Questing Savannah

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Church Leadership Center Savannah, Georgia is a beautiful city of gardens and cemeteries and parks. Our youngest daughter went to college in Savannah just as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil became popular in both book and movie versions. She even had a job for a summer working in one of the cemeteries, where she reset gravestones and restored family monuments. Some of them had been looted and reconfigured by General Sherman’s troops after his infamous Civil War “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah ravished many communities. Sherman loved Savannah, however, and we could understand why. When platted in 1769, Savannah’s founders created four “squares” of public park space to enhance the social life of its residents. As the city grew, the “squares” multiplied to twenty-four, enhanced by other larger parkland areas and marvelously-crafted cemeteries. Today Savannah’s southern charm is enhanced by ghost stories and haunting sightings in its ancient buildings and sultry public places lined by Spanish moss hung oaks. John Wesley preached his first sermons in the New World in the squares of Savannah, cementing the gospel link between gardens and cemeteries and parks. Today his image stands in bronze downtown, still crying out about eternity among those plagued by the fatal human disease of death and reminding us of Wesley’s leadership in lay discipleship and evangelistic preaching. Interestingly, the story of our race, according to the Bible, begins in a garden, ends in a park-like city, and is focused in between on a cemetery. Gardens speak of well-sculptured horticulture and minimal human engagement. Friends walk through parks and gardens. Lovers stroll secluded paths, picking flowers for one another and hiding smooches from public view. Birders relish the quiet of muted breezes carrying fowl calls of the wild. Cities, on the other hand, rush and roil, bump and burn, stomp and shout, push and pluck, and assault every sense all at once. Cities are made for crime, particularly if you read of their origins in Genesis 5. The sons of Adam and daughters of Eve who heard from their first parents of the delights of communion with God and one another, once ejected from the Garden of bliss tried to recreate the great societies by building cities! That solution didn’t work then, and rarely to the present have cities ever been agents of great grace. And yet, it was to the city that rural Jesus came, when he brought home the divine message of salvation. And it was to the cities that Paul and others traveled with the Good News about Jesus. In fact, the word “pagan” originally meant “farmer” or “rural person” in Greek, only picking up its negative connotations when the cities of the Roman world had become “Christianized” by the fourth century, and those out in the country were left behind in the evangelization process. Today the cities of our world cry for renewal. There are many social programs that seek to address small or great needs. But above all stands the call for the rebuilding of the City of Humanity into the City of God. Though the final design and construction will require another mighty act of God at the end of time, today we participate in the global quest through restoring communities of faith, redeeming social structures, and renewing urban blight into blessing. Training leaders to make these things possible is the work of CLC. And you. Partner with us. Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here. Special thanks to Dr. Wayne Brouwer for writing the above article. He is CLC’s theological editor, professor at Hope College, and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary.

Missional Church Leadership

Church Leadership Center One of this week's meetings was an assessment conference for developing a contextualized training plan for a missional church leader and commissioned pastor candidate, Rodrigo Cano. He is the Hispanic church planter of Alas Conexion (Connections) Church, Grand Rapids, MI. Pastor Cano is pictured with his mentor and friend, veteran missionary to Mexico, Rev. Jim Heneveld. Rodrigo was born in Mexico. He has a BA in Business Administration from San Diego State University. His ministry experiences include preaching, leading worship and Bible study, youth ministry, and translation work. His leadership style, and that of mentor Jim Heneveld, is consistent with the content of a classic resource on the missional church. Following is a review of The Ministry of the Missional Church (Craig VanGelder) by CLC facilitator, Rev. Andy Bossardet. Church leadership books can be a mixed bag. Some offer support on nurturing a relationship with God, while others rely heavily on current systems thinking and sociological data. The Ministry of the Missional Church manages both in a way that calls leaders to fully rely on the Holy Spirit, while also taking advantage of the shared wisdom of the Body of Christ. It is a landmark piece of work. The beginning of the book is filled with deep theology and a well-rounded discussion of the Holy Spirit, which aims to include people of various traditions and backgrounds. (Anyone who desires to have a brief summary of the work of the Holy Spirit would be well-served to check out the opening chapters of VanGelder's book.) The Ministry of the Missional Church also takes a look at the current state of the Church and her identity. VanGelder argues that the Church is missional by nature, and, therefore, mission is to be viewed less as an optional activity for a few and more as the very center of the Church's activity. Also, the Church is a community by nature, and so the mission of the Church is meant to be practiced in community and not simply by individuals. The community of Christ, the Church, exists in a greater context- the world.  And since the world is always changing, the Church is also always changing. Sometimes congregations change because of circumstances - persecution, major cultural shifts, or crises. Other times, congregations change because of intentional and strategic realignment with God's mission in the world. VanGelder spends a fair amount of time explaining the relationship between understanding one's congregation both as an open system and as a community called by the Spirit. The author explains characteristics of an open systems, missional approach as the following: -Starts with the context in which the congregation is located. -Identifies the boundaries that give the church its identity within its community. -Seeks feedback and examines results: i.e., people and resources flowing in, ministry flowing out. -Defines its purpose (mission), core missional practices, and vision. -Develops visionary leaders and a strategic infrastructure. -Recognizes Holy Spirit-guided transformation. While VanGelder's work is an introduction to the theological work of church strategy, it is also among the best, most faithful, and most thorough that we have read. Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here. Please forward this email to a lay leader or church staff member who may benefit from information about leadership development and Church Leadership Center. To contribute financially to CLC or to learn about options for leadership development in your church, reply to this email. . With thanks to Rev. Andrew Bossardet for this book review. Andy is an online course facilitator for Church Leadership Center and pastor of Glen Lake (MI) Community Reformed Church. He is pictured here with his brand-new son, Micah Thomas Bossardet, born April 7 2014.

