Bill Ellis Riverside Community Church

Bill planted a church in Penn Hills, they were renting in rented space for about 4 years and then purchased. Bill says that he did it the old fashioned way or the hard way. There was a core group to help get the church off of the ground but the pastor that was leading, after his two year commitment, left. That was about the time that Bill came along...it all started from about the size of a small group. There was door to door invitations and advertising in the paper...when it all came down to it it was relationships that began to develop the church and really grow it.

They were meeting in a Masonic temple for a little while, and things were tough in the beginning. Once they moved into a Lutheran church things got a little better but when they finally moved to Oakmont and they had their own building that seemed to be a pivotal point in the history of the church. The church that they meet in now is very traditional in appearance, in fact it is an old Presybeterian church built in the late 1800's.

One of the foundational philosopohies at Riverside Community Church is intentional missionary mentality. It is a go and be as opposed to come and see. He does not want to focus drawing people to the church but drawing the church to the culture.

One of the ways that Riverside brings the Word to the community is by taking VBS into a sister community that is lower in the economic status. They worked with the mayor in both communities and asked "what can we do to serve our community?" Since there is a great population of elderly individuals and meals on wheels is so big they decided to get involved with that...not as a church but as staff members of the church! they take turns; switching among people on Tuesdays.

From the powerpoint presentation:

• The church is viewed in 2 ways:

• functional view- the place where you go to get spiritual or filled up. Marry people, bury people, and go to church for certain occassions.

• Incarnational View- Church is not only a place that performs functions, but it is a place where God dwells. It is a people in whom God lives. God lives within each one of us! WE are the body of Christ....Jesus established the church before there were any buildings or structures to meet in, before there was hiearchy; during this period the church grew substantially!

• There are 2 kinds of people:

• Those who "go to church" and those who see themselves "as the church."
• Our challenge is to help people who mereley "go to church" become those who see themselves "as the church, and help them find the part they are to play in putting God on display to the world.
  
• People are looking to see what God is like. It is our responsibility to put God on display for them to see.
• The American Chruch in Crisis: Christianity Today
• Les than 20% of americans regularly attend church---half of what the pollsters report.
• American church attendance is steadily declining.
• Oly one state is out-pacing its population growth.
• 'Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.
  
• Established churches--40 to 190 years old are on average declining.
• The increase in churches is only 1/4 of what's needed to keep up with population growth

It was C.S. Lewis who observed that "there exists in every church something that sooner or later works against the very purpose for which it came into existence. So we must strive very hard, b the grace of God to keep the church focused on the mission that Christ originally gave to it." The Forgotten ways Alan Hirsh

It is most likely the very contentedness of the church that works agains the church. The church gets "happy" they way they are.

This kind of missional view is difficult to work out. The struggle with the church is that it can easily become about attracting people instead of being a missional church "us going".

Some things that exist in every church that works against the purpose for which it comes into existence:

• Alan Hirsh-- "the major challenge to the viability of Christianity is not Buddhism...not is it Islam...nor the New Age...All of these are challenges, no doubt, but i have come to believe that the major threat to the viability o our faith is that of consumerism."
• People look and search for the "best" churches...the churches that make them feel the best. The church in response to this begins to market itself as a business to attract more "customers" or Christians. Everything we do we do in order to attract participants; and although they may come..there is no way to attract discipleship.
  
• When churches bate people with a consumerism mindset it is difficult to all of a sudden switch it up on them and lead them into discipleship.
  
• Consumerism is opposed to self sacrifice, self denial, taking up our cross; everything that discipleship is. Jesus

A problem with "box" or mega churches is that the people that can lead them is few and in between. If we are going to reach people with the Gospel we need to figure out how reach people effectively and creatively.

Many times we help our church by helping them believe instead of helping them follow. If it is only about believing then the Gospel becomes a sales pitch.

Although I agree that we need to follow Jesus I am wondering if we can expect people to follow something that they do not believe in.

The nation of America is not the Kingdom of God. When the church puts all of its energy into telling people to vote a certain way or certain political party we end up missing the Gospel. The Gospel cannot be equated with specific rules and moral regulations. Christians side with Republicans because they claim that they do not support homosexual marriages or abortion; however in the same respect we end up choosing sides because of these issues and end up missing important issues that only "those liberals" care about. The church needs to be the conscience of the culture! Christians should not need laws to and rules put in place by governemtn and political parties to fulfill the Gospel of Jesus.

Shane Claiborne Irresistible Revolution
Greg Boyd Myth of a Christian Nation

How do these principles and these philosophies flesh themselves out in everday life and ministry?
Once this message of missional thinking began to be preached in the pulpit etc. DNA was reproduced in small groups by investing time and service for relay for life, meals on wheels, salvation army, etc. Students do missions projects not just missions trips. Giving people a taste of how the other world lives. Sending teams to Louisiana to help restore things. A fifth grade class bought Llamas to provide money and milk for other nations. When you do these things and it is a part of of regular service to the community and the paper catches wind of it and you end up in the news paper then the greater community begins to realize the makeup and DNA of the church...which is the body of Christ...which are individuals incarnated by Jesus Christ. When we do Jesus things (the stuff that Jesus did) people fall in love with Him!

