. What a blessing.<br /><br />Something new is about to happen that actually marks a surprisingly new aspect of Ry's ministry. This one doesn't come from friends or family or from anyone who ever even met Ryan. A woman named Elizabeth Holmes publishes an on-line magazine called Broadsheet 360. Her and her partner, Kate, heard about Ryan's story and asked him to write an article for their magazine, which he did in the spring of last year. Elizabeth began to follow Ryan's blog and even posted the SoulPancake video, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJx6nbDyhA" target="_blank">My Last Days</a>" that featured Ry & Jessica. Elizabeth's husband is <a href="http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cmo/page/city-manager-eric-holmes" target="_blank">Eric Holmes</a>, city manager for Vancouver, and the two of them came up with an idea that they took to Vancouver's mayor, Tim Leavitt. </i><br />
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<i>The city already honors city employees with a yearly award who are invested in the greater community, but that's for employees. Their idea -- and the mayor loved the idea -- was to honor a person every year who blesses the community. After many conversations about Ryan...his passion...his love for the community...his desire to make it a better place, Eric and Beth sought to create an award to honor others like Ryan: people who give of themselves each day, in small but incredibly meaningful ways; who encourage a stronger community. <br /><br />And so, it's happening! Are you ready for this? The Ryan Woods Grassroots Community Award will be awarded on Saturday, October 26th. Rybee's legacy will continue on through people who never knew our son, but were impacted just the same, and will continue into the future. Each year people will be recommended for this award … but on this inaugural year, it will be given to Jessica and Ryan Woods. In keeping with what my son would have planned himself, it's going to be a grand work party where folks will show up in work clothes armed with tools, and we'll be working on several projects down town! Amazing!</i><br />
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Father, Ryan loved and served you well. May you used his legacy of faith for a deep impact upon the community of Vancouver, Washington. AmenDr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-23029576520689864412013-10-16T14:29:00.000-07:002013-10-16T14:29:08.964-07:00Megachurches in the World<a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/definition.html" target="_blank">Megachurches</a> have a sustained attendance average of over 2,000. While there is certainly strong <br />
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debate over the sustainability of these superlarge churches they are having an indordinate impact for good here at home and around the world.<br />
<br /><a href="http://leadnet.org/resources/advance/3779" target="_blank">Warren Bird</a> has an insightful story about the <a href="http://www.bethel.nl/" target="_blank">Bethel Church</a> in Drachten, Netherlands. Bird begins the story this way, "The church was started in 1923. But in 1988 when leaders called 36-year-old Orlando Bottenbley as pastor, they were a deeply divided church of about 60 older people. He led them to seek God, to reconcile with each other, and to ask forgiveness from all who had left the church in pain." Today Bethel Church is about 4,000 strong in a country with only about <a href="http://www.operationworld.org/neth" target="_blank">700,000 evangelical Christians</a>.<br /><br />You might be interested in the <a href="http://hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/database.html" target="_blank">Hartford Seminary</a>'s database of U.S. megachurches. This database lists 1,661 churches whose sustained weekly average at their worship services is above 2,000 (though the Hartford list includes churches from 1,800). Currently there are 11 churches from our fellowship that are considered megachurches:<br />
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Here's how megachurches are distributed around the world:<br />
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<br /><br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-91131418485193625542013-10-07T10:11:00.001-07:002013-10-07T10:11:20.724-07:00Red Letter MonthEvery now and then there is a period of time that, when it is over, you look back on it and say, "Wow!"<br />
Last month was one of those months in the Kairos network. Here's what happened:<br />
<ul>
<li>Strategy Lab happened in Lincoln, NE Sept 9-13. Our wonderful friends at the <a href="http://heartlandschurch.org/" target="_blank">Heartlands <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strategy Lab: Lincoln, NE</td></tr>
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church</a> hosted us and the 5 new projects in training and preparation:</li>
<ul>
<li>Shaun and Marci Dutile for Laconia, New Hamphire</li>
<li>Cody and Micah Balch for Powell (Columbus), Ohio</li>
<li>Neil Reynolds in campus ministry at Arkansas Tech University</li>
<li>Beto and Laura Perez for West Long Becah, California</li>
<li>Allyn and Becky Bradley for Rockwood (Portland), Oregon</li>
</ul>
<li>Planter couples retreat in Omaha, NE following Strategy Lab. We had a great time with planter couples at a relaxing retreat center outside Omaha where we visited, worshiped, square danced, and waded the Platte River. </li>
<li>Churches commissioning two new church planters. On Sunday, September 29, the Greenlawn <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaun Dutile at Greenlawn</td></tr>
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Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX and the Vancouver Church of Christ in Vancouver, WA commissioned two planter families for their new works. Greenlawn is partnering with Shaun and Marci Dutile in Laconia, New Hampshire and Vancouver is partnering with Johnathan and Dawnette Thomas in Wenatchee, Washington. It was amazing for me (Stan Granberg) to be in Lubbock seeing the Dutiles at Greenlawn while Gena was in Vancouver seeing the Thomases and their team commissioned.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pacific Crest team at Vancouver</td></tr>
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</li>
