Some of you will remember the fun
of taking pictures with a Polaroid camera. The difference between a Polaroid
camera and others was that the print would develop right in front of your eyes.
At first the picture was a white or gray haze, and then you would begin to see
the picture. It would get clearer and clearer as you waited for a few minutes.
We're about to take a picture of
God's church. FUMCB/The Open Door has been accepted into Step 2 of the Fruitful
Congregations Journey (FCJ) process. This part of the journey is "designed
to help a local congregation conduct a congregational assessment in order to
identify what next steps it needs to take in order to more effectively carry
out the church's mission."
Here is how we are going to take
the picture:
- FCJ leaders will work with others
to compile a Self Study Report (attendance patterns, demographic profile
of the congregation, census data of the community, etc.);
- The members of our congregation
will be encouraged to take an online FCJ survey;
- A consultant will lead a one-day
workshop for the church's leaders on the principles and characteristics of
healthy churches;
- Mystery guests will worship with
us over a period of weeks;
- An assessment team will visit us
on-site to conduct one-on-one interviews with staff, laity and focus
groups;
- The assessment team will meet
with the Church Council, conduct a five-hour workshop with church
leaders/interested church members;
- An assessment report will be
written. That will be shared with the pastors and then shared with the
congregation in worship.
This assessment report will
include key next-step objectives called Ministry Action Plans (MAP's). The
MAP's are to help the church become healthier and more effective at carrying
out its mission. The church will have 45 days to talk about the
recommendations, pray over the recommendations, and then we will formally vote
on whether or not to accept the MAP's.
We'll have teams putting together
a summary of the church, gathering data, etc.
We're about to take a picture.
What do you think the picture is going to look like? What do you think will
stand out? What will we learn? What will we enjoy seeing and what will we want
to "crop" out of the picture?
The writer of the New Testament
book of Revelation took "snapshots" of several early Christian
churches. The church at Ephesus was hard working, willing to endure hardships,
but they had lost their love for Christ. There was a grim determination to
their life - but little joy.
The church at Sardis is known for
being alive with the Spirit of God, something is always happening there, but
the early Christian writer says they never finish anything. They start big but
every dream ends with a whimper. People have started to think nothing will ever
change, and so they are sleep walking through life.
The Christian community at
Thyatira is a church defined by love and faith. Not only that, but the people
put their faith into action. They don't just talk about faith but faith for
them is an action verb! They are enduring great suffering, and are growing more
faithful, more alive, than they were in the beginning! The picture is free of
any negatives.
What do you think the picture
will look like?
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
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