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Ablaze! Covenant Congregations

Ablaze! Covenant Congregations. A Strategy for Church Planting Movement. Our Vision:. To plant 2000 new congregations by the year 2017, . . . and usher in a church planting movement of the LCMS in North America by engaging congregations. Who will do it? Ablaze! Covenant Congregations.

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Ablaze! Covenant Congregations

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  1. Ablaze! Covenant Congregations A Strategy for Church Planting Movement

  2. Our Vision: • To plant 2000 new congregations by the year 2017, • . . . and usher in a church planting movement of the LCMS in North America by engaging congregations.

  3. Who will do it? Ablaze! Covenant Congregations • An Ablaze! Covenant Congregation is a congregation that will covenant with its respective district and also LCMS World Mission to plant up to four (4) congregations by the year 2017.

  4. Identification Process • Congregations can self-identify; • Districts identify congregations; • Districts certify congregations. (Sample certificate in Appendix)

  5. Training of Ablaze! Covenant Congregations • Orientation – in which pastors and key congregational leaders participate; • Daughter Church Planting – in which pastors and key lay leaders are trained.

  6. Advantages of Congregations Planting Congregations • Helps with accountability; • Helps with unity – new congregations inherit the DNA of the mother congregation; • Helps with leadership development.

  7. Strategy – Leadership Identification and Training • Church planters, for the most part, will be identified from congregations; • Distance education will be used to train church planters for certification into the office of public ministry.

  8. Identification and Training of Church Planters • All prospects will go through an assessment process. • Seminary-assigned planters: • Identified by North America Missions and M.Div. Trained; • Indigenous Planters: • Identified by congregations or recommended by the Mission Affiliates; • Persons engaged in distance education that leads to ordination

  9. All Planters must: • Take Basic Mission Planter Training and participate in the Planter Development Process. • Edge Gathering • Collegial groups • Advanced mission planter training • Have a coach

  10. Support of Ablaze! Covenant Congregations • All national resources will be aligned with the vision. • National Funds will be available only to and in support of the Ablaze! Covenant Congregations; • Seminaries will develop distance education programs for a church planting movement; • LCEF and partners • Lutheran Hour Ministries (Toolkit for planters in Appendix)

  11. STRUCTURE • Districts ID • Orientation • Church Planting Training

  12. Structure (cont.) • ID Planters • ID Planter Training • Plant

  13. Tab 3

  14. Pastoral Ministry:Mission Planter Seminary Education

  15. Theological Assumptions • Holy Spirit works faith through means of grace • Ministry of means of grace (AC V) committed to whole church • Means of grace administered publicly through office of pastoral ministry (AC V, XIV)

  16. Theological Assumptions • Congregation identified as a localized embodiment of the body of Christ (“church in this place”), gathered around means of grace (“body of Christ gathered around the body of Christ”) • Raise up pastoral candidate to serve as pastor in a specific ministry (e.g. church planter within a local context)

  17. Faithful Missional Pastoral Leadership

  18. Faithful • Faithful to the pure and clear gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ (justification by grace through faith on account of Christ) • Faithful to Biblical theology and to historic creedal Christianity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) • Faithful to Lutheran Confessions, Lutheran doctrine and practice • Faithful to the pattern of Jesus Christ as a servant leader.

  19. Missional • Understands and committed to the missio dei (“when and where He pleases”) • Demonstrates a heart and burden for the lost, and maturation of the found • Understands mission as holistic • Includes work of the whole church: comprehensive and unifying • Understanding of whole person • Understands church as human community • Appropriate use of socio-cultural awareness and skills • “pastoral leadership” as pastoral

  20. Pastoral • Shepherd of God’s flock: cares for souls • Both the “90 and 9” already found • And the “1” (really millions) who are lost • Steward of the Means of Grace • Understands pastoral office within larger church corporate (catholicity) • Theologically formed and informed

  21. Leadership • Understands centrality of the means of grace, through which the Holy Spirit works, when and where He pleases • Sheep hear the Savior’s voice and follow Christ • Ministerial use of sociology • Leadership skills and mission planning assessment

  22. Pastoral Education • Specific ministry pastor: proposal to 2007 LCMS Convention • Raise local “faithful missional pastoral leadership” • For certification, call, and ordination into specific pastoral ministry • Through “in-field” pastoral education • Distance Education • Residential seminars

  23. Key Elements • Spiritual leader, identified at local level • Certified/recognized at ecclesiastical level (trans-congregational, trans-district, “catholicity of public ministry”) • In-field pastoral education • Early ordination (followed by • mandatory continuing education) to allow for pastoral ministry from within the pastoral office

  24. Features • 4-5 year program as subset of comprehensive program • ca 2 years to call / ordination (“evangelist” ? Eph. 4) • Options beyond Specific Ministry Pastor: • Remain in category • Apply credits toward M.Div. • Certificate for general pastor ministry (experience, coursework, evaluation)

  25. Admission • Assessment as church planter • Admission into seminary (same process as residential) • Pre-sem courses (e.g. Old Testament, New Testament, doctrine) • Application for admission • District interview

  26. Curriculum • Outcome: foundational competency in Lutheran theology for pastoral ministry and mission leadership in context of mission planting.

