Five Practices :: Getting Started!

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.

4 thoughts on “Five Practices :: Getting Started!”

  1. that will be a huge benefit to share your experiences. you should drop the folks at his site that you are doing that so he knows to follow along (i don’t think he’s aware of RSS tech) to contribute with some commentary.

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  2. Randy,
    I’m looking forward to reading your reflections about the Five Practices as you lead the congregation through the conversations. I hope the ideas serve to stimulate new interest and new ministry initiatives. Blessings to you and your congregation! R Schnase

    Reply
  3. Thanks, Bishop Schnase. I’m looking forward to it as well!

    To all those who will be following along, our Council meets on the second Monday of each month. I imagine my blogging on the Five Practices will be somewhat determined by that schedule as well.

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