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| Pastor Hannah Sledge and Paul Nixon, Path 1 Strategist, talk with Kay Kotan about creating New Places for New People |
The following is PART THREE (final) of an edited transcript of a presentation by Kay Kotan, Director of Equipping Vital Congregations, at the 2018 Susquehanna Annual Conference, Plenary 2. The video of her full presentation can be viewed at tinyurl.com/susumcAC2018video
Equipping Vital Congregations have developed a Tinderbox. A tinderbox is a toolbox for building fires.
There are five compartments or tools that are contained within our Equipping Vital Congregations Tinderbox:
- Consultation
- Coaching
- Small Group Resources and Curricula
- Workshops and General Tools
- New Places for New People
New Places for New People
Anyone who loves to spend time in the great outdoors, knows the thrill of starting a new fire. We have a lot of excitement around this next tool in our Tinderbox called New Places for New People.This tool is all about starting new faith communities by trying new things and experimenting with new ideas. Ministry happens in a variety of ways and contexts. We have to be flexible, adaptive, and contextual in today’s culture to reach new people. We can’t be afraid to try — failure is not bad, but a wonderful learning opportunity.
We hope to set the Susquehanna Conference ablaze with new faith communities, and people “on fire” for Jesus.
This tray within our Tinderbox is divided into four sections containing four different strategies we’ve identified as our primary avenues to reach new people. They are:
1.) FRESH EXPRESSIONS
This is starting an entirely new faith community from scratch, most likely outside the walls of your church, and probably in an unlikely venue than you are used to. It might be in a kayak on a river, it might be in a yoga studio, and yes, it might even be in a bar.
We call these new fires Fresh Expressions. One of the ways we’ll reach new people in new places is to walk the paths of our communities to find the best places and practices to invite people into the warmth of the Spirit in their lives.
Sometimes, we want to jump in head first and start something new, but an intentional process and a time of preparation is needed to get a new fire going. Do you feel called to start a Fresh Expression in your community?
Not all fires are started from scratch. Some fires burn brighter when they’re brought together.
2.) VITAL MERGERS
Vital mergers happen when two or more churches come together in a neutral location with a brand new vision to do a new thing and to reach new people.
Some of us can remember the glory days when our sanctuaries were filled almost to capacity, and there was an energy and excitement each Sunday when it was time for worship.
In our Conference, we’ve taken the ‘coals’, ‘firewood’, and other elements from different congregations to create new vital ministries that burn brightly.
Still there are some situations where the fire has completed its cycle. The winds change, the paths become overgrown, and sometimes a once-flourishing fire may completely go out.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, so are the churches we refer to as re-starts.
3.) RE-STARTS
This is when a new faith community emerges from a congregation that has come to the end of its life cycle.
It is hard to see one of our fires go out, but God has a way of doing a new thing in sacred spaces. We mourn those faith communities that come to the end of their life cycle, but we honor and celebrate the ministries they make possible. New fires burn in places where old ones once thrived.
Our final strategy for making new fires is what we call multi-site.
4.) MULTI-SITE
This is when an existing congregation has a blazing fire then goes and starts something new in another location.
Some of our ministries are burning so brightly, that we can launch new ministries from them. Creating a new fire isn’t easy ... but once we get it going, it feels pretty amazing.
If your church is feeling the call to start something new, please contact the office of Growing Effective Churches and let’s talk about it.
There are three levels of engagement or interaction for these four strategies. They are:
- Kindle - when you are first learning about the four strategies and which one is right for you.
- Spark - when you go deep into one of the strategies, learning more about it so you can start that fire.
- Ignite - when you are actively participating in one of the new strategies
In consultation with Paul Nixon, the Path 1 strategist for the Northeast Jurisdiction, we pulled together a team of nine people to serve as a vision team for New Places for New People ministries in the fall of 2017.
Paul: Path 1 reached out to all the conferences in the Northeast Jurisdiction and Susquehanna Conference was the first to jump. You [decided] now is the time when your hearts are ready to make some new places for new people and we are delighted to be partnering with you. You have put together a pretty amazing team to do some really great new things for God.
One of the team members is Pastor Hannah Sledge.
Hannah: I decided to join the team because I was really excited about our conference thinking intentionally about how to reach new people for Jesus. We gathered together for a weekend in November, 2017, and we prayed, discerned, and brainstormed together about the future of the church. We wrestled with some tough statistics, like over one-third of our neighbors are not part of a faith community. Out of that wrestling we found hope, and a new vision was born to create an empowering movement of diverse disciples who will create new places for new people. I am excited to be a part of this continued work.
Paul: There’s a lot of strategies and you very prayerfully picked four that are each designed to allow existing congregations have a part in the fun and action. So often we think new church development is something over there and the rest of us are over here, like a separate movement or community going on from the rest of us, while we work on strengthening our churches and revitalizing. But this whole process invites us to put away that kind of thinking, and to realize that every church in this Conference has the possibility of being a part of God’s new things that are going to happen.
Hannah has been nicknamed the “Kindling Queen” because she’s been working hard on kindling conversations throughout the Conference.
Hannah: The kindling process has been super exciting. I’ve had an opportunity to speak with many folks about their ideas to create new places for new people and look forward to talking with more. The diversity in responses has been really inspiring. Clergy and laity all over our Annual Conference, young and not-so-young, are excited for this opportunity to create new places for new people and have been waiting for such a time as this to be empowered to do it.
We have signed a covenant agreement with Path 1 as a sign of our commitment to reach new people in new places.
Bishop Park: We are a connectional church, a covenental church, and we are committed to a partnership in the gospel for the common mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world. Let this be remembered and celebrated as one of the threshold moments in the journey of the Susquehanna Annual Conference. I signed this covenant not because I am a Bishop, but because I see many bright-eyed people who carry fire in their hearts for Jesus. Indeed we are the people of the cross and flame. Let the flame of the Holy Spirit go higher, stronger, and brighter for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the wonder-working power of God for redemption and transformation of the world. Amen.
If your fire feels like it is about to flicker out you have access to our entire Tinderbox of resources. In ancient times when tribes would roam from place to place there were people known as fire-carriers. They had one of the most important jobs of all carrying embers of fire from one location to the next. Fire was life, it kept the tribe going. We have fire carriers in the Susquehanna Conference called the District Vitality Teams. They are ready to bring the fire to your church through resources, training, coaching, and other opportunities.
You can find information, events, and resources on the Equipping Vital Congregations website at www.equippingvitalcongregrations.com
View Kay’s full presentation at tinyurl.com/susumcAC2018video