For more info on Riverside Community Church see PEACE handout...from Rick Warrens PEACE plan. Also see RCC Missions Goal & Strategy

As a church what are the right questions to ask?

• Should we be asking "how can we get people to come to our church?" or "how can we get our people to engage our community?"
• What are ways we can engage and bless our communities beyond the walls of the church?
• If your church was removed from our community, who, besides our attendees, would miss it?
• How can we get people
• to down-size in order to make room for compassion in a super-size me culture?
  

Amazing! I can see how many people would be turned off by what he says...he does seem to be a little more liberal than many would want. I think he has some pretty incredible views that are definitely reflected by the Gospel of Jesus!

Mike Hammer

Before Mike started his church he did something for the community. He saw a store front for rent and decided that a neat idea would be to rent the storefront and stock it with cool stuff for students to come and hang out. This opened the door for all kinds of opportunities...he met the mayor, got to speak to the school board and met some prominent people in the neighborhood and community!

I would like to check out the student center and see what it looks like. How much is it open and available for students...what kind of rules are in place...is it volunteer run...how late is it open?

When they decided to start the church they had a decision to use the country club or the legion...needless to say the decision was not difficult (they went with the country club!)

One thing they do on a Wednesday morning at 6:00am (wow!) that has a men fraternity which is described as being "the quest for authentic manhood". It seems that guys would rather get up an extra hour early and do it in the morning than tie up another evening.

Mike feels that as a whole the program works well for discipleship.
Bridges is also an incredible program! Getting real with yourself...who you are...what's in your heart...why do i continue to get stuck...why do i feel the way i do...are there others like me...?

If there is anything you can control it is your emotional growth; but the only way to do this is to be open, honest, and evaluative with yourself. Sometimes in the Christian community we deny the way we feel or what we are going thourgh...we tend to overlook or try to forget our junk and our wounds and those areas in life that we struggle; but before long our issues end up catching up with us and drag us down and can lead to a devastating conclusion!

In life people get stuck...traditional church does not understand this because it believes that when you are are saved you are free from prior bondage! When no body deals with the problems that they are experiencing and we continue to go to church and most of these people are on fire for God and fill leadership roles within the church...the problem is that most of us in the church feel that we are under the blood and that we are all okay...when we are not! We are suffering in silence. "Secrets keep us sick!" Our past sets a tone for where we are now.

Before Mike was even involved with starting a church he did Bridges. In fact, in the beginning Bridges was for the unchurched; but now he uses it for the church. Specifically, he uses it for his leaders in the church.

This sounds neat! It is rare to have the opportunity to investigate your past in a community of believers and work through our hurts.

If so many of our issues come from childhood and our teen years, it would be an awesome idea to somehow implement this in a youth group. Not only can they learn to deal with "junk" that they have experienced in child hood but also stuff that happens every day when they go to school or when they come home, or when they interact with their parents or brothers and sisters.

I think about this and feel that it would be an incredible opportunity to do this with church leadership; but I definitely feel that it would be challenging and difficult. In the long run, I can see it leading to an incredible experience both as individulas but as a ministry team!

David Kennard: Riverside Community Church

Today we had David Kennard from Riverside community church come and speak to us. He as been at the church for 10 years as associate pastor and is a site pastor. He graduated from Missouri State University.

He just got done doing a series called "Things I wish Jesus Never Said". Some titles that are included are love your enemies, gouge your eye out, etc.

He would not consider the church seeker sensitive but sensitive to seekers! Some ways that this occurs is to help individuals feel comfortable and unpressured to give. Other ways is to use contemporary music during praise and when there is a big word or a theological term that it is explained and in context. There is also a high value placed on using scripture in context.

The ideas above seem to contribute to the 15% non-Christian attendance on any given sunday! That is amazing! I wonder how a culture is created where unChristians feel comfortable in a church! Don't the church people look down on the others and judge those who are smoking outside of the building? I wonder what "types" of non-Christians attend the church...business men and women? Suburban families? Harley riders?

More than just attending church non-Christians attend "small-groups" with other Christians! That is amazing! How is this possible? What is the common thread? What do they have in common? One way this works is by providing some kind of service for the community where the Christians are almost incognito! "Chicks with Sticks" is a small group of women who Crochet hat and caps for children with cancer! There are probably only 3 Christians out of a potential 20 that attend the group!

The goal of these groups is not to proselytize the other members but they want to give back to the community.

Another way is through golf, tennis, biking, hiking, canoing, geneology groups etc. They advertise these groups in the news paper and they get started.

He calls this free market small groups. These are groups that start because someone is interested in waht they do regardless of what that might be and they create a group for that!