  27. Curriculum • Instructional Agents: • Local mentor • Vicarage supervision • District courses • Seminary faculty • Residential seminars

  28. Curriculum (tentative) • Preparation: • Old Testament • New Testament • Christian Doctrine • Other district courses

  29. Curriculum (tentative) • Pre-Ordination (“vicar”): • 8-10 courses (2 years) • 2 residential seminars • 1-2 field seminars

  30. Curriculum (tentative) • Certification/Call/Ordination: • Examination • Learning • Portfolio • Reports • Recommendation by District President and circuit counselor • Rostered as “Specific Ministry Pastor”

  31. Curriculum (tentative) • Post Call/Ordination Required: • 8-10 courses (2-3 years) • 2 residential seminars • 2 field seminars

  32. Curriculum (tentative) • Completion of Specific Ministry Pastor Program: • Examination • Eligible for call within rostered status • Under supervision of pastor-general ministry • Growth path: lifelong learning • Options beyond Specific Ministry Pastor toward pastor-general

  33. Tab 4

  34. WHY CHURCHES PLANT CHURCHES Kingdom Advance through Church Planting

  35. Fellowship Loss Exorbitant Loss Insufficient Size Leader Loss Momentum Halt Selfishness Growth Paranoia Church No Go Rivalry Fear Pastoral Kudos Low/No Urgency Sending Money Lack of Time Help Strugglers Tried It Before Leader Lack Bad Timing Right-Sizing Add New Service Vision of Mega I Don’t Know Denomination Job COMMON OBJECTIONS

  36. I begin this book with a categorical statement that will seem bold and brash to some at first sight, even though it has been substantiated by research over the past 2-3 decades: The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches. Dr. C. Peter Wagner Church Planting for a Greater Harvest VOICE OF MISSIOLOGY

  37. Lyle B. SchallerWhy Start New Churches? The most important single argument for making new church development a high priority is that this is the most effective means for reaching unchurched persons. Numerous studies have shown that 60-80% of the new adult members of new congregations are persons who were not actively involved in the life of worshipping congregations immediately prior to joining that new mission. By contrast, most long established churches draw the majority of their new members from persons who transfer in from other congregations.

  38. Tom Nebel & Gary RohrmayerChurch Planting Landmines A church which is 0-3 years old takes 3 attendees to reach 1 person for Christ. A church which is 3-10 years old takes 7 attendees to reach 1 person for Christ. A church older than 10 years takes 89 attendees to reach 1 person for Christ

  39. Dr. Aubrey Malphurs Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century • Four Advantages of the New Church Plant • New churches grow faster than established churches. • New churches evangelize better than established churches. • Leaders gain credibility faster in new churches. • People are more open to change in new churches.

  40. Christian SchwarzNatural Church Development “Hardly anything demonstrates the health of a congregation as much as the willingness – and ability! – to give birth to new congregations. The opposite is true as well. Hardly anything is a more clear indication of illness than structures which by design hinder church multiplication, or at best permit it as an absolute exception.” Christian Schwarz Natural Church Development p. 69.

  41. VOICE OF SCRIPTURE • Gospels Call to Global Kingdom Expansion • Proclaim, Preach and Plant • Book of Acts • Epistles

  42. Acts 1:8 Acts 8:1 Acts 11:19-21 Persecution Church Split Called Staffer Adoption Surprise Pregnancy Dying Church Legacy UNINTENTIONAL PLANTING

  43. Acts 13:1-3 Missionary Send a Team Nearby Raise up Timothy Let My People Go Let my Pastor Go Partner Church Multi-Site House Church Do-It-Yourself Church Within Church INTENTIONAL PLANTING

  44. Outward Focus Indigenous Style Culture Conscious KEYS TO EFFECTIVE POSTURING

  45. WHY START NEW CHURCHES? 1. It is the work of Jesus. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18, KJV

  46. WHY START NEW CHURCHES? 2. The local church is the hope of the world. "His intent was that now,through thechurch, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:10, NIV)

  47. WHY START NEW CHURCHES? 3. It is part of Jesus’ strategy for the church to fulfill His Great Commission. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses inJerusalem[local churchministry], and in all Judea[regional churchplanting]and Samaria[regional cross-cultural church planting], and to the ends ofthe earth[global church planting].” (Acts 1:8, NIV)

  48. WHY START NEW CHURCHES? 4. The harvest demands aggressive church planting. • The harvest is plentiful. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37,NIV) 70% of the US population has no formal affiliation with a church family.

  49. WHY PLANT NEW CHURCHES? 4. The harvest demands aggressive church planting. • The harvest is plentiful. • The harvest is diverse. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”(Matthew 28:19, NIV) "We need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people." Rick Warren

  50. The Future of North America:In 2050 AD, Our Nation Will Be . . . • 50 percent Anglo • 25 percent Hispanic • 14 percent African American • 8 percent Asian

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