The Church That Could

I remember my wife, Marilyn, reading a children's book to our three sons about a little railroad engine that was climbing a mountain. The engine kept saying, "I think I can! I think I can." When it reached the top, it said, "I thought I could! I thought I could."

In the community West Normandy Baptist Church serves, they discovered an under performing (turn-around) school, Normandy Village Elementary, where 70% of the students are on the free breakfast/lunch program. The school had very few community partners. The church has about 100 in attendance, but was committed to help. They found the school not only open, but excited about the partnership.

The first event they held at the school was a brunch for the administration, teachers and support staff, on a planning day when no students were present. In addition to the brunch, each person was given a gift bag. The church also provided some age-appropriate books. Teachers were invited to select books for their classrooms, and the remaining books were placed in the library. Other projects have been providing coats, volunteers to assist in classes, landscaping by the youth, Christmas gifts for teachers from the children's department,  and prayer walking the school. One of the unique projects just started is a garden on the school grounds.  Over 80 children in 5th grade classes planted seeds they are anxiously watching grow.

On April 5th, the church will be recognized by the Florida Department of Education as the most outstanding partnership in their school district. It is one of three partners in the Duval Public School System to receive this award. I believe when we have Jesus eyes to see the needs about us and a Jesus heart to respond, then our hands and feet will find a way to take action. Congratulations West Normandy! You thought you could and you did!

This is just one of the stories about the compassion and ministry of our Jacksonville Baptist Association (JBA) churches. I love hearing the stories and I enjoy sharing them, because I think we can learn and be encouraged by each other.

  

  

Walter Bennett  

Interim Director/Leadership Institute 

    

The Millennials and Community Ministry

Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) are about to change completely the way we do church, missions and ministry. They number almost 78 million, the largest generation in America's history - more than their parents' generation, the much talked about "Baby Boomers." Generally, Millennials are described as hopeful, relational, learners, and looking less to religion (only 13% of them consider any type of spirituality to be important in their lives and only 6% can be described as "Evangelicals"). They are not anti-Christian. In some ways it is worse - most of them do not think of religious matters at all.

So what are churches to do? In the book "The Millennials," authors Thom and Jess Rainer describe this generation and how they relate to family, technology and the church. The future is bright for those churches who understand this generation and what it takes to reach them. According to the authors, a church reaching a large number of Millennials will most likely reflect the following:

• They will be passionate about serving its community.
• They will be committed to reaching the nations with the gospel.
• A significant portion of their budget will be committed to caring for the needs of others.

Milleninal churches are "others-focused" rather than "self-focused."

I firmly believe that churches must get serious about community ministry. Church leaders must find ways to focus the majority of their efforts externally. Christian Millennials reflect some of the same values as the rest of their generation - they want to make a difference in the world. To the degree that churches can provide opportunities for their members to connect to their community, serve in meaningful ways, and incarnate the gospel, they will become attractive to the Millennial generation. According to the authors, "Some of the actions churches can take to reach the Millennial Christians will likely prove helpful in reaching the non-Christian portion of this generation as well."

The Millennials are coming. Is your church ready for them? The Jacksonville Baptist Association stands ready to help you connect to your community, meet needs, and share the gospel of Christ. Contact me at dgarrett@jaxbaptist.org if I can assist in any way.  

  

  

David Garrett 

Church-Community Ministries Director

DIAGNOSTICS

pastortimmaynard | March 7, 2011

The statistics are alarming, to say the least. They are “the crazy aunt that lives in the basement that nobody wants to talk about,” according to Ed Stetzer. They tells us that 8 in 10 American churches are declining, plateaued, or dead. That 3500 to 4000 churches close each year in the United States. That these numbers are increasing.
At the request of several people, I am publishing a list of diagnostic questions that should be asked to determine whether a church is in danger of  having a reputation of being alive but are dead.” (Rev 3:2).  These questions were not borrowed but internalized as a response to prayer and preparation for last Sunday’s message. They deserve special thought and consideration for our own diagnostic purposes.
A church is only pretending to be alive:

• When busy-ness passes for spiritual life
• When the focus of the church is more on the past than the future
• When the focus of the church is more toward caring for the members than in making the members missionaries to a lost world
• When attendance and budget numbers become the scorecard for success
• When emotional enthusiasm can’t be separated from spiritual passion
• When staying alive is more important than giving itself away
• When reproduction stops
• When the proclamation of the Word of God is replaced with political rhetoric, self-help and motivation, social commentary
• When sin is tolerated and our lifestyles become indistinguishable from the world around us
• When church becomes all about us, and not about Jesus

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”  (Rev 3:6)