Gastonia Faith Network Talk

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sharing with the Gastonia Faith Network. One of the expressed needs of the group of community, church and para-ministry professionals was an understanding of how to mobilize more church volunteers for service in their community. While it was hard to wrap that up into 35 minutes, here is a short excerpt of the end of my speech.

Is the funnel wide enough in Gastonia?

According to the USA Freedom Corps, research shows that one of the primary reasons people give for not volunteering or serving their community is that they simply don’t know where to start. When the service event is one of the primary messages a church and communtiy communicates for a season, more people will sign up becuase they are well-informed and they clearly see the path to involvement.

Catalytic service events widen the funnel for community involvement.

Friend and fellow externally focused writer, Alexa McNabb describes this funnel effect for us. The widest part of the funnel represents any one-time event that exposes a volunteer to a need in the community and engages them in a fun, simple activity. The goal of that wide-end of the funnel opportunity is not that lives are dramatically changes, but that volunteers are exposed.
The next phase in the funnel is experience. By debriefing or reflecting on the exposure event, volunteers can move a little further into service and consider an ongoing service opportunity. While their involvement may still consist of a lower time or resource commitment, it is moving them towards a higher heart commitment.

The final stage of the funnel is to fully engage and equip people in meaningful service where you see them serving regularly, focused on a goal and even mobilizing others to join them in serving.
Often times, leaders expect people to jump from the pew to the end of the funnel into passionate, life-changing service. Most people would love to serve like that, they just can’t picture it. But let me introduce you to what can happen when you give people a “try and see” service opportunity. It just might open their eyes to what God has prepared them in advance to do.

Jesse’s extent of church involvement was one hour on Sunday and two hours on Friday night at the softball fields. After a couple of years living that pattern of church involvement, he felt guilty for not “doing” something. So he became an usher—that lasted for at least another year. Then, a staff member who knew Jesse liked the outdoors, asked him to help put together a service project for families in the church to help the division of wildlife clean up a nearby. Jesse was a little surprised to be asked to lead and even more surprised that the church was interested in doing something like this.

He said yes and led one of 40 projects the church accomplished in a two week campaign called “Time to Serve.” That project was so fulfilling to him, that Jesse asked if they could do it once a quarter. Over the next two years, a tight group formed while cleaning up the pond. Jesse got to know the park rangers and conversations turned to fishing quite often. Somewhere along their service journey, the group decided to build a ramp to launch a boat on this pond. But it wasn’t just any boat. This boat would be specifically designed to accommodate the needs of the elderly and those with special needs. A new ministry was born called Hope Floats. Jesse learned about all the details necessary to serve people in wheel chairs and understand the needs of these special families. He learned how to write grants, raise funds, and work with government agencies to get his plan approved. And now, Jesse leads an entire ministry. He still plays softball, but he will tell you that this service has enriched his life, helped him become more interested in Bible study and even given him the courage to become a youth coach and lead teen mission trips to Mexico—something he NEVER thought he would do. That first service opportunity of gathering supplies and people to clean up a pond was a catalyst for spiritual growth and transformation in his life and the lives of others.

Is the community service funnel wide enough for many people to find a way to serve? How many people could you introduce to the good works God has prepared in advance for them to do during a One Weekend of Service here is Gastonia? How many Jesse’s are there in this city, with passions, skills and interests only being used for hobbies instead of the happiness of others?
Is the funnel wide enough in Gastonia?


To view more resources on this topic, see http://www.leadnet.org/Resources_downloads.asp
Search "Widening the Funnel" by Alexa McNabb and "6 catalytic Service Events" by Krista Petty. Both are free of charge and available for immediate download by signing into the site.

Quote for today

My cousin Susan has this quote on her facebook:
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
Soren Kierkegaard

I like it.

Externally Focused Churches Collaborating for Change

According to a 2006 Hartford Institute for Religion Research national survey of U.S. faith communities, four in ten congregations reported joining in interfaith community service activities across the United States.[i] A survey of Externally Focused Churches in the Leadership Network Community shows similar results. Eighty –seven percent of the externally focused churches surveyed say they participate with other churches for local food programs, followed by emergency assistance (75%), child and youth programs (70%), housing programs (66%), and medical/dental programs (37%).

While most partnered for emergency assistance programs, externally focused churches surveyed are most involved in cooperative programs involving child and youth followed by housing programs, one-day project-oriented work, and projects supporting local schools.

The Golden Family of Churches Health Ministries serves as an excellent example of the growing trend towards collaboration. This vibrant and award-winning church partnership in Golden, CO is coordinated by Calvary Episcopal; Faith Lutheran Church; First Presbyterian Church; First United Methodist Church; Mesa View Evangelical Church; St. Joseph’s Catholic Church; and Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Karen Setzer, Parish Nurse at Faith Lutheran says, “Partnering with other churches simply make so much more sense!” This organization is its own 501c3 under Faith Lutheran Church and is funded by each church’s financial contribution, the local Lion’s Club, and various grants. Cooperatively they provide free immunization vouchers, flu shots, a health fair, blood drives, housing for homeless families and a published health resource directory.

