New Chapter: Your Church in God’s Unfolding Story
A Start Up! Start Over! Conference for Small Churches
Save the Date
December 1-3, 2011, at Williamsburg Woodlands in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
Click here for more details
Click here for more details
Vital Practices for Leading Congregations
Make it Personal
Posted by Donald Romanik on Nov. 15, 2011
While data and statistics do not tell the full story about the vitality
and vibrancy of a denomination, the recent numbers on Episcopal Church
membership and Average Sunday Attendance…Continue Reading
Voices of Transformation and Renewal
Posted by Miguel Angel Escobar on Nov. 15, 2011
I am attending the Transformation and Renewal Conference at Kanuga
Conference Centers in North Carolina. Co-sponsored by the Office of
Black Ministries, the Union of Black Episcopalians…Continue Reading For more resources please go to http://www.ecfvp.org/
Lessons from an Annual Giving Campaign
In today's economic climate, annual stewardship campaigns need to go
beyond a written appeal and sermon on Stewardship Sunday. David
Posterero shares the successful, congregation-led model that Trinity
Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio developed in response to the economic
downturn. Read the article here.
Model Intentional Giving
Laurel
Johnston, Officer for Stewardship for the Episcopal Church, shares six
best stewardship practices of vibrant Latino congregations. "We
discovered that the most effective stewardship formation occurs in the
context of worship, in open and frank discussions about money, faith and
giving, and in helping people understand how their giving funds the
ministries of the church, including social outreach." Read the article here.
Hospitality and Stewardship
We need to be Barnabas today! Read More
Use these updated statistics, from 2009-2010, to see how your congregation compares.
How Do You Value Your Lay Employees?
Find Out More...Church Vitality
Bob Honeychurch
“Vital congregations are faith communities which invite individuals to become passionate followers of Jesus Christ, which offer opportunities for personal and corporate transformation, and which equip people for Gospel mission in the world.”Vital congregations, then, are means to an end… and not just ends in themselves. It is with that in mind that we offer these resources for your use, that our congregations might become places where people’s lives are changed, and where we are empowered to share with God in the transformation of all creation.
Click here to visit the Congregational Vitality website
It's Here... Transforming Churches pt. 3
Young People and the Church
http://www.azdiocese.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/1039?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d743e2307f496c5,0
Church of the Resurrection - Diocese of Kentucky
Burmese refugee youth, members of Resurrection Episcopal Church choir, have added a new dimension to the congregations music ministry. The video was shot by Harry Harrman, a member of Resurrection and the congregations resident videographer.
Excellent resources forwarded by Fr. Horace Ward (Holy Family), Diocese of Southeast Florida
From Ministry Matters™
How your Christmas Program Can Help You Grow in 2012
Christmas provides a set of opportunities as no other time of the year for churches to reach into their communities.
READ MORE
5 Ways to Kill Christmas in your Church
Every year I have to convince senior pastors that Christmas Eve is a powerful and great opportunity to reach out to their communities. But even the best intentions have flaws.
READ MORE
Should Churches Have Big Events at Christmas?
Christmas provides a set of opportunities as no other time of the year.
READ MORE
Christmas Eve Services in Unlikely Places - Bars, malls and more
On Christmas Eve two years ago, I participated in the miracle of over 350 people, nearly all strangers to one another, gathering for a Christmas Eve service of carols, candlelight, and communion in a bar.
READ MORE
Cancelling Christmas - Strategies to deal with Sunday the 25th
Christmas Day falling on a Sunday presents several complications for churches.
READ MORE
Ministry Matters™ is a community of resources for church leaders. Whether your church has ten pews or a thousand seats, a praise band or a pipe organ, one-room-Sunday school or a network of small groups, a huge staff or just you…We're here for you. 2011 Ministry Matters™.
The parable of the crude little life-saving station, known to few even after 57 years of circulation, is a remarkably adept appraisal of the tendency of faith communities to turn insular and artificial. The reasons I find it so appealing (as the Episcopal Church Center’s Officer for Church Planting and Ministry Redevelopment) are as follows:
1.) It was written by one of our own, the past president of the House of Deputies to General Convention.
2.) It uses “parable” format to explore what is, as well as what might be.
3.) It skillfully critiques the tendency of religious communities to move toward a “Club” mentality.
4.) It asks us to evaluate the “real time” contribution of faith communities by the actual difference they make in the lives of their surrounding community.
In the parable, there is a moment when what was a life-saving station turns into a Club. From there forward, the primary reason for joining that club was the benefit of membership. Previously, the primary motivation was that of serving the souls who normally would have been lost to shipwreck on that rocky seacoast. The impact of that shift is that, eventually, those rescued (now by independent contractors) were no longer welcomed into the Clubhouse. They first had to be cleaned up and made respectable!
Painful as that sounds, it is a remarkable depiction of the challenge facing religious leaders in the Christian movement today. That “Club” identity has been to known to society for so long that many of our finer churches are viewed by the large community as “a sort of club.” I personally want that to change, and in my lifetime!
