Week in review

If you like you may listen to this blog post click in blue box on the right below.

• Two cookouts
• Serving about 260 people with 55 volunteers
• Podcast
• Sewing classes on Tuesday
• Neighbor in Hospital (Pastor Gloria)
  

Finally

After a 30 page application that took several weeks to complete, a phone call or two to the IRS, making sure every t was crossed and every i was dotted, we received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating that as of January 13, 2006 we are an official not- for- profit 501 (c) 3 organization. I am very excited that is over. Everything is retroactive to the day of incorporation in 2006. YEA!!!!!

In other news:

• We are having what I am calling extreme cookouts. Large crowds, extremely good volunteers and lots of fun. God is up to something big.
• Folks are responding to our need for hotdogs etc. God is Good.
  
• Two wonderful ladies from Russiaville held their first sewing class, seven neighbors attended and made some beautiful pillows. The sewing ladies consider themselves missionaries. By the end of class they knew each 'student" by name and something about them. Several of the women attending had never used a sewing machine before. Everyone left feeling good about themselves. It was a great day of accomplishment. God is stirring hearts.
  
• One neighbor woman called me over and put a handful of money into my hand and asked me to buy a pop up canopy so that we would never have to cook out in the rain again. I took her seventy dollars and purchased a canopy. I know she had been saving up a long time to give that gift. God is generous.
  

Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks Jeff

A Note from Director of Children's Outreach Mary Ingle

Family and friends,

This is just a write up about our first night at doing the cookouts. Yo should have been there to see, live, and experience it!!!!!!!! What an incredible, amazing, and God-thing it was. And it was ONLY our first Sunday night!!!!! Pastor Jeff and many AWESOME volunteers are handling Garden Square and yours truly and another group of AWESOME volunteers are handling Pine Valley. I was SOOOOOO excited about the turnout. We helped several families with food afterwards. All of our leftovers went home with families. They were so appreciative. We heard many "thank yous", "Can't believe you guys are doing this". You guys are really special." You guys really are doing this EVERY Sunday night." These were only a few comments we heard. I pulled up at Trinity to pack groceries for a family and I met Pastor Jeff and Chris(wife) and I was so full of joy. I said "tonite was SWEET!!!!"
God truly blessed our first cookout. I was praising Him all the way home. During the night, I heard a voice that said, "Hear my voice". Well, I did hear His voice a couple of months ago that said, "Cookouts at Pine Valley." Well, we did and oh my goodness, we were very blessed.

We could use more volunteers at Pine Valley. We need around 6 to serve. An I would love to have another group of 4+ to play games with the kids. I have games planned to play. So, if your family, women's or men's cell (bible ) groups, youth groups, would like to help us, please email me maryingle@yahoo.com or call me @ 868-3151. Cookouts are EVERY Sunday from 5-6. Dave Kilty is our griller and he starts grilling at 4:15. You would need to be there by 4:15. After we get things set up, we ways have prayer before we start serving. We are usally done by 5:45. People start coming at 4:45 to eat and we begin to serve then. Please pray about being a part of this wonderful journey and being used as Jesus hands and feet. God spoke to me during the cookout and said, these people just not only needs to build a relationship with You and me, but with one another. Pretty cool, hu????

Well, I could go on and on, but I think you all get the overview picture. May God continue to bless all of you as you are blessing Him.

Serving 4-Him,
Mary

Round UP

It appears that I haven't posted anything for a while. Let's circle the wagons and catch up.

We are still inside on Sunday Nights with meal and Sidewalk Sunday School. On Easter Sunday we had a smaller crowd than expected. We had hundreds of Easter Eggs to find in an Easter egg hunt after dinner on Easter Sunday. We had eggs in four areas and divided children into age group. Our yard was covered for older elementary. Only three were hunting in that area. After a bit that group got tired and asked if they had to pick them all up. We turned younger kids in behind them to finish cleaning up the yard. Kids went home with completely full bags of plastic eggs with candy inside.