An equation that is used is Discipleship=Relationship+Intentionality. "Lets talk about faith in the context of real life of what happening right now." Diseases, deaths, births, etc. This is not a strategy or program but is a way of life. There are some churches that implement this type of group where there are more people involved in small groups than their are in the church. Church events become venues by which individuals can feel comfortable visiting the church.

If you don't have a small group ministry in the church how do you start one. There must be a leader who will dedicate time, research, and education to creating small groups. This must be supported by the lead pastor. And draw attention to the priesthood of believers.

This type of small group seems interesting because the leaders of the group prepare and go deep with God because they are expected to always be ready and sensitive to those who are seeking.

Another intersting idea is that a group or type of service that exists does not always stay around if their is not a heart-beat for that type of ministry.

Another neat concept that was talked about in regards to the discipleship process and growing process of individuals is the Growth process diagram. It is 360 degrees and is cyclical. It begins with Christianity 101 this begins in winter it is a time to dream. The person changes and the old man is dying and a new person is emerging. In spring is Christianity 201 and the theme is developing. Christianity 301 is discovering who you are strengths and weaknesses etc. Christianity 401 is dedication of lives and Christianity 501 is devotion.

Something interesting was seen when the church did a survey. The survey showed that individuals who had been in the church for more than 4 or 5 years prayed less than individuals who just accepted Christ. This is puzzling but it stirred the pot for creating new ways and new ideas to connecting with God. It seems that the church was focused so much on serving that they failed to get close and learn to know God. One of the ways the church is helping people engage the Bible is by beginning a 9 month long sermon series that will be broken up into 9 or 10 series. Families will be encouraged to read "the story" it is in novel form. They youth ministry will be doing the same thing. Children's ministry will also be doing the same. These will be read in both believer and non-believer groups. It is a church wide journey.

Another thing that i though was phenomenal was the idea of using incredible stories developed directly from a small group community in both sermon series and for introducing small groups. Riverside community church is not a church with small groups but a church of small groups.

Although there are some amazing things that happen in small groups..it does not always turn out the we want.

One time a guy did not come home and he was found dead...he had committed suicide. Another time a husband with two kids had many many homosexual affairs. Small groups are messy! Another example is where two wives decided to up and leave their husbands. Most of the people still attend the church.

A revolutionary concept: "you will not have 85% of your congregation involved in small groups if they are attending Sunday night service, Wednesday night service, and morning service!" I think that this is a great concept that bears a lot of truth. There is just not enough time in a week for individuals to schedule too many things! If small groups are always introverted focused Bible studies then the small groups will die. Their needs to be outward focus. 40 days of purpose and 40 days of community are two resources that shape the DNA of small groups at Riverside Community Church.

I am excited to hear about small groups and the potential for reaching the unchurched and non Christians. Small groups seem to be an incredible way of developing Christians and reaching unchurched. However, small groups seem difficult to manage and develop.

I also feel that trying to incorporate something new in a traditional church or even a church that is somewhat contemporary would be met with incredible resistance.

I would also like to learn how the youth culture reflects the DNA of the church at Riverside Community Church.

Nick Poole APC

Nick Poole has an interesting position! He is under Jeff Leake and supports many of the churches that are either church plants from APC or other churches that wanted to get on board with Allison Park!

Initially after graduating from CBC he never saw himself running board and leadership meetings for a church of over 200. With Allison Park, Nicks role can be this at times. This organization is called a multi-church movement.

There is also called MCM ministry school that works with Mission SOS in Stockholm; it trains students and individuals to be church planters in difficult areas. The target audience for this school would be high school students that incorporate Berean courses and also graduating studetns.

A church plant has just been initiated in Tarentum, PA. There has been a small group meeting that met in a house for a while but eventually that house was sold, but around the same time a boxing gym became available and they now meet there.

Some of the things that were done right according to Nick is set up and tear-down. This process only takes about 30minutes. There were also preview services they did 5 and the next time this happens there will only be 3 preview services. Also rather than launching in the winter they will probably launch during the fall.

Some other things that will be changed for the next church plant is securing a worship leader to be there for all of the events and services. Two things necessary for a church plant is a pastor and a worship leaders! This is usually difficult because there is no pay associated with the position...it is necessary to sell the vision and have them grab a hold of it.

Another thing to work on is getting more people from the actual community involved. The mother church lends people to the church plant and already they are beginning to go back to the mother church. From a pastoral perspective it can be painful for individuals involved in the church plant to go back to the mother church. On the flip side there are many people that will get involved in a church plant because they do not like the mother church. There will always be individuals in the church who want something that the church cannot provide. In either case a church plant can be a good idea because it allows individuals to "leave well". One of the challenges is the attituteds being carried into the church plant...also toxic motives and agendas.

One of the church plants launched a second service, but there were many people that did not see a reason for a second service even though there were lack of seats during a regular service. One of the things that helped make navigating these issues successful was casting the vision of reaching the lost, drawing focus to the mission and the heart of Jesus...this usually helps individuals endure those things that they do not necessarily enjoy about the service.

Before Nick even began the process of being involved with APC he was a youth pastor at a more traditional church. The church was an interesting dynamic because initially there was one AG church but it split and Nick became a youth pastor at the one that split. This was interesting because there were many in the church did not like Nick because he grew up in the area and went to the other church and he was considered a traitor.

One of the hang-ups he ran into right out of school that he wished he was better at was asking the right questions during the interview to understand the vision of the pastor for the church, and the leadership style of the pastor (hands-off or involved).

Another misconception is that a small church is an unhealthy church...this is not necessarily true there are many factors that go in to the environment of the church...the community they are in the income level, the relationships created in the church.

One of Nicks primary goals at the different churches he serves at is to equip pastors. He does not want to be seen but desires to work behind the scenes to support the pastor. He wants to help make the Pastor as great as he can be.

Some of my initial impressions that I have of Nick is that he is a learner. It seems that he tries to learn as much as possible. The position that he has could easily lend itself to arrogance and a sense of power that could be abused. But I see that he sees himself as coming along side of pastors and helping out in any way possible!

He seems very knowledgeable and laid back...both adaptable and flexible. Very personable and a great servant leader!

I actually interviewed with Nick Poole for a position at Sharpsburg Assembly of God. Unfortunately it did not work out but I fell in love with the vision and passion of the vision of APC. Not only that but i would have considered it a pleasure working along side of Nick.

Courtney Bancroft Chi Alpha Temple University

Courtney is a southern girl who graduated from Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

It is important to get noticed on big campuses and is difficult to do. One way to get attention is to walk around campus with a "Homer Simpson" head. It began the Gospel according to the Simpsons.

Another time someone dressed up as Satan and autographed "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis books.

Being in Chi Alpha ministry is tough...one difficult part about it is raising the budget and traveling to churches constantly. Pastors were not always gracious with their funding, and on top of it, she was having stomach problems, and to top it all off her team members left her in the middle of it. Many times Pastors have a difficult time giving to Chi Alpha when the students bellies are full, they have smiles on their faces, and drive beamers! Whereas giving to starving children in Africa is much easier because there is more of a sense of urgency!

Beginning was difficult. She started by calling local churches and asking if there were any students that went to their church that went to Temple. Upon getting about 4 students out of the 10 total that you need in order to start a campus group. After that it was important to assign student leadership...to make a long story short the president of Chi Alpha ended up slapping Courtney! That is crazy, what in the world? That is crazy! Inevitably Courtney had to ask the girl to leave leadership position.

On top of all of this Courtney began to have minor seizures. These seizures began to get worse and worse and she ended up in the hospital and then in a coma! She is better now and is on medication and finally has her drivers license and car back!

The ministry can be discouraging at times because there are currently only 8 solid individuals who are Christian and that meet regularly. There are more people who come to events but these are unChristians, which is good, but is difficult when you have these individuals get drunk at events and bring cocaine to events. Of course this does not happen all of the time but nevertheless it still does.

One of the most difficult things that Courtney has had to learn is that she does not feel that she is as good at Chi Alpha as she thought she would be. Additionally, fulfilling the call of God on her life has been much more difficult that she thought it would be.

It has also been difficult to be a female in leadership. The Assemblies of God seem to want female leaders but structurally the AG programs do not work for women. For instance, cohorts and catalyst groups. They are mostly for men: topics, attendees, etc.

In regards to opposition from students on campus there only seems to be difficulties with certain groups. There seems to be a "raw hate" from gay trans gender groups.

Courtney seems like an incredible woman with an awesome desire and passion to serve college students. She seems to have good insight and is very level headed and down-to-earth. I feel that she is going to do a phenomenal job reaching our college students on Temple University.

If i ever have any questions about how to network and work with college campus within the local church I am definitely going to contact Courtney. She has a lot to offer and I am inspired by her committment and willingness to persevere during tough times!

Courntney--Glad Tidings

Courtney is only 24 and is a Pastor at Glad Tidings Assembly of God. She graduated from VFCC in 2006, and oversees the varsity student ministries.

The core of the youth is driven by small groups! It helps new comers get connected and allows leaders to feeel that they are investing in the life of students.

One of the biggest adjustments moving from college to being a youth pastor was learning that you are always being watched. Learning to balance cutting age and relevant ministry with holiness has been a difficult struggle, but being able to have an open dialog with the Pastor and Youth Ministry Director has helped significantly.

Some other issues that have been encountered is the transition from children's church to youth. One of difficulties is that parents try their best and succeed at sheltering their kids and keeping them on the right track. This results in mostly all Christian kids getting together for children's church. Then when these same children make a transition into the youth group setting and these same students come into contact with children who did not grow up in the church and the parents become worried and concerned that their kids might make bad decisions about who to hang out with and compromise their beliefs.

When it comes to discipleship it does not seem that big and crazy outreaches are effective as they might at first seem. tons of kids would come, get saved, but not come back. Their outreaches were not changes students lives.

Deep and wide is a survey done by Doug fields (see handout) to discover whether or not discipleship and evangelism is effective in what it should be doing.

Some Observations from survey:
While 89.1 % of students feel comfortable at Real Life, and 68.1 % of students say they would feel comfortable inviting a friend on ANY night...

While 57.1% of our students claim to have be Christians with a growing faith...nearly 2/3 of our students read their Bible and pray Less than once a week or never, and only 1/3 of our students feel thy could defend the existence of God.



Courtney had a wealth of information, and after speaking with Eran Holt a few times about how Glad Tidings does youth ministry it really makes a lot of sense. I also think that i will check out more information on the surveys, results, and organizations of the data.

Courtney seems incredibly sensible and passionate about her position and about students. It is also very encouraging to see a female youth pastor who is doing amazing things!
One out of four students had NEVER BROUGHT a friend.

Dave Crosby Jr.

Dave went to Messiah college for psychology and business and also took Berean classes. Daves first position was on staff with his dad David Crosby as a youth pastor and music pastor.

It was good but there were challenges with working with my father. it is was important to respect the boundaries and position of pastor but was easy to accidentally step over boundaries.

Microeconomic development is where there is a community of extremely poor people who are willing to work and helping them start out there own businesses. Macroeconomic develoment is on a larger scale. This idea was birthed out of a passion to reach restricted areas with the Gospel but through a different means than preaching. Mostly it is a humanitarian effort that provides health services and products to these nations and countries.

Over time, approximately 2 years, he began to miss the daily grind of the local church. After one unseccessful ten year plan for a church plant; got began to resurrect a new vision and desire. His plans moved from Hershey, PA to Poconos, PA.

One of the most important things in ministry is marrying the right person. "That decision can make or break you!"

There were many ethical decisions with this type of move because God seemed to be calling David jr back to the Poconos to start a church in the same community that he used to be on staff a a church there. The bottom line was asking and investigating whether or not this was from God.

During this process and journey of life finding a mentor was an essential step...through prayer, an opening of eyes and pursuing relationships that landed him in the middle of solid mentoring relationships.

David describes the church as multicultural with over 40 nations being represented. The average attendance of the church is from 800-1100. Although the church is big numerically and only five years old it is immature in many respects...very similar to some of the things that you encounter when raising a child, except there is less control!

One thing that many church planting manuals and other curriculum will not address is that of "waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit"; through prayer. This was the primary ingredient that finished the recipe of the passion that God began in Dave's heart.

Additionally, vision and a strong leadership team is important...because there are times where you have to brace for a snow storm..."when you plant a church every "flake" in town will come.

The vision of the Poconos church is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Modeling this concept in personal lives is essential in completing the vision of the church. Teaching the vision and articulating it in everyday life is essential! Some ways that this is currently being done is through adressing needs in the community and reach out with the love of Christ, in a practical way, to make a difference! They are doing a blood drive with the American Red Cross! It is amzaing that the church does not meet in a church building but in a local High School!

Another way, is by providing food for those who have to choose between food or gas. Another thing is to do a gas buy down at three different stations where they will buy the gas and sell it for a dollar cheaper! What an amazing concept...not only does it reach people with the love of Jesus but it also provides great advertising for the church and Jesus because every newspaper and news station come to check it out.

Events do not have to have a lot of money to do great outreaches...water bottle give aways to mailmen, bus-drivers, etc. This builds great community support...it lets people and organizations know that someone cares!

The only way to get people saved is to invite people to get saved...a lot of time is spent thinking about first impressions. The work really hard to make the first 7 minutes impressionable in a good way. It needs to be friendly, easy, and enjoyable! It can be as easy as having people in the parking lots waving hello/good morning. Also showing that there is a value on children and that they are in safe hands. There is also free continental breakfast and Starbucks coffee. Also to connect with individuals sermons series are used alot and also secular music to start off some of the sermons.

As for discipleship David recognizes that the church might be a little on the weak side. As he has recognized this as one of his weaknesses he makes it a strength by using some purpose driven information.

The purpose driven church idea is relatively old based on helping individuals intentionally seek after God. Spiritual growth is an intentional process. Using the baseball diamond can be a framework on specific bases and foundation on which we need to begin to build foundations on. At each "base" a covenant is agreed upon! First base begins with membership then on to 2nd base which is considered maturity (exhibiting Christ in life; committing to daily habits!) Third base is ministry every member is a minister: priesthood of all believers. Home base is mission: living out purpose God designed for you.

A healthy church should have 33% indivdiuals who are living in sin (not saved or even close). 33% should have made a decision for Christ and be on 1st or second base. Another 33% of the church should be composed of bases 3 and 4: they are on fire for God. We try move individual in the community from a "come and see" mentality to a dedication and fire form God.

In every church the goal should be to reach the different levels of people: community, crowd, congregation, committed, and core.

A fault of any system is that a person can go through all of the classes and jump through all of the "hoops" their hears still might not be changes.

Another system employed in conjunction with the previous is the SHAPE model. Spiritual, Hurt, Abilities, Personality, and Experience.

Reflections:

I am wondering if 60 hours a week is a normal work week for a pastor; regardless of the size. I wonder if that is necessary to grow a church. Is this healthy for the church, for the pastor, or for the family? I know that it can be done and great rewards for both the church and the Kingdom of God occur because of individuals hard work however it seems that this type of mind-set can be risky!

I am highly impressed by his demeanor and humility. He does not come across as with a "haughty" attitude but one of simplicity...although he is a very knowledgeable and complex individual.

Of the many people that we have hear speak thus far I look at Dave and say "that is a person that I would like to follow after!" The other speakers have definitely been inspirational and led me to think a lot about thinking outside of the box. I would like to learn how youth pastors have decided whether or not they value the same things as their senior pastors and whether or not this will effect the relationship for either a positive or negative effect.

I am also wondering whether or not the model that Dave uses from both SHAPE and Rick Warren would work in other settings. Additionally, where would this model work best: with families, youth, commuter communities, and even rural communities? Are there any things that make Poconos Church excel that other areas do not have?

I think that it would be nice to hear from churches where "nothing is happening" at least according to some of the previous church planters we have heard. I am wondering how a struggling church can win people for Jesus. Would a free breakfast and Starbucks even work in some areas?

When I think about some churches that I know about, at least in a rural area, I do not see how, or why an unsaved individual would want to step foot in a church!

It would also be nice to have a list of resources or top 10 reads that Dave would recommend for discipleship, church planting, evangelism, pastoral, etc. to help individuals grow and read good stuff!

Dan Miller: Transforming the Community

The following Speaker notes are from Dan Miller talking about Transforming the Community.
He took Berean Bible Couses and has been Pastor and Associate Youth Pastors.

Divine guidance has led into amazing things.

Off topic marriage tips:

• never keep records of wrongs

• never raise your voice to your wife (God gave you her as a gift yelling at her is yelling at God)
• Get married quick!
  

His church was recently spotlighted on the 700 club.

If you are going to change you community you have to be seen. People must perceive you as if you have something to offer.

You transform the community by stopping: thinking about the church. God told us to build the Kingdom! God is first, the community is second, the church is fifth.

"Member services are out" Ministry needs to revolve around Kingdom Principle.

To change the community we need to change our mindset.

When Dan first arrived at Back Mountain Church there were only 15 people in the church, the facilities were run down and viewed by the community as cultic or as a secret community. He began to go out into the community earned the right to speak into peoples lives by being genuine.

The church he went to only had $32.00 in the check book. Upon arrival the 15 individuals that were there were shortly introduced to other churches that would "fit" them better.
There cannot be fighting among Christians within the church based on styles of preaching and praise. The only frustrations we should be having is from trying to win people over who have not been saved.

Upward programs at the church help introduce people to Christ.
Upward basketball programs: is built on the premise of life skills (team player, integrity, kindness to officials etc.) and focuses on playing not winning!

Other Upward programs:

Basketball
Soccer
flag Football
Basketball Camp
Cheer leading Camp
Soccer Camp
Mission Camp

At all the programs students commit to participate in devotions, and these devotions can be led by individuals from the communities, coaches, etc.

When there was enough money to build a building the typical church center was not built but the Rock Recreation Center.

While driving around on his motorcycle in nice neighborhoods God asked him "how are you going to minister to that doctor, to that lawyer, to that business man?" The Lord told him to build a facility that they would go to!

Membership fees are charged: Student Memberships are $199.00; Single Membership is $239.00; and married couples are $459:00. Money is not necessarily made off of this the memberships help but the church supports it.

The building is currently listed as a non-profit 501 c3

The next project is to build a sanctuary that also functions as a school, dinner/theatre, etc.

This guy is passionate! This guy is passionate! This guy is passionate! This guy is passionate!
He is humble and sincerely believe in the power of God!

The goal of the church is to minister to only 1000 people but to minstre to 10,000's of people in the community.

There are rarely altar calls during Sunday service: the Sunday service is for equipping the saints to win people outside the church!

I am wondering how or what discipleship looks like. Another way of asking is the assimilation of people into the church or if that even happens. Is it a goal of the Rock Recreation Center? Is it supposed to funnel people into the church?

• A brief response to this is that they do not go to the church but they go to the people of the church, which eventually leads them into the church!
  
• In order to strengthen the discipleship process the pastor admits they are weak but if he were to look down on the church they would need to develop more discipleship classes. This would involve follow-up of the individuals who accept Jesus. Small groups are also going to help with the process.
• The way discipleship is going to be done is: three pronged. The major focus is to attach people to a small group that study the word of God.
• The second is to extend personal invitation to new converts to a small group.
• Other concern is that it seems that you have to be a special type of person to be able to do something like this.
• Response: If God is for you, who can be against you? If God goes before you...
• If God has called you: He will empower you!
  
• I tend to over think things but I wonder if you question your call that you are not called.
  
• Does a calling have to come down to one moment? If you are truly called will you or should you remember this moment?
  
• Can a calling develop over time? What does it feel like? How is it seen? What questions do you need to ask to discover this? How would a new convert discover whether or not he or she is called into the ministry?
  

It also might seem that the church has grown mostly because of Dan Millers personality. One of the fears is who is being raised up to take the place when Dan is no longer there?

• When it comes to the Rock Recreation, the Pig Roast, the Nativity Dan is hands off. He might give altar calls every now and then but other than that everything has been handed off.
  
• Finding people that have the following qualities or can answer the question: do you fill called to ministry. Is the requirement to serve at the church! Second question is what are your strategies? If God calls you he will give you strategies to reach that area.
  
• "Eagles fly alone" if you are youth pastor, executive pastor, children's etc.
• One of my difficulties with this is the mentoring factor.
• Another quality that needs to be in place is: subordination. Loyalty! The goal of the guy underneath should be to make the other guy better!
  
• Pet Peeves: after service is over not interacting with the people who are there is a pet peeve. smacking and shaking hands, kissing babies, etc is expected.
  

Listening to Dan talk about his vision, the plans, and details that God gave him 25 years ago makes me wonder whether or not this same kind of idea can be reproduced in other areas of the country. Is this something that works in rural areas as well as urban and inner city? It would be interesting to have a filter that could be used to show how a person or church would implement such a plan or whether or not it would even work in the area.

Jason Lamer - Youth Alive

Jason Lamer grew up in a Christian home, and Christianity/church has always been apart of my life.
From the mouth of Jason:
I first became a Christian when i was 7 years old. I realized that i was a sinner and that i needed to accept Jesus as a Savior. There was a time while I was a senior in High School that I hit a spiritual dry spell where it seemed that he could not "feel" God. But it was in that time that he really forged a relationship with God that went beneath surface experiences.

He went to North Central Bible College because he admired Dr. Meyers leadership and caring personality. He recognized the call of God on his life.

At North Central he was a Pastoral Major but after graduation he became a youth pastor. He felt that his calling was to an Evangelist, and go to church to church. He first felt this call at 13 when he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Before his first ministry position he interviewed with at least 4 pastors and some of them never even responded. It was not until June that he actually received a FT position in a rural area (one of the poorest, and highest in teen pregnancy) in PA.

There was not a lot of money to do ministry so the best that he could do was something that came from the main pastor: find a need and meet it! Even in the youth ministry this was a driving philosophy! We went from a philosophy of hoping people would come to church to figuring out where the hot spots were an going to them.

An example is the concept of welfare: Actually welfare was developed in Fayette county. Once we identified the target and the need we developed something that looks like Convoy of Hope but before that was actually established. We utilized individuals who had trucking companies and partnered with grocery stores, hair cutteries, and we provided services in parks to those who were in need. While the people came for there health care and food there was opportunity to express everything that they were going to get for free which was directly tied into the free gospel and love and grace of Jesus Christ! We would see about 2-3 families a year come into the church and make decisions for Christ.

This was one of the ways we developed incredible reputation and relationship with individuals in the community.

Another ministry outreach we did was a parade: we were invited to a parade after contacting the mayor; at the end of the parade people were invited to head over to the youth group to view a commemorative video of the highlights of the basketball team that year. No one raised there hands to get saved but we did build reputation with individuals in the community.

One of his biggest philosophies regarding style or methodology in Youth Ministry is to be relevant but/and relational. Making phone calls, inviting students to hang out at the house, but once the youth began to grow we could not have them all over so we developed third degree-discipleship small groups.

He prayed to God that he would touch lives and be purposeful about ministry and not just take up space...He told Jason to impact the schools in the county. One of the ways we began to impact schools was to step in when emergencies happened. A girl died in an ATV accident and Jason called the school and let them know that they were praying for the school administration and the students; a few months later another student died and he made the same call. It just so happened that all of the grief counselors for the school were out at seminars and they asked Jason to come in and do grief counseling. It went great, under dire circumstances...the counselor realized that Jason was offering the students something that the other counselors could not and she got his contact information and any time something would happen he would come in and help out!

He began to do High School assemblies yearly which eventually led him to begin to do work with the 7 Project.

Now Jason represents Youth Alive and uses Prayer Zone Partners, Campus Missionaries, Campus Clubs, and the Seven Project as strategies to get the message of Jesus Christ to the Youth across the nation!

