Church planting is a key part of GCI’s vision of all kinds of churches, for all kinds of people, in all kinds of places. Accordingly, GCI Church Administration and Development (CAD) helps individuals, congregations and district networks in starting new GCI churches in the United States. Our mission developers provide assistance elsewhere.
A recent Outreach Magazine article discusses why church planting is so important for the health of the church (download it by clicking here). For more information about church planting, see the GCI Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM) website.
A ministry team is called to be a community of discernment – by the enablement of the Holy Spirit, discerning both what Jesus is doing in our world and his instructions to join him there as he fulfills the Father’s mission to the world.
But how do we go about discerning God’s activity and instructions? Helpful tips and tools are offered by Ruth Haley Barton in the four videos embedded below. They form a series she calls, Do Something Before Everything. You can also access these videos on her website by clicking here. Also, to view a recent article of Equipper that addressed the topic of spiritual discernment, click here.
Here are links to eight videos that, taken in order, paint a helpful picture of ways to develop relationships with your unchurched neighbors. Thanks to GCI elder Cliff Higgins from San Jose, California for providing these links.
GCI Church Administration and Development (CAD) provides ministry coaches to new church pastors and church planters. In addition, CAD helps existing pastors link up with a GCI certified ministry coach. If you are interested in being trained to serve as a coach, or in having a coach of your own, email Randy.Bloom@gci.org.
To learn more about coaching, watch this video in which GCI pastoral intern Steve Dobritch and his coach Pastor David Botha discuss their impressions about the coaching process:
Here is food for thought concerning our participation, through the Spirit, with Jesus in the Father’s mission to the world.
Some churches are taking their message to taverns. Click here for a thought-provoking article from USA Today.
Almost half of all American adults who are online use the Internet for religious purposes. 57% percent of online adults under age 35 use the Internet for religion, compared to 48% who are 35 to 49 years old, 36% who are 50 to 64, and 31% who are 65 or older. 69% of those who attend worship services once a month or more use the Internet for spiritual purposes, compared to 27% of those who do not attend worship regularly. Similarly, religious use of the Internet is 70% among people who read the Bible or another sacred text at least once a month, versus 28% among those who do not. Religious use of the Internet does not vary much according to which religious identity people claim. Protestants and Roman Catholics are equally likely to use the Internet for spiritual purposes, with the exception of evangelical Christians, where 91% who are online use the Internet for religious purposes. 27% of people who don’t attend religious services still use the Web for religious purposes, although not necessarily for spiritual purposes in the same way religious people do. (Grey Matter Research Consultants, 5/17/2012)
How do you sustain mission? Watch this short video from Verge Network:
In the video below, Greg Williams, coordinator of GCI’s U.S. Pastoral Internship Program joins several interns and mentoring pastors in discussing the benefits of the program. For additional information, go to http://mindev.gci.org/internships.htm.
GCI Church Administration and Development, USA provides help to prospective new full-time pastors and church planters using the Pastoral Assessment Process. The process (which includes a pre-assessment survey, an assessment interview and a follow-up report), helps these men and women confirm their calling to pastoral ministry and identify their strengths and strategies for growth. Here are comments from a new senior pastor and a pastoral team leader concerning their recent experience with the assessment process.
Stuart Mahan – senior pastor in Toledo, Ohio
Stuart and Pauline Mahan
A few years ago I began to feel God’s call to ministry, but I did not recognize at first that it was God calling me. I knew I enjoyed working with people, and I cared what was happening to them, but I did not see it as a calling. Then one day my pastor mentioned to me the possibility of taking his place after retirement, and my mind shut down. Who me – a church pastor? Are you serious? And then the inevitable question: Am I “worthy” of such a position?
After much prayer and counsel, and with the support of many members in the congregation, I decided to submit an application to Church Administration and Development (CAD) to become our congregation’s next senior pastor. CAD then notified me that my application was accepted and as part of the evaluation process, I would be given a pastoral assessment, which would help me confirm my calling and give me needed feedback.
CAD sent me a pre-assessment survey, which asked about my experience and thoughts and vision concerning my local church. Truthfully, I was rather intimidated at first. But as I filled out the survey, replying from the heart, I began to look at myself and those around me with new eyes. However, once again, feelings of not being worthy crept in. Who was I to apply for this position? I was just an ordinary guy who had worked construction for 23 years. I had no official college education to prepare me for being a pastor. Should I continue this endeavor?
The answer kept coming back as “yes” – and soon the time came for me to meet with a team of GCI pastors and ministry developers for my assessment interview. My wife Pauline went with me. She has been a constant support during these life-changing events. The interview started with a prayer and soon questions were directed toward me to answer. It was clear that the team was there to help me clarify my calling, not to decide for me. They helped me look into my heart: Was it one that cared and loved as Christ loves? Did it beat in unison with God’s purposes? Could it learn to change and grow? Could it have vision? It was at this point that I realized that God was there with us. I answered all the questions as best I could, and if I did not know the answer, I said so. All the while, the assessment team was encouraging.
