Entries Tagged 'Five Practices' ↓

Centre Grove’s council has been reading, discussing, and acting on Bishop Robert Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. So far, we have completed discussion of one of the practices (Radical Hospitality) and we recently started on a second (Intentional Faith Development).

In this chapter, Bishop Schnase stresses the importance of learning together in community. He writes …

Churches that practice Intentional Faith Development offer high quality learning experiences that help people understand Scripture, faith, and life in the supportive nurture of caring relationships (62).

Among the benefits of learning in community, Bishop Schnase suggests that …

Learning in community helps people explore possibilities that God may have for them that they never would have considered on their own (63).

Bishop Schnase notes that “Growing in Christ-likeness is the goal and end of the life of faith … This growth in Christ spans a lifetime” (64). Further, “The Christian faith is not static but dynamic. It requires cultivation” (64). I love the word cultivation. It’s a great way to understand the discipleship process Christ-followers engage in throughout their lives.

I like how Bishop Schnase describes Bible study. It reminds me of what I blogged recently in Eat This Book. Schnase writes …

Bible study is not just about self-improvement but about setting ourselves where God can shape us, intentionally opening ourselves to God’s Word and God’s call (65).

Bishop Schnase also challenges and reminds church leaders to personally engage in Bible study. It’s easy for church leaders to neglect their own personal spiritual growth by spending all their time in the Scriptures preparing sermons or Bible studies for others. Bishop Schnase writes …

Bible study changes churches. When church leaders take their own spiritual growth seiously and immerse themselves in the study of Scripture, in prayer, and fellowship, they understand the purpose of the church and the point of ministry differently (73).

Church leaders must be growing themselves in order to be effective in leading others. Bishop Schnase asks …

How can church leaders make good faith decisions for the congregation without proper grounding in the faith? (73).

Bishop Schnase closes the chapter on Intentional Faith Development reminding the reader that spiritual transformation is ultimately God’s work. Schnase writes …

No matter how dedicated our efforts, the transformation of human hearts and minds is God’s work through the Holy Spirit, and intentionally learning in community is our way of placing ourselves in the hands of God so that God can sculpt our souls and recreate us in the image of Christ (78).

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and if we’re going to be faithful to God’s call, we must be intentional about developing faith in people.

In the next post in this series, I’ll blog some of the practical ideas Centre Grove is considering as we engage the concept of Intentional Faith Development.

While our conversation on Radical Hospitality is mostly behind us (Centre Grove church council), we’re still working on some of the practical steps (primarily adding directional signs, which have been completed, and revamping our welcoming ministry of ushers and greeters).

We’ve named our ministry of ushers and greeters “First Impressions Ministry” (not original with us). The goal of this ministry is, “Creating an environment where people experience God’s love!”

We are in the process of training our ushers and greeters (we asked ushers and greeters to attend one of three different sessions, with the last coming up this week).

First, we’re sharing with them why we’re revamping this ministry, specifically our discussion of Radical Hospitality. We walked through the following quote from Bishop Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations …

Christian hospitality refers to the active desire to invite, welcome, receive, and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life in Christ. It describes a genuine love for others who are not yet part of the faith community, an outward focus, a reaching out to those not yet known, a love that motivates church members to openness and adaptability, a willingness to change behaviors in order to accommodate the needs and receive the talents of newcomers.

We also try to give a sense of the need to be welcoming of all people. I think the following (slightly adapted) from Serving as a Church Greeter, by Leslie Parrott, is helpful in communicating who we need to be kind toward …

• Kindness to new people who feel strange and don’t know their way around
• Kindness to the elderly who increasingly feel alone
• Kindness to the children who are outside their comfort zone
• Kindness to mothers and fathers with babies in their arms and toddlers at their sides
• Kindness to people who show up regularly at the same time at the same door every week
• Kindness to people who have physical challenges
• Kindness toward the pastor and staff, who sometimes need an advocate at the door
• Kindness to people who don’t think they need it

After casting the vision for the First Impressions Ministry, we get into the practical details, which are really pretty simple, I think.

The Greeters serve outside the worship space (in our case, at the two entrances to the sanctuary and entrance from the parking lot). The Ushers serve inside the worship space seating newcomers and receiving the offering. We are asking them to …

• Arrive early
• Smile and be friendly
• Introduce themselves and introduce newcomer to someone else
• Be helpful (know location of restrooms, nursery, entrances/exits, specials needs, etc.)
• Distribute welcome cards
• Show people to their seats (Ushers)
• Receive offering (Ushers)

We believe the development of our First Impressions Ministry will help us practice a more radical hospitality toward all people!

I have been blogging our journey at Centre Grove through the Five Practices and I’ve written a couple posts on the first of the practices that we’re discussing (Radical Hospitality 1.0 and 2.0).

In the last post, I wrote that we were making strides on indoor and outdoor signs that would improve our presence in the community and make navigating our facilities easier for guests.

The indoor signs were made by a member of Centre Grove and placed throughout the building. The outdoor sign was just installed this past weekend.

Church Council has generated a list of other projects designed to improve the church’s facilities. Next up is a significant redesign of the two major entrances. A few members of the council, who all happen to be HGTV fanatics, are leading the redesign effort.

In the meantime, here are photos of some of the visible things Centre Grove is doing to improve its hospitality.

Last month, the Centre Grove Church Council discussed Radical Hospitality, which included a thorough walk-through of the church facilities (trying to view them through the eyes of a newcomer). This month, as part of our ongoing discussion of Bishop Schnase’s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, we focused on two important areas related to our hospitality.

Ushers & Greeters.
Centre Grove has ushers and greeters but they’ve not been specifically trained to practice radical hospitality. Right now, greeters primarily greet people at the entrances and hand out worship bulletins and ushers receive the offering during the worship service.

We plan to train a team of ushers and greeters (possibly giving them a more creative name, perhaps something like, “First Impressions Team”) to practice radical hospitality. The greeters will play a role at the entrances and ushers will be active inside the worship space. Besides giving warm, friendly welcomes, we want them to focus on visitors, making them feel at home, handing them visitor’s cards/info packets, and being of assistance to them.

Visitor Follow-up.
Collecting visitor info is important, but just as important is having a system for following up on the info. At this point, we simply plan to follow-up by sending a note of thanks, acknowledging their visit. We may get more creative as we develop this outreach.

New Church Sign
Interestingly, another development has taken place alongside of our discussion on radical hospitality — the purchase of a new church sign. As I understand it, a new sign has been on the agenda for a while, but has only recently been acted on. We have ordered the new sign and it is expected to arrive in about a week.

The new sign will greatly increase and improve our visible presence in the community, which is part of our hospitality. We believe the new sign will help us be more welcoming and invitational.

After the new sign has replaced the old one, I will post some photos of the sign as well as some very nice internal signs that have recently been placed throughout the building in a post called “Radical Hospitality 3.0.”

From a leadership perspective, this has been a very easy process so far. Centre Grove’s church council members already have a clear sense of mission and are ready to move forward with the five practices. If that were not the case, I’d be spending a lot more time casting vision and getting buy-in from them. But as it is, this group is ready to move forward!

As we continue to put some systems in place and turn our hospitality into radical hospitality, we’re moving on to another of the five practices, “intentional faith development,” which we’ll begin discussing in May.

As I wrote earlier, Centre Grove’s Church Council is discussing Bishop Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Last night, we began discussing “radical hospitality.”

We started the discussion by reflecting on and evaluating how well we are currently practicing hospitality. Basically, we concluded that while there are some good signs (i.e., we believe we’re a friendly church, not just to “insiders,” but to visitors/guests as well, based on feedback, not just our own perceptions), but we also noted that we do not have some of the basics in place (e.g., signage, an intentional/effective system for tracking/welcoming visitors or for follow-up, etc.).

Next, some of us read some statements from the book that particularly inspired, challenged, and/or got our attention. Here are a few of them …

Christian hospitality refers to the active desire to invite, welcome, receive, and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life in Christ. It describes a genuine love for others who are not yet part of the faith community, an outward focus, a reaching out to those not yet known, a love that motivates church members to openness and adaptability, a willingness to change behaviors in order to accommodate the needs and receive the talents of newcomers. (11-12)

I think this statement summarizes what radical hospitality is all about. It also addresses the change that may be necessary, particularly in places where the hospitality may not be radical.

To become a vibrant, fruitful, growing congregation requires a change of attitudes, practices, and values. Good intentions are not enough (27).

One of the exciting things about hospitality and fruitfulness is that …

God uses newcomers to breathe new life into congregations (14).

Here’s a statement we found quite challenging …

Churches that practice Radical Hospitality do not reduce lists, remove names, ignore inactive members, save postage, and take the easiest way. They focus on how to communicate better with greater numbers of people, and they constantly develop lists of visitors, active and inactive members, Christmas and Easter attendees, constituents, day school parents, scout families, and infrequent guests in order to invite them to special services, new ministries, or service projects. They don’t give up on anyone. (26)

We’re actually in the process of updating (and in some cases reducing) our membership record. While I think holding people accountable to the covenant they’ve made to God through the church (i.e., their membership vows) is important, Bishop Schnase’s point is well taken. We should be looking to increase the number of people on our contact lists to reach more people.

And this quote was a good segue into the group activity that followed …

Facilities speak a message to people about what church members think of themselves, how importantly they take their mission, how confidently they see the future of their church. Our buildings tell the world what our church thinks about children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and visitors. What message are we sending? (24)

After our discussion, we conducted a walk-through of our church facilities trying to see them through the eyes of first-time guests. Out of this activity came a list of things that need to be done: adding directional signs at the primary entrance and other key locations, getting rid of some clutter, improving lighting in some areas, especially in the children’s/infant areas, some freshening up here and there, and replacing carpet/flooring where needed.