The next week we were back to normal numbers. :)

I spoke at the Marion District's mission rally that was called, "raise the roof with the Bishop" . The district was putting a roof on a school in Africa. I spoke about neighborhood outreach and the bishop spoke about mission trips that had impacted his life.

One day last week I attended a Prevent Child Abuse Conference to do an opening and closing prayer. Little did I know I was receiving an award for the work we do with children. My name was on the plaque but God and the many volunteers did everything, I mostly stand and watch in awe.

I met with a potential new board member. Our board is losing several folk due to moves, we are working at replacing and building the board's capacity. I am stressing the need to be highly committed and the expectations that I desire for a board member. I don't want Kokomo Urban Outreach to be thought of as just a "good" organization but as an organization that strives for excellence.

Leadership Kokomo is working on providing us with a cargo trailer and all the trimmings. We will be able to pull into neighborhoods to do mission work. WOW!!!

Today I met with two very nice women who will be offering sewing classes. They are going to begin with a pillow making project and go from there. They desperately want to be Jesus to someone else.

I am fast learning it is hard for long time church members to be the hands and feet to the unchurched as they spend a great deal of time with Christians in church.

Please pray for D.J. a 3 yr old boy we work with he is having surgery tomorrow. All of his teeth are rotten and they all have to be capped. I will be visiting him to tomorrow in the hospital.


Thanks for the prayers. Jeff

New Podcast

Dave Mullens and I just finished a new podcast. A podcast is a type of Radio show. We found a new way of producing them using our cell phones and web page called, "Talk Shoe". What is cool about this format is that people can call in and join the conversation. Our podcast will be every Tuesday at 10:15 PM. Just go to talk shoe and you will see all our shows and the schedule. Click us on and listen. If you want to join in you must register on-line. If you want to just listen at your convenience you can click the play button on the right.

500 Easters Baskets Made

It was like the 12 disciples feeding the 5000. Twelve KUO volunteers helped an endless sea of people put together over 500 Easter baskets. The event began at 11:00 AM, at 9:50 the line began to form, by 10:30 the line was all the way down the sidewalk and had turned down the side-street. Last year we served everyone in about 50 minutes this year it took an hour and a half. By 12:15 everyone was inside the building......finally.

The crowd was orderly, patient and appreciative. The volunteers were awesome. We did run out of actual baskets for about the last 30 or so, but we had enough stuff to fill a basket. Just like the disciples we gathered the left overs at the end and realized that we have enough stuff to fill about 100 more. Thanks for your support and Prayers. God is Good!!!!

Click picture to enlarge to read caption.

Kokomo Tribune News Article

Church offers Easter baskets Friday

By TOM CAREY
Tribune community news editor

Hundreds of chocolate rabbits “hopped” into Trinity United Methodist Church this week.

The “bunny brigade” is part of a Kokomo Urban Outreach campaign to connect youngsters with Easter baskets.

Trinity Pastor and Kokomo Urban Outreach Executive Director Jeff Newton said the bunnies will find homes among the 300 Easter baskets currently in his 1701 S. Locke St. church.

Step into a storage room in the church basement and you’ll find a veritable chest of toys, yo-yos, puzzles, pencils, miniature footballs and basketballs, necklaces, bracelets, and sunglasses.

Even the most demanding sweet tooth would find something pleasant in the 1,000 candy bars, 150 pounds of foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and scores of suckers and lollypops.

There are also other sundry items, such as hair clips and about 500 stuffed animals. Several local churches, Currens Zapfe Paper & Notion Company Inc., and an anonymous donor — who, among other items, provided 300 bags of Easter grass — donated to the cause.

From 11 a.m. to noon Friday, parents are welcomed to drop by the church, and gather up goodies to make baskets for their children.

Newton estimates the Outreach Project will have enough materials to create 400 baskets at the church, located adjacent to Garden Square. Last year, 110 families — making 300 baskets — were represented at a similar endeavor.

He also said enough “goodies” were gathered and given to Coordinated Assistance Ministries Executive Director the Rev. Ruth Lawson to distribute to her clients. CAM, an ecumenical ministry to the homeless, operates a drop-in shelter at 210 N. Market St.

Newton said the project was simply part of Kokomo Urban Outreach’s goal to spread the word of God and “to help people have a normal life.”

“It may seem like a very small thing, but it’s a very important ministry,” Lawson said.

Faced with rent, and utility and food costs, she said there is often little left over for luxuries, such as Easter baskets.

The Boy who didn't know Jesus

Sunday Night we had an 11 yr old boy in Sidewalk Sunday School who, as I was talking about Jesus, blurted out....."who is Jesus?" He didn't understand or had heard about Jesus. I briefly filled him in. His response was, " it is scientifically impossible to come back to life". My response was, "your right, but for God all things are possible". As always we broke into small groups for prayer, the boy was happy to pray but asked, "which goddess will be praying to". I explained we would be praying to the one true God. He joined a group with a local pastor and they prayed together. Afterwards the boy asked the music leader if what we said about Jesus was true....she respond with a great big "yes". I did check with the adult that brought him and was assured that the boy really did not know anything about Christianity. Please pray for this boy.

In other news..... the seven project came to Kokomo last week. The group spoke about choices at all the middle and high schools in Howard County(about 6000 students). On Saturday there was a big rally at the gym where the Gospel was presented to 3000 students with about 2000 encountering God for the first time. It was incredible to be there and see hundreds of kids on their knees covering the gym floor. There were so many, that the gym floor was filled as well as all the ramps leading to it. Every student making a commitment filled out a card and most were connect to a youth group that very night. We had one girl in our neighborhood show up at our church on Sunday night for the first time because of what happened to her the previous night. This event was planned by youth pastors and leaders from all over Kokomo. For the first time in memory, churches from all persuasions worked together to accomplish something for the Kingdom.

God is up to something in Kokomo and it appears to be big!!!!!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Today was an interesting day. He is homeless and moves from apartment to apartment living with this friend and then that one. He has shared with me many times. In his younger years he felt called to preach. He knows the scriptures backwards and forwards. He is an awesome guy. The problem is he drinks all the time. He is a drunk that loves everyone. He hangs on me etc. he is not an angry drunk. He would not hurt anyone. He has told me over and over that he is Jonah running and living in the belly of a big fish. He says he can't get out. I have been building a relationship with him for almost a year. Today he came to church. I was talking about the "sign of Jonah" found in Luke 11. As I was retelling the story of Jonah, when he walked in. He sat through the service and wept. At the end he came forward and we prayed for him. I will continue to work with him. Please pray that he can say no to alcohol. He is going to AA.

Just before dinner tonight the police were called to the neighborhood. There was a yelling fight going on. It was ugly. The group I knew the best said they would not come to church to eat because of the tension. I thought we may not have very many people there. We served about 100. Sidewalk Sunday School went very well too. Every missed Jim(read previous post).
We only had 11 volunteers all regular, we are just to have 30-40. We did it without problems but everyone had to do double/triple duty, no one complained. I really appreciate our volunteers.

Please continue to pray for us as we take back territory from the enemy. Jeff

Sad Day

Today has been a day filled with a great deal of bad news:

• A pastor that I was ordained with(Brian Ton) passed away after a fight with cancer.
• One of our every Sunday Night volunteers emailed telling me his health has caused him to have to slow down and he won't be able to be here on Sunday Nights. Jim ran our dinning room and really supports the outreach in countless ways.
• Another friend Ben had a massive stroke and the medicine that they gave him to thin his blood did the opposite. He is in bad shape. Ben and his wife Olivia were early financial supporters of the Outreach and have been faithful every month. Ben was recently here after a big snow storm and he and a friend built a backdrop for the Sidewalk Sunday School Room.
  

Yet I know that God is alive and well and working in every situation. Please pray for my friends and thank you for your prayers. Jeff

Can't wait

Everyday is an adventure. I never know what is going to happen next. Each night when I go to sleep I can hardly wait for the next day. When I get up I am ready to go. Of course, there are times when I am ready for the day to end. It is a privilege to what I get to do. The past couple of weeks I have been doing a great deal of speaking. I enjoy that. I have had more interaction with the neighbors since the weather is allowing them to move out onto their porches. Two families across the street borrowed my rake and hose to clean up their yard and scrub their porches. They also came over and raked half of our yard. That was a blessing. Easter basket items are pouring in as we prepare for the workshop. We are gearing up to do the "Let's Do Lunch Club" during spring break. Tomorrow I am meeting with the downtown group to put the finishing touches on the Crisis Child Care Center that should open in the next couple of weeks.

I am taking classes on Thursday afternoon that deals with issues for non-profits and am learning a great deal. When I finish the classes I will qualify for 50 hours of a personal professional non-profit coach. I hope to build a strong board of directors as there will soon be a turn over due to transfers.

Church is going well. We are averaging over 40 each week and we finished 2006 with $1000.00 left in the General Fund. Sunday nights and Saturday Afternoon Sidewalk Sunday School continue to thrive.

Andrew is Horton in the school musical "Suessical" . Horton is the main character. Andrew came out of nowhere when he auditioned as he has never been in play in Kokomo. He is at practice every night. Jonathan is gravitating now toward West Lafayette and hopes to go to Purdue in the fall. He and Andrew will be there together. Jonathan has been attending the Orthodox Church he enjoys the rituals, incense etc. Patric is still plugging away at school and working.

Chris continues to care for a 92 yr old woman and spends a great bit of time with her mother and sisters. Almost every Sunday we all gather at the church after church for a big family lunch. Like I said, "life is good and God is good". Please continue to pray for us.

Jeff

The weather about the weather

When bad weather comes I am never sure what to do. I don't know weather or not to cancel events or to move forward. Last weekend the snow forced a group that was coming on a mission trip to Kokomo to cancel. However, we did not cancel the large event we had planned. We invited all the neighbors to a winter dinner and carnival. At the dinner we had barbecued pork, mac and cheese, greens, corn bread and banana pudding with vanilla wafers. We served 141 meals and had about 70 kids come to the carnival. The problem we faced before the event was that we needed about 25 volunteers to make it happen and there was only about 5 parking spaces as most of the street etc had huge snow drifts along them. I put out an email to some key people and we had 45 volunteers come to our aide. It was a great night.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had to cancel church due to ice. However, by midday the ice had all melted. Last night we had a large group of first time volunteers. We had a confirmation class from a local church(about 12) and we had a small group (Bible Study) of about 15 plus our regular awesome volunteers. Again we had a great night.

On Saturday I was blessed to share at an Evangelism Conference. Chris and I led a workshop, called, "Becoming the church next door" . We did it twice and was able to talk about what it means for a church to have a missional attitude.

I was to go to Anderson after church yesterday to share with a church there, however, the weather forced us to cancel.

Next week I am speaking at all three services at the Episcopalian Church in town. Please pray for that. Also, pray for the Crisis Child Care Center that will be opening soon. Thanks Jeff

PS: I want to thank my friends Ben and John for traveling a great distance through the snow to build a back drop for our Sidewalk Sunday School Stage :)

Outreach to the Under-resourced

Kokomo Urban Outreach is a network of churches, organizations and individuals that have a heart for hometown missions. Our goal is to help churches think and act "Missionally". The church that I led is moving in that direction. The church building is located in the midst of a large number of "under-resourced" families. Under-resourced families not only lack finances but also systems of support (family, church, community). Over the past couple of years I have learned a great deal about reaching out to the under-resourced and have seen a great transformation-----in me.

