Best Practices
| September 30, 2010
|
|
Nominations Are In!
The following churches have been nominated for the 2010 Innovative Church of the Year award:
The winner of the 2010 Innovative Church of the Year award will be announced next week at the 2010 National Conference on Innovation, October 3-5 in Columbus Ohio.
|
|
|
|
|
Pastoring
|  The Unanswered Church Telephone: Sabbath
Morning's Black Hole
Sabbath morning
phone calls to the church can be some of most important of the week - yet shy
members rarely pick up the phone. Here's how I've raised this awareness in our
congregation - first, with this bulletin announcement:
"IT'S A BLACK HOLE!
The Sabbath morning unanswered church phone is the weak link in most Adventist
congregations - yet members are fearful to pick up the receiver lest they be
unable to answer a question or otherwise deal with a caller's needs. You can
help! Study the instruction sheet on the bulletin board, and next time the
church phone rings, you can confidently answer it and be a black-hole banisher!
Thanks! - Pastor Maylan."
I then formatted
the following instruction sheet into two columns on one page and placed a copy
both on the bulletin board, and in a plastic frame just above the phone in the
church office.
PLEASE ANSWER
THE PHONE!
Do you have "Answering
the Church Phone Sabbath Morning Phobia"? Sabbath morning phone calls are often
the most important calls of the week! Yet an unanswered phone on Sabbath
is the major "black hole" of most Adventist churches! However, you can become a
"black hole banisher" - and here's how!
THE MOST COMMON
PHONE CALLS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM
-
Someone
wants directions to the church: (In
this paragraph I gave detailed directions from a major freeway, and then added
the church's street address in case callers might want GPS data.)
-
Someone (a
division leader or other person) is calling to say they'll be late, or is
calling in sick and can't fulfill his or her duties: Take down the details and give the
information to the relevant department.
-
Someone
wants a ride to church. If it's a member who normally depends on another member for a ride and that
person isn't able to do it, ask the caller to suggest a couple of other people.
Then go find the suggested person and see if they can do it. However, if the
caller is not a church member or regular attendee, say, "Can I take down your
information and get it to the pastor, and we'll try to get someone to pick you
up next week?"
-
Someone wants
money from the church to pay rent or other bills. Say, "I'm sorry, but we don't have
a fund for requests like this. We do have a free clothing bank, with a little
food. That's open on Wednesday mornings." If the person persists, take down his
or her name and phone number and say you'll give the information to the pastor,
and the pastor will give them a call.
-
Someone
calls for a reason not listed above. Simply take down their name and phone number, and make a
brief note about their question, and give this to the pastor.
Comment on this piece on our Facebook page 
|
150 years of the Seventh-day Adventist name
|  Does Anyone Know Our Name?
For us, our church name means many things. It's a denomination. A movement. Our heritage.
For outsiders, however, it can mean very little.
When I arrived in my last church, we did a very revealing experiment, by way of a community survey. Our church of 530 members was prominently located in the midst of the Hispanic section of town. There were 500 apartments in a five block radius, with 99.5% Hispanic tenants. We went to their homes and asked 3 simple questions. - Do you know who Seventh-day Adventists are?
- Do you know where the closest Adventist church is located?
- What services would you be interested in? (Followed by a list of services, such as English classes, food bank, etc.)
Much to our surprise, only a little over 30% knew who we were, an eye opener for sure since the church had a different idea of our name recognition.
So as I reflect about the 150th anniversary of the Seventh-day Adventist name, it means a call to me to do the following:
It's a call for confidence. In a world where beliefs are subjective, where the Word of God is secondary to personal opinions and where what I feel is more important than what He said, the name displays confidence. It affirms a faith that shines brightly in a world of muddled subjectivism.
It's a call for balance. Our name combines belief and action. It's a balance between the ideal and the real. The word "Adventist" is a clear expression of hope, while "seventh-day" spells out that there is a concrete, specific way we can live out that hope. I find it interesting that in our name, action today comes before hope for tomorrow.
