Reggie McNeil: From What to Who

The Church is the body and the bride of Christ. She is a Who and not a what or an it. We can't go to church, have church, or do church. We are the Church. Check out this video from Reggie McNeal...

Reggie McNeal // Moving from the "What" to the "Who" from Todd Rhoades on Vimeo.

Have we gotten too complex?

I am looking forward to a time when simplicity returns to church or the Church returns to simply being who she was created to be. I am tired of seeing people burned out and becoming cynical toward God and others while trying to make the Bride of Christ look like a model. Christ loved her and died for her in her inglorious state.

Check out the following quote from Linda Berguist and Allan Karr in their new book, Church Turned Inside Out



How about church that prays without ceasing, worships daily and gives 100%.

Let's Get Together on Tuesday at 6 pm

Ride Discounts and Free Grub for Church Planters and Their Families...

A group of church planters from ReproducingChurches.com and their families will be hanging out together at Fun Spot in Kissimmee on Tuesday, October 20th. There will be free pizza and drinks for those who RSVP at http://orlandochurchplanting.com. Fun Spot is offering discounts on their unlimited ride arm bands for those who serve on a church staff (proof of church employment is required).

Learning to love

Christoph Schalk talks about improving loving relationship as a church...

• Love is not a romantic feeling, it is a decision.
  
• Love doesn't happen automatically.
  
• Christ commands us to love God, one another, and even our enemies.
  
• Love can be learned. Discipleship is a learning to love process.
  
• Loving relationships can be cultivated

Listen to Christoph talk about improving loving relationships: http://www.coachnet.de/ncdvideo/audio/lr.mp3

Blogging Facebook and Twitter Oh My!

I am creating a new website that brings together blogging, facebook and twitter in one place. Check out OrlandoChurchPlanting.com and join the More than Mickey movement.

'What Would Google Do?'

Search engines are changing the way people find, collect and share information. Online search is also affecting the way people interact and do business offline. In his new book, Jeff Jarvis asks, 'What Would Google Do?':

Give the people control. Do what you do best and link to the rest. Small is the new big. The mass market is dead; long live the mass of niches. There is an inverse relationship between control and trust. Be honest. Be transparent. Free is a business model. Middlemen are doomed. Simplify, simplify. Don't be evil.

Sounds like good church planting advice. I would like to translate it this way:

• Start small with little to no overhead - no rented buildings and no paid staff.
  
• Decentralize - pastors should act like trainers and not priests
  
• Network with other churches - you can't do it all alone, but together we can reach a region
• Be real - let people see you for who you are, warts and all
  
• Be relational - let evangelism flow out of love
• Be flat - no hierarchial leadership
  
• Take it easy - don't over complicate things
• Don't be evil speaks for itself
  

Keeping up with the Joneses

I saw this commercial on tv and immediately thought about church planting. If this commercial is reflective of what people really want, then there should not be so much disconnect from the culture and the church. The problem is when the church trying to market itself as keeping up with the Joneses.

Just Normal People

If you were on a church leadership team and had to prioritize spending cuts, which would you cut: seminary trained pastoral staff or lawn and maintenance services? I am aware of lots of churches that are laying off “professional” ministers. Lawn and building services seem to be a higher priority. Why? Couldn’t these services be provided by volunteers? Evidently not, it seems that lawn and building maintenance requires the work of highly trained technicians. Ministerial services do not require as much training and can more easily be handled by volunteers. Do you find that to be the case where you are?

Mill Town Cowboy Chruch

Jay Avant, church planter and pastor of Mill Town Cowboy Church announces the beginning of a new church for the cowboy culture in St. Cloud, FL.

Basic Training: Developing a Core Group

I just downloaded Vidnik - software that lets me record on my mac and instantly post to YouTube. Here is Adam Mayfield from 5 minutes ago. He is talking about enlisting core group members.

Church Planting Course

This week, we are training a new group of church planters at Wycliffe Bible Translators in Orlando. We are using the Church Planter Basic Training materials developed by North American Mission Board.

If you missed it, check out the online webcast at www.churcplantingvillage.net.