Outreach to the under-resourced is not simply doing my good deed for the day, nor does it exist to give me something to pat myself on the back about. It is not the impersonal distribution of my leftovers. It is about sharing Christ… His provisions…..love, compassion, kindness and warmth with the hurting, the broken, the hard living and rough edged. It is about being light and salt in places of darkness and hopelessness.

Outreach to the under-resourced is not reaching from our high position down to their low position. It is rather our reaching out as peers. It is about my coming to terms with my brokenness—reaching out to other broken individuals. It is about… dignity and respect… looking into the eyes of another human being… being real and building relationships… sharing my meals, my home and my life. It is about reconnecting the disconnected, as well as connecting with the disconnected.

Outreach to the under-resourced is about seeing people and the neighborhood through the eyes of Jesus. It is seeing more similarities than differences, yet dealing with the differences appropriately.

Outreach to the under-resourced is less about ethnicity or race, and more about geography, population density, and culture. It is about a culture of poverty. Not simply economic poverty, but a poverty of spirit and attitude.

Outreach to the under-resourced is not just teaching, but being taught. It is listening and learning—discovering some of the flaws in my culture as well as the honorable things in theirs.

Outreach to the under-resource is not about the rich folks coming down to help the poor folks because they feel sorry for them. It is about building partnerships and cooperation. It is about working together for renewal—spiritual renewal, community renewal, family renewal, and personal renewal----not just for them but for us.

WOW!!!

Last night was great. We had a big crowd about 65 were served a meal. We had the youth group from St. Andrews Episcopal Church with us. They are great. We had about 40 kids in Sidewalk Sunday school and the girls youth group had a wonderful time making valentines. There were many new families and kids. It is like starting over but it is good. We did have a group of kids come who moved to the other side of town. It was all good. This weekend we have a mission team coming from northern Indiana. We have a lot planned and are looking forward to being with them. Keep up the prayers. God is at work. Thanks Jeff

Change

The neighborhood is changing everyday. Families are moving into houses which is good. When moms and/or dads get a job and keeps it for a certain period of time are eligible to move into a house with continued rent assistance. Others are being evicted, lots of them. So far not a lot of families moving in, it takes awhile to get an apartment ready for a new family. We in turn must be ready for new families. Many volunteers are sadden when a family moves. It is difficult to keep up with families that move away. However there is a new excitement of reaching new groups of people. It almost feels like we are starting over. New kids, new families, new stories and new opportunities. please keep us in prayer as new people are being reached. Please keep praying for us. Jeff

Check it out

In 1993,my friend David put up one of the first United Methodist websites. It was called the "Unofficial United Methodist Church Website". Once the official website came on-line a few years later(he also put the official site up)he changed the name to umsource.net. He recently invited me to be a contributor to the site. Today I put my first post up. It can be found here.

In other news, Andrew (who I wrote about in "Life on The Porch" you may read about him here) allowed me to pray with him tonight for the first time, it was actually the first time I asked. He is way open to God and is searching. He has been attending church, which is a good thing. By the way I am taking Andrew to take a test and enroll in GED Classes.

Please pray for Scott,(he too was in the devotional here) he is the "bling, bling" single father. He and his 2 1/2 year old were evicted yesterday. He could not pay his rent. I was worried that he would be on the street with his son, as there is no place in town that will help a father and child. When I saw him two days ago I asked him how he was. His response, "I am blessed." How can you lose your home and be blessed? He is moving in with a friend in Greentown, he feels it would be a better place to raise his son. Yesterday the housing authority pulled up to his apartment in a dump truck and carried all the stuff left in his apartment and piled it in the truck. On the very top was his son's red wagon. All last summer he pulled his son around in it. Scott literally lost it all. It makes me realize how blessed I am. Thanks for all the prayers. Jeff

New for 2007

For me, 2007 has started off with a bang. On New Years Eve and woman who I had never met came to the church to ask me what we needed for the Outreach. I told her diapers, toilet tissue etc. She then asked if we could go to my office to talk. She then told me that what I needed was a copy machine. Suddenly, my mind raced back to the previous Wednesday as I was yet again sitting in another church waiting for Sidewalk Sunday School fliers to be copied (the church's copy machine died just a couple weeks after I arrived, with no money to fix it let alone replace it). I told her we did need a copier she wrote a check for it and I purchased it. Her gift was generous enough that we also will be able to maintain and be able to purchase the toner etc for the next five years. Praise God!!!!

