1.5 Meeting with the Deacons

(click on the image to enlarge)


The meeting with the deaconate was held on 10 April 2006 where we presented all the material and thoughts that had been gathered over the last few months.

Leading up to the meeting with the deaconate, I was having doubts over whether we should be tackling the BBC vision and not rather narrow the scope to that of the "Bringing-in" vision(Evangelism). Gareth and I had a telephone conversation that same afternoon and he told me of a concern that someone had raised with him over the same issue. Gareth then asked me what I thought and immediately opted for narrowing the scope to bringing-in. We decided to discuss it in more depth at the deacons meeting that evening.

I went home and added the above slide into my presentation and put the question (in the format of 3 models) to the deacons (Philip and Kevin were not at the meeting).

The deacons meeting started with Chip Ingram's talk on prayer which seemed to touch each person present and set a special tone for the rest of the meeting.

Key Conclusions

1. Model 1 was dismissed quite quickly
2. Model 3 was considered ideal but not really practical and would take time work through
3. Model 2 was the favourite and I was encouraged to continue the visioning process but limited to Bringing-in. Model 2 obviously carries the risk that evangelism will be left to the Bringing-in Committee and that people may stand back and observe with interest. This will need to be guarded against and in fact it cannot prosper unless everyone gets involved (starting with all levels of leadership).

Other Observations

Much more important than the models discussed above was that the Holy Spirit touched that meeting. This lead to a time of prayer and confession before the Lord and each other, mainly in the following areas:

1. We don't pray enough as a church
2. We are not as dependent on God as we should be
3. We are "wallowing in our busyness" (personal lives and within the church's ministries)
4. God expects more of a this leadership team than we are currently giving Him. We need to make things right before we can continue with our plans.
5. In the area of envangelism, we have failed the Lord personally and as a church (in the last few years)
6. The above conclusions lead to the change in the visioning process.
   
   
   Please comment
   
   

1. Which of the 3 models would you have opted for

2. As part of the leadership team, has God recently convicted you of any of the above areas or in other areas? Please elaborate (unless it is personal)

1.4 - Meeting with the Ministry Leaders, Elders and Deacons

At the meeting held on 2 April, again we shared the status of the Envangelism ministry and communicated most of the information that is documented in this BLOG.

We also took time to survey those who were there in terms of BBC's current vision and the poll to the left shows the results.

Key Observations and Outcomes:

1. From the results shown above, it appears that those present did not have clarity on the vision/mission/direction/ strategy of the church. (Perhaps the poll was out of context or the wording/terminology of the question was ambiguous which could have lead to these results. We should revisit this sometime in the future)
2. A couple of the leaders shared openly and basically confirmed that they are not discipling people adequately and perhaps are too comfortable at BBC.
3. The team agreed to participate in the 6 step visioning process and we indicated that this would be done via a BLOG.
4. The deacons will be receiving an update on the ministry on 10 April.

Please Comment:

1. Please comment on, or provide your interpetation of the results of the above poll.

1.3 - Meeting with the Elders

After the 1st Brining-in committee meeting, I tested the conclusions we had reached with those in leadership or people who are core "members". Those who I spoke to were very positive about the concept of a vision to reach the lost even though the vision is not yet articulated. This was very encouraging and exactly opposite to how congregants in typical churches would respond.

In a survey done in the states in over a 1000 churches:

1. 89% Of congregants said, "The church's purpose is to take care of my family's and my needs."
2. The remaining 11% of the congregants said, " The purpose of the church is to win the world for Jesus."

The pastors of the same churches were then surveyed and the results were exactly the opposite to what the congregations had said.

- Source "The Purpose Driven Church"

In mid-March I met with Robbie and shared basically what is documented in post 1.2 below. Robbie was very open to exploring the concept of a visioning process and suggested that the topic be discussed in the next elders meeting, which it was.

Observations and Outcomes of the meetings:

1. When discussing the topic of visioning, terminology is very important. There are differences between missions, visions, values, strategies, goals, plans etc, and we all seem to have different understanding of what the terminology means. This obviously can result in talking cross-purpose and step 2 in this process will address the key terminology so that we can all sing from the same hymn sheet (do we still use hymn sheets?)
2. Certain BBC practises which I thought were "holy cows" are in fact not so. (Holy cows are also not biblical!)
3. The elders were keen to start the process immediately and asked me to help facilitate it. This has resulted in the BLOG being created. I believe it is a useful tool to include as many of the leadership as possible, to allow the participants to have their say, to brainstorm effectively, to survey and collect information, and to create visibility and transparency.

Please Comment:

In response to the survey described in the Purpose Driven Church, what would you say is the purpose of the Church?

1.2 - The 1st Bringing-in Committee Meeting

In January 2006 the 1st Bringing-in Committee meeting was held with Gareth & Colleen, Ross, Lee-Anne and myself.

