SCD Ideas

For those of you who will participating in this year’s School of Congregational Development, you are asked to bring information with you about the community where your church is located.  Using www.zillow.com, the real estate site that tells you an estimated value of homes in your area, you can easily find information about your community.  Use the instructions below and fill in the template to paint a quick picture of your community.  This is only a starting point.  Through the Research Office of GBGM  (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/ecg/research/profiles/) and other companies that provide demographic information you can get more detailed information about your church and your community.  So using this as a starting point, fill in the data below and bring the information with you.  This is material you will be able to use as you develop a Ministry Plan for your church.  You also can go to the Page button on the sidebar of this site, and get the chart as well.

Your Community Profile

1.  Go to www.zillow.com
2.  Type in your address or an address of a house in your
target area
3.  When you see the street address on the map, click on the address to see a
report on the value of the house
4.  Scroll to bottom where it says, “The main types of people are.”
Click on See  more   _________ data.
5.  On the left-hand side you will see a box.  Click on People and fill in the data  below:

Relationship Status:          Homes with Kids:
Married   _________       With Kids    _______
Single       _________     Without Kids _______
Widowed _________
Divorced  _________

Age Distribution        Commute Time
-10 _______            10 min or less    _______
10s _______            10-20 min.         _______
20s _______            20-30 min.        _______
30s _______            30-45 min.        _______
40s _______            45-60 min.        _______
50s _______            60 min or more _______
60s _______
>70 _______

                                                      Your Town    National
People Data
Median Household Income:____________/__________
Single Males:_______________________/__________
Single Females:_____________________/__________
Median Age:_______________________/__________
Homes With Kids:___________________/__________
Average Household Size:_____________/__________
Average Commute Time:_____________/__________

Who Lives Here? The Main types of people are:

In this neighborhood, a larger number of people have these
characteristics than in surrounding neighborhoods:

www.scdumc.org

In preparation for this year’s School of Congregational Development here is a list of books from some of our leaders that you might want to read:

7 Myths of the United Methodist Church

Written by Craig Kennet Miller and with contributions from leading edge pastors 7 Myths talks about the things we say to ourselves that keeps us from growing.  This is a must read for anyone who wants to get a fresh look at the current state of the United Methodist Church or who wants to lead a study in his or her local church to see their church in a whole new light.

Go to www.gbod.org\7myths for more information.  You also can download presentations to share with your congregation.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=541308

Deeping Your Effectiveness

Dan Glover and Claudia Lavey

This is has been a best seller at the School of Congregational Development since it came out.  It gives great insights of how to develop a discipleship system for your local church in a way that allows you to impliment its principles in your congregational setting.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=343629 

Touch

Rudy Rasmus

Touch tells the story of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Houston, a once dying church that is now one of the largest churches in the country.  As Rudy tells his story of redemption you can’t help but be encouraged to take a new look at your ministry and to view the people in your community as God’s gift to your church.

http://www.amazon.com/TOUCH-Pressing-Against-Wounds-Broken/dp/0849919851/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215114547&sr=8-1

Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God

Jim Walker

Dirty Word is an honest and sometime raw theological story of church mission and ministry with people who are turned off by the practices and appearances of the traditional church.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=564487