Missions Catalyst 05.12.10 – Practical Mobilization

In This Issue: Best Practices Ideas from Large United Methodist Churches

• FEATURE: Best Practices, Large United Methodist Churches
• REQUEST: Keep Missions Catalyst Going!

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Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.

FEATURE: Best Practices Ideas from Large United Methodist Churches

I know what you’re thinking, “This is going to be the shortest Practical Mob. column ever.” But you’re going to be surprised!

I spent three days last week with 40 mission directors and pastors from United Methodist churches as part of the Leading Edge Mission Director Gathering. Churches could send a delegate to the meeting if they have more than 1,000 in weekend worship and a paid staff in a missions or outreach role. As you might guess, that pretty much drains the pool! But for those who made it, God blessed us with a sense of hope, camaraderie, and some useful tips.

Making Short Terms Worth the Hassle

Bryce, from Mt. Pisgah United Methodist, relayed that many recent studies indicate short-term missions result in little long-term behavior change in participants. Dang. Bryce is addressing this reality with two approaches:

1. He developed devotionals to be completed by teams while on site. Unlike some of the devotions his teams were using which had little connection to what the teams were doing or experiencing, these devotionals are designed to highlight and process the very issues team members are facing during their particular projects.

2. Bryce has also focused on helping short-term projects affect participants’ prayer life, and, in fact, wrote his dissertation on this. Early efforts have resulted in 100% of team members still praying for the place and people they served two months after the experience.

Contact Bryce here for more information on either idea. Check out Mt. Pisgah’s site for lots of cool information.

Ready, Fire, Aim

Craig, the outreach guy at Ginghamsburg United Methodist, told how they decided not to wait for a perfect plan before launching out into the world. “We opted instead for a Ready-Fire-Aim strategy. We don’t wait for perfection. We aim for excellence, then adapt and improve as we go along.”

Craig also relayed their commitment to excellence in marketing. On the resource table, otherwise known as “the platform of lofty boasts,” where lesser mortals had arrayed our brochures, papers, magazines, bulletin inserts, and various other examples that our lives were productive, Craig humbly put out some of Ginghamsburg’s marketing material. Within minutes the rest of our stuff had gathered around and was bowing down to Craig’s Ignite brochure. It was a work of art! Go here to be inspired, and, trust me, the print version is even better than the PDF.

I was afraid to ask Craig how much the brochure set him back, but unless he has a ringer who does work for him for free, it had to cost a bit o’ brass. Further impressive, though, Craig also said G-burg makes extensive use of free marketing, including a Facebook fan page and Twitter. 1,200 people have opted in to get messages from him.

Would Your Church Be Missed?

Rob, from La Croix United Methodist in Cape Girardeau, both sobered us up and inspired us. He reported that his church recently worked their way through Robert Lewis‘ Church of Irresistible Influence. It asks this stark question: “If your church was gone, would your community care?”

He also told of a recent lesson in humility, something that might serve to temper an American zeal which sometimes gets overly intent on caring, helping, and defending truth, justice and the American way. They heard from a United Methodist bishop in Zimbabwe who said simply, but significantly, “Don’t do anything for me without me.” This encouraged them to think about how they might do ministry “with” people instead of simply “for” them.

To put this in action, they developed a relationship with a pastor of an inner-city church. With his advice, they bought an old church in a low-income neighborhood. Working side by side with members of their partner church, they spent a year rehabbing the building. Once completed, the two churches began to use the building to cooperatively minister to the community.

From a lesson likely learned by personal experience, Rob told us that the best way to get churches to work together is not to try to get pastors to work together. Rather, find people in your own church who are passionate about a particular ministry. Encourage them to invite their friends from other churches to join in. If it goes well, the vision will bubble up to the leadership in due time.

Upholding the Standards

The convener of our little conclave, Jonathan Bell from Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, who could probably have taken us all to school, simply reminded us of the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission. According to their website, adopting the Standards of Excellence is a vital way to enhance your mission outreach and demonstrate credibility. Jonathan said it also includes an agreement to submit to a peer review of your mission trips! Not for the faint of heart.

Act Global, Act Local

Finally, our kind and generous host, Lynette, of St. Luke’s United Methodist in Orlando, reminded us of the worldview shift that often occurs more powerfully on foreign soil than in any classroom. She told the story of a partnership her church has with a church in Ireland. The small Methodist fellowship meets right on the Peace Line between Catholic and Protestant Belfast. Most of the building sits on the Protestant side, but the door opens out onto a Catholic street.

As the short-termers from Orlando shared life with Irish believers on both sides of the difficulties, visiting ancient Celtic spiritual sites and hearing stories of how Jesus is bringing peace, they were challenged to think about what groups at home they might need to reconcile with. Their minds were drawn to the many Muslims moving into the area. They began to wonder how they might extend a hand of friendship to Muslim neighbors who’ve felt great threat in the past few years. They now have Muslims joining in their efforts to care for new Muslims in Orlando.

When it was my turn to share, I, of course, invited them to join with the thousands of way-cool Missions Catalyst readers and subscribe to this weekly “mob. fest”! Hopefully we’ll now be joined by an increasing number of Methodists, whose founder, John Wesley, had a heart inclined toward the nations.

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