Session 6: "Develop Key Areas for Change"

Owned by David Hina
Last updated: Mar 07, 2017
4 min read
  1. PURPOSE:  The goal of this session is to identify key areas for change, and to begin the process of making those changes.  As we've probably all seen by this point, though, this will just be a beginning, and more work will be needed in the prior phases of this process before we make significant changes.
     
  2. ISSUES:  Marshall & Payne see this as being the most difficult phase for the following reasons:
    1. Change upsets people.  It's just a part of our sin nature.
    2. Churches are complex.  The planning needed to get all different parts of the church working toward discipleship can be tricky.
    3. Context & situation.  The way we make disciples is very dependent upon our specific context, so we need to understand it well.
    4. Doing it can be difficult.  Planning is one thing, but following through with the changes can be much more difficult
       
  3. PROCESS:
    1. REVIEW:  Briefly review the output from session #3 (the list of areas in which the greatest change is needed).
    2. CONSIDER:  In preparation, consider the following two questions:
      1. How would we describe ourselves today - as a "receptor" church (designed to attract mainly those who move into area as already church-goers in a similar context), as a "seeker" church (uses many means to attract a wide variety of people with a wide variety of needs), or as a "mission" church (designed to go out and find those with a pressing need for the Gospel)?
      2. How do we want to change this description of ourselves (based on our convictions about who we are called to be)?
    3. IDENTIFY CHANGE AREAS - EXISTING MINISTRY:  Look for changes that can be made to four primary areas (we will primarily look at the first two for now, but need to keep the others in mind) to bring us closer to our goals:
      1. Worship Service
        1. What "culture" do we communicate by our service?  Is it a different culture than our underlying convictions?
        2. Conduct of the service - does it communicate that God's Word is the primary way in which we are to be spiritually fed?
        3. Is the gospel clearly explained in the sermons?
        4. Is there an expectation communicated that the congregation should read/study the Word
        5. What do we communicate non-verbally to someone new coming into worship (e.g. by our dress, etc.)
      2. The rest of our "church life" (ministries, groups and activities, including the home life of each member)
        1. Weekly Sunday School (currently four groups)
        2. Praise & Prayer
        3. Men's & Women's Bible studies; children's study & fun time during the Bible study
        4. Ministry team meetings
        5. Shepherding groups
        6. Children's night out
        7. Home life for each member
        8. Regular one-on-one meetings
        9. S'mores at the Meiners'
      3. Our long-term plans for growth - so that we anticipate and prepare for growth that (God-willing) our plans will produce
      4. Our communication and common language (so that a new way of thinking & talking about disciple-making and ministry becomes normal in our gatherings)
        1. How "understandable" is our teaching / preaching today (for the audience we have)?
        2. How "understandable" should it be?
        3. How does this impact a new-comer's experience?  Should we be concerned with balancing this?
    4. IDENTIFY CHANGE AREAS - ADDITIONAL MINISTRY:  Identify any new initiatives that could be implemented in order to move people closer to the goal.  See the attached list for ideas.
       
  4. OUTPUT:  A simple plan for change, consisting of the following (note that this will be fully drawn to completion in session #7):
    1. A small set of clearly articulated priorities for change (coming primarily out of session #3)
    2. A couple of simple, measurable, realistic goals for those priorities
    3. a set of actions to begin heading towards those goals (including who's going to do them, by when, and resources expected)

Ideas for New Initiatives

The following are given purely to stimulate thinking, and not at all to say "this is the way we need to go."

  1. Discipleship planning group:
    • Would involve Elders (all that are able) and perhaps one or two other people selected as leaders
    • For a period of 4-6 months, meet weekly as a discipleship group, involving Prayer, Study, Engagement, & (potentially) Accountability
    • Work through "The Vine Project" (Marshall & Payne) a chapter at a time
    • Would serve as a continuation of the current process, with a better sense of the changes needed
  2. Another option - the TEAMS approach:
    • Defined:  Truth, Equipping, Accountability, Mission, Supplication
    • How would we accomplish this in our context?
    • Randy Pope:  "Effective discipleship requires a patient, time-consuming, life-on-life personal commitment."
    • Would involve:  "Ignition Team" followed by "Life-on-Life Ministry"
  3. Monthly Women's Prayer Group (Amy H. interested in beginning this)
  4. Young Adults:
    1. One-on-one discipleship - discuss who might disciple who
    2. Reformed Conference
    3. Mission work
  5. Mission Team:  Manage everything related to Providence missionaries.  Meet monthly, communicate with missionaries regularly, pray for them and manage prayer requests.  Suggest starting for first few months watching videos - "Dispatches from the Front Lines."
  6. Homeless Ministry:  The Outreach Team has been looking at specific ways we can become involved in assisting with the Homeless Ministry.
  7. One-on-one discipleship - would need to involve some method of showing the value of this type of gathering, and getting the people involved in it. One very good step would be to begin by involving the Elders in taking on one person.
  8. "Book-Center Discipleship" (example of one type of one-on-one ministry): 
    • Create a book-center in a public place (Narthex), with 4 or 5 shelves.  Each shelf will be labeled with a month, with the current month at the top. Books will be placed on the shelf, with depth of the material increasing from left to right (and a label indicating this).  
    • Provide a simple mechanism for checking out books (people write their names on a list, then we check the book out using Tiny Cat.
    • Books can be checked out by anyone to read - the only rule is that if they check the book out, they must read it.
    • Provide a description of a process for one-on-one discipleship using one of the books, in which the book is read with someone (either in the church, or outside of it), involving weekly reading, equipping, accountability, mission, and prayer.  This method would be highly encouraged, and groups could consist of 2,3, or 4 people, although part of the process would require designating a leader, and training could be provided for leaders.  The goal would be to make the groups consistently structured.
  9. Sermon series:  a couple of series that address the "barriers" to disciple-making