It's a call to go beyond beliefs. Jim Henderson in his book Jim and Casper Go to Church calls beliefism the worship of the right beliefs. "Rather than Christians giving priority to what we do, we've been taught a view that tells us that what's really important is to be known for what we believe". But long held, cherished, beliefs mean little unless they are expressed daily in intentional ways in our communities. A good question to ask yourself (and your Seventh-day Adventist Church) is this: If we left our community tomorrow, would we be missed? Comment on this piece on our Facebook page
|
| Featured Resources |  What do you do as a pastor when it feels like the wheels are coming off the bus? When your leadership team seems to disintegrate? When it feels like all of your church growth momentum has come to a screeching halt? Watch senior pastor Walt Groff and his congregation try to push through seemingly impossible roadblocks. Their experience is recorded in Episode 4 of the Stained Glass Sunset Oaks documentary series. Watch this episode and discover how a leadership team pulls together through tough times. The entire five episode documentary is available at AdventSource.  The long anticipated i Follow Discipleship Pastor's Edition is now available to download starting today. Go to www.ifollowdiscipleship.org and choose to download from over 100 lessons that cover the entire spectrum of discipleship from someone who hasn't accepted Jesus ( Meeting with Jesus), someone who is growing in Jesus ( Walking with Jesus) to someone who would like to be equipped for ministry ( Working with Jesus). Not sure where you should start? Take the quick online survey for recommendations on where your next milestone might be in your discipleship journey. The lessons are designed to be used in Pastor's Bible Class, Small Groups, Seminars, Prayer meetings, and some will even work for a sermon series. Each lesson contains leader's notes, Discussion questions, group activities, bibliography and PowerPoint slides.  What kind of a vessel are you? Listen to this challenging message by U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry Black in his presentation at the 2010 Innovative Impact convention in Atlanta. In this message Pastor Black shares his passion for leadership. True leadership has the ability to turn tragedy into opportunity. Listen as he shares four practical guidelines toward leading your church into greatness. |
Reading for Pastors
|
Another landmark Pew survey finds Americans have mediocre knowledge about their faith, and others'. White evangelicals and Mormons know their Bibles best; Jews and atheists know more about world religions. Quote: "More
than four-in-ten Catholics in the United States (45%) do not know that
their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not
merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ. About
half of Protestants (53%) cannot correctly identify Martin Luther as
the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant
Reformation, which made their religion a separate branch of
Christianity."
What makes churches grow? From John Mark ministries a good summary of important factors. Quote: "Your church does not have to be large to be healthy. A large church may be fat, and a small church may be undernourished. Some people like supermarkets, other boutiques!"
The kind of story you've gotta love! Thief tries to steal from Christian woman, who reads to him from the Bible, leading to apology and reformation!
Four Traits Every Leader Must Have! From The Truth About Leadership.
While most of the large churches are independent, independent churches have at least one great weakness: they tend to have fewer safeguards to prevent church leader malpractice. Quote: "The [Bishop Eddie] Long case demonstrates how vulnerable the country's independent churches still are to being damaged by the misbehavior - sexual, financial or otherwise - of leaders whose considerable influence often comes with temptation and little accountability."
Is your church on Facebook? Here are five possible opportunities for churches on this ubiquitous social network.
Restrictions on church building, again. (Where could all this lead?) |
| To the Point
| Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
- Sidney J. Harris
A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience.
- Doug Larson
The problem with any unwritten law is that you don't know where to go to erase it.
- Glaser and Way
Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.
- John Erskine
There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.
- Cicero
There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.
- Bertrand Russell
It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.
- Harry S Truman
In science, 'fact' can only mean
'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold
provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow,
but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
- Stephen Jay Gould
People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children.
- Bill Watterson
I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.
- Henny Youngman
The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader catch his own breath.
- Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
- Oscar Wilde
Being a woman is a terribly difficult task since it consists principally in dealing with men.
- Joseph Conrad
|
News, Ideas & Reminders
|
- The
iFollow Discipleship curriculum for small groups, pastor's class,
seminars and classes is up and running! The online website has over a hundred
discipleship lessons spanning the entire spectrum of following Jesus
from someone who hasn't yet made a commitment to Jesus Christ to the
person who is willing to serve Jesus. Also on the website is a spiritual assessment tool that an individual, small
group, or even an entire church can take to discover where they may wish
to direct their discipleship quest. After taking the inventory the
computer will generate immediate suggestions as to which lessons in the
iFollow curriculum might be helpful. Look for the special iFollow edition of Best Practices for Adventist Ministry.
|
|
Upcoming NAD Events
|
Do you have an event you'd like to invite NAD pastors to? Send details to BestPractices@Ameritech.net.
