Our plan:
Our Ministry Plan
Our
plan:
To do this through ongoing leadership training and through the building of small faith groups, built around the Gospel and Christian action, which meet needs in particular small communities. As these communities mature and multiply, they become the basis for forming new churches in their local areas. These churches will be expected to remain outreach and mission-oriented. From these churches will be trained pastors, deacons, lay leaders, church planters, and missionaries who will continue to share the message of Jesus to even more who need to hear it.
We will also make use of every opportunity to educate the community about issues of discrimination and prejudice individually and in group settings such as conferences, seminars, etc.
Our Greatest Needs:
Volunteers who can be trained to lead small faith groups (also known as cell groups or small groups) in their communities.
Volunteers to act as mission directors, overseeing the management of various small faith groups in a particular region.
It is primarily from the ranks of the small group leaders and mission directors that we will train and set aside ordained and licensed clergy.
Business-savvy individuals to work with our standing committee and eventually our financial board, helping raise and manage capital & supplies to help fund ministry ventures throughout our target regions.
We also welcome already ordained clergy who wish to align with us, either bringing independent churches into our fellowship, or wishing to aid in the work of church-planting and providing pastoral care in the fellowship.
The Steps:
· We need to find areas where there is a need for Christian fellowships/ministries that are socially and theologically progressive, with a focus on outreach & liberating social action
· We need to network with individuals who see such needs and who would be willing to work to see those needs addressed by small faith communities committed to living out the Gospel of Jesus.
· Out of these individuals, we will form targeted cell groups or small faith communities, meeting particular needs which the Gospel addresses.
Here are some ideas for small faith communities/cell groups:
1. What Would Jesus Do? study & social action groups.
2. New Beginnings CARE Groups
These groups are focused on "Overcoming Bible Abuse", each highlighting the theme of "Beginning again with God" for folks from a background where they have had the Scriptures be mis-used to abuse them or marginalize.
3. Couples Support Groups
These groups would focus on couples of varying sexual orientation and gender combinations. This would be a support group to help those couples find support in Scripture, in prayer, and in each other, for building romantic relationships that are healthy and life-long.
4. Youth Drop-Ins
5. Special Works Groups
These groups could be focused on using a particular gift or talent to the glory of God or doing a particular work in the community. For instance, we might have an intercessors group which meets weekly to pray for the needs of the community. We might have a group of folks who do knitting as their ministry and meet to knit blankets for the homeless. We might have a pet ministry circle that regularly takes their pets to hospitals and nursing homes, perhaps a different place each week. We could have a group of musicians who meet to organize music & songs that share God's love & vision for the world and play them in the community.
6. Topical & Book Bible Studies
7. Divorced & Separated Support Groups
8. Singles Living Groups
9. Grieving/Bereavement Groups
10. Other Ideas?
Basic Guidelines for these groups
Each group must have at least:
1. A regular place to meet (usually with a host who will be a group member),
2. an assistant facilitator local to the area who will be trained to take over leadership of the group as key facilitator within a short period of time, and 3. at least 2 other folks signed up than the assistant facilitator and host before they begin. The goal will be to hand off leadership in a short period of time to the assistant facilitator, having trained them to be a key facilitator by the end of the initial series, with another leader acting as overseers of the groups overall (ie mission director).
Each group should follow the Upward, Inward, and Outward and 5 W's model for structuring themselves.
Upward, Inward, and Outward -- within the course of the month, time will be devoted toward connecting upwardly toward God as a group through prayer, study, meditation, and/or worship, connecting inwardly as a group through building relationships with each other, and reaching out to those who are in need of the Gospel and hands-on care or service in the community.
Within the course of the month, each group will devote time to the 5 W's --
Worship -- Connecting upward to God through prayer, worship, thanksgiving, and meditation.
The Word -- Studying the Bible together in some format in which it is hear, discussed, and applied to their life-situation.
felloWship -- Building relationships of love, openness, trust, fidelity, and solidarity between group members.
Witness -- Sharing with others who need to hear it how God has changed your life through Christ's love and Jesus' alternative vision for life.
Work -- Doing hands-on service in the community that heals broken hearts and meets human needs in a way that makes the world more closely resemble Jesus' kingdom vision of how God longs for it to be.
Each facilitator should meet together with those in their region/area regularly with their mission director for training, input, etc. at "leader's meetings"
· When an area has several self-sustaining cell or small groups that have multiplied, begin a weekly celebration service combining those groups together for worship, prayer, communion, and a message by the pastoral staff.