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NCD Results (March ’08) TOWARDS AN ACTION PLAN:
· Improve the Passionate Spirituality characteristic – by focusing on the ‘low stave’ we may reasonably expect to raise all 8 characteristics by September 2009. [see implementation suggestions below]
· Congregational Awareness – to be generated by increasing the flow of communication from leaders to laity.
i. Bulletin handed out at the door, so that everyone in church has the benefit of info-in-the-hand
ii. Web-page to include regularly maintained Council-to-Congregation communications – by September kick-off 2009
iii. Congregation-wide emails to update, encourage, inform; for all items that pertain to everyday church life.
iv. From the Stage! Duty Elders to speak reassuringly to the congregation from week to week, messages that are optimistic, encouraging and future-full. Ie. “I love this church.” “Boy, its great to be here this morning.” “I really feel that God is going to bless us.” “Participating in church life is a joy and I think we are on the right track.”
· Ongoing Leadership Training – using any and all opportunities in-house and out-house in order to equip and encourage our leaders in their offices and as role models of encouragement to others.
i. Set aside a meeting ____ times per year, strictly for in-house leadership training and orientation. Topics to be chosen in advance, and led peer-to-peer.
ii. Add line to 2008/09 budget to read: Leadership Training. This money is a token of our endorsement of all leadership training, to be used by anyone - leaders or laity - as subsidy for seminars, conferences etc.
iii. Each office-bearer to attend one training event per year while in office. Examples: Day of Encouragement (southeast), Day of Encouragement Hamilton, Connect. Many events held in Grace church would satisfy this goal: office-bearer evening, community opportunity scan seminar, discipleship curriculum seminar etc, etc.
· “See and Celebrate” – find good things that God is doing through church people and celebrate it.
i. Raise the profile of the basement bulletin board which features congregants in the news.
ii. Testimonies in worship – this is what God is doing in my life…
iii. Any and all open-mic opportunities – particularly for worshippers to offer personal praise, thanks for what God is doing; to share the highlights of life and ministry.
· Encourage, encourage, encourage.
i. Acknowledge special efforts publicly through use of worship service.
ii. Once in every council meeting we will go around the table and each leader will name someone they have encouraged either verbally, by email note, or ‘thank-you’ card. We may also share how someone else has encouraged us.
· Raise profile of prayer ministry in our church – particularly pray for the Holy Spirit to breathe a fresh wind of joy and spiritual enthusiasm into Calvary.
i. Maintain a current inventory of prayer programs/opportunities: Prayer room, prayer chain, prayer vigils, Tuesday night prayer cell, prayer in leaders’ meetings, prayer requests offered in a.m. worship services.
ii. Challenge the congregation to pray for the church everyday. Provide reminders of that challenge, [ie: a coffee cup – did you pray for your church today?], send mass-emails as requests and needs arise; hold the congregation accountable through use of family visitation.
iii. Involve the children of the church, who are as apt to remember to pray for the church at home as anyone else.
· Encourage small-groups so that everyone may get a taste for this ministry.
i. Council reiterates its endorsement of the Education Committee in hosting/organizing ‘Discipleship’ events within the church year. These are special service-series for which there is an added component of small group get-togethers, fellowship and Bible-study to follow the service.
ii. Develop a covenantal vision for church education – this means that everyone in the church, at every age and stage of life, has options and opportunities presented to them for ongoing education/bible-study. Discussion of a mid-week option.
iii. Council and Education Committee to monitor participation levels – what percent of our church family has no contact with no other church member between Sunday a.m. presentations? Discussion of re-implementing mystery coffee.
· Increase opportunity for joy and celebration in worship services (including hospitality to one another and our unchurched visitors.)
i. Worship Committee to consider hospitality as a paradigm for worship – to include everything that happens Sunday from the time you arrive in the parking lot, to the moment you leave. This includes: our welcome of each other and guests, entrance, open doors, signage, socializing that happens before and after the service, etc.
ii. Council to discuss a program for enfolding guests and visitors; turning attendants into members. What do we do when new people come to our church? Do we hope they fit in and then hand them budget envelopes?
