A New Kind of Church Planting Checklist

Hugh Halter, Author The Tangible Kingdom

In the past, the Christendom report cards measured numbers in attendance, number of salvations, number of small groups, number of new churches, or budget numbers. Essentially “numbers.” Even though we all felt as though this can’t be God’s measurements, we found it hard to break free and find other thing to look at to see if we were being good leaders for God.

Without getting into too much detail, let me throw out a few ways we evaluate our faithfulness to God’s call. Because most of us are dysfunctional westerns who can’t count movement, I’ll guise it in the idea of numbers. These will be in no particular order of importance.

1) Number of new relationships formed where I know their names and they know mine.
2) Number of people who have been uniquely blessed by me and my community.
3) Number of people who invite me to be with their friends who don’t follow Christ.
4) Number of ways, my street, neighborhood, or community are more livable because of my influence.
5) Number of Christians that are actively confronting their consumerism and making adjustments at the life level.
6) Number of Christians that I ask or persuade NOT to go on mission with us.
7) Number of incarnational communities that commit to form around benevolent action instead of just a bible study.
8) How long people remain at our weekly gathering after the formalities are over.
9) Number of community-based initiatives our people are supporting with their time or money.
10) Number of young leaders we’re intentionally developing.
11) Number of people baptized: Still is a great guide to judge a persons commitment to follow Christ with the community.
12) Number of Bibles purchased because someone asked for one.

There are twelve quickies that work well for us. You’ll notice we don’t count “professions of faith,” church attendance, church budget, or number of churches started. We don’t think they historically measure anything real or transformative.

Servant Evangelism - Impressions

This testimony comes from Servant Church in Lynnwood, Washington... They do a quarterly serve event at a local Women's Shelter and provide tangible help in between. The church came together to buy them a new vacuum cleaner. Here's what one of the servants heard from two women about their impression of Servant Church.



"(The women at the shelter) mentioned that they really enjoyed the events we have done there. What an awesome thing to have Servant Church be associated with good gifts and positive interaction! I also talked to one of the residents and she said that she liked us because while we aren't shy about saying we are part of a church we also don't push our beliefs. Our actions are making a big impression on the people there."

The Gospel According to the Simpsons

Mark Pinsky is the religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel and author of the bestselling book, The Gospel According to The Simpsons. The new Simpsons Movie builds on the franchise that he says broke ground in dealing with issues of faith on a primetime TV show.

Interview by Kim Lawton – Religious and News Weekly
Mr. PINSKY: Except for those, of course, that are built around a religious premise, like Seventh Heaven or Touched by an Angel or Highway to Heaven, for The Simpsons it's just a part of their lives. But in that way it's in marked contrast to most commercial television where religion is almost wholly absent.

LAWTON: In the 18 years it's been on the air, The Simpsons has become a true cultural phenomenon. It's the longest running television sitcom in history, and it is broadcast in more than 70 nations, reaching an estimated audience of 60 million people every week. Pinsky is one of many adult viewers who got drawn into The Simpsons through his children.

Mr. PINSKY: When it comes to popular culture, I'm kind of tough on commercial TV, and I said, "Well, here's the deal. We'll sit together, I'll have the remote, and we'll watch. If it's okay, we'll keep watching." The first thing that I noticed was that it was okay for my kids. The second thing I noticed was there was all this religion in it.

More of the Interview on the web…

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1048/feature.html?campaign=pbshomefeatures_3_religionandethicsnewsweeklybrreligionandemthesimpsonsem_2007-07-30

Beyond Serving – Civic Engagement

What is Civic Engagement?

"If you want to change the world - or the culture - all you have to do is change the conversation. In the beginning was the word -- that was how the Bible started. Asking the question of what is true wealth invites people to have a conversation they may never have had before. That itself is a measure a wealth! The value of our coming together can be measured by whether or not we are able to have a conversation we have not had before. A conversation is an action."


-- Peter Block

More about how Civic Engagement is fleshed out in Cincinnati go to www.asmallgroup.net

"Thrive!" Event Equips Church Planting Teams

When church planting pastors and leaders signed up for "Thrive!," an RCA planter "boot camp" in Orlando, Florida, February 26–March 2, they didn't know they'd spend a morning scrubbing toilets.

As part of a session on evangelism, the event's 75 participants divided up into four groups and headed into the community.

"Some went to start conversations with people they didn't know in the shopping mall," says Randy Weener, who organized "Thrive!" and serves as pastor of Spring Valley Community Church in Allendale, Michigan. "The second group went to a local apartment complex and handed out little cards reminding them that the time change was coming. The third group went to the local university and handed out rolls of Mentos to students. A fourth group went to local businesses, retail stores, and offices and cleaned toilets for them."

Weener says the group made 500 "touch points" with the gospel during the morning, from brief encounters to 15-minute conversations. The point was to meet legitimate needs, start conversations, and see where those conversations went.

The morning was an exercise in needs-oriented evangelism, one of Natural Church Development's eight characteristics of healthy, growing churches. NCD is a church health tool used across the denomination, and "Thrive!" was organized around its eight characteristics. "The goal is to have a strong, balanced foundation for ministry," says Tim Vink, coordinator of multiplication for the RCA.

"Thrive!" is a week of intense training. Church planters met with mentors and coaches throughout the week, participated in workshops, and worked on ministry action plans (MAPs) for their congregation. "The teams get a big poster board and mini sticky notes to plan the next six to 18 months of ministry," Vink says. "They fold up the MAP and take it home, and then go into action mode. We try to get them on a mountaintop with vision and wisdom, and they go back home to the valley and live it out."

Weener says the event also developed "networks of camaraderie" and featured plenty of opportunity for swapping ideas.