Having done such an outstanding job of providing health service to their community, the Golden Family of Churches Health Ministries received the distinguished honor and additional funding from the Jefferson County “Turning Vision Into Action” award in 2006.

Power of Three
Church to church collaborations are not without difficulty. The survey shows that lack of initiation, project leadership, shared vision, and resources as primary issues facing churches that wish to partner. In addition to those leading problems, sometimes simple logistics like location and church size create barriers to effectively working together. Surprisingly, only 1% of the survey participants noted doctrinal difference as a major obstacle to partnering with other churches.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” That may be the reason many churches choose to focus on the benefits of partnering over obstacles. Ninety-six percent of churches surveyed report that Kingdom building is their goal for working with other churches.

Overall, it looks as if this trend in more collaborative ventures among churches will continue. Ninety two percent of the churches surveyed intend to increase their number of church partnerships, rather than decrease or simply remain the same.

[i] http://fact.hartsem.edu/FACT2006news.html

This post is an excerpt of my Leadership Network paper called Church to Church Collaborations on the Rise. Download it for free at www.leadnet.org resources.

ExternallyFocusedNetwork.com been there yet?

If you haven't you're missing out. This new site (http://www.externallyfocusednetwork.com/) for externally focused churches features tons of free resources, stories and even a church directory--so you can find other churches in your state that are on the journey to love and serve their communities.

While the site still needs to populate some of the story categories, it's well worth your visit and membership. I'm writing for their monthly newsletter. Each month, you get a healthy dose of encouragement, education and inspiration on being externally focused in your city. There's also a monthly column (our most popular read to date) from Rick or Eric--authors of The Externally Focused Church. It's always nice to know what's on their minds and what's coming next.

Do me a favor? Join the EFN and add your church to the directory! Externally focused ministry is not a lone-ranger ministry (is anything in the church?). Sharing stories, resources and networks catapults all of us in church leadership to the next level of Kingdom-building.

On the Road Again

Big changes are coming down the pike for the Petty Party of 5! My husband, Steve, has accepted the Family Minister position at Concord Christian Church near Charlotte, NC. Though it's hard to say goodbye to our friends and life in Colorado, we are very excited about this new adventure. This entire decision and journey feels very God-led. It is so exciting to see all Steve's experiences in ministry come together for this position. He will be mentoring the children and youth ministry staff already in place and developing parenting and family ministry opportunities. I am so proud of him. His experience in working with families at a residential Christian center for troubled teens has strengthened his desire to help families connect to God and to one another.

We celebrated our 17th anniversary this Christmas. Many people (even friends) didn't give these two 19 year olds much of a chance, but we are thrilled to still be together--forever.

I will still be involved in the Externally Focused movement: developing resources, speaking and coaching. I am excited to get to know the great EF Churches in the greater Charlotte area and keep connecting you to resources to help your ministries. Our three fabulous kids have accepted this new adventure and we are so very blessed by their attitudes and moments of excitement.


Keep in touch. My contact info and blog will all stay the same. The big move takes place Feb. 26 with arrival in NC by March 1. We covet your prayers!

No more leftovers

Our family has been attending Northern Hills Christian Church in Brighton over the past 8 weeks or so. It is a wonderful place to worship as we look for God's direction on the next stages of ministry for our family. Three weeks ago, God placed a wonderful experience in front of us through the creative and risk-taking staff there at NHCC.

After a 7-week series on the book of Malachi called "Shoddy," teaching pastor Rob Kelly announced that we would have an opportunity to create a moment by which we could always remember this series and the challenge to give our best to God. Rob invited every adult in the room to leave their coat at the cross as a donation to a local homeless shelter. Instead of donating coats we would normally discard, why not give God your best--the one on your back right now?

The beauty of this moment in the service was, of course, the opportunity to give my favorite demin jacket away, but it was also the element of surprise. I have been writing for the Externally Focused Church movement for several years now. Both my husband and I have served on church staffs and with non profit organizations, so there are not too many moments that surprise us in church. This moment was beautifully unexpected and very meaninful for both of us. Tears streamed down faces as people, including the two of us, realized how hard it is to give something away as simple as a coat.

60-70% of the church gave their coats away that weekend--around 300 coats in all. In God's beautiful way, he orchestrated Colorado's first major snowstorm the very next weekend, as to remind me once again, how much more someone needed my coat than I. My closet is full of coats for all seasons and styles. How blessed I am, but how much more blessed it is to give what I have away.

Thank you, Rob, and the NHCC team for your boldness in leading us to moments of challenge and decision.

