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November 6, 2006 |
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November 6, 2006 |
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Church Growth and Evangelism I planted the seed. Apollo watered
the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the
one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things
grow. I Corinthians 3:6-7 We should
not attempt to ‘manufacture’ church growth, but rather release
the potential that God has put into every church. Our task is to minimize the
obstacles to growth both inside and outside the church. There is
a great deal written about releasing this potential with healthy churches.
For example, Natural Church Development (NCD) says that if we are doing well
in eight areas, growth will occur naturally. Although different experts have
there own matrix of ideas, NCD encompasses a lot of what is being said. Evangelism
means the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is about the
person receiving the good news. The first level is to the unbelievers that do
not know about Jesus Christ. This audience then evolves to level two, those
who need the continued proclamation. The
specific challenge for many Presbyterians is that we don’t do level one
evangelism, not even poorly. We have no idea how to do it. In some cases
there are strongly held beliefs against those who do not believe. I am
becoming more and more certain that for many of us the only thing that will
work is a canned approach (an Alpha – like program) that spells out all
the steps so that we can release our identified evangelists. Doing
level one is very much a missional activity. I encourage you to make a last
minute registration to hear Alan Hirsch’s presentation on the missional
church by email office@baltimorepresbytery.org. In the subject line, put Alan Hirsch’s
event. Bill
Millen |
Inside this issue Events of the week: Nov. 7 The
Shaping of Things to Come 10:30am
– 1:30pm Catonsville PC Take Note/Act Now § Last Chance: Mission Surveys § Gulf Coast Funds Available § Alan Hirsch: Missional Church § Bonhoeffer Play § Spiritual Direction Retreat § Franklinville Craft Extravaganza § Congo Mission Luncheon § Margaret Budd Organ Recital § AIDS Memorial Service § Triennium Deadline § Tour of Italy, April ‘07 § APCE National Conference § National Pastors’ Sabbath 2007 § Military Phone Cards Prayer
Concerns Hope PC |
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People Harry Holfelder’s Memorial Service will be on Sunday, November 12,
at 2:30 p.m., First and |
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Prayer Concerns Hope
PC ask for prayers: ·
As they are in the
process of calling a half-time Pastor for Outreach ·
That the right
person is chosen and that they find the money to pay salary and benevolences Madison
Avenue PC ask for prayers: ·
For their outreach
ministry in conjunction with Rev. Dr. Karen Brown ·
As they are going
through a time of growth and transition ·
For their
development corporation as it is growing and going through transitions; for
the president of the board, Gina Sammons ·
For the church as it
is stabilizing and continuing a search for installed leadership For the Presbytery
Offices 800-511-0087 Fax: E-mail: To
Unsubscribe: email Alice
McGee or call the office |
Take Note/Act Now The compilation of the
mission surveys will be put into final form for distribution at the Nov.
Presbytery meeting. The deadline for any final additions or changes is Fri.,
Nov. 10th. Please contact Deb Milcarek (dmilcarek@baltimorepresbytery.org)
with questions. Funds
available for Gulf Coast Recovery Work Teams; they are earmarked for
smaller churches/“hands-on mission” teams PLUS: a
new gulf coast recovery conference and mission opportunity! Alan Hirsch will be leading a
discussion on how an existing church may become a missional church at a
half-day conference, “The
Shaping of Things to Come” on Tues., Nov. 7th (election
day) from 10:30am – 1:30pm at Catonsville PC (info and
registration; Alan Hirsch’s
Bio). Woods
PC presents “A View from the
Underside”, the one-act play about Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Sun., Nov.
12th at 7:00pm (more). Margaret Budd will play an organ recital on Sun., Nov. 19th
at 3:30pm at Second PC. First
and Franklin Street PC will host an AIDS
memorial service for those who have died from the disease on Fri., Dec. 1st
at 8:00pm. The service marks the 25th anniversary of the disease.
An offering will support local and global AIDS projects (more).
Ken Kovacs
will be leading a 9-day tour of Synod and GA
items Other items The IRS has raised the Mileage Reimbursement Rate to $.485 cents per mile
beginning January 1, 2007. The Presbytery's policy is that churches
should pay the federal reimbursement rate. Also on our website Don’t miss all the new Local Church Announcements at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/announcements.html Presbytery
Yearly Calendar Past Issues of Tidings are available at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/midweekmail.html. |
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Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter |
Bill Millen, Associate Executive |
Charles Forbes, Stated Clerk |
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Deb Milcarek Associate of Mission and Justice |
Jane Johnson |
Rita Walters Director of Development rwalters@baltimorepresbytery.org |
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Director of Public Policy |
Judi Forrester Coordinator of Financial Services |
Alice McGee Coordinator of Information Services |
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Coordinator of Resources |
Janice Kominski Coordinator of Communications |
Questions? Comments? |