Getting off of the internet

The web is a great tool for connecting with people online and face to face. One of my favorite tools for getting people together offline is meetup.com. Check out this short video intro...

Volunteer Church Planters Wanted

You don’t have to quit your job to serve on a church planting team. In fact, intentionally entering the marketplace in order to develop an understanding of the culture, cultivate relationships, and foster a sense of legitimacy in the community is a sound missiological strategy. Phillip Connor in his book, Who is my Neighbor, explains:

How could we encourage these new disciples in Christ to live their lives as
witnesses in their work life, when we had little experience or knowledge as to
how that practically happened? And, as churches began to emerge, how could we
model newly appointed elders to lead the church while simultaneously meeting
their financial needs by working a full-time job outside of their ministry?
After our two-year commitment with the missionary agency was complete, we
continued on in a volunteer capacity. This permitted us to still be connected to
the greater work for reasons of accountability, encouragement, and prayer
support…. Not only did we now approximate better the lifestyle of those we were
trying to reach, but we also were now interacting with new groups of people,
many of whom were internationals. This provided us with even more contacts for
ministry.

We are looking for missional Christ-followers who will strategically stay in or enter the workforce in order to more effectively build relationships with people, serve their communities and provide for their families while starting indigenous churches. If this is you – get in touch with me at 407.293.0450 or mweible@goba.org.

Hospitality Industry Meeting

Here are some pics from the HSMAI luncheon at the Rosen Shingle Creek resort today. Harris Rosen was the keynote speaker. Robert and Glynda Gordon, church planters in the I-drive area, joined us for a wonderful lunch and interview with Harris Rosen.

Open Source Leadership

Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is an example of an open-source leader. Take a look at the following video and compare android with iphone....




Which platform is better? Which has the greatest potential and Why?

I will post my answers later, but right now, I am interested in your thoughts. Whadayathank?

worship team training

Check out these resources for worship arts teams from Brannon Dempsey:

• PraiseCharts Live - blogs and news articles of interest to worship leaders


• Worshipteamtraining.com - articles, downloads and info. about worship training clinics

Brannon is available train worship leaders and teams in weekend clinics. Feel free to email him at branon@worshipteamtraining.com if you have questions.

Planter Profile: Billy Rollins

Billy Rollins is a 37 year old family man, church planter, and business entrepreneur. He was raised and called to ministry in a Southern Baptist Church in Texas. He and his wife Dana have three kids, Madison (7), Preston (5), and Mason (2). Their family and church emphasis is being at peace and on mission with God and one another. This focus is bearing a type of fruit in the Kissimmee/Poinciana area that is intentionally influencing people’s heart, home, workplace, and world. Their congregation, Church@TheVine, is a multi-cultural, multi-socio-economic, and multi-generational church.

As a speaker, Billy is authentic and passionate. His vision of heart essence equips the body for a missional life. This is your church’s chance to see from the transparent eyes of a church planter. We encourage you to invite Billy to speak to your congregation on either a Sunday or Wednesday evening. They will enjoy the breathe of fresh air he brings. His cell phone number is 407.729.2645

I-drive Church

Here is an update from Robert Gordon...

We are only a few days away until we have the first officially – unofficial, mini-service of our pre-launch phase. We are doing our best to keep up with God’s will. It has been so busy lately just doing all the ground work as we execute the plans we have established over the past two months. Interestingly enough God has been reminding me, through friends and pastors, of Jeremiah 29:11, in which He states that He knows the plans/thoughts He has for us…and then God continues saying in my spirit… “You keep working your plans out, but don’t forget I know ‘The Plans’ I have for you!” This has sort of been scaring me because I wonder “How close are my plans to His plans?”, because I thought I was working His plans that he had given me. But I quickly realize that He is talking about the “Big Picture” plans and that I have no true idea of how they are going to turn out. So with all this in mind, we keep walking and talking with Him and wait with a peaceful and expectant heart.