To learn more about the message series "Shoddy" visit www.northernhills.cc.

New Recommended Resource

I'm on the lookout for new resources to help externally focused churches, especially resources that not only share practical strategies, but inspiration for the journey as well. I came across a new gem last month. Baylor University is publishing a journal through their School of Social Work and Center for Family and Community Ministries. While it is an academic journal, I was quite pleased to see an eclectic style in the writing and genre of articles. It includes research along with inspirational pieces and faith in action articles about volunteers and churches doing ministry in the trenches of community. Curling up with this journal in the evening a nice oasis in the middle of the day. Not only was I inspired by the work of a pastoral counselor in Chicago with abused and battered women (pg 41), I found moments of meditation through poetry and pictures (pg 45 & 46). Of course, I was also challenged to consider how Diana Garland's research on Family Life of Baptists might affect my own ministry, family life and resource development path. Kudos to Baylor for putting together this quarterly piece. It's good for the head and the heart. For subscription information, visit www.baylor.edu/fcm_journal.

Going Glocal- Externally focused ministry across the street and across the globe

Have you heard the new buzz word in missions? Glocal: it’s the combination of local and global missions into one. While the word glocalization has been around in business vernacular since the 1990s, churches are now adopting the term as well as the concept that what they do across the street and around can work together to grow the Kingdom of God.

The following is an excerpt from my latest paper with Leadership Network. Visit www.leadnet.org and click on resources and downloads to read the entire paper and more examples of "glocally-minded" churches.

Word of Grace, Mesa, AZ (http://www.wordofgrace.org/) is one of the many externally focused churches sprinting into “glocal” action seeking to be agents of spiritual, social and physical change in their community and around the world. “Our vision is to see communities transformed by the grace of God. Our prayer is that God’s kingdom will come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven both locally and globally,” says Karl Mueller, associate pastor with oversight of both local and global missions. With a holistic view of missions, Word of Grace has combined both local and global mission work into one ministry, with a common strategy and one budget. “We consider local and global missions to be all one effort tied together by a common set of values,” says Karl. Their values include:
Obeying God
Prayer
Empowering and equipping members for service
Long-term partnerships driven by relationships
Transforming communities through helping local churches
Providing compassionate relief in times of need

Externally focused churches, like Word of Grace, look beyond the activities inside their own walls and engage in good deeds and sharing the good news across the street and around the world. Collectively, they are learning some valuable “glocal” lessons, such as:

--Partnerships are highly valued. The spiritual, physical and emotional needs of people in the local and global environment are too much for one person, one staff, or one organization. Everything Word of Grace church does both locally and globally is through partnerships with other organizations because the needs are so great that churches alone can’t do it. “Globally, we work with Common Health Evangelism in Africa. We find this partnership very effective at helping our church meet needs and we are trying to adapt that model into North American cities. We also work with an indigenous Malawi organization and partners in Thailand,” says Karl. While all of these partners are Christian, they often vary in denominational background, which doesn’t bother Karl. “Our strategy is simply to find out what God is already doing in a community and join him there,” he says.

--Ministry still costs money. The rising cost of meeting needs requires churches to creatively fund their endeavors and to take risks as they invest in ‘glocal’ solutions. In many churches, like Word of Grace Church, the missions budget is derived from a percentage of the congregation’s overall giving. “Ten percent of the general fund is given to missions and there is also the opportunity for people to designate giving to the Global Opportunities Fund,” says Karl Mueller.

But sometimes large-scale involvement and community improvement, especially globally, can be costly. Word of Grace found a unique way to fund one of their partnering organization’s efforts in Malawi, Africa. On March 19, 2006 the church helped sponsor the Assist4Africa Celebrity Basketball Game at Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. The game featured Charles Barkley and Amare Stoudamire as coaches of two teams composed of former Phoenix Suns players, as well as current Arizona Cardinals players and a number of radio, TV and sports personalities from the Phoenix area. Attended by about 5,000 people, the game raised more than $50,000 for the Partners in Malawi HIV/AIDS Clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi. “Once it is fully operational, the clinic will provide more than 3,000 HIV positive Malawians with medical care,” says Karl.

--It takes the whole church body. As churches continue to present the stories and pictures of poverty, members continually rise to the challenge and meet needs. Churches that effectively serve ‘glocally’ realize that it takes the whole church body to engage in the work of saving the lost and serving the least. They offer a variety of mission opportunities for every age and commitment level. In their local mission ministry, Word of Grace connects hundreds of volunteers to food programs, home building, refugee resettlement, tutoring children, ESL classes, HIV/AIDS programs, and care for families on prison inmates. Globally, the church engages hundreds of volunteers to go on short-term trips and support organizations, missionaries and local churches in Thailand, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Turkey.

To encourage a wide variety of involvement in both local and global, Karl says they offer different stages of engagement in mission work. “Lightening trips are weekend visits to Mexico that happen every six weeks. We also offer an urban plunge experience where people go on a one-day immersion experience into the city. Global Adventures are our more traditional short-term mission trip experiences, where a dozen or so people take two weeks to work on projects and meet needs with a global partner,” he explains. The church has taken their outreach experiences even one step further by offering “Mid-Term” experiences. “This is where individuals or couples go into the mission field for 3- 36 months of service. "

--Relief is good, but development is better. They have a desire to not just meet immediate relief needs, but to engage in community transformation. That’s why Word of Grace Church partners with LifeWind International and LifeWind’s Community Health Evangelism (CHE) model for community development. “This is very asset-based work where the local community helps provide for their own solutions,” says Karl. The goal of CHE is to help local leaders bring healing to their own community through addressing physical, social and spiritual needs. The CHE model, developed by Stan Rowland and others under Campus Crusade for Christ, emphasizes building relationships with local leaders, developing trust, creating a local leadership team and providing training. “The key to CHE is the community's willingness to take responsibility for addressing its own problems,” says the LifeWind web site. CHE and Word of Grace are simply catalysts for change.

--The world is a classroom. Many churches find out that what they learn about serving and sharing the gospel in the global community can be translated into local solutions. It’s also true the other way around—local ministries can be duplicated or leveraged for global work. “There certainly is cross pollination of what we learn in one environment to another,” says Karl of Word of Grace. “Our HIV global efforts have gotten us connected and involved in the local HIV efforts.” Sending people on global trips to work with AIDS patients in Africa helped bring the topic into their church and aim people’s hearts towards the issues. Word of Grace openly admits that prior to their global AIDS work, engaging people in local AIDS ministry was more difficult. Karl shares, “Christians can be prejudice. People know if you get involved in this work in the U.S. it means getting involved in the gay community. Churches still struggle with that, but we are starting to see people step up, particularly in our young adult service. This age group is more open to working with those that are gay or lesbian. We are hoping their willingness to work with these communities will grow and catch on with other groups in the church as well,” he says.

--Offering mercy comes easier than engaging in issues of social justice but God values both. Proverbs 31:8-9 says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Word of Grace is entering into the social justice arena of ministry and has taken an innovative approach to focusing people on sometimes disturbing issues. Every month, they show a film on a local or global justice issue and encourage discussion following the film. Their list of social justice movies includes:
Hotel Rwanda (about genocide- MGM Entertainment)
Born into Brothels-Calcutta’s Red Light Kids (Think Films)
Yesterday (about the African AIDS Crisis from HBO Video)
Dreams Die Hard (documentary of slavery in the United States- www.freetheslaves.net)
Freedom and Beyond (documentary of boys from India released from captivity -www.freetheslaves.net)

Karl Mueller says, “Churches are often good on mercy, but not good of advocacy or defending the cause of the weak. With the film series, we raise awareness of justice issues both locally and globally.”

Embrace Teachers!

My children started school today. It is always a mixture of joy and sadness for me. This was my first summer at home with the kids full time. It was great...but I was also ready for school to start. I do better when I have a schedule and there was very little schedule to the summer! On the other hand, I wasn't very eager to watch any of them step up to the next grade. My oldest is now a Junior and really cutting the apron strings. My middle daughter is in her last year of elementary school and starting to shorten the strings (We did let her get her ears pierced this summer, so I probably have one more week of hero status that I will savor.) My son started third grade--the grade in which my girls discovered mom isn't really that smart- especially in math. "Go ask Dad about math" they advise one another.

Yes, it's a real love/hate relationship that I have with the first day of school. The kids always watch to see if I am going to cry when I drop them off on the first day. Inevitably it happens!

I imagine many teachers sometimes feel the same way. The teachers I know don't teach for money or fame. It just doesn't come with the job. They love what they do, but are constantly disappointed by lack of parent involvement, the politics and policies of the district, or lack of resources.

Did you know....

The average teacher spends $500 of his or her own money.

There are usually 40 different languages spoken in the average school district.

Many schools and teachers are under pressure to educate kids who don't ever finish the school year.

As the school year begins, I'd like to share with you a great community service initiative by churches in Omaha, Neb. called Embrace Teachers. Through Embrace Teachers, local churches "adopt" the teachers at one or more schools to bless them in their efforts to love and educate children.

Not only has Embrace Teachers blessed the Omaha School district with love and kindness, but they have blessed all of us in church leadership by taking the time to record their processes, and experiences in a resource set. The postman brought mine today and it is a treaure chest of good ideas on how the local church can bless the local school. The DVD includes inspirational testimonies from teachers and volunteers in the program, shows a sample of their promotional video used in Omaha, and outlines the values of Embrace Teachers (plus more). The CD has the Embrace Teachers Handbook in both PDF and Word formats, making it very easy for your church to duplicate the program in your area.

If your church is looking for a great way to love and bless your city, I highly recommend starting with schools. A great way to do that is to impliment a program like Embrace Teachers.

Embrace Teachers Core Values:

• Prayer
• Being Salt and Light
• Loving and Honoring Teachers
• Gathering together Pastors who have a Heart for the city
• De-emphasizing individual congregations and uplifting the whole Church
• Building Credibility- Promise less but do more

To receive the Embrace Teachers materials, contact Jaimie: jaimiec@cccomaha.org. The cost for my materials was only $15 and well worth it!

Externally Focused Small Groups

The following is an excerpt from the newest concept paper at Leadership Network on externally Focused small groups. Download the entire paper for free at http://www.leadnet.org/Resources_Downloads.asp



Externally focused churches engage people in serving outside the walls of the church to do good works, create good will and share the good news. For many of these churches, community involvement is not simply an additional ministry department appended to the menu of existing programs. Rather, serving others outside the walls of the church is a core value they wish to strengthen in all areas of church ministry and a mandate of Scripture they wish to follow. 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

How do churches effectively increase the level of community service and heighten this spiritual value without detracting from the internal strength of the church or competing with other programs? Re-engineering their existing small group ministry is one of the more popular answers to this dilemma of staying internally strong while being externally focused.



At Fellowship Bible Church North, Plano, TX, (http://www.fbcnorth.org/) small groups are an integral part of church life. Out of the 4,000 in attendance each weekend, over 1,800 are also involved in a small group during the week. “Our small groups, called LifeGroups, are the primary place where life happens at Fellowship. It is where three of the five core functions of our church take place: connect, grow, and share,” says Glen Brechner, adult ministries pastor. The church had a strong small group ministry for a number of years, so when leadership decided to greatly expand serving in the community, the discussion eventually came around to integrating the small group ministry with community service—but not at first.

Internally Strong and Externally Focused Groups
According to Glen, the church actually tried a number of strategies first, not seeing the synergy between service and the small group dynamic. Fellowship Bible planned and participated in all-church community service events—where hundreds of members served schools and community agencies on a weekend. They also preached an on-going externally focused vision from the pulpit, but the church’s leadership admits they repeatedly lost traction when it came to living into the vision for long-term success until they looked at their small groups. “While we thought our groups were healthy, we soon realized that truly healthy groups have a purpose beyond themselves. Getting a group healthy means getting groups to look out instead of in; to serve instead of consume. While most of our groups had the heart to make a difference, few did,” says Glen.


The church developed a strategy for each of their groups to be internally healthy and externally focused. . “Outreach is always the hardest rock to push up the hill for any church, but we’ve learned that if you get your small groups involved it will not only make a difference in the community, it will develop deeper community within the small groups at your church,” says Glen.



Fellowship Bible Church North believes serving the community in the context of a small group encourages greater spiritual maturity. “In many cases, serving together produces better opportunities to grow because our character and attitudes are exposed and tested.”

How does hands-on ministry enrich discipleship? In Churches that Make a Difference, authors Sider, Olson and Unruh outline multiple connections between holistic outreach and personal spiritual growth.[1]
§ It allows people to mourn over sin and brokenness as God does. “We realize in greater depth the deadly power of evil and the even mightier power of the cross.”
§ It confronts people with areas is their own lives—like materialism, prejudice, or laziness.
§ It yields new insights into Scripture, as they see it brought to life in the course of ministry. “We can study about God’s compassion and love, but until we encounter the man wounded on the road to Jericho, bathe his wounds, and pay for his care, we can’t know fully what it means to be a good neighbor.”
§ It brings people closer to God’s passion for justice. “When we minister to people who lack access to quality, affordable healthcare, housing, or education, we join with Jesus and the prophets in the cry to release the oppressed (Luke 4:18).”
§ It strengthens faith by giving evidence of God at work, leads to greater dependence on God’s grace and wisdom, and a greater appreciation for salvation.
§ It helps people discover and develop spiritual gifts.

Glen Brechner concludes that Fellowship’s small group service engagements have helped the Scriptures come alive as the writer of Hebrews 10:23-24 says: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”


[1] Sider, Ronald, Olson, Philip, and Unruh, Heidi. Churches that Make a Difference, Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books, 2002. p. 173

Externally Focused Network Launched

Externally Focused Chruch Conference organizers announced the launch of The Externally Focused Network (EFN) during the conference. “The Externally Focused Network is new resource and point of connection for churches serving their cities and communities,” says Randy Scott, executive director of the newly formed extension ministry of LifeBridge Christian Church. The EFN web site, which launches in Fall 2007, will feature an online community with shared training resources, articles on community involvement, and links to additional tools for externally focused churches at all stages of development. “Whether a church has just begun their journey of service to the community or is a long-time advocate of ministry to the poor and needy, EFN desires to be an agent of connection to great ideas and stories of transformation,” says Scott.