The 7 Project is primarily motivational: and talks about making good choices. Stories, tricks, and stuff only go five minutes each. The school administration picks 6 topics of 13 that the project can come in and teach on. The seventh topic is all about Christ: it is at a local youth group...food is available, there are games and prizes: 50% of students who participate in the evening even give their lives to Jesus.

One of the difficulties that are encountered after people give their lives to the Lord is follow up and helping to plug in these youth students into local churches. The 7 Project tries to put the face of a local pastor or youth pastor with and alongside of the 7 Project so that students can get comfortable being plugged into. 7.0 is based on the rictor scale which measures earthquakes. With these 7 elements eh 7 project will have long-lasting and greater impact on the students and the community.

7 elements required before 7 Project will come is:

• Network- involvement of 3 other churches; preferably not the same denomination.
  
• Serve- identify the need(s)
• Disciple- identify the teens. challenging students to look at their schools as a mission field. What will you do to reach them?
  
• Plan- identify the how to.
• Evangelize- identify the opportunities.
• Resource- identify the helps. Are you reading, and staying educated.
  
• Grow- identify the person (YOU) What is your motivation for wanting to do the 7 Project.
  

I am impressed with the passion that Jason has for youth, not just for getting hands raised and seats filled for an outreach but for developing systems and building scaffolding for the leaders in the community that will help the students get plugged in and connected to churches.

Too many times there are hands raised but they never get plugged in. I think that it is great that the project seems future focused, not just to have an event but impact and change lives.

Most of all I m impressed with his passion for students and his desire to seek and save students who are lost.

I feel that, he is attached to reality and that he has an adequate understanding of "life" and the difficulties that can come about when beginning ministry especially when starting out!

I am inspired to work with schools and develop and cultivate relationships with willing administration and counselors who also desire to speak into the lives of young people. It is also comforting to know that when I start in a position of ministry that there will be the opportunity to work with leadership that will come along side and help establish scaffolding that will hold up under the pressure and weight of the many people that need ministered too in our communities! I am under the impression that Jason and his team would bend over backwards to help youth pastors who are willing to take the steps necessary to reach those who need to hear the Gospel and freedom of Jesus!

Pittsburgh City Outreach--Brian Bolt

Drugs, Guns, and Chaos! Jesus redeems even the most radical! "God's got a call on you life!" is all he needed to hear.

After the gunshot to the face, and the succession of rebuilding his face; God was preparing to rebuild his heart.

Planting churches in rural areas where the population is is about 100 people plus some cows to having a passion and desire to provide an outreach to the inner city. Holding credentials in the Assemblies of God the fire was within and the call on his life was ignited... now only to figure out where to start... where to plant?

Upon meeting another church planter and getting hired his sordid past now begins to blossom into a vibrant future! After a few months of the office he was tired and ready for the street!

With the blessing of the pastor he rented out a house and brought in the homeless and hurting. People are getting healed and lives are changing! One particular guy was dying of hepatitis...he was beat and bloody both physically and emotionally.

After caring for his physical wounds he recognized his need for a spiritual healing but he got more than that! The brothers laid hands on him and he was healed from hepatitis!!! Praise God.

By allowing guys in the 6 month program to clean churches and restaurants for funding a church was soon born. Located in a storefront with a prime location right next to a pornographic store, the church needed subtly persuade the store owner.

Being involved with broken people and broken vessels is not only time consuming but emotionally and spiritually draining. One of the hardest things is setting up boundaries.

Some successful outreaches is citireach where the church gives out pizza and gives out back-packs, and "give a gifts" through network of hope.

With crime on the rise and violence plaguing our cities there needs to be more inner city church plants to provide hope to the hurting.

In regards to counseling there tends to be a directive approach. This sounds good in theory however, at some point individuals need learn to think... for so long many people on the streets have developed a stimulus response type attitude. There are specific triggers that influence an individual to have physiological responses and there needs to be a time when the individual learns to think through these automatic responses.

Furthermore, depending upon the drugs or alcohol the detoxification process can be deathly. Prescriptions which are widely abused cannot be quit cold turkey otherwise serious injury can result; very similar to alcohol.

I do love his passion and commitment to what he feels God has called him to! Although, he does not have "higher education" he inspires me to run with what God has placed on my heart.

Not only that but this encapsulates and demonstrates the incredibly awesome power of God's grace.

I definitely appreciate the fresh approach on the dependance of the Holy Spirit. Not downplaying the supernatural but relying on it solely for the preaching and teaching of the Gospel.

His commitment to offer accountability, encouragement, and support for those who have graduated is amazing. I would express a little concern about the individuals who graduate and then lead. Especially the guy the who quit smoking crack about a year ago and is now running the home...this sounds dangerous not only to the individuals but also to the structure and safety of the ministry.

Additionally, there seems to be some legal issues with codes and bending the rules mentality that seem to be working but eventually can create problems.