SCD Ideas

Jorge Acevedo, Lead Pastor
Grace Church — Cape Coral, Olga-Fort Myers Shores and North Fort Myers, Florida
www.egracechurch.com

Grace Church DNA:

In the final presentation at this year’s School of Congregational Development, Jorge Acevedo shared the core principles that has turn-around his congregation.  Here are the notes from his presentation: 
1. We are unashamedly Jesus-centered!  Jesus is the Savior, Healer, Transformer and Friend that every human being needs. 

2. We strive for healthy relationships!  Maintaining genuine and authentic relationships are of supreme value.  Repairing our relational messes is essential.

3. We are passionate to reach people!  This means loving people where they are and helping them grow into who God wants them to be.  Everyone is a “child of God and person of worth.”

4. We hunger for transcendent, culturally relevant, meaningful and experiential worship!  The human heart desires to regularly connect with God.  Music, drama, creative arts, and video are some of the ways this happens.

5. We engage people in biblical, relevant and creative teaching!  God’s Word addresses the most fundament issues of life.  Children, youth and adults need to be taught from the Bible.

6. We endeavor to be a radically diverse church.  This includes a mosaic of persons joined together as one community of faith.

7. We value hospitality as an expression of God’s “welcome.”  The kindness of God is expressed intentionally through things like warm greeting, clean bathrooms, and good food.

8. We are a center for healing and recovery!  God has asked us to assist Him in rescuing people from the hell they are living in as well as the hell they are heading to.  We recognize that healing takes time therefore we strive to very patient with people in their healing and recovery.

9. We strive to unleash God’s love, power, and people in ministries to meet the needs of our communities.  These compassion ministries include both aid (meeting basic needs) and advocacy (being a voice for the voiceless).

10. We have a passion and commitment to fulfill for the Great Commission!  This is expressed locally, nationally and internationally.

11. We understand that spiritual growth is a lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus!  Growing in our discipleship includes spiritual habits like self-feeding through daily devotions, using time, talents and treasures for God, engaging in Christian community and serving in the church and world.

12.  We are a multi-site congregation.  We believe strategically located, multiple campuses enable us to more effectively reach our community while being wise and efficient stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us.

13. We believe ministry is best accomplished in teams of people with diverse gifts and abilities who are bound together with common purpose and covenants of trust. 

by Mary Beth Coudal

Grand Rapids, MI, Aug. 1, 2008–In the video, the face of the pastor is pasted onto the dancing body of Napoleon Dynamite, the title character in a cult comedy movie of 2004.

People under 30 would appreciate the image; those over 40 might not, said the Rev. Mark Beeson, who used the clip to introduce his address to the 2008 United Methodist School of Congregational Development. His topic: “Innovate or Die.”

The point throughout his animated presentation was that the church should not be afraid of change regarding ministries to reach young generations. If the church does not reach the young people of today, it will not have much of a future. “Change is good,” he said.

The pastor of Granger Community United Methodist Church in Granger, Indiana (near South Bend), spoke to two audiences: one gathered in person in Cornerstone United Methodist Church, South Bend, and the other by satellite link from St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Orlando, Florida.

“It’s unbelievable the changes in technology and what it has done to us,” Beeson said. “We no longer learn in a linear fashion…. Everything is story and image.”

The gospel and the mission of the church never change, he said, but the church must find strategies that will engage “postmodern” people, to help them take the next steps toward Christian discipleship.

Punctuating his point that change is good, Beeson said that the church expects people to change when they accept Christ. “The whole world doesn’t go to church,” he said. “You have to give them a reason [to come]. Give them a why…help people take their next steps towards Christ.… Is your cause worth the price of change? Because you’re asking people to change.”

  
The School of Congregational Development is an annual opportunity for United Methodist pastors, administrators, and laypeople to become catalysts for church renewal and growth. The six-day event is sponsored by the General Board of Discipleship and the General Board of Global Ministries. This year it met in two venues linked for some plenary sessions and worship by satellite connection.

Ministry tracks at the school focus on new church starts, church renewal, and outreach to ethnic and minority populations.

In speaking both of new church development or older church revitalization, Beeson put heavy emphasis on the vision, the “So what?”, and the mission. “Mission is why you exist,” he said.

Beeson, who founded Grange Church 22 years ago and is senior pastor, encouraged other pastors to challenge members to use their best talents in the cause of the gospel.

“Most of the people in our churches are under-challenged,” he said, recalling the example of a woman who led a multi-million dollar company but was asked only to usher once a month. “We do not challenge high-capacity people enough,” the speaker said. “Most people would rather be swallowed by a whale than bitten to death by small fish.”

Granger Community United Methodist Church has a membership of some 5,000 and a weekly worship attendance of around 6,000 in multiple services.