Along with church leadership resources, EFN will also connect individuals to resources on serving others and living gracefully. “We are excited about this new venture into bringing churches together to learn from one another via this network,” says Rusaw. “There are so many different ways Christians across the country and the world are engaging in their communities. We simply want to keep these fires burning and the exchange of ideas flowing,” added Swanson.

Other components to the ministry of EFN include a second national conference in May 2008 and regional training days in select cities in the coming year. Watch the progress and growth of the network by visiting www.externallyfocusednetwork.com.

Externally Focused Church Conference at LifeBridge Christian Church was GREAT!

Leadership Network in cooperation with LifeBridge Christian Church hosted the first national Externally Focused Church Conference on May 21-22, 2007 in Longmont, Colorado. Over 600 participants, both national and international, attended the event. “It exceeded our expectations in so many ways,” says Rick Rusaw, LifeBridge senior minister and co-author of The Externally Focused Church and Living a Life on Loan. The four main sessions featured Laurie Beshore (Mariners Church, Irvine, CA), Rick Rusaw (LifeBridge), Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin (The Potters House, Jacksonville, FL), Dr. Eli Morris (Hope Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN), and Eric Swanson (Leadership Network) and the LifeBridge worship and creative teams led by Tim Foot.

A variety of denominations and independent Christian churches from 34 states, Africa, Australia and Portugal were inspired to get beyond the walls of their churches and serve their communities. Along with the main sessions, conference attendees also participated in 24 how-to and inspirational breakout sessions on city renewal and community transformation. Over 300 people attended workshops led by Eric Swanson, co-author of The Externally Focused Church and Living a Life on Loan, on taking first steps and next steps to becoming externally focused. Eric serves as the Director of Externally Focused Church Leadership Community for Leadership Network. CDs and downloads of all main sessions and workshops will be available at www.bestchristianconferences.com. Conference sponsors included Leadership Network, Standard Publishing and Group Publishing.

Fasten Network launches new resource for ExFocus leaders!

Here's one of the reason I have not blogged in months! I recently finished 14 externally focused church profiles now posted on the Fasten Network as a part of their new resources section for Externally Focused Churches. Here is a quick rundown of what is now posted on the site.

Moving from From Short-Term Relief to Holistic Community Ministry

Profiles of Calvary Church and Harderwyk Church, both from MI

How to Accomplish Long-term Neighborhood Investment

profile of Mariners Church, CA and New Song Community Church, PA

Engaging Small Groups in Community Service

profile of Fellowship Bible Church North, Plane, TX

Working with Local Public School

profiles of Hope Church, MN & Lincoln Village Ministry, AL

Ministry with Foster Care Children

Calvary Chapel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Serving Correctional Officers and Release Prisoners

profile of First Baptist Hunstville, TX

Developing a Coalition of Churches

profiles of Perimeter Church, GA & Second Baptist Church, MO

Strategies for Broad, Community-Wide Influence

profile of LifeBridge Christian Church, CO & Rolling Hills Community Church, OR

To access all of these profiles and view more resources, click on the link below.

http://www.fastennetwork.com/qryArticleList.asp?TopicId=146B16BB-08C2-4ECF-9B45-BE9F48893CA6

Each profile includes a historical sketch of the church's journey into externally focused ministry, their challenges, and their successes. I also include an organizational chart of each ministry, helping you see how each church structures for success in community involvement. The churches profiled in these reports will inspire and equip you to greater levels of externally focused church ministry! Review them and let me know what you think!

Externally Focused Ministry to Children

In 2005, there were 82 million residents of the U.S. under the age of 19. How is your church serving them?

Externally focused churches are responding to the needs of this significant population of little people in a variety of ways, taking seriously these words from Jesus, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14)

Church leaders and volunteers find serving children in their communities a rewarding way to meet needs and extend God’s grace beyond the walls of the church. Without the ability to totally care for themselves, children are one people group presenting great possibility for the future church. Just ask my friend Mark Krynski of Keller, TX, who mentors young men as a part of Northwood Church's Park Vista Afterschool club (pictured above).

The Externally Focused churches profiled in my most recent paper with Leadership Network are changing lives through meeting some basic needs for children like hunger, health care, education and safety. These churches are also leaving a legacy of faith through meeting more complex needs. They provide kids with positive role models, spiritual guidance and some churches are even giving children a new family in the absence of a parent’s ability or desire to be involved.

I can think of no greater way to build or begin your church's externally focused ministry than serving the children of your community and teaching the children of your church to serve. This paper gives you plenty of ideas on how to get started. Go get it for free at http://www.leadnet.org/Resources_downloads.asp

Once again, I thank the team at Leadership Network (www.leadnet.org) for allowing me to bring these valuable resources to you.

