It Doesn't Have To Be This Way.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, the WPA District hosted a special guest, Rev. Phil Struckmeyer, for a couple days of training and equipping. Over twenty pastors, local church leaders, and district personnel were present on Tuesday for ENGAGE, where they were given opportunity to discover the next-steps to take in their own ministry environments.

One of the most powerful elements of ENGAGE was the reality-check of the state of the Church in North America (these bullet points can be found in the video linked here):

• Only 18% of Americans attend church on any given Sunday
• There are over 200,000,000 non-churched people in America
• America is one of the top three largest unreached nations in the world
• North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing
• Not a single county in America has a greater churched population than it did ten years ago
• 4/5 of all churches in America are plateaued or declining in growth

But it doesn't have to be this way, and we don't have to be okay with these facts. The reality is each local church has the call and the resources to engage their community in a powerful way that sees people entering into the hope of life in Jesus. Those in attendance at ENGAGE were sent out encouraged, impassioned, and with the Scriptural mandate to take next steps in changing the above realities in their communities & spheres of influence.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can take your next steps in the movement, contact Shawn Cossin (click on the link to send an e-mail) to find out where you can discover tools and resources available to you.

Thanks to those of you who attended; we invite your feedback on  the event and would love to hear how you're taking next steps to engage in the mission! Send your thoughts to Jeremiah Gomez (click on the link to send an e-mail).

5 Axioms

Five Axioms from Rev. Phil Stevenson, Director of Church Multiplication & Leadership Development, Pacific-Southwest District, Wesleyan Church and former General Director of the Evangelism & Church Growth Department of the Wesleyan Church.

1. No one church can do everything.

2. What a church can do it should do intentionally.

3. Seek God for what your church ought to do.

4. Intentionally do what God has called your church to be about doing.

5. It is not about the everything, but the few things God has called you to do.

A few don'ts from Wesleyan Church planters

Church planting is a dynamic ministry environment often maintains an element of unpredictability. As my veteran church planter friend, Wayne Otto, puts it, "Usually what we expect is not what we get, and what we get is not usually what we expect."

In light of that reality, here a few “don’ts” from Church Planters at the recent Church Planter Assessment Center.

“Don’t put your office in your home.” - Jerolyn Bogear

“Don’t assume.” - Kevin O’Conner

“Don’t enter into church planting spiritually unprepared.” - Jesse Pratt

“Don’t shortchange your own spiritual growth.” - Jim Bogear

“Don’t be afraid to make ‘the ask.’” [spiritual decision/partnership] - Wayne Otto

“Don’t stop.” - Jim Bowen

“Don’t go in without definition of success.” – Duane Brown

The Bridge Grand Opening

The following is a note Rick Cox recently sent out in connection the Grand Opening of The Bridge on January 30th:

Rick delivering the Bridge's Grand Opening message

Special Visitors for our Grand Opening

The grand opening of The Bridge was held in the Grand Ballroom of the 3 Lakes Golf Course on January 30, 2011. A group of 65 braved the cold, snowy morning to be a part of the launch of a brand new Wesleyan Church. Excitement was in the air as we greeted visitors from the community; Bridge 'regulars' who had been attending our monthly preview services; visitors from our sister Wesleyan churches around us: our district superintendent and his wife, Randy & Gayle Swink; and one very special visitor, Dr. Thomas Armiger who serves as our General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church. Each of our visitors gave us a confirmation that our dream was becoming a reality. We sense in a very real way that God's blessing is on The Bridge. Continue to pray for us as we move forward. We not only want to build on the relationships we have in our community, but we also want to continue to find ways of connecting with new families around us who have no church home. 

Blanket Distribution 

We were able to do another blanket distribution in January. This time we were joined by a gentleman from the community that we met at the first distribution.  We were glad to have him helping us. We also received a call from a lady  from the community. She had a box of items she was wanting to bring to us for the distribution.    As she dropped them off another lady entered the YMCA, who was on the phone and was quite distressed. We found out that she had just received  word that her neighbors house had burnt to the ground.   We were able to give her a whole box of items that the other lady had dropped off. The box contained sheets and different kinds of bedding items.  God had it all planned out before we even got there.   We gave away over 50 more blankets along with hats and gloves. 

Wind Shield Washer Top Off

January is not an easy month to get out in your community and meet people, but God has helped us find some creative ways to do just that.   One way has been the wind shield washer fluid top off. Our volunteers were out on  three different Saturdays at several gas stations around our community filling peoples wind shield washer fluid for FREE which ended up being the question of the day,  "You mean it's really FREE!?". Our answer was yes!   This act of kindness not only allowed us to be a blessing to many people in our community, but it also gave us a chance to promote our new church plant. 

"Engage" with Phil Struckmeyer

The CMTF if excited about the upcoming Spring events. They are going to be great "value adding" events for those already engaged or ready to engage in the Missional Multiplication Movement.

We are thrilled to host Phil Struckmeyer for this event. He is a great guy and a proven practitioner.

We hope you are able to make the most of this opportunity.

Click here to register or copy and past the following link: http://www.wpadistrict.org/engage/

Click on the event picture below for the details.

Lawn Sprinklers and the Church

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [John 4:13-14]

I’m no expert, but I recently did some research on lawn irrigation systems. (i.e. lawn sprinklers) It may be an obvious principle, but to effectively irrigate a lawn, a homeowner needs to distribute water to every area of the lawn. Seems simple, right?

The reality is that each sprinkler has a limited range, and cannot reach every area. With only one sprinkler, we will end up with beautiful, lush grass in one area; but the rest of the yard will be brown and dead in no time.

As a result, its essential to install multiple spigots in a pattern that sufficiently covers the lawn. It’s not the most complicated principle, but I share this because there is a similar reality when it comes to church impact and effectiveness.

Each church has a limited reach. Even the most effective and vibrant churches have a limited reach based on a number of factors [i.e. people, geography, etc.] Even with a lot of people and resources, they can only reach so far from one location before issues of distance, culture, etc. become a limiting factor.

That’s why intentionally seeking to multiply believers, leaders and churches is so important!

If we are going to follow Jesus, we will obey what he commands, which means we will seek to fulfill the Great Commission. [ref. Matthew 28:18- 20] In order to do that, we must work to intentionally multiply believers, leaders and churches.

That being said…What is one thing you can do or start doing this weekend to move towards a lifestyle of multiplication?

- Regularly pray for a friend or neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus

- Give financially above and beyond a tithe to support the work of multiplication

- Invite a family from the neighborhood to dinner

- Initiate a spiritual conversation with a friend or co-worker

- Perform a random act of kindness

- Support a new church plant or planter in process

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” – Jesus, John 14:15

Launch of The Bridge!!

Once again as a district, we have the awesome privilege of celebrating the launch of another new church! I love it!!!

The Bridge Launched yesterday in the Penn Hills, and I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do in and through them as they advance the Kingdom of God in Pittsburgh.

Take a moment today to praise our God for His faithfulness in this process.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.

2 Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,

4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD.