From Outreach to Engagement

I hadn’t thought about it before, but the traditional church term “outreach” can connote an old-school view of “us versus them” mission. If delivered or heard in the wrong way, it implies that givers have all that is worth giving, and receivers have nothing to contribute to the equation. It’s as if we do outreach…

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Mission as Calling and Passion

“Mission” is one of those words often used in the Church, but without a clear meaning. The term can be a cover-up for all kinds of religious activities. But mission is more than a name or a program. It’s a calling and a passion. An individual’s personal mission is what he or she is meant…

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Engagement, Mission and Generosity

            Yes, mission trips can have a downside (if travelers are patronizing or culturally clueless, for example), but plan on doing one in the New Year anyway. We can learn how to improve the hands-on mission, but the learning for the missioner can be priceless.             In an excellent Inspiring Generosity post on Nov. 7…

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Billy Graham

On February 21 of this year, the American evangelist Billy Graham passed into heaven, after 99 years of life and more than sixty years of Christian ministry. In that time, he reached more than 210 million people (face-to-face and by satellite feeds) in 185 countries and territories on six continents. Those efforts began in 1947…

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Talking Mission

Remember all those church mission statements your congregation has painstakingly writtenover thepast years? Where are they now? I used to have a file drawer full of them, carefully formed in planning retreats, tried for a time and then filed away. But the only really great mission statement is the kind that sets our hearts on…

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One-Liners for Shared Mission

One-Liners About Your Shared Mission for Your Church Bulletin, Website, or Newsletter 1 Shared Mission is our coordinated connectional ministries a way to reach out to transform lives beyond the reach of any single congregation. 2 Not a tax but real, live ministry! Through our shared mission, we sustain vital work through hundreds of channels…

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A Mission-Based Financial Commitment Program

We talk about mission. We do mission. So how can we make our church’s annual financial commitment program mission-based, instead of sounding like one more “sell job” about our church’s programs? 1. Keep the main thing the Main Thing. Most people really do hear what we say. It’s just that they have lots of buttons…

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Mission Shares: Long Arms and Jesus’ Feet

God doesn’t work just with United Methodists. We can glimpse God’s activity all around us! So why participate in God’s work through our Apportionments, or “Mission Shares”? For starters, it has to do with long arms and Jesus’ feet. First of all, our Mission Shares really do support mission.  “It’s an amazing thing when people…

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Mission Shares: A Local-Global Balance

Okay, so it’s an art keeping local and global ministries in a healthy balance. But paying our Conference Mission Shares helps us hugely on both fronts. To begin with, Mission Shares help us fight consumerism. Yes, our whole society swims in those waters. But the consumer attitude can seep into our churches – like the…

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How Churches Can Increase Shared Ministries

+ Highlight one Apportionment category in worship on the second Sunday of each month, with a special offering for that ministry. Publicize beforehand in church newsletter, bulletin, and bulletin board. Emphasize the 4 Annual Conference Apportionments over four months, the 2 Jurisdictional Apportionments together one month, and the 7 General Church Apportionments over 7 months.…

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