Externally Focused Church Conference

http://www.externallyfocusedconference.com/

It's finally coming! The first Externally Focused Church Conference, May 21-22, 2007! I can't tell you how excited we are to have this conference become a reality right here in Longmont, CO. There has never been a gathering of churches and leaders quite like it. Conference is presented by Leadership Network and hosted by LifeBridge Christian Church.

Great main sessions

Bishop Vaughn McGlaughlin, Laurie Beshore, Dr. Eli Morris, Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson

Worship with Tim Foot & LifeBridge Worship Team

24 Breakout Sessions

Don Simmons, Leesa Bellesi, Tricia Richardson, Ray Williams, Shelby Smith, Chip Sweney,

Eric Marsh, Glen Brechner, Phil Olson, Doug Pollock, Jim Reiner, Omar Reyes,

Alan Kraft, Tom Shirk and many more!

I could go on...but just go check out the web site for yourself!

Conference sponsored by Standard Publishing & Group Publishing.

Resource Suggestion

I am often asked in my work with Externally Focused Churches if there are any good teaching tools that help individuals in a congregation or small groups develop a heart for serving others. I believe that there will be many resources coming, but not many to date. I would like to recommend one, though, that is near and dear to me personally.

Living a Life on Loan is the newest release from Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson (co-authors of The Externally Focused Church). Living a Life on Loan (LLoL) is basically Externally Focused Church for the average person. Where EFC was for pastors and church leaders, LLoL is for anyone...at any place on the spiritual journey. True to their style, this newest book by Rick and Eric is full of true stories and illustrations about what it means to live your life beyond yourself--serving and loving others at the everyday intersections in life.

I had the privilege of working with Eric and Rick on this book as well as EFC. I hope the stories in this book will inspire you as much as they did each of us during the writing and editing of the book. You will find a great number of people, just like the people sitting in the pews of your church, that have found purpose and passion in serving their communities. It's easy to read and even a good book for those who may be spiritually seeking. It looks at what the Bible has to say about the choices we make and the resources we invest in either serving ourselves or serving others.

The book has a question section at the end of each chapter, making it a very good study for small groups, book clubs (even non-faith based ones) or individual study. Standard Publishing has even put together a church kit of supplemental materials so that a church can do a Life on Loan Campaign--with sermon series, small group studies, as well as children and student lessons. If you would like more information about this campaign or the book Living a Life on Loan, visit the publisher's web site at: http://www.standardpub.com/Church_Ministry/Adult%20Ministry/LifeonLoan.asp

Worth a Click

One of my favorite books about community transformation is Theirs is the Kingdom by Robert D. Lupton. What I like most about the book is that it is not a book about strategy, as much as it is a book about heart--a leader's hearts, the heart of the impoverished and God's heart. I'll warn you that it can be difficult to read because every page challenges your motivations to serve the poor and your assumptions about them. Honest and thought-provoking, you can read this in less than a day. Here's one of the many gems:

It takes everyone of us to make His Body complete, for we each have a different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others. (Romans 12:4,5)

"I need the poor? For what? The question exposes my blindness. I see them as weak ones to be rescued, not as bearers of the treasure of the kingdom. The dominance of my giving overshadows and stifles the rich endowments the Creator has invested in those I consider destitute. I overlook what our Lord saw clearly when he proclaimed the poor to be especially blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20). I selectively ignore the truth that monied, empowered and learned ones enter his kingdom with enormous difficulty." (For Theirs is The Kingdom, Robert D. Lupton, HarperCollins, New York NY, 1989, pg.6)

I have used this book as a supplement to leading my small group studies and devotions. I suggest you purchase it through Lupton's community development organization, Family Consultation Service (FCS), a nonprofit counseling agency for low-income clients in urban Altanta. By doing so, you might sent more profits their way. Originally serving children and families referred by area juvenile courts, FCS broadened its mission to pursue lasting solutions to some of the underlying causes of poverty. Here is the link: http://www.fcsministries.org/about.htm. I'm getting a couple of his other books to read during the Colorado meltdown this winter. I look forward to sharing gems from those as well. Keep Warm!

Mary's Song

During today's message at LifeBridge, Senior Minister, Rick Rusaw focused this Christmas message on the angel's message to Mary and Mary's response. He read Luke 1:35- 38,
"The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Something occurred to me that I had never thought about before. God never intended any one of s to go through our lives and journeys of faith alone. There are many examples of people on their journeys of faith with God: Adam and Eve, Moses and Aaron (Jethro, too), Esther & Mordecia, David and Jonathan, Paul and Barnabas, as well as Jesus and his 12 disciples. The Christmas story holds yet one more example of friendships and faith. I wonder if it gave Mary great comfort to know that she was not the only one experiencing a miracle? Elizabeth was Mary's partner through this difficult time. Mary had a lot of explaining to do and I'm sure there were many in disbelief in her little town as to the truth of her tails: a virgin pregnant? But Elizabeth believed. She, too was experiencing a miracle. And, it is after Mary's first conversation (and reassurance, I imagine), that Mary writes her song of praise. (See Below)
Having a friend of faith with her on this journey might have given Mary the courage to praise God. Although Mary was a willing servant, she learned to praise God after her friend and mentor, Elizabeth, reminded her that this is not just duty, but a blessing and an adventure in God's story.

