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BOA ACTION: Motion to forward to the BOB to discern and inform the appropriate GC Ministry Groups
GCRCC Status: forwarded for July 2011 General Conference action
Introduced by: Mike Hopper, North Central Conference
Written by: Mike Hopper
Related to Paragraph(s) #: Minister’s or Superintendent’s Manual
Whereas:
Whereas Jesus placed an emphasis on persons involved in ministry when He said: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
And whereas Jesus encouraged the making of disciples when He said, “Therefore go and make disciples….” (Matthew 28:19)
And whereas part of the making of disciples is equipping persons for ministry and involving them in ministry;
Therefore, be it resolved:
Local church leadership annually report the number of individuals in their church who are involved in some kind of ministry, and that this statistic be a means of annual comparison to discern progress in making disciples who are actively serving the Lord.
Suggestions:
–Recognize that ministry can include visible things like teaching, preaching, nursery care, ushering, music ministry, etc.
–Recognize that some ministry is behind the scenes like prayer network, visiting the sick, cooking food for funeral dinners, etc.
–Recognize that some ministry is outside the church like ringing bells for Salvation Army or serving in a food pantry, etc.
–Recognize that some ministry may involved weekly activity and other ministry may be done less frequently.
–This number should include adults, youth, and children who may be serving – whether or not they are official members of the local church yet.
Does the resolution have a direct relationship to the vision and mission of the Free Methodist Church?
Yes.
How will the proposed change help us accomplish our vision and mission?
It enhances the focus of church leaders on bringing the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole world by improving upon the count merely of new conversions, dollars raised and worship attendance.
The Resolutions Committee rates this resolution as:
(B) Recommended – worthy of review
Related posts:
Hey, if anyone out there believes that measuring the number of people in a worship service and those who raise their hands to say something like “I love Jesus now” is sufficient to get the grasp of what God is doing in the midst of a congregation… Then let’s ignore this resolution. But if someone out there thinks a more nuanced way of measuring or at least noticing so that it might be applauded and possibly replicated – other aspects of what a church might do to be faithful to Jesus – then make some noise at General Conference! Do I feel an Every Means group focused on Metrics coming on?