Also, last night the Church Council approved a plan, which had been on the drawing board for some time, to replace the church’s sign in front of the building. This is a big step toward updating/improving our facilities so that they are more welcoming, inviting, and user-friendly. We want our facilities to not be a hindrance to newcomers; we want them to be as welcoming as possible so that people may find a connection with others in the faith community, and ultimately, with God!

Overall, I think there’s a solid foundation on which to build at Centre Grove. If the church, as a whole, did not actually like people (especially guests), then this would be a much more difficult process. But I think there’s an inclination toward radical hospitality. We simply need to put our intentions into action by developing and improving the basics.

At our next meeting (in April), we will pick up with a couple items, in particular: 1) training “ushers and greeters” (perhaps including a more creative name), and 2) developing a system for tracking and following-up with visitors/guests. I’ll follow that up with a report on how we’re doing in terms of our hospitality.

I love what Jesus said about calling us to be fruitful. As a Christ-follower, I want to honor God with my life. I believe that means, in part, living a fruitful life. Jesus said …

You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. (John 15.16)

The fruit that we should bear includes those listed by Paul …

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5.22-23).

The longer we serve God, the deeper our relationship with God becomes, the more fruit our lives should exhibit. Basically, our lives should more and more look like the life of Jesus!

I think fruitfulness also includes the fruit that comes from seeds that are planted in the hearts of those who do not yet know God. In other words, there should be fruit in our work as witnesses to God’s work in our lives.

Not only should our individual lives be fruitful, but our church should also be fruitful. At Centre Grove, our leaders are embarking on a study of Bishop Schnase’s book, The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (see all posts tagged Five Practices). We believe that out of this study, Centre Grove will become more fruitful as we focus on practices that produce fruit!

We’re beginning with the practice of radical hospitality and will spend our next Council meeting (in two weeks) discussing it, so check back later for a report. In the meantime (at some point over the next several days), I will blog some of my thoughts/reflections on radical hospitality.

At the Bishop’s Retreat last week, I was reminded about a particular verse that’s held an important place in my heart since the beginning of my Christ-following journey.

When I was a junior in college, having just transferred to a Christian college to pursue training for my call to leadership in ministry, I remember the instructor discussing John 15.16 in a class called, “Introduction to Evangelism.” Here’s the part of the verse that challenges and encourages me …

You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last.

This statement by Jesus is a good reminder that the ministry to which I’ve been called isn’t about me. It’s not even my ministry, but God’s. It’s also a good reminder that God calls me to be fruitful.

As we begin our journey through the Five Practices, a focus on practices of *fruitful* congregations, this statement by Jesus takes on even greater significance for me. God has chosen us, and he sends us out to bear fruit, fruit that will last!

At the Bishop’s Retreat this week, Tex Sample talked about how we are formed by our practices (see other learnings here). Because of that, we need to choose good practices.

I think this is one reason why habits, disciplines, systems and routines are important to me. It’s not just about finding an easier, faster way to do stuff, it’s that the things I do literally shape/form me, so I want to use the best practices I can.

This also makes me think about the Five Practices journey we’re beginning at Centre Grove (see the “getting started” post here), based on Bishop Schnase’s book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. This discussion will focus on our practices as a community, with a heart for developing practices that will honor God and bear fruit for God’s kingdom. The practices we do consistently, will shape us and our ministry in the world.

I think this could also be one reason why John Wesley was so big on practicing the “means of grace” (i.e., the sacraments and spiritual disciplines). He knew that we are formed by our practices. And what better way to be formed than by those practices through which God chooses to work in our lives.

Wesley also highlighted the importance of “works of piety” (spiritual disciplines) and “works of mercy” (acts of ministry and service) knowing that we need to be formed by both kinds of practices.

I blogged recently along these lines (before I was reminded of Tex’s language of being formed by our practices). See What Stirs Your Passion? for some of the practices that have tended to form me (as well as stirring my passion).

What practices have formed (and/or, are forming) you? What changes (old practices to get rid of or new practices to begin) do you need to make?

Robert Schnase, bishop of the Missouri Conference of the UMC has written a book called Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations that’s making waves in the UMC.

At Centre Grove UMC, our church council is beginning to work its way through the book and I’ll be blogging about the journey.

The book focuses on five practices which are “basic and fundamental to congregational strength” (9).

1. Radical Hospitality
2. Passionate Worship
3. Intentional Faith Development
4. Risk-Taking Mission and Service
5. Extravagant Generosity

In the Introduction, Schnase writes …

The presence and strength of these five practices demonstrate congregational health, vitality, and fruitfulness. By repeating and improving these practices, churches fulfill their mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. (7)

This list of five practices is similar to Rick Warren’s five purposes in The Purpose-Driven Church (Worship, Fellowship, Evangelism, Ministry, and Mission). One difference that I especially like is the addition of the adjectives. Schnase writes, “the adjectives intensify them toward the unexpected and exemplary” (9).

To learn more about the five practices, there’s a website dedicated to the five practices; Bishop Schnase also has a blog.

I’ll blog about the rest of the journey, especially from a leadership perspective, as it unfolds. I’ve added a category called “Five Practices” to tags the posts in this series. Feel free to interact in the comments.