<li>Kairos fundraising dinner in Portland, Oregon on Oct. 3. It was a delightful dinner sharing God's kingdom work with good friends at the <a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/54-edgefield-home" target="_blank">McMenamin's Lodge</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Carter" target="_blank">Margaret Carter</a>, a former Oregon State representative and senator was one of our presenters along with Bill and Barb Shaffer (elder at Vancouver church), Dwayne Hilty (planter at Soma in West Salem), and Gena.</li>
</ul>
It was a month of WOW! Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-11108315257192460812013-09-01T17:31:00.002-07:002013-09-01T17:31:47.436-07:00How to Create Community
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">My family had a lively and interesting discussion around
our lunch table today after worship services over the sermon: </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfaeLqDM3PmnaqJpHaleXTVb6W0pgjOwvF9m7V8S4TOh70Ki0IeslPvoY4Gqjho8dgGult_nCVXKHed6odF54aQQx7oeztQrGHZ-z0I-mRMrsqatgTT8iHUWjzEX2BdWbKRdeVlMwj_4/s1600/Team+building,+drinking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfaeLqDM3PmnaqJpHaleXTVb6W0pgjOwvF9m7V8S4TOh70Ki0IeslPvoY4Gqjho8dgGult_nCVXKHed6odF54aQQx7oeztQrGHZ-z0I-mRMrsqatgTT8iHUWjzEX2BdWbKRdeVlMwj_4/s200/Team+building,+drinking.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
what is authentic
community?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">I would say discussion about developing community is
one of the big topics among church leaders today, along with spiritual
formation and discipleship and thought you might find our ideas stimulating.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">The first thing we did was to drop “authentic” out
of the discussion. Authentic and authenticity have become insubstantial
buzzwords used to declare, “I don’t agree with what proceeded so I decree it
invalid.” We thought you either have something like community or you don’t, so
delete the authentic.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">Then we carved up the sermon trying to make clear
what each one heard and what the pastor might have been trying to say. That was
interesting. His main point, we decided, was that the attractional mode of
church (attractional is another one of those unhelpful buzz words), probably
better spoken of as attractive, is really used to describe an over-emphasis on
what happens on Sundays to the detriment or exclusion of Christian community
any other day of the week. Got it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">So what is this thing called community that we all
seem to hold as part of the Holy Grail but struggle so deeply to achieve?
Here’s my definition: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">community consists
of those people I live and die with</i>. Yeah, that’s pretty deep. This is what
came out of the recent LifePlan I had done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">We went further and looked for the component parts
that seem to give rise to community. We came up with these four:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">Consistency: Community develops when around
consistent relationships. Community doesn’t seem to develop well when the
people keep changing and shifting over and over. We need to see the same people—regularly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">Shared Experiences: Community forms when people do
enough life together to have a set of shared experiences that draw out shared memories,
emotions, and attitudes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">Overlap: Community is probably hard to achieve in
once a week relationships. We need our lives to overlap with each other to form
community. We need to be in one another’s homes and see one another at school,
business, or play. There’s something powerful about being in other people’s
lives and letting them into ours.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">Time spent together: Community takes time to
develop. That’s why community is hard to achieve just from the Sunday worship
experience. It’s too little; we just seem to need to have more time together
than that. I don’t know if there is any specific amount of time anyone has
identified. In my experience it is certainly longer than a few weeks (unless
there is a dramatic experience at the heart) and something less than a year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0pt;">How do you build this thing called community? My
family decided when these four components exist community is going to happen—you
won’t be able to stop it.</span></div>
Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-81119157342172248632013-08-19T07:27:00.000-07:002013-08-19T07:27:04.610-07:00Survival of the Species<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBwuvp1LFiWN0yRIsHROU9UB2XeRGZE6nUQHrve1hrdsgw94IotsQzcbFPvSaVDKU6jpXLAsj38qE9o0SRQa66n4mo6Q4ddmHGUa0y_MPdcGZZEJ6JEHZNbkkNroVeZb8-NGDIdV9ZKw/s1600/David+Olsen+Yearly_art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBwuvp1LFiWN0yRIsHROU9UB2XeRGZE6nUQHrve1hrdsgw94IotsQzcbFPvSaVDKU6jpXLAsj38qE9o0SRQa66n4mo6Q4ddmHGUa0y_MPdcGZZEJ6JEHZNbkkNroVeZb8-NGDIdV9ZKw/s200/David+Olsen+Yearly_art.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
No, I'm not quoting Darwin, I'm quoting a recent <a href="http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/200904/200904_030_survival.cfm" target="_blank">blog post</a> by David T. Olsen, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/American-Church-Crisis-Groundbreaking-Research/dp/0310277132/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349883182&sr=1-1&keywords=the+american+church+in+crisis" target="_blank">The American Church in Crisis</a>.<br />
<br />
Here's a few "facts and insights" from David Olsen for you:<br />
<ol>
<li>4,000 new churches are started every year in the United States as 3,700 churches close each year, producing a net gain of
only 300 churches per year. </li>
<li>To keep up with population growth, an
additional 2,900 new churches need to be started each year. That means we need to start over 7,200 churches every year just to keep tread water. We're not treading water yet.</li>
<li>75% of new churches survive the first 10 years.