I have had the opportunity to lead a round table conversation with a group of Episcopalian pastors and their bishop about church re-starts, thinking Missionally and community outreach. It was a great morning to share.

At our first KUO board meeting of the year, the board of directors approved a $50,000
budget for 2007 and voted to pay me full time. No more teaching at the Academy. Praise God!!!!!

I was presented a check for $3,250 from a young leaders club for the Outreach and had a chance to share with them what we have been doing.

We are going deeper with the children, instead of just singing to be singing they are learning that singing is praising God. They are learning about prayer as they form small prayer groups to pray for each other. They are learning to read scripture and are memorizing short verses. The next step probably in the fall is to help them to think Missionally.

Our Sidewalk Sunday School room is being covered with murals, carpet has been installed and a just the right size sound system has been donated.

Last week there was a Ladies Only clothing giveaway organized by the neighbors themselves. Hundreds of items were given away. The coolest thing was someone brought in about 100 lotion, shower gel etc packs and each women received a treat bag.

New volunteers are appearing on a regular basis. When the evening is over most volunteers have an ephinany they have just been helping Jesus in the Kingdom. Most leave with a new sense of mission.

We are collecting soup for February since it is the month of Super (Souper) Bowl. Feb is also black history month and we hope to have a "Soul Food" dinner soon. We are also collecting valentine packs so children can fully participate in valentine's parties at school. There is no doubt that God's people will come through.

Mary Ingle spoke to a Lutheran church last Sunday and hundreds of personal hygiene items, food, new clothing and a lot of other items came pouring in later in the afternoon.

I am leading a workshop in Feb. at an Evangelism Conference in Lafayette called, "Becoming the Church Next Door" and will be sharing at a Mission Banquet in Anderson in April.

Please keep praying that churches all over will open themselves up to the idea that they are to be a mission base in their neighborhood and that every person in their church will live Missionally. Thanks Jeff

A Christmas Day Story

While a team of engineers built sandwiches in the kitchen, cookie packers prepared packages of cookies, as assembly-line leaders formed their assembly-line team. The receiving department had spent the previous week receiving items to be assembled and stocked was double checked for quality and quanity. The shipping department waited with baited breathe for the first finished products to come off the end of the line to be packed in boxes for delivery. When the starting whistle blew the action began. Sandwiches came out of the kitchen at break-neck speed, the cookie packers piled bags of cookies on trays to be delivered to assembly line workers. The THREE assembly lines were kept stocked with "parts" as assembly-line workers put together the final product--- a sack lunch. Each lunch consisted of a can of soda, a piece of fruit (orange, apple or banana), a sandwich (turkey, ham or bologna ) a bag of chips, a pack of cookies and a napkin. When the lunches were completed they were placed in boxes to be delivered to neighborhood residents. On Christmas Day in the course of 30 minutes about 600 sack lunches were assembled by more than 40 volunteers. A prayer of blessing was offered over the lunches for the workers and the receivers and part-two began.

Dock workers loaded trucks, vans and cars with the lunches. Two hundred doors of apartments at Garden Square were knocked on and a sack lunch was given to each person in the apartment. Mid-way through delivering the lunches, the "delivery people" began to find families in need of Christmas gifts, food and general household supplies all of which were called into the "special need center" set up in the church. Elves in the church began putting together the need items, wrapping presents, gathering food etc. Items were, then, delivered to the apartments that had the need.

