Click here to subscribe to the Zipline

Augus
t 2016

Vol 16, Issue 8

Zipline

The Quickest Way to Stay Informed

STORYLINE: The Fields Celebrates 13 Years

On Sunday, August 17, The Fields (EFC) in Carlsbad, CA, celebrated 13 years of God's grace and mercy. The Fields began on a beach, but on August 17 they began the next season of life and ministry in their new facility at 2265 Camino Vida Roble in Carlsbad. The congregation shared some great stories of faith and a walk down memory lane via a video presentation. Pastor David Fandey led the congregation in worship and thanks to God for His faithfulness.

Can Your Church Leadership Answer These Six Questions?

Rita Nystrom, who so ably serves EFCA churches and district staff in her role as administrative services and "institutional memory" of EFCA West, has compiled six key questions to which church leaders should have the answers. "As leaders, our ministry priority is to focus on the big picture rather than the administrative details, but part of the fiduciary and leadership responsibility of a pastor, elder, board member, or trustee is knowing the answers (or knowing who has the answers) to these questions." Click here for her summary of the six key questions. If you have questions about her questions, feel free to contact Rita at Rita.Nystrom@efca.org.

EFCA Podcast: D.A. Carson on Revelation 20

We often think of Revelation 20 merely as the biblical chapter that is devoted to the Millennium. According to D.A. Carson, however, it is a passage that is "primarily about the defeat of Satan, his associates and his followers." On this episode of the podcast, we share a conference message by Dr. Carson on Revelation 20 that will help us better understand both the passage's teaching on the Millennium and its broader teaching on the future defeat of all who oppose God and reject his gospel. This message was recorded at the 2012 EFCA Great Lakes District Conference. Special thanks to the Great Lakes District of the EFCA for allowing us to share this message.

Something to Talk About: What Do We Look Like?

"In recent years, I have visited many churches. One of the things I do upon arrival is look around. What I usually look at...are the people who are there. Often, because I am an outsider,
I also notice the people who are not there.
I suspect the church's leaders likely did not notice who is not there either, at least until it became painfully obvious...Gradual change that is intentional is usually positive - I like to call it adaptation. Gradual change that is unintentional is usually not so positive - I like to call it drift. Intentional change should keep us on mission. Unintentional change knocks us off target." And that's something to talk about.

EFCA Expert on Human Trafficking Coming to Southern California

Amy Richey, an EFCA expert on human trafficking is coming to Southern California in early August. Amy serves as Director of Community Development with ReachGlobal's Global Equipping Division, which exists to come alongside global staff, ministry partners and movement leaders to help as many people as possible join the Kingdom of God. If you would like to set up a time to meet with her to hear how she can help your church make a difference locally and/or around the world and hear more about her ministry, you can email her at amy.richey@efca.org.

You can learn about EFCA's anti-human trafficking and community development work here.

Worship Leader Network and Executive Pastor Network

There are two opportunities coming in October for those in the role of Worship Leader or Executive Pastor. The EFCA Worship Leader Network will meet in Denver, CO, on October 17-19 from noon to noon. The EFCA Executive Pastor Network will meet in Melbourne, FL, on October 25-27 from noon to noon. Contact Laurie Seay at laurie.seay@efca.org for further information and registration on either of these gatherings.

Stop Engaging "The Culture"

In a recent Christianity Today article, Stop Engaging "The Culture," Because It Doesn't Exist, Andy Crouch contends that our mission is not to engage the culture but rather the people who make up the culture. He writes, "...our mission is not primarily to 'engage the culture' but to 'love our neighbor.' Our neighbor is not an abstract collective noun, but a real person in a real place...We are called to make disciples of all ethnē, in the hope that they all will join in the multinational, multilingual, multicultural chorus around the throne of the Lamb."

What Millennials Want from a New Job

Millennials (those born between 1980-1996) now comprise the largest generation in the United States. Gallup released a survey recently, How Millennials Want to Work and Live. It provides an in-depth look at what defines Millennials as employees, people, and consumers. Harvard Business Review highlighted a summary of the survey in their article What Millennials Want from a New Job.

Stop Assuming Your Neighbors Are Hostile to Your Faith

A recent survey conducted by LifeWay Research and Wheaton's Billy Graham Center for Evangelism shows that people are more likely to be indifferent to organized religion than hostile. Almost half (47 percent) say they discuss religion freely if the topic comes up. Half would take part in a community service event (51 percent), concert (45 percent), sports or exercise program (46 percent), or neighborhood get-together (45 percent) at a church. One of the takeaways is that while neighbors may not be interested in a church's worship service, they are not averse to attending other church-wide functions. Read through the survey here or the article about the survey results here.

Things Visitors Want

In a recent article, Thom Rainier highlights the results of a survey in which church visitors were asked, "What would you advise churches to do so that guests can have the best experience possible?" Read Seven Things Church Guests are Telling Us.

Should You Throw Away Your Connection Card?

"Many churches use a response card of some type as a communication and connection tool...Fewer churches have a great system to respond to the 'connections'..." In his article, Should You Throw Away Your Connection Card?, Doug Parks suggests that often the piece that is missing is the relational touch.

Things Not to Do as a Senior Adult in the Church

Having turned 61, Thom Rainer looks ahead to being a senior adult in his local church. Thinking through his many years of local church ministry, Dr. Rainer commits to five prayers related to avoiding five common attitudes that senior adults can take toward their church.

Keep Screens Out of the Sanctuary

Here is an article to spark some discussion with those who lead worship in the local church. Jonathan Aigner writes, "...please don't take what I have to say as an attack on technology in general, or some curmudgeonly old fool pining for the good old days. My 'good old days' were late-90's evenings chatting with my friends on AOL Instant Messenger, anyway. But as a millennial, as a professional church musician, and as someone who cares deeply about worship and the mission of the church, I must tell you this: Visual technology is bad for congregational singing, and corporate worship in general."

Eleven Things Many Pastors Forget to Do

Chuck Lawless highlights Eleven Things Too Many Pastors Forget to Do. Many of these things do not take much time, but they do take intentionality. The list includes: Re-read emails before sending them; keep our spouse informed about church events; and pray when we said we'd pray for someone.

Something to Think About

"I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody." --Herbert Swope

Click here to subscribe to the Zipline