We started by watching the Chip Ingram Session on Envangelism where Chip reminds us that Envangelism:

• - Is a key area that the church should be focused on (as a church and as individuals)
• - Must be lead from the Pulpit / Pastor / Leadership
• - Non-negotiable in a new testament church
  

After one round of discussing the DVD and what our expectations were for the ministry we came to the following conclusions:

1. None of us there felt that we were doing a good job of personal evangelism
2. Growth in the local church a natural outcome of doing the right things and doing them right.
3. The Church needs a common vision that is God inspired, and one which the congregation (not just the leadership and core people) understands and is motivated (to contribute) towards its realisation.
4. The vision should be centred on seeing lost souls come to Christ, according to the need. (The need = those in our community or in our sphere of influence who still need to be saved)
5. We felt that we needed to raise the need for an evangelistic vision rather than simply organising events, programs and activities according to our what had been identified in the previous meeting.

Please Comment:

1. Do you feel the same way about the 5 conclusions noted above?

2. Would you like to add to the list of conclusions that you believe is missing?

3. Perhaps we should have first tried to get some "runs on the board" by organising events, programs and activities rather than addressing the church's vision statement. What do you think?

1.1 - Background to the start of the Ministry

Towards the end of 2005, BBC completed the planning process for 2006. An outcome of the process were the 5 focus tracks:

1. Prayer
2. Going Out
3. Bringing in (Evangelism)
4. Teaching
5. Spiritual Growth

I was asked to head up the 3rd track of "Bringing in" and a meeting was arranged with Robbie, Atholl, Gareth Paul, Lee-Anne and I. We were briefed on what the idea behind the track was:

• To have a group of people worrying about evangelism which is one of our focus areas for 2006
• Raise the profile of the evangelism initiatives within the various ministries
• To fill gaps in our evangelism effort and to come up with creative ideas to reach various target audiences
• To make it easy for the congregation to fulfil their role in the great commission
• Highlight opportunities for evangelism outside of BBC e.g. AE industry breakfasts

The meeting ended (24 November 2005), the silly season started and no further discussions took place.

Please Comment:

When the evangelism track was first announced, what did you think it meant and how would it work?

Step 1 - Introduction

This step is made up of the following 5 posts which are displayed in descending order. Post 1.1 - Background to the start of the Ministry Post 1.2 - The 1st Evangelism Committee Meeting Post 1.3 - Meeting with the Elders Post 1.4 - Meeting with the Ministry Leaders, Elders and Deacons Post 1.5 - Meeting with the Deacons In the above posts you will see some references to the BBC vision versus the Bringing-in Vision. At the outset of the process it wasn't quite clear which one we were tackling. As the process evolved we have moved away from tackling the BBC vision to the Brining-in Vision. I have deliberately left the observations and conclusions reached as they were recorded so that you can see the progression and where the thinking started to change. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" Proverbs 29:18

New Bringing-in Agenda

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The evangelism visioning process has been created on 17 April 2006 following a meeting with the Deacons on 10 April 2006. The focus has been narrowed to only address the vision and approach for the Evangelism/Brining-in Ministry. The original BBC church visioning process agenda has therefore been superseded

The outcome of this process will be:

1) A Bringing-in vision statement

2) Definition of who we are trying to reach.

3) Some new ways of reaching the unchurched

4) Action Plans to realise the above

The process will be facilitated through the following steps, most of which will be conducted through this BLOG, via surveys and workgroups.
Please note that the items in black below the headings are merely proposed agenda items. As we move into each of the various steps, the agenda items will be firmed up (just in time). Each step will begin with an introduction followed by some leading questions which the team can then respond to. Please will you make your contribution in as few words as possible so that we can all process the different views more easily.

The responses will be consolidated or summarised and made available via the BLOG and possibly in leadership meetings if required.

Step 1: Introduction to the Evangelism/Bringing-in Ministry

• Background to the start of the Ministry
• The 1st Evangelism Committee Meeting
• Meeting with the Elders
• Meeting with the Ministry Leaders, Elders and Deacons (including results of a poll that was conducted - survey 1)
• Meeting with the Deacons
• Go to step 1

Step 2: The Basics of a Vision

• What is the difference between our Mission , Vision, Values, Strategies, Goals, Plans etc?
• Does vision really mobilise people?
• Biblical examples of Vision
• Secular examples of Vision

Step 3: Who are we trying to reach?

• What is our sphere of influence?
• Who are we trying to reach?
• The probability of people accepting Christ per age group
• What are the "shallow swimming fish" (low hanging fruit)

Step 4: How can we be relevant?

BBC's Strengths & Weaknesses (Internal)

• What are the gifts, talents, and resources that has God given BBC uniquely?
• What is hindering us from seeing significant growth?
• Where have we come from and how does that impact our strengths and weaknesses?

BBC's opportunities and Threats (External)

• What are the kinds of Vision's that other churches have?
• What is happening in the world in which we live?
• What is happening in our community?

Brainstorming New Ideas

Step 5: Presenting the vision before the Lord and the leadership

• What has God revealed through His word to us recently?
• What is God laying on your heart?
• What circumstances have confirmed the above?
• Are we ready to pray and fast as a church?

Step 6: What are the plan's to realise the vision?

• Lets formulate the plan
• Let's pray over the plan
• Lets Communicate the plan
• Let's make the vision, everyone's calling
• Let's talk about it often
• Lets measure what we do

Please use the comments link at the bottom of this post to add to, or comment on the agenda. (Remember to register and use your blogger account, otherwise you will need to type your name each time you add a comment)