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Community Survey Prayer Spring Branch Church Plant PNC Information
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Church Life activities should be initiated based on the goals of the church and the needs of the church community. Planned activities should be kept in balance with other programs planned for the church. With the further development of the church, the target should be integrating Church Life activities with discipleship and evangelism goals. For instance, a Mens Group can meet for fellowship (Church Life) and include Bible study (Adult Discipleship) and periodic community service projects ([Community Outreach]). Other factors to consider include the development of the church community. What is the predominate profile of the people attending worship and what is the predominate profile of the neighborhood community? Is there a trend in marital status, age group, economic status, hours of employment or not employed? What are the available resources in the area? Available parks, softball fields and bicycle paths can be useful in planning. Community opportunities are also a wonderful place to add a church event. Our community has a yearly big Rodeo event which could be used as a church event to participate in. The Church Life activities for this toolbox will be seperated into three catagories. It is intended for each category to have definable purposes and goals. The High Impact Activities have low spiritual content, minimal planning effort and intended initially for the neighboring community. These activities should continue as the church develops to provide a fellowship gathering for both the church participants and the community. The Building Community Activities have a moderate spiritual content, moderate amount of planning effort and involve both the church community and the neighboring community. The Living Community Activities have a high spiritual content, a high amount of planning effort and are intended primarily for the members of the church community. Furthermore, great emphasis should be placed on the wisdom of adding Church Life activities. If looking at a more emergent church culture the trend would be to participate less in organized programs and more in relational community. Primary emphasis should be on Small Group development with the purpose of fellowship, discipleship and service. Larger group functions should have the intent of bringing the church community together in fellowship. Larry Eskridge, associate director of the Institute for Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College, says that the primary interest is in small groups. The emergent churches, although small, typically break down into even smaller groups throughout the week and set a premium on eating together. Whether planting a postmodern or a modern church the primary word of caution would be to proceed slowly before adding activities and programs beyond the High Impact Activities and Building Community Activities stages and to limit the options in each of these categories. To move into the Living Community Activities categories may result in over-programing and over-burdening the church staff and volunteers. These activities are best adopted when they can work with other Church areas such as Adult Discipleship and Community Outreach. They are also very well suited to work in cooperation with other churches in the community. Last Modified 11/9/04 10:19 AM | Hide Tools |