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BestPractices
 August 26, 2009
Loren in cap"Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?"

Summer is winding down, and I'm feeling a bit like Robert Frost in "Reluctance". I love autumn, and winter, but the change is bittersweet!

Perhaps I'll see you in October at IC5.

Please note, below, a great question about visioning and goal-setting from Keith Mulligan, and the answer from Monte Sahlin. Monte is offering to conduct a webinar on this topic for all Best Practices readers who are interested. Just send him a note.

Blessings
Loren Seibold, Editor, Best Practices for Adventist Ministry
IN THIS ISSUE
Q&A: Are there tools for helping us do a 5-year plan?
Pastor: William Davis tests lay leadership training
Reading: Soul-searching on Facebook
Quotes: "Wisdom is what's left after we've run out of personal opinions."
News & ideas: eSword SDA software
Events: Music & Worship Conference
Resource Q & A
Visioning, goal-setting and planning?

Question from Keith Mulligan, Ceres, CA :

I think it is time for our church to start the process of setting a new vision,  goals, objectives and a 5 year plan.  What do we have that is uniquely Adventist that could be used as an outline to assist a church in developing such a plan?

Answer from Monte Sahlin, Ohio Conference:

There are two resources specifically designed for this purpose:
 
1. There is a simple package that I wrote some years ago and have done with scores of churches as well as taught hundreds of pastors to use in classes and seminars. A copy of it is attached. It is available as a free download on the Center for Creative Ministry web site, www.creativeministry.org
 
2. There is a more sophisticated package that was created for the NAD by Search Institute in Minneapolis. The facilitators manual is sold by AdventSource, although I do not believe it appears in the catalog. It is called "Vision for Mission." I have used this process with hundreds of churches and other groups. It works best with a trained facilitator, although a few pastors have got a copy of the manual and done it themselves. Interested pastors can call the Center for Creative Ministry at (800) 272-4664 and the staff will help them connect with the nearest trained facilitator. The Center maintains the network of people that the NAD had trained by Search Institute in the mid-1990s.
 
If you think there are some interested pastors, I would be happy to schedule a Webinar cosponsored by BP to train pastors to use the first package. Contact me and let me know. It only takes an hour or two to walk through the entire process and understand all of the tools that are used. I routinely spend time doing this in my class for the Doctor of MInistry program at Andrews, as well as in one of the classes that I teach for Eastern University.
Practicing Pastor

bill davisDoes Local Church Development Work?
by William Davis, D.Min. Wyoming Conference

Over the years my conference has invested time and money training the lay leaders of many of our congregations. But does leadership training really work?

It was recently put to the test in my Northeast Wyoming district when I was gone 15 weeks due to health problems. As I left for the hospital, two churches were starting Adventist schools in their towns. One was revamping its Community Services Ministry and another was undergoing a building renovation while continuing a strong health outreach program. The 300 plus members of the church had to face their own problems with deaths and illnesses as well as family emergencies.

The conference appointed an interim pastor, Gordon Henderson, who was available in case of an emergency. But he lived outside the area and even with his faithful visits on Sabbath and an occasional board meeting, the leaders were responsible for the daily operation and advance of the church. I wondered, would they stand the test before them? Would our training pay off?

I am happy to tell you that it did! These leaders had learned the importance of dependence on the Holy Spirit to carry out the work of ministry. They preached and taught, as well as visited and led boards and business meetings. The schools were opened and the ministries were carried out extremely well.

The investment in leadership training was key to this success. If the churches had been dependent upon me, the prolonged absence of their "shepherd" might have let the flock wander aimlessly during this time. But praise the Lord, they were prepared to lead under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

We pastors are too often tempted to create dependency through our leadership. If we would delegate power, authority, and responsibility to our local church leaders while equipping and coaching them on a regular basis, what a change we would see in our churches. The power of the Holy Spirit working in the laity would be felt in a practical way. The pastor's responsibility is equipping and empowering the people of God for leadership. I am happy to be able to share in their success, but it is God who has blessed the work of His faithful, equipped, and empowered local church leaders.
Reading For Pastors

Soul-searching on Facebook. There's a lot about faith on Facebook. Quote: "Not surprisingly, the most popular faith professed is 'Christian' and the various denominations associated with it.... The second most popular entry on the list is 'Islam,' followed by 'Atheist.' 'Jedi,' interestingly enough, makes an appearance at No. 10." (We do have a Best Practices for Adventist Ministry page-please join!)