Jamaica, NY, Basic Curriculum: May 15 - 19, 2010
Jamaica, NY, Advanced October 2 - 6, 2011
The Disciple Ship II -- A Childrens'/Youth Ministry Event, October 8-10, Camp MiVoden, Idaho. Energize
your ministry to children and youth by attending a special weekend event
presented by Upper Columbia Conference for educators, children's and
youth ministry leaders, parents and pastors at beautiful Hayden Lake
Idaho. Special guests include Steve Yeagley, DeeAnn Bragaw and a
dozen more presenters offering 20-plus breakouts. Write Pattym@uccsda.org.
Community Organizing webinar, by Monte Sahlin: "This is a non-credit course that meets eight times over the fall and
spring of 2010-2011, about once a month ... to fit into schedules and
allow time for you to practice the skills you learn. I am taking a
limited number of individuals to maximize learning and allow personal
attention. Once it is full, registration will close."
Children's Sabbath.
Oct 2, 2010, Division Wide. Visit NAD Children's Ministries website for
program ideas. For more information, email: childrensministries@nad.adventist.org
National Conference on Innovation. Oct 3, 2010 - Oct 5, 2010, Embassy
Suites Columbus-Dublin, 5100 Upper Metro Place, Dublin, OH 43017. A
gathering of Seventh-day Adventist innovators to explore mission and
ministry ideas. Includes presentations and group discussions. Featured
Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Zdravko
Plantak, and Samir Selmanovic. Phone: 740-397-4665 x165. For more
information, email: information@ohioadventist.org
Arminianism and Adventism. Oct 14, 2010 - Oct 17, 2010, Andrews University,
Berrien Springs, MI . "Celebrating Our Soteriological Heritage." We
will discuss the roots of Adventist understanding of salvation as found
in 17th century Arminianism and in Wesleyan thought. Top scholars will
explore issues relating to a biblical understanding of human nature,
free will, God's grace, atonement and predestination. Phone:
269-471-3607. For more information, email: arminiansymposium@gmail.com
Society of Adventist Communicators Convention. Oct 14, 2010 - Oct 16,
2010, Hyatt Regency Rochester, 125 E Main Street, Rochester, NY 14604. A
convention where students, beginning communicators, and seasoned
professionals will have the opportunity to share ideas as well as
participate in fields trips, workshops, networking, and inspirational
worships. Keynote speaker is Phil Cooke, PhD from "Christianity Today."
More details coming. Phone: 301-680-6057. For more information, email: info@adventistcommunicator.org
Spirit of Prophecy Sabbath.
Oct 16, 2010, Division Wide. Special materials provided.
180° Symposium 2010. Oct 18, 2010 - Oct 21, 2010, Andrews University,
Chan Shun Hall, Whirlpool Room, 4185 E Campus Circle Drive, Berrien
Springs, MI 49104. "Models of Youth and Young Adult Ministries."
8am-5pm. Sponsored, in part, by the Center for Youth Evangelism, this
third annual symposium will bring together church and lay leaders
passionate about creative ideas to spiritually engage those on public
college campuses. Research papers will be presented. Phone:
800-968-8428. For more information, email: director@180symposium.org
Pathfinder Sabbath.
Oct 23, 2010, Division Wide. Special materials provided.
Creation Sabbath.
Oct 23, 2010, Division Wide via satellite from Andrews University.
Celebration of Creation. Join Adventist scholars, leaders and fellow
believers for a special Sabbath celebrating our fundamental belief in
the recent six-day creation revealed in God's word. This event is
sponsored by the General Conference's Faith
and Science Council.
Children's Ministries Training.
November 11-14, 2010, Leoni Meadows Christian Retreat Center,
6100 Leoni Road, Grizzly Flats, CA 95636. North American Division
training event. Phone: 301-680-6425. For more information, email: childmin@nad.adventist.org |
|
Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Ohio Conference. 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. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