Apparently, that challenge is not the exclusive domain of the Episcopal Church. Leaders in our Mother Church (the Church of England) have been naming this as their reality for years. On page 11 of Mission-shaped church, Reverend Gordon Bates (then Bishop of Whitby in the Church of England) is quoted (from the Church Army News, April 1998) as claiming the following for his Church:
Continue Reading
From Ministry Matters™
Top 5 Things You Must Do in Your Church at Christmas
How your Christmas Program Can Help You Grow in 2012
Christmas provides a set of opportunities as no other time of the year for churches to reach into their communities.
READ MORE
5 Ways to Kill Christmas in your Church
Every year I have to convince senior pastors that Christmas Eve is a powerful and great opportunity to reach out to their communities. But even the best intentions have flaws.
READ MORE
Should Churches Have Big Events at Christmas?
Christmas provides a set of opportunities as no other time of the year.
READ MORE
Christmas Eve Services in Unlikely Places - Bars, malls and more
On Christmas Eve two years ago, I participated in the miracle of over 350 people, nearly all strangers to one another, gathering for a Christmas Eve service of carols, candlelight, and communion in a bar.
READ MORE
Cancelling Christmas - Strategies to deal with Sunday the 25th
Christmas Day falling on a Sunday presents several complications for churches.
READ MORE
Ministry Matters™ is a community of resources for church leaders. Whether your church has ten pews or a thousand seats, a praise band or a pipe organ, one-room-Sunday school or a network of small groups, a huge staff or just you…We're here for you. 2011 Ministry Matters™.
With high hopes for the future of the Diocese of Washington!
My address to the Clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
by Tom Brackett
by Tom Brackett
The parable of the crude little life-saving station, known to few even after 57 years of circulation, is a remarkably adept appraisal of the tendency of faith communities to turn insular and artificial. The reasons I find it so appealing (as the Episcopal Church Center’s Officer for Church Planting and Ministry Redevelopment) are as follows:
1.) It was written by one of our own, the past president of the House of Deputies to General Convention.
2.) It uses “parable” format to explore what is, as well as what might be.
3.) It skillfully critiques the tendency of religious communities to move toward a “Club” mentality.
4.) It asks us to evaluate the “real time” contribution of faith communities by the actual difference they make in the lives of their surrounding community.
In the parable, there is a moment when what was a life-saving station turns into a Club. From there forward, the primary reason for joining that club was the benefit of membership. Previously, the primary motivation was that of serving the souls who normally would have been lost to shipwreck on that rocky seacoast. The impact of that shift is that, eventually, those rescued (now by independent contractors) were no longer welcomed into the Clubhouse. They first had to be cleaned up and made respectable!
Painful as that sounds, it is a remarkable depiction of the challenge facing religious leaders in the Christian movement today. That “Club” identity has been to known to society for so long that many of our finer churches are viewed by the large community as “a sort of club.” I personally want that to change, and in my lifetime!
Apparently, that challenge is not the exclusive domain of the Episcopal Church. Leaders in our Mother Church (the Church of England) have been naming this as their reality for years. On page 11 of Mission-shaped church, Reverend Gordon Bates (then Bishop of Whitby in the Church of England) is quoted (from the Church Army News, April 1998) as claiming the following for his Church:
Continue Reading
I am the Program Officer for Church Planting and Redevelopment for the Episcopal Church. I work with the Evangelism and Congregational Life Center, though I usually travel from my home in Asheville NC. I can be reached at 646-203-6266 or via e-mail at tbrackett@episcopalchurch.org
Featured Links:
Stewardship
The Rev. Laurel Johnston
The ministry of stewardship is rooted in the understanding that the entirety of our life is a gift from God. The most precious gift is God’s self-gift, the person of Jesus Christ who came so that we may know life abundant.Stewardship is a response of discipleship, an ordering of life that puts all we have under Christ’s rule—our time, our money, our relationships. Jesus is not interested in just ten percent. Jesus wants one hundred percent of our lives. The essence of stewardship formation asks: How do we respond? Visit our Stewardship Web Pages
"The Stewards Well" E-Newsletter
Steward’s Well, a quarterly resource created especially for those leading stewardship in their congregations. Leading stewardship is leading discipleship. Stewardship, like discipleship, is not a program; it is more of an ethic, the way we live our lives, the choices that we make that flow from a depth of understanding of who we are and to whom we belong.
Articles from the Latest Edition
Nourishing Life in Gratitude: My Story
The Giving Connection by Anne DitzlerDeciding where to give these days is getting tricky.
I’ve been part of a wonderful Episcopal congregation in NYC for over 15 years. Week in and week out I’ve seen the incarnate love of God expressed in and through the members of this church. Whether in healing prayer, prophetic witness, or soulful singing, these sisters and brothers exhibit a little bit of heaven on earth when they gather in God’s house and the neighboring streets. This community stirs my heart and constantly reminds me of the joyful and difficult call to “Be not afraid” (Luke 1:30) and to serve one another in the name of Jesus. READ MORE
No Budgets Allowed
by Kristine MillerI often tell congregations that no budgets are allowed in the development of an annual giving campaign—at least in the traditional sense. For those who have been charged with raising funds to pay annual operating expenses, the urge to share the budget with complicated charts and graphs can be extraordinary. After all, if people simply knew how much money it costs to run the parish, surely they would be compelled to give more—right? WRONG! READ MORE
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