Church buildings and the law:
  • Why do we need to be told to make church buildings handicapped accessible? Shouldn't we do it for practical and spiritual reasons? Quote: "There are also some potential benefits for congregations that are willing to make the investment in architecture and attitude in order to become more welcoming. ... More families with a disabled member would attend religious services, experts say, if congregations would make efforts to open their buildings and programs. Older people tend to attend services in greater numbers than the young."
  • A noise ordinance in Phoenix, AZ regulates church bells, but excludes ice-cream trucks! Not surprisingly, it's provoked this federal lawsuit (PDF).
  • People don't want megachurches in their backyards, prompting an increasing number of local zoning fights. Quote:"There's still a general impression that most churches are small: The white frame church down there on the corner, the little brick building that has a hundred people."..."It is equivalent in many ways to an area that's dominated by small mom-and-pop stores and a Walmart moves in."
A disturbing story, and one we may see more often as the west receives Middle Eastern immigrants: a 17-year old responds to Christian evangelism, leaves her Moslem home to become a Christian, with legal consequences.

I've used the NIV translation for many years, and prefer it. Now, an update to the popular translation that tries to be gender neutral. A good thing, or a change that ""departs from what the author actually wrote and adds an editorial layer of judgment and commentary", as some scholars say?

As much as we Adventists have studied Roman Catholicism, I'm not sure we really understand it. The passing of Ted reminds us that though the Roman Catholic hierarchy was never happy with the Kennedys' politics, their liberal, self-defined Catholicism may be more characteristic of American Catholicism than is the faith of the Vatican.
Featured Media
You may have heard about Tulsa Adventist Fellowship, a church that adds almost a hundred new members every year. You can spend a weekend with the church vicariously through the eyes of Pastor Kleyton Feitosa. Be the first to watch the premier HD online screening of the latest Paul Kim documentary. Or if you have time, sit down with Bill McClendon and ask the questions you always wanted to know from this businessman turned pastor by watching the unedited interview.
To the Point


The gospel does not say, "There is a Saviour, if you wish to be saved"; but, "Sir, you have no right to go to hell - you cannot go there without trampling on the Son of God."
  - John Duncan

The problem with any unwritten law is that you don't know where to go to erase it.
 - Glaser and Way

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
  - Bill Cosby

The gospel word and the gospel community are closely connected. The word creates and nourishes the community, while the community proclaims and embodies the word.
  - Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church

Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.
 - Albert Camus

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
 - Thomas Jefferson

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.
 - Bertrand Russell
News, Ideas & Reminders


  • 5th Annual Music and Worship Conference, coming up September 17-19, 2009, at the Atlanta Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church. Info and registration here.
  • eSword is a popular Bible study software, that probably many of you use. There are currently over 10 million downloads (and counting) of the basic e-Sword program, and several major denomination-based e-Sword files that feature their beliefs - but nothing specifically for Seventh-day Adventists until now. Shirley Babienco let us know that there are now Seventh-day Adventist Bible study tools for eSword available at www.sharpeningthesword.net. They'll feature the current and prior Adult Bible Study Guides (SS Quarterly). We're in contact with the White Estate regarding some of the Spirit of Prophecy books for e-Sword, too. Go to www.sharpeningthesword.net.
Got a tool, resource, site, article, idea or seminar that you like a lot? Share it with us at BestPractices@ameritech.net.
Upcoming NAD Events

Do you have an event you'd like to invite pastors to? Send details to BestPractices@Ameritech.net.
Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church. E-mail: Best Practices. You are free to republish pieces from Best Practices in your own newsletter or blog, with attribution to the Best Practices newsletter and the author of the piece.