Hours later, the interview was over. I was drained and so was my wife. We did what any normal human being would do at this point – we went out for a big, fat juicy hamburger! As we ate, we reflected on the past several hours and realized that the assessment team was there only to help me. My experience was that the process is a valuable tool to confirm one’s call to be a pastor or church planter.
The result for me was that after 23 years of laying brick and block in the construction trade, I am now the senior pastor of our congregation in Toledo, Ohio! Pretty amazing stuff! “Life changing” only begins to describe the last year of my life. Am I worthy? No. None of us are. Only Christ is worthy. But he knows my strengths as well as my faults and weaknesses, yet I know he has called me to this ministry.
The assessment process was a wonderful experience. I know now both who I am and what I am capable of doing. I feel affirmed in my calling and confident that everything is possible through Christ.
If you are feeling called by God to be a pastor of an existing GCI congregation or the planter of a new one, I urge you to respond. Contact your senior pastor or the Church Administration and Development office in Glendora. Ask about the pastoral application and assessment process. And above all, listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you.
Lance McKinnon – pastoral team leader in Atlanta, Georgia
Lance and Georgia McKinnon
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the pastoral assessment. So it wasn’t until I was on the other side of it that I realized just how beneficial it was.
First off, it was more intense than I anticipated – but in a good way. The questions made me dig deeper into where I really am and what I need to focus on.
It was a helpful exercise, but quite draining – kind of like counseling on steroids. Many of the questions were really helpful to me and my wife Georgia. They helped us work through several issues, clarifying things inherent in ministry and in our approach to it. I also found it clarifying to see where some of the questions were coming from. There were many “aha” moments. It was an immensely helpful process to go through on a number of levels.
GCI pastor George Hart, who led my assessment interview, did a great job helping us get to the bottom of our answers. George was skillful in keeping the interview on track. The other members of the interview team were also excellent. I felt at ease with their approach and felt their support and patience throughout. The team provided a safe environment for us to honestly and openly process our answers to the assessment questions.
So my assessment of the pastoral assessment process so far is a “perfect ten.” I look forward to receiving the assessment report with its various commendations. I know that too will be immensely helpful.
Grace of God Fellowship, GCI’s church in Tucson, Arizona, recently held a special church service for the blessing of children. Pastors Tom Landess and Ted Millhuff blessed five children ages 2 weeks to 3 1/2. Six happy parents, four grandparents and several nieces and nephews were in attendance.
After the ceremony, Pastor Ted gave a sermon titled Look to the Children from Mark 10:13-16. After services there was a special potluck with plenty of fellowship, food and fun.
This summer, several GCI congregations are conducting a Vacation Bible School (VBS). They have discovered that a VBS is a powerful way to reach out to the surrounding community – connecting with children and their families.
For a helpful example, see the pictures and videos posted on Facebook of the recent VBS conducted by CrossRoads Christian Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Tipp City, Ohio:
Through Generations Ministries, GCI in the U.S. facilitates short-term mission trips to locations in the U.S. and abroad. This post provides information about these trips in a short article and a video interview. For further information, click here or email Anthony.Mullins@gci.org.
The value of short-term mission trips
The article below is from Charles Fleming, GCI’s Caribbean region missions director and a member of the Generations Ministries mission event resource team.
I have found that people often misunderstand what short-term mission trips are about. One misunderstanding is that a mission trip must be a hard-core, deeply sacrificial event. However, the reality is that mission trips are as varied as the people travelling and the people in the host community.
Over the past 15 years, I have been privileged to make mission trips to dozens of places. Some have, in fact, been hardship trips where we worked in difficult and even dangerous places. Others have been less intense. However, in all cases visitors and hosts alike came to know God better and understand themselves and others better while making a practical difference in the lives of people in the host community. From this experience, I have learned that successful short-term mission trips have the following characteristics:
In the same way that God, in love, adapts himself to our needs, successful mission trips adapt to the needs of the host.
They accommodate the interests and experience base of the visiting mission team.
They also make practical, lasting contributions to life in the host community.
Most importantly, they build relationships of mutual respect and care between visitors and hosts.
As the pictures here show, successful trips combine fun, learning and hard work. I hope you and your family will consider going on a short-term mission trip. Through Generations Ministries, GCI in the U.S. sponsors several short-term mission trips and other events each year – some within the U.S. and some that travel internationally.
Mission trip to Cleveland
The video below tells the story of the short-term mission trip conducted by GCI’s congregation in Youngstown, Ohio to help the Cleveland congregation conduct a Vacation Bible School as an outreach to the neighborhood where the church meets.
Church planting is a key part of GCI’s vision of all kinds of churches, for all kinds of people, in all kinds of places. Accordingly, GCI Church Administration and Development (CAD) helps individuals, congregations and district networks in starting new GCI churches in the United States. Our mission developers provide assistance elsewhere.