Here are a few recaps of where we have been and where we continue planning on being…

Current Accomplishments & Processes…

Pastor David Uth, from First Orlando, has agreed to “Partner up” with us by becoming the primary “Sponsor Church” and has pledged a commitment for a three year period. We praise God for their commitment and we thank them for their allegiance and pledge to the cause!
WestPoint Fellowship Church has also decided to be a “Co-Sponsor Church” and will be working side by side with First Orlando, helping us through this “Church Plant” process. We are very grateful for their willingness to help! The Florida Baptist Convention has pre-qualified Glynda and me to receive church plant support for a period of two years. Greater Orlando Baptist Association has been so crucial in all of this process, especially Mark Weible and Suzette Woods. Just this past week we had Suzette organize a team of High School missionaries from a church in Jefferson City, Missouri, and they helped us kick off the progressive movement and presence of the church on International Drive this past Monday and Tuesday (June 2nd and 3rd). In order to help us determine the needs and church reception on I-Drive, we conducted a simple 3-5 question survey directly to the hospitality industry.
We have concluded, for the time being, based on the results of the survey, that we will be gathering at the YMCA on Fridays at 8:00am – 8:55am 2:00pm – 2:55pm 5:30pm – 6:25pm 6:30pm – 7:25pm
o 26% preferred meeting at 8:00am
o 11% preferred meeting at 2:00pm
o 45% preferred meeting in the late afternoon hours…


How to Support:
1: First & Foremost – PRAYER
2: Pray about your involvement with this church plant
3: Pray about your possible Kingdom investment in this church plant
4: Talk to others about this ministry and let them know that we need people to help lead this thing, and to grow it, by helping others grow in their knowledge of Christ…


The Church of LIFE P.O. Box 249 Ocoee, Fl 34761 http://www.thechurchoflife.com/ P: 407-616-0963 F: 407-656-5119

church planting missionaries

I am attending the NAMB church planting missionary forum in Atlanta. Geoff Hammond has just finished describing the role of a missionary. Here are his talking points:

What is a MISSIONARY?

A missionary is a born-again Christian who is called by God to transcend significant cultural barriers and work through relevant cultural channels in order to share the Gospel.

What do missionaries do? They:

1. Recognize their own culture and adapt to other cultures
2. Network for evangelism
3. Start new things
4. Go where the people are
5. Gather small groups
6. Partner with sending churches
7. Engage in peacemaking/conflict resolution
8. Exhort, evaluate, and correct
9. Build relationships
10. Work as a team
11. Engage in indigenous work
12. Multiply themselves
13. Focus on principles
14. Identify and equip new leaders
15. Write

Can institutional birth organic?

Last month Margaret Slusher made a presentation on the State of the Church in North America. Without going into detail, let me just say that she presented a grim picture of our current situation. Now, Margaret didn't ask for the assignment, it was handed to her by the organizers of the International Church Planters Summit, which was held here in Orlando.

I remember asking myself, Why are we talking about the current state of churches in North America at an international church planter's meeting? I imagined what it must have been like standing with Jesus next to the temple in Jerusalem and hearing him say that this impressive structure was going to be torn down. Then I could imagine myself standing with him as he directed his apostles attention to the crowds of people, demonstrating his compassion for them and their overwhelming needs. I could almost hear his voice say, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

We love to focus our attention on magnificent structures. Physical structures can be quite beautiful and historically significant. Organizational structures can be impressive and can generate loyalty to an institution. However, Margaret's presentation made it painfully obvious that we have to turn our focus away from structures and see the people that Jesus died to redeem. Structure is supposed to support mission, not the other way around. So, how do we do it? I just read an interesting statement from Tom Billings in Daniel Sanchez's reader - Church Planting Movements in North America. I think Tom expresses well the need for a bridge between technocratic and organic, see what you think:

The institutional church can be a bridge or a barrier to successfully implementing a people group and church planting strategy. The idea of
"church planting" connotes competition and diminished resources for the institutional congregation. Many congregational leaders will be apprehensive or even fearful of such a strategy. Still the institutional church can be a tremendous resource of trained leaders; mature, passionate believers; prayer support; resource development and financial strength. By keeping the focus on penetrating lostness and making disciples, the fear of competition from starting other churches should be lessened.

Do organic churches need institutional structures? The answer is no. But, institutions can help fan the flame of organic movement. More importantly, the new must reach out to the old to help develop new structures that support the mission of the church. What do you think?