Are you on the faith journey with friends who will remind you to praise the work God is doing and not simply dutifully go about your service? When God directs your path, like he did Mary's, you may follow, but do you praise him for the story he is writing in your life?

Mary's Song
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in theirin mostt thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

Collaborating Churches

Now here some news I consider very GOOD news for the church: According to the latest Hartford Institute for Religion Research national survey of U.S. faith communities, interfaith activity among faith communities has more than tripled since 2000. The survey, sponsored by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, found that two out of ten congregations reported participation in an interfaith worship service and the past year. That statistic doubles when it comes to participating in a community service activity. Nearly four in ten congregations reported joining in interfaith community service activities across the United States. (http://fact.hartsem.edu/FACT2006news.html)

A survey of Externally Focused Churches in the Leadership Network Community delivered similar results. Churches are stepping up to work together in community service ministry. The following list highlights the primary ways these churches say they have worked with other churches for community service in the past 12 months.

Food programs (such as a food pantry, Meals on Wheels, etc.)
Emergency assistance (providing food, clothing or short term financial assistance)
Child and youth programs (tutoring, youth sports, etc.)
Housing programs (Habitat for Humanity, homeless shelter work)
Prison ministry
Medical and dental programs
Immigrant ministries
Special one-day project work

Interested in learning how churches are overcoming obstacles and jumping into collaborative efforts with other churches? Visit Leadership Network and download my most recent paper on Church to Church Collaborations for Externally Focused Ministry. It highlights a number of churches working together to build the Kingdom of God. http://www.leadnet.org/Resources_Downloads.asp?IsSubmit=True#425

The download is free!

Go the distance through Equipping Leaders

The value of mentoring cannot be overstated. There are facts and figures to support the 3over3 success of mentoring programs (three hours a week over three years is the rule of thumb for life-changing mentoring, especially for children and teens). Churches and non-profits are mentoring in all sorts of ways: prison mentoring, foster care mentoring programs, after school mentoring programs, career mentoring, parent mentoring, etc. As I have been looking into different mentoring models lately, I have come across a great lesson in creating sustainable programs. Consider these two scenarios:

Case #1
An agency (or church) begins a mentoring program. There are a few churches in partnership with the program and advertisements for mentors are placed in bulletins and newsletters. The response is ok and the program begins. More and more children are coming to the program, but volunteers are a little scarce, so the agency (which has a grant for this program) decides to offer incentives for the mentors and begins to pay mentors $25 hourly for their work (that's $1560 annually per mentor). A few more people become interested.

Case #2
An agency begins a mentoring program. Leaders from area churches are invited to come and hear about the mentoring program. The agency, which also has a grant for the program, gives $5,000 annually to be a part of the program. Many of the churches use the money to hire (very) part-time director/recruiter to invite and train people in their church to become mentors. Some of the churches use the money to send their potential mentors to training, and use another portion of the funds for appreciation gifts for the mentors. Some of the churches have a volunteer director, but give her a spending allowance to take recruits out to lunch or coffee, to casting vision.

Which program do you think will have long-term success and gain the most church involvement or mentors? You don't have to guess... Both of these scenarios are true examples of real mentoring programs that exist. I can tell you that my friends at one-By-One Leadership, (from case #2) are running a very successful prison mentoring program in Fresno, CA. (I won't name my well-meaning friends in scenario #1, who run a good program with potential).

In comparing the two programs, the biggest difference is not the amount of money (although it will actually "cost" program #1 more financially per child mentored than program #2). The difference is in using funds to build leadership and equip mentors. Putting money into leadership, casting vision and training seems to offer programs greater sustainability, not to mention greater potential for growth. (Now, I have opinions on paying people to mentor, as you can imagine...but I will stay away from that today.)

In the economy of the non-profit sector and the budgets of the local church, resources are usually scarce, while the work is vital. We must build sustainable leadership structures for the programs that are so valuable to our communities. It seems like common sense, but how often to we get excited about a new externally focused program and simply jump in and do the work? Sometimes it does feel like money makes the world go round and if we just had more, we could do more. Maybe we would not need so much money if we invested what little we did have into training mentors, appreciating volunteers, and hiring LEADERS who have the ability to aim hearts towards God's heart.

Just this week's food for thought! (By the way, the program in Fresno is called Children of Promise. Here's the link: http://www.onebyoneleadership.com/home.htm. Yes, it's worth the click!)