· Foster a new mood (or ethos) for church life to include especially an enormous amount of tolerance for mistakes, things we don’t like or things that don’t measure up (to our standards.) All feedback must be up-building – especially if it is corrective. Treat negativity as if it is a cancer.
i. Prayer - here’s a great quote: “if you are praying for the church, you aren’t complaining about it.” D. G., 2008
ii. Sermons to regularly address the topic of negativity/pessimism and encourage faith/optimism.
iii. Leaders to model corrective-encouragement. If an error or mistake is obvious to everyone, it does not need to be pointed out. We are already aware of it. If an error needs to be pointed out, it requires deep spiritual sensitivity – “may I draw your attention to something you may not be aware of…” Leaders must be prepared to name grumbling among the rabble as a sin in the church.
· Leaders to encourage new outreach initiatives, to celebrate these attempts regardless of their success or failure; to evaluate them and try again. Start small with one new idea in the next 18 months.
i. Outreach initiatives will range in the scope of goal/expectation:
a. Open Doors (Use of facility) – using building for non-church usage encourages contact and familiarity among people who normally would not step foot in a church. ie: ESL classes, AA, etc.
b. Rubbing Shoulders (Raise profile of church in community) – using non-religious programming to meet community and rub-shoulders with new people ie: Bike rodeo, sports camp, parents’ night out, cooking class, clothing exchange program.
c. Relational Ministry (Service or Evangelism-proper) – using relationships with un-churched people as a means of sharing gospel testimony or invitations to hear the gospel. ie: door-to-door invitations to special Christmas Eve service, worship-visitor follow-up, VBS, using technologies to dialogue with our neighbors.
ii. Faithfulness in this area of church-life will be judged on our willingness and openness to try new things, and learn from those attempts. We may need to try several different things before we find our niche in service and evangelism.
· LASTLY, cast vision. Calvary’s sense of identity has deteriorated with time and needs to be rekindled. Calvary is a place that can care for and disciple its own, where the 3rd person of the trinity is recognized as the Spirit of Christ for transformation, and the church building is a tool for mission in its surroundings.
i. Council retreat – to pray and study and discuss what God’s vision is for the future of the church. How long do we expect Calvary to go on in its present form? After this minister, will we search for another? When do we plan on being debt-free? What is unique about Calvary that it ought to remain an independent congregation?
ii. Leaders to declare a moratorium on ‘amalgamation-thought’ for _x_ number of years. Then decide exactly what needs to be accomplished in those years in order that Calvary CRC remain a spiritually-healthy, independent, growing, financially-stable church in the future. This must be communicated in real-time goals: numerical growth, facilities plans, income goals.
iii. Council to challenge congregation to re-commit to this ministry for those _x_ years according to the plan above.
Implementation Suggestions for Improving Passionate Spirituality
“Passionate Spirituality is not to be found in a particular liturgical style or style of piety, but in the level of passion at which faith is lived out among its members.”
“There is a certain discipline in which we Christians have reached a sad championship: we invent strategies to avoid spiritual passion.” Christian Schwarz, NCD
Model – Leaders to model enthusiasm and encouragement about their office and work.
Advertise – Passionate Spirituality to be the topic of home visitations over 18 months.
Brainstorm – how can the strength of our a.m. worship gathering be used as a tool for joy, celebration, hospitality within and without our membership? How can we see, celebrate and share our great love for Jesus Christ with one another?
Recruit leaders and congregation as prayer-partners – praying for fervor, depth and enthusiasm in the way we experience our spiritual walk with God; a profound movement of the Holy Spirit.
Educate – the balance of preaching/teaching in church will favor topics such as “Identifying Factors that Block Passion,” importance of daily spiritual discipline, the authority and sacredness of God’s Word, encourage giving toward sacrifice.
Monitor the mood or ethos of daily church life; are leaders a positive influence? Are people praying for the church? Are worship services encouraging experiences? Are volunteers regularly praised for their work? Is there a prevailing mood of graciousness, tolerance and latitude or is it negativity, criticism and traditionalism?
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