MVP & Griffith Coaching. It s a New Day:

Transcription

1 MVP & Griffith Coaching It s a New Day: For Churches in the City 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 1

2 SESSION ONE: Taking Stock of the Remnant TRY THIS: What are your assets? List each one GriffithCoaching.com 2

3 DISCUSS THIS: If your congregation were a petunia, how much agreement would there be in the congregation about which parts of your ministry or mission are the dying blossoms that need to be removed? DISCUSS THIS: Who would notice if your church no longer existed? What ministries of your church does the community count on? Which ones would few people miss? 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 3

4 TRY THIS: List everything your congregation does everything Which of these things are at the heart of who you are as a congregation? Which are peripheral? Which are making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world? 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 4

5 Try this: Return to your list of everything your congregation does and put a star be each activity you cannot imagine letting go of, and then ask why. Is it because these activities are making a difference in people s lives or is it because of inertia? My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 5

6 SESSION TWO: Overcoming Urban Stereotypes GriffithCoaching.com 6

7 The Lifeboat Station By Theodore Wedel On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give their time and money and effort to support its work. New boats were brought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew. Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club's decoration, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held. About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos, so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside. At the next meeting there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to their normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a "lifesaving station." But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the cost. This they did. As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit the sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown GriffithCoaching.com 7

8 Discuss This: How do you relate to this parable? What do you think it means for your congregation? How would you describe your congregation s primary focus? 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 8

9 My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 9

10 SESSION THREE: Building the New Congregation What do you know about your neighbors? Where do people congregate in your community? What are the needs of the people around you? 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 10

11 If you were planting a new church, what activities would you plan? Which of these are you willing to try in your current setting? Where are you investing the bulk of your time? 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 11

12 My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 12

13 SESSION FOUR: Reintroducing the Church to the Neighborhood 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 13

14 My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 14

15 SESSION FIVE: Embracing Diversity in Worship 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 15

16 My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 16

17 SESSION SIX: Building Outreach that Matters 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 17

18 My # 1 LEARNING Others Learnings 2017 GriffithCoaching.com 18