*Mary Beth Coudal is a staff writer for the General Board of Global Ministries.

http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/pr.cfm?articleid=5088

As United Methodist leaders gather in Fort Worth, Texas for the 2008 General Conference they will focus on a number of key issues related to the ongoing vitality of the denomination.  While the number of United Methodists has grown outside the United States, the U.S. Church has continued to decline in numbers.  In a paradoxical way, this ongoing loss of members is bringing leaders to a critical juncture in the life of the largest of the mainline denominations with just under 8 million members and over  34,000 local churches in the United States.  In order to connect with a younger, more diverse population it will need to have a major focus on starting new churches and revitalizing existing congregations. 
If you already have thousands of churches, why would you need more?  Because the population of the United States will grow by over 100 million people by 2050 and without new churches the UMC will not have an opportunity to offer ministry to a population that increasingly lives in urban America.
In 7 Myths of the United Methodist Church, I point out that in the best-selling book, The Tipping Point, the strategy of the John Wesley is highlighted.  Wesley realized that in order for people to grow in faith and practice as followers of Jesus Christ you have to create a community around them that would nurture them and encourage them in their faith journey.  Because of his strategy the Methodist movement exploded in the 1780s from 29 thousand to 90 thousand in the course of six years.  This principle holds true today.  Whether we are talking about Christian discipleship or educating our young people, without a community of people who care individuals easily get lost in our rapidly changing society.
The UMC is at another tipping point in its history.  While it is still strong and has great resources, by focusing on sharing the gospel to new generations of people both in the United States and around the world, it can create communities where individuals can flourish and mature in faith.  A choice for the future means focusing our efforts in a way that creates new faith communities that embrace newcomers with the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
For additional resources go to www.gbod.org\7myths

This last week I had a planning session with the leaders of the New Church Tracks for this year’s school.  It was great to see how excited they are about teaching their tracks.  Candace Landsberry, who in now in the second year of her second new church start in Las Vegas, made the observation that the world has changed since she  started a church in Phoenix eight years ago.

Others in the group agreed.  Here are a couple of things they noted:

1.  People are more fearful — they are not willing to come to a stranger’s house to meet people.  This makes it hard to start small groups in people’s homes.  So you must look at Third Places — like Starbucks to meet people.

2.  Relationships are key — to gather people you must take the time to connect with individuals, like key leaders in the community to develop contacts. 
3.  Timing is important — people aren’t willing to wait too long before you launch worship.  12 to 15 months seems like the longest you can wait.

4.  People are suspicious of religion in general.  So just saying come to church does not attract.  You must give them a reason to want to be part of a faith community.  So saying you are United Methodist (this is my thought) can be a positive because it shows you are part of a larger organization — not just a fly-by-night operation.

These same comments can be heard by owners of movie theaters (see blog on the Oscars), restaurants, and malls  — people seem to be more and more reluctant to leave the safety and comfort of their homes.  About ten year’s ago we called this cocooning. Think about it — through the Internet and your home entertainment system you can bring the world to your home without having to leave.

So even if you are an experienced new church starter, you can’t keep doing the same things over and over again.  You need to adapt to climate of your community and create new ways to connect with people — not for the sake of building a church, but for the purpose of giving people the opportunity to hear of the love of Jesus, the love that truly transforms.

So what other changes are you seeing?  Help make a list by adding your comments.

According to an article in USA TODAY on “ShoWest report: 3-D is the next generation in the movie industry”, you will soon be wearing 3-D glasses and paying more at the box office to see the latest thing from Hollywood (see link below).  The article brings up some points that churches can learn from.

1.  Even though the popluation of the U.S. has grown over the years, the number of people going to movies has remained flat the last three years.

2.  Movie Theaters find themselves competing with home TV and computer screens.  They have to offer something unique to get people out of their homes.  As people convert to digital TV in the next year, the home experience with wide-screen monitors and full scale sound systems will only get better.

3.  The Youth Boom is in full force.  The “Best of Both Worlds” Concert by Disney teen star Miley Cyrus, has generated $64 million.  Through the 3-D technology they were able to create an immersive experience that you can’t get a home.   Theater owners are betting that the installation of digital projectors will allow them to offer more live-action shows like the Super Bowl and made-for-theater concerts.

Two other comments got my attention.  First, one theater owner experimented with the sound and found the installation of a new sound system was just as significant as what was on the screen.   Second, another owner pointed to the fact that if the theater experience is ruined by people acting up in the audience, no amount of technology will overcome a bad trip to the movies.

So what does this mean for the local church?  One of our biggest challenges is offering an experience that will get people out of their homes and into our sanctuaries.  Things like the sound system, the lighting, and the overall mood of the worship space effects the way we worship.  Finally, the way the audience — the congregation – behaves has a profound effect on how people experience worship.  What brings people back is not just a carefully crafted sermon or beautiful anthem.  They can get that on TV.  What brings them back is the smile from an usher, a kind word from the person sitting next to them, the invitation to return by the person in front of them, and the feeling that the people in the congregation have a passion for God.      

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-03-13-showest-3D_N.htm