Meanwhile delivery teams began to return with left over lunches as many people were not home (just as on the day that Jesus fed the multitude, there was much left over). On Christmas afternoon in the pouring down rain, five brave souls went door to door at Pine Valley Apartments (A Sidewalk Sunday School location) and knocked on an additional 100 doors, distributing nearly 200 sack lunches. By mid afternoon, 300 apartments were called on and nearly 600 sack lunches were delivered.

Thank you to all who made this story possible. You have been a blessing to our family and the neighborhoods served.

Secret Santa and other Christmas fun

This has been the Christmas week. On Monday, we spent the day setting up a Secret Santa Shop where children in the neighborhood could come and go shopping for items for their parents. When I was leaving the church a little boy across the street called out to me. I went over to talk with him, he was wearing a tie. I told him he looked nice and asked him why he was dressed up. He told me he was going to be in a Christmas program and asked me to come and see him. I went. I saw so many of the children in the neighborhood that night. I didn't realize it was only the younger grades that night so I also, went on Tuesday night to see the older kids. On Wednesday night was our secret Santa night. The children visited Santa, entered a coloring contest and shopped for parents. We even helped wrap all the presents. Nearly 125 kids came through. We had about 75 volunteers(50 from the Student Council of Northwestern Elementary School).

On Thursday we went to son Andrew's Christmas program it was our 21st year of attending our children's Christmas programs, this will be our last as Andrew graduates this year. Wow! It is hard to believe.

Tonight(Friday) we are attending a church 's play. Then on Saturday a Birthday Party for Jesus at Pine Valley and on Sunday our regular outreach night. Thanks for the prayers. Jeff

Missional Church

One of the stated goals of Kokomo Urban Outreach is to help churches see themselves as a mission center in their neighborhood and to help every person think of themselves as a missionary. I have had several people ask me what a missional church could look like. I think a missional church, is more of a mindset. In order for a church to become a missional church it has to think differently, much differently. This shift in thinking is expressed by Ed Stetzer and David Putman in their book, "Breaking the Missional Code" (Broadman & Holman, 2006) :

From programs to processes

From demographics to discernment

From models to missions

From attractional to incarnational

From uniformity to diversity

From professional to passionate

From seating to sending

From decisions to disciples

From additional to exponential

From monuments to movements

After a change of thinking comes action, the following has been gleaned from many sources, and think it best describes the actions of a missional church.

Missional Churches

are exploring and discovering what it means to be Jesus' sent people everywhere they go,(jobs, shopping, sporting events etc).

are individuals willing and ready to be Christ's people in their own situation and place.

are engaged with the culture without being absorbed by the culture. They are intentionally indigenous.

understand God is already present in the culture. The secular and sacred are blurred. Therefore, a missional church doesn't view its purpose as bringing God into the culture or taking individuals out of the culture to a sacred space.

are evangelistic and faithfully proclaims the gospel through word and deed. Words alone are not sufficient; service is as important as what we say.

aligns all their activities around the the mission and Kingdom of God.

seeks to put the good of their neighbor over their own.

practices hospitality by welcoming the stranger into the midst of the community.

understands themselves as a community on a mission together.

are communities where everyone is involved in learning "the way of Jesus." Spiritual development, through a variety of Spiritual disciplines are expected.

gathers for worship, encouragement, teaching, training, and to seek God's presence. The purpose of gathering is to be filled, healed, equiped, and empowered to be Christ's Representatives wherever they find themselves.

A Missional church is

not a dispenser of religious goods and services or a place where people come for their weekly spiritual fix.

not a place where mature Christians come to be fed and have their needs met.

not a place where "professionals" are hired to do all the work of the church.

not a church with a "good missions program." The people are the missions program.

not about a new strategy for evangelism.

not about big programs and organizations to accomplish God's missionary purpose. This does not imply no program or organization, but that they will not drive mission. They will be used in support of people on mission.

not labeled "liberal" or "conservative" perhaps there are elements of both.