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Healthy, Reproducing Churches
by Steve Engram, SWCC Regional Executive
Nearly everything God has made shows itself to be "mature" by reproduction. We see it in nature in the plant and animal kingdoms as well as with people. Granted, with people we know that reproduction doesn't always speak to emotional maturity :), but it does speak to physical maturity, the ability to reproduce. This is God's way. I believe it is also His way with the church. The mark of a mature church is that it reproduces.
A mature church will reproduce believers who are coming to faith in Jesus. It will reproduce committed disciples who are following after Jesus with all their hearts. It will reproduce leaders to not only take the place of those who pass from this life, but will reproduce more and more to impact communities with the cause of Christ. I also believe a mature church will reproduce itself, often many times over.
There are many ways that a church can reproduce itself today. Probably the first way we think of is through starting or helping to start new churches. This can be done both locally and internationally. We can support church planters with resource and people to impact new communities with the gospel. Planting churches is a great way to reproduce.
Another way churches can reproduce today is through multiple locations. This is a relatively new vehicle for churches to reach and reproduce more followers of Jesus. Instead of planting an independent new church, they take their church on the road to be more accessible to their people and to the communities that God has laid on their heart.
Churches can reproduce by adding services and different venues. Whether we like it or not, our culture is one where convenience is key. 11am on Sunday morning does not fit into everyone's schedule all that well. So to seek to reproduce more followers of Jesus some add service times, not only on Sunday, but throughout the week to minister to more. Different styles and venues are used to impact people for the cause of Jesus that a "traditional" church service model wouldn't be effective in reaching.
I am sure there are other ways that churches show maturity through reproduction, but the point that I am getting to is are we really a "mature" church if we are NOT reproducing? Generally, people can choose to reproduce or not. But can churches really choose not to do what they are put here for, to make new disciples? Sometimes people would love to have children but for medical reasons are not able (and knowing many in this situation, I know that it is heartbreaking). Churches often have spiritual health issues that keep them from reproducing. Those health issues need to be addressed directly and aggressively, through the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit so that reproduction can take place. I truly believe that Jesus put the church here to reproduce, to go and make disciples of all nations! Let each of us wrestle with the hard questions about our church and how are we reproducing, and if we are not, let's ask "what is the problem?"
Steve
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Invest
in the Vision
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Churches Looking
for Pastors
Click on a link below to see their website or to get an email for more information.
FBC Arivaca
FBC Mammoth
Palo Verde Baptist , Palo Verde
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A New Season of Ministry
Carol Tetzlaff, SWCC Event Coordinator
As the new year begins, so do the hopes and dreams for a new season of ministry. But what is God's plan for the new year? The churches in the SWCC are all starting the new year in different places. Some of our churches have gone through a year of struggles not knowing what each week will bring. Many are maintaining and coasting along, while others, still, are experiencing growth and see God's evident blessings.
I am reminded of a promise in Jeremiah 29:11, a verse that is quoted often, "I know the plans I have for you. Plans not to harm you, but give you a hope and a future."
That promise is not just for a selected few, it is for everyone. The problem is we often claim this verse without realizing the context in which it was said. Bear with me as I take you back a few thousand years ago.
God's people had just been taken captive and they have found themselves in a foreign land with a belief system that countered everything they had been taught to be true. God sent His prophet, Jeremiah, to His people and gives them a message I'm sure they did not want to here. Jeremiah tells the people to make themselves at home in this foreign land. They were to build houses, plant gardens, get jobs, make friends, and the kicker... PRAY for their captors. These prayers came with a promise that if their captors prospered, so would they. Then comes the verse, "I know the plans I have for you..." followed by a "hope and future" which was God's plan to return them to their land in 70 years.
The people had no idea how this was going to happen. But, since we know the end of the story, we read that God would use a pagan king to carry out His plan. (see Ezra 1). They would indeed return and rebuild.
We want God to give us the hope and future He promises and the key to this is also given in Jeremiah 29. Verse 13 states that "You will find me, when you seek me with all your heart." There it is, a promise directly from God for us. When we seek Him, we will find Him and He will give His hope and His future that He has planned especially for us! Now that is an amazing promise!
As this new year of ministry begins, take time to truly seek God and allow Him to bring you hope and guide your future.
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As you plan the new year use the SWCC as a tool to help you accomplish the goals that God is giving you. We have many resources available for your staff, leadership, and laymen. This February we have two Remedy events that will be taking place.
On February 8th we will be in Tucson where we will offer training for children's ministries. We will also offering encouragement to seniors in our churches and a time to encourage men and women who serve as well as giving them tools to have effective ministries.
On February 22nd we will be in Mesa where we will have an event for all those who serve in youth ministries. This will be a great time together as we give your youth leaders tools to use and practical methods for effective ministries. We will also bring in speakers who will encourage your leaders and "fill their tanks" so they are ready for this next year of serving your students.
We hope to see you at one of our events this winter and pray they will be assist you in the growth of your church. For more information see our website or email Carol Tetzlaff at ctetzlaff@swchurchconnection.org.
Remedy Conferences
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How big does a church have to be to start another church?
That was the question I asked veteran church planter, Matt Hannan in a video conference not long ago. Matt's answer may surprise you. Matt recommends that churches start churches while they're still relatively small (but healthy.) That's because sometimes people who transplant from large churches have a hard time transitioning to a smaller church plant that offers their family less.
So, when 3 of our healthy but small churches in rural southeastern AZ talked to me about reproducing themselves in the mining town of Morenci AZ, I said let's do it! This venture will definitely take faith, planning, prayer, and some cooperation from the rest of our Association, but I'm optimistic and looking forward to what God is going to do!
Will you help?
P - Partner with finances & "hand me downs"
L - Lend equipment
A - Assist with outreaches and other projects
N - Network by telling us of resources and people you know in Morenci
T - Team up for prayer and coaching
For more info on how you can help, contact Steve at sdoerksen@swchurchconnection.org
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"It's Not Leadership, It's a Maturity Issue"
Bert Downs, SWCC Regional Coach
 Ever have a simple statement totally change your way of thinking and behaving? Two discussions during the summer of 2011 did that for me. The first was with a veteran pastor and focused on what he viewed as the demise of elder leadership within the congregation he served. The second was with a team of skilled people developers with whom I shared his case study in hope of discovering answers to the problem.
It's their response that changed the way I view what I had previously seen as "leadership issues." They heard the case study presentation, and their response was, "You're seeing this as a leadership failure and that's not what you have. What you have is a maturity failure."
Their point? Spiritual leadership as well as many other desirable missional qualities is attached to maturity; put simply, are we growing in Christ or not, and are we catalysts for producing the Christ life in others or not?
Which brings us to the outcome by which we measure SWCC's effectiveness: healthy, reproducing congregations. We can and rightly do measure lots of outcomes in carrying out our missional business, but among them all, the ones that must retain highest priority are our maturity in Christ and its effect, spiritual reproduction. Writer E. James Wilder puts this Christ-life and its outcomes in perspective, "What seems complex at first becomes a single, deep and complex rhythm of variations of the same theme - how to receive and then to give life." That's best done in Christian communities - churches - in which Christ-like maturity is a high priority and practice.
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Dwight Hunt, SWCC Church Health and Placement Consultant
Three Different Types of Churches but Healthy and Reproducing
I asked some pastors to define what it means to be a healthy reproducing congregation and give some examples of how they have seen this worked out in their churches.
Joe Oswald, who pastors Compass Bible Church, which is a merger of an older congregation with a younger one in Youngtown AZ, says that a healthy church must have a unity of purpose and a balance of God's amazing grace and His transforming truth as it moves forward with a healthy balance between evangelism and discipleship. He has seen this worked out in the church through a blended body of ages and walks of life which includes two older pastors on his staff. His church is also involved in various ministries such as afterschool programs and care centers in the Youngtown community. Just recently Compass Bible Church partnered with the town of Youngtown in their annual event called "Winter Miracle." This event included lots of games for the kids in the community, refreshments for the adults, and times for his people to minister by giving out Bibles and doing crafts with children.
Mike Potter of the Foothills Fellowship in Albuquerque, NM defines a healthy congregation as one that loves one another and shows this love to the unchurched. Mike says that his church is 40 years old and has seen many set-backs. Yet because of his congregation's commitment to the Great Commandment, they have learned . . .
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article by Micaela Clark, Prescott Pines Camp
 Camp - A Tool for a Growing Church
"Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down." -Unknown
This quote is simple, yet the meaning is powerful. In ministry, whether that is by church or by camp, there is no success without a little work. To be a healthy, reproducing church means going beyond the weekly Sunday service and reaching past the church building to gain others and grow spiritually. Camp is one of those places for outreach and growth.
Ryan Nunez is familiar to this concept. The Executive Pastor from Palm Valley Church uses camp as part of the process of maintaining a healthy, reproducing church. Palm Valley Church attended camp three different times this year for Men's Retreat, Women's Retreat, and a Discipleship Retreat. Ryan's thoughts on maintaining a healthy, reproducing church are expressed as:
"A healthy reproducing church requires a Biblical discipleship plan and leaders to help move people through it. We want to help people grow, but what does that growth look like? We say we want to help people grow into fully devoted followers of Christ, but how do we know when we get there? Our discipleship department has spent the last two years digging into these questions and developing our plan to help people grow in their relationship with Christ. Coming up to camp has helped in several ways. Healthy reproducing churches require leaders. When we come up to Prescott Pines, our focus is typically leadership development. We believe the camp environment is perfect for developing our staff as well as the lay leaders who move the ball of discipleship forward at Palm Valley. We love the opportunity for fun and fellowship as well as the distraction free environment where we can get away from it all for a few days and focus in on what is most important."
Prescott Pines seeks to offer a custom experience that fits a church's discipleship need. Couple's that need a getaway can stay in Groom Creek Lodge or our Pine cabins. A group of leaders from a church can meet in our smaller meeting rooms while we assist with team building exercises. Through zip line, s'mores, prayer, and fellowship, groups become a team. They create memories and establish their foundation.
Successful churches come to camp because they understand the importance of environment. A foundation is only as strong as the environment it is built around. Camp can provide the church with an environment free from the normal distractions of life to create an atmosphere ripe for growth.
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Ed Clavell, SWCC Regional Facilitator
 Church Business Meeting Minutes are Important
Meeting minutes preserve actions taken during a church meeting for future reference. However, in many churches, the duty to record the minutes becomes the responsibility of an individual with little or no training in recording meeting minutes.
This often means the minutes will be insufficient, or worse, damaging to the church. A worst-case scenario exists where meeting minutes are not kept, therefore jeopardizing the ability of a church to document and demonstrate its actions.
Anyone with a role that involves capturing minutes from a church business or committee meeting should receive basic information on how to record and preserve meeting minutes.
The overall goal is to create a self-contained document to provide evidence of actions taken at a properly publicized, called, and run meeting. Minutes should show the meeting was properly called and noticed, that a quorum existed at the meeting, and that all decisions were approved by the required number of votes by qualified voters attending the meeting, in person, or, if permitted, by proxy. The meeting minutes should accurately report all decisions that occurred during the meeting.
What should the minutes contain? . . .
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