Tuesday, May 08, 2012

8 principles for churches that want to grow

A recent article by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church and the resurgence discusses 8 principles of churches that want to grow.....
  1. Begin with the end in mind and know how large you are aiming to be.
  2. The larger the church, the more different that church is from other churches of the same theology and tradition
  3. Change is inevitable
  4. Don't assign moral judgements to size and change
  5. If you want to grow you need to prepare for common changes now.
  6. Be humble as a leader to seek the counsel of pastors ahead of you and receive their counsel.
  7. Discern between guilt and conviction in seasons of transition
  8. Pray and plan for people to meet Jesus.
To read the article in full visit  http://theresurgence.com/2012/05/07/8-principles-for-churches-that-want-to-grow

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Ideas for Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday is an important festival in the life of the church.   It celebrates and commerates the promise that Jesus  made to send another counsellor and it also links Christianity and the Holy Spirit to an Old Testament festival Shavuot, a festival of Harvest. 
Following are some links to ideas about Pentecost and how to celebrate Pentecost.

Worship
Textweek
Lutheran Church of Australia
Lutheran Church of Australia planning page (only available 2 weeks before)
Wishing Well
Richard Fairchild's suggestions
phaith of saint phransus
Anglican diocese of Winchester


Youth
Rethinking Youth ministries suggestions

Children
Max 7 site
Uniting Church of Australia
Salvation Army Australia site
DLTK growing together
Sunday software's ideas
Teacher planet

Article
An article on preaching from cyberbrethren
St Pauls Kingsville church
Wikipedia pentecost article



Videos











Book: Go make disciples an invitation to baptismal living




This highly-informative handbook is intended to help congregations implement the task of making disciples in their own community.   Go Make Disciples provides updated resources for preparing adults for baptism or affirmation of baptism, and for Christian discipleship.  Appropriate for a wide range of Protestant denominations, especially Lutheran, Episcopal, Anglican, United Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed traditions.

Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
14 . . . . . Welcome to Making Disciples!
16 . . . . . Using This Handbook
18 . . . . . The Shift from Membership to Discipleship
21 . . . . . Shifting to Discipleship: Stories from the Field
23 . . . . . Understanding the Process for Making Disciples
26 . . . . . A Ministry of Welcome
28 . . . . . An Overview of the Disciple Making Process
30 . . . . . An Overview of Rites of Discipleship
32 . . . . . What Is Offered to People Who Are Already Baptized?
33 . . . . . Baptized People Are Invited to Discipleship
34 . . . . . Non-member Parents Requesting Baptism for Their Children
Getting Started
38 . . . . . Why Be Involved in Making Disciples?
44 . . . . . Why Should the Congregation Care about Making Disciples?
45 . . . . . Is the Congregation Ready to Do This?
50 . . . . . Evangelization and Making Disciples
52 . . . . . Encouraging Relational Evangelism
53 . . . . . Starting a Disciple Making Team
58 . . . . . The Pastor’s Role in the Disciple Making Process
61 . . . . . Recruiting and Training Team Members
63 . . . . . Leadership Skills
64 . . . . . Scheduling the Disciple Making Process
66 . . . . . Launch Guide for Making Disciples
68 . . . . . Fifty Ways to Involve the Congregation in Making Disciples
Inquiry
76 . . . . . Snapshot of Inquiry
77 . . . . . Welcome
78 . . . . . Actions of the Inquiry Stage
79 . . . . . Gathering Inquirers
82 . . . . . Suggested Outline of an Initial Inquiry Session
84 . . . . . Storytelling
87 . . . . . Identifying Sponsors
89 . . . . . Suggested Outline of Subsequent Inquiry Sessions
91 . . . . . Preparation for the Rite of Welcome
Exploration
94 . . . . . Snapshot of Exploration
95 . . . . . Reflection on the Rite of Welcome
96 . . . . . Exploration
97 . . . . . Actions of the Exploration Stage
99 . . . . . Suggested Outline of Weekly Exploration Sessions
101 . . . . Topics for Groups in the Exploration Stage
102 . . . . Intercessory Prayer for Disciple Making Groups
103 . . . . Discernment for Baptism
104 . . . . Preparation and Rehearsal for the Rite of Enrollment
Intense Preparation
108 . . . . Snapshot of Intense Preparation
109 . . . . Reflection on the Rite of Enrollment
110 . . . . Intense Preparation
111 . . . . Baptismal Preparation
112 . . . . Ideas for Lent and the Three Days
114 . . . . Suggested Outline of Weekly Sessions during the Stage of Intense
Preparation
116 . . . . Additional Suggestions for Sessions during the Stage of Intense
Preparation
119 . . . . Retreat for Candidates and Sponsors
120 . . . . Water Life: A Bible Study on Baptism and Water Images
122 . . . . Preparation for Baptism and Affirmation of Baptism
Baptismal Living
126 . . . . Snapshot of Baptismal Living
127 . . . . Reflection on Baptism or the Affirmation of Baptism
128 . . . . Baptismal Living Sessions
129 . . . . Ideas for the Easter Season
131 . . . . Mystagogical Reflection
133 . . . . Ministry in Daily Life
134 . . . . Exercises in Identifying Ministries in Daily Life
136 . . . . Preparation for the Rite of Affirmation of Vocation
137 . . . . Beyond Baptism and Affirmation of Baptism
Additional Resources
140 . . . . Scripture Reflection Methods
               African Bible Study or Collatio
               Visualizing the Text
               Martin Luther’s Four-Stranded Garland
144 . . . . Supplemental Models for Disciple Making Sessions
149 . . . . Small Group Blessings and Prayers
               Prayers before Reading the Scriptures
               Prayers and Thanksgivings after Reading and Praying the Scriptures
               Prayers and Blessings to Conclude a Session
               Additional Prayers and Blessings
156 . . . . Rehearsing the Rites
159 . . . . A Word to Preachers
162 . . . . Preaching to Catechumens
165 . . . . Sampling the Ecumenical Rites
168 . . . . Denominational Rites for Making Disciples
173 . . . . Constructing a Temporary Font
174 . . . . Praying for Those Preparing for Baptism and the Newly Baptized
176 . . . . Making Disciples in Intercultural Settings
181 . . . . Adapting the Process of Making Disciples to Your Congregation
183 . . . . Cata-What? A Brief History of the Catechumenate
186 . . . . Forming Christians, Transforming Congregations
189 . . . . Dates for Easter and Related Days
191 . . . . Contributors
193 . . . . Acknowledgments
195 . . . . Glossary
201 . . . . Bibliography
207 . . . . Contents of Companion CD-ROM
To order this book visit:
http://store.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/17352/Go-Make-Disciples-An-Invitation-to-Baptismal-Living?c=257595

as this book has recently been released it is yet to appear on Amazon or on the list of their non US distributors....if you live outside the US or Canada visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/company/international.jsp to find your local distributor


Friday, May 04, 2012

Top 100 contemporary worship songs - CCLI Songselect

Song Select - a division of ccli currently has made available a list of the top 100 contemporary songs sung in worship.

Along with this list a mp3 sample, lyrics, music for chords, music for vocals, music for lead...

This is well worth a visit for any church using contemporary worship.

Visit https://au.songselect.com/search/ccli-top-songs

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Wiki 52: equipping sacramental church leaders to reach God's lost people

The 5 2 network is again presenting the wikiconference.

The 5 2 network   is a “how to” network equipping sacramental church leaders to more effectively reach God’s lost people. FiveTwo provides communication and knowledge through fivetwo.com, facebook and twitter. We also encourage collaboration and camaraderie through Wikiconference, our annual gathering, and FiveTwo Locals, regional gatherings happening regularly around the United States.

This year's conference includes:
34 speakers
Church Planting track
Multi Site track
Multi Ethnic track
Revitalization track
Missional Communities track
Leadership and coaching track
Organisational Development track
Worship Arts track

The conference is being held 24th to 26th September 2012 at Katy Texas. 

For more details visit http://www.wiki52.com/