Unfortunately, the majority of them remains small and has limited
impact. </li>
<li>The average new church has 55 in attendance after one year, with the median attendance of 36. At four years the average attendance is 82.</li>
<li>New churches see strong growth in their
first decade, compared to established churches, which decline by 2
percent each year.</li>
</ol>
Now here's David's big conclusion: "New churches are more effective than established churches at conversion
growth." New churches have three to four times the
conversion rate per attendee than do established churches.<br />
<br />
We've got a lot to learn and a lot to do. What will you do? Call me at 360-609-6700 or <a href="mailto:sgranberg@kairoschurchplanting.org" target="_blank">email</a> me.<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9194215352121984703.post-80490659123047498402013-08-13T13:16:00.004-07:002013-08-13T13:16:47.202-07:00Cry For the Seeker
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">We get to work with so many fantastic people. Yesterday</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">, </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">I met with two planters for a coaching session. These guys </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTqoOwkOvwx2g5Z5Blk0kHtit7oQiw6_bCN2nqnVIwR9E9-79S2MnDf6T7rwJFGDbyfpuEmHeabO1ZCqMRS-LoZkjMOD0yGC1AbnIw4BwC6t2eOumq5KQ0t00NIuT5lUOX7KmRB3fIs8/s1600/Cry,+Will+Men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTqoOwkOvwx2g5Z5Blk0kHtit7oQiw6_bCN2nqnVIwR9E9-79S2MnDf6T7rwJFGDbyfpuEmHeabO1ZCqMRS-LoZkjMOD0yGC1AbnIw4BwC6t2eOumq5KQ0t00NIuT5lUOX7KmRB3fIs8/s200/Cry,+Will+Men.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
have been at it for several years and their challenges are quite different from a new planter.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> Yet whether a planter is brand new to the ministry or they've been working for a number of years I hear the same passion in them. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Today I received this email from a friend. He and his wife went through Discovery Lab, our planter assessment process. They weren't ready yet to pursue planting but they are pursuing the skills and foundations that could get them ready. In his email he sent me these words:</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Cry For the Seeker</span></b></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who will
cry for the child lost?</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">With pain,
sorrow, and fear!</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who will
cry for the child lost?</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who
doesn’t know what to hear!</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who will
cry for the child lost?</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who
doesn’t know the meaning of love!</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who will
cry for the child lost?</span></i></div>
<i>
</i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Who can’t
seek the lost for God!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Feed My Sheep!</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Christians
need to be even more <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Passionately
Passionate for People”</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Body of
Christ’s passion is strengthened by knowledge, vision, and support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must continue a close relationship with
Jesus and His Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must emulate the
vision of Christ and His passion for people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must physically support those who are willing to be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Passionately Passionate for People”</b> –
those who take an active physical and spiritual front-line approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May God bless those who are living the
passion of God for the sake of people.</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Today I received a prayer request from another planter for this Sunday when they have a big baptism day planned. Is the need clear? We're praying for God's lost people! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Would you be a passionately passionate person for God's lost people? <a href="http://www.kairosprayer.org/" target="_blank">Click Here!</a></b></span></div>
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Dr. Stanley E. Granberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02215997644401817842noreply@blogger.com0