Graduations

Church Leadership Center A young man ran from his college graduation ceremonies with his robe flying, diploma in hand. He yelled out to all who could hear, "Look out, world! Here I come! I have my B.A.!" A crack of thunder immediately rolled ominously out of the skies, and a deep voice shouted back, "Stick around, Sonny, and we'll teach you the rest of the alphabet!" Many graduations are taking place this month and next. Hopes, dreams, expectations, and best wishes will empty out of celebrative auditoriums. A number of CLC participants will also be completing their training plans in order to be commissioned to new levels of leadership in the church. It is a wonderful time of anticipation! One college managed to snag the President of Harvard as its graduation speaker. He was royally introduced, of course, where he was proclaimed as the one who had "turned Harvard into a storehouse of knowledge." Coming to the podium, he admitted that Harvard was, indeed, "a storehouse of knowledge." Unfortunately, he went on, he himself could not take much credit for that, because "every year the freshmen bring so much knowledge with them, and the seniors take so little away!" Knowledge becomes wisdom only when it is shared. Those who are forever drinking at the fountain of understanding, while never passing anything along to others, become bloated and self-indulgent. It can be like that in the church, too. One woman frequently told me that she came to worship each Sunday to get fed. Another man said that we shouldn't have too much of what he called "preliminaries," since, according to him, the point of gathering was to "get to the meat of the Word." Good sentiments, to be sure, but only self-serving and gluttonous if the feast is not brought to others. One of the things that CLC is about is what Bill Bright called "transferrable concepts." He believed that any education, particularly in Scripture and the great teachings of the Christian faith, needed to be passed along. Learning without sharing is folly: Investigating without communicating is theft. If you are in need of training to share with others the riches of our faith, check out what CLC can provide. We can help you become a more effective leader or pastor or evangelist or church planter or staff member. And, if you are wondering how you can participate in the great training hopes of the Church of Jesus Christ, donate today to CLC and let your gift help train others to share the gospel of the greatest Teacher of all. Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here. Please forward this email to a lay leader or church staff member who may benefit from information about leadership development and Church Leadership Center. To contribute financially to CLC or to learn about options for leadership development in your church, reply to this email. Special thanks to Dr. Wayne Brouwer for writing the above article. He is CLC's theological editor, professor at Hope College, and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary.

Easter Hope

Church Leadership Center Church historian Martin Marty told of a friend of his who taught Sunday School for many years. One April morning the weather had turned so warm and spring-like that the teacher knew his class needed to spend time outside. He brought plastic eggs, leftover from Easter treats, and told the eight-year-old students to look around for something that showed new life and then to put examples in their eggs. Stephen was the teacher's biggest concern among the dozen students. He had been born with many challenges, including both physical and learning difficulties, and he spent all his waking hours in a wheelchair. An assistant pushed him about while the teacher romped with his other students in the energizing spring morning. Soon it was time to gather the class. Now the teacher was beginning to worry about his lesson plan, knowing that Stephen could not have done much for this activity and was likely to become the target of classroom laughter when his egg was opened. The teacher planned to move past it as quickly as possible in order to save Stephen whatever embarrassment he could. The eggs were mixed in a circle in front of him. He opened the first, and a fragile flower blossom floated out. "That's mine!" cried a girl. "It's got the new life of spring!" Nods and murmurs of shared wonder erupted. The next egg contained a butterfly. It almost scared everyone when it flitted out of its plastic prison, but just as soon, there were cries of delight. "That's mine!" shouted a boy. "A caterpillar turned into a butter fly!" Everyone was impressed. The teacher thought the next egg was Stephen's when he twisted apart the halves and a stone fell out. He tried to push it away quickly, but another boy said, "That's mine! See the moss growing on the rock?!" It was a great lesson, showing life emerging from death. More gems followed—flowering twigs, blades of grass, even the downy feather of a baby bird. Finally, only one egg remained. The teacher knew it was Stephen's. And just as he expected, when opened, nothing came out. But Stephen was not embarrassed. In his thick speech from a twisted mouth, Stephen fairly shouted, "That's mine! See? Just like Jesus' tomb on Easter! It's empty!" And no one laughed in derision, but all clapped excitedly. Yes, indeed! The teacher was relieved. Stephen's condition worsened rapidly in the next months. By mid-summer he was failing. And those who thronged the funeral service at his August death witnessed an amazing site. After everyone was seated, eleven eight-year-olds marched confidently down the church aisle. Each carried a plastic egg. Each cracked it open and placed the empty halves on top of Stephen's casket. Stephen's own great Easter lesson was now being taught to others by his classmate evangelists. This is the time of year when all that is best of the message of Jesus needs to be shouted in every way possible. We need evangelists, and evangelists need to be trained. Join us at CLC in the training of more evangelists to shout the good news of Easter. Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here. Please forward this email to a lay leader or church staff member who may benefit from information about leadership development and Church Leadership Center. To contribute financially to CLC or to learn about options for leadership development in your church, reply to this email. Special thanks to Dr. Wayne Brouwer for writing the above article. He is CLC's theological editor, professor at Hope College, and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary.