Group items tagged

Interesting column about the UMC, young pastors, new church plants and the future.

Vivian, Loved this article! I have been thinking more and more about what our future looks like, what the future of worship and church community will be - obviously we need to be looking at "re-thinking" what church really is. I loved ths: "John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, was quoted as saying: "The world is my parish." He did not say "the people that show up to this particular building on a Sunday are my parish." I am feeling led to begin to vision what it looks like to see the WORLD as our parish and really stop worrying so much about the building and get out in our neighborhoods and BE church. Thanks for sharing! Sandy

Dudley, Carl S. Effective Small Churches in the 21st Century. Nashville: Abingdon Press. 2003. ISBN: 0687090903 ISBN-13: 9780687090907 In the Louisiana Conference of United Methodists, only 89 churches have Sunday morning worship attendance greater than 100. Of course, there are a few who have over 1,000 in worship each Sunday, but over 400 churches in the conference are small (very small) and this seems to be the same trend in every Conference and Jurisdiction. The truth is, most United Methodist pastors will never serve a large church; therefore, it is important to have a resource that is written specifically for small churches, rather than trying to apply "mega-church" answer to small church problems. Effective Small Churches is that resource. Using their congregational experiences as case studies, readers will examine, with Carl Dudley's help, how their unique qualities can be mobilized to encourage local leaders, strengthen commitments, organize resources, and focus their energies to experience to meet new challenges. The primary goal of the book is to lead ministers who have begun a new appointment through a series of specific exercises, questionnaires, and guided dialogue with church members to jump start their appointment. So many good ideas. The Cabinet should make every pastor go through the exercises and report on their findings to their District Superintendent during the first six months at their new church.

A gesture of friendship for my Christian (especially Methodist) friends in Leadership, but also I think this is a good leadership model of using new media and technology to send out a very old message, and also of adding a substantial level of communication by signing as well as speaking the message. And as a bishop, of course, we are looking at a religious leader in action. Happy Easter, all.

Adam Hamilton was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Annual Conference for the United Methodist Rocky Mountain Conference. The most successful pastors I know participate in this summit and read his books. I find his materials interesting and useful.