Evangelism in Church Gatherings Download PDF Where does evangelism fit in our “regular” Sunday services?Should we try to share the gospel in church?What are the opportunities to do it?Here are some thoughts, especially for those thinking about shaping Sunday (or other day!) services in church plants.If in our churches ‘evangelistic’ meetings, and ‘evangelistic’ sermons, are thought of as special occasions, different from the ordinary run of things, it is a damning indictment of our normal Sunday services … that would simply prove that we have failed to understand what our regular Sunday services are for.Jim Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, p 55What should we expect of our church gathering?Christians have different Ideas about what the church gathering is.Church is the gathering of ChristiansPlaces like Ephesians chapters 1 and 3 tell us that the new relationship of Jews and Gentiles gathered spiritually around Christ is represented and worked out,…
God Church & Me :: Church Membership Course Download Bible Studies Download Workshop Notes These notes are the Senior Pastor’s notes for leading the workshop discussions at God, Church & Me. They obviously contain much which is specific to Trinity Church Mount Barker, but will give you some ideas as to how to structure a similar workshop discussion and what areas of discussion it might be helpful to include. Running a church membership course is one of the best ways to integrate new people in the your church or church plant. A membership course doesn’t have to be tied to formal or legal membership if your church has these, it’s simply a way for newcomers (and even those who have been around for longer) to find their place in the church family.Typically a course for members will aim to unpack how the church applies the Scriptures and how people can…
Planning to Plant – Visiting a “Secular Church” Download PDF Visiting a church for the first time can be a very daunting experience! But those of us who have been in church for a while can very easily forget what it’s like to visit a church, be surrounded by the unfamiliar, and feel like an outsider.Here’s a tool to help Christians get a sense of the experience of being new in an unfamiliar gathering, and then having had that experience, to begin thinking through what lessons can be learnt for making people feel welcomed in our churches.Visit a “secular church”! A secular church is just a place where people gather! Think of Ikea, a betting shop, a decent pub, specialty coffee shop, sporting club, or a restaurant. Visiting a place like this that you’re unfamiliar with is a great way of being reminded of the feelings and experience of visiting…
Church Plant Team Program Download PDF How will you spend the time you have with the planning team for your church plant?What areas need discussion?What should be decided in the early days?What can be left until later?What parts of the Bible will you study together?This example of a program for a planting team might give you some ideas about how to make the most effective use of your time as a team. This was the program for a team of 15 people, who met roughly fortnightly in planning to plant.This document references an earlier version of the Lessons for New Churches Bible study series.
How to Pray for Friends – “5 Friends 5 Ways” Prayer Postcards Download Photoshop Files (ZIP) When it comes to praying for our friends who don’t know Jesus, most of us could do with some help!And when it comes to starting a new church or raising the evangelistic temperature of an established church, anything we can do to help us pray regularly and consistently for our lost friends and family is probably worth a try!This example might give you some ideas as to how to create a postcard to help your church family pray for those in their life who don’t know Jesus. It’s nothing more than a reminder and a prompt, to encourage us to pray for 5 friends, colleagues, or family. There’s space to write the names of 5 people, and 5 suggestions of how to pray for them. You can copy ideas from here, or edit the…
Church Plant Planning – Timeline Example – Gantt Chart Download PDF A Gantt chart is a useful tool in planning a church plant.In particular, a Gantt chart will highlight:The overall schedule of your project.Due dates for various tasks to be completed.Current status of tasks relative to forecast completion, ie are you ahead of schedule or behind?Dependencies of tasks, for example, Bibles can’t be purchased until you’ve decided what Bible version your church will use!).Who in your team is responsible for which tasks.Gantter is a free project management app that allows creation of Gantt charts within Google’s G Suite. With this tool you can easily create useful charts without any project management experience at all.
Church Plant Planning – Proposal If you’re planning to plant a new church, your church’s or denomination’s leadership will usually want you to present some kind of formal proposal to them.This outlines your reasons and rationale for planting, identifies the people you’re seeking to reach with the good news of Jesus, and lays out in brief form your plans to plant.The benefits of a formal proposal are many! It establishes clear expectations and boundaries in terms of leadership, resources, people, and finances, it helps people pray specifically, it assists with clear and transparent communication, and it allows the leaders God has raised up in your church to ask questions, point out things you may not have thought of, and to encourage you and be encouraged.This proposal document example is a slightly modified version of the original planting proposal for Trinity Church Mount Barker, which was established in 2010. Download PDF
Church Planting Team Commissioning Example Download PDF Sending the members of a church planting team well is key to the healthy ministry of both the new church and the sending church. Part of sending well is commissioning the team for their new ministry, to confirm and express gospel partnership between the church plant and the sending church.This document is an example of a commissioning that could be used in the sending church, to send out the planting team into God’s harvest field. This example commissioning includes lots of words of Scripture, responses for the members of the planting team and the congregation, and prayers.
Lessons for New Churches – 2nd Edition Download PDF 20 Bible studies for teams preparing to plant new churches.It would seem foolish to attempt to make a definitive list of those issues of theology and practice which must be considered in the planning phase of a new church and those which can be ignored. Gathered here, however, are some of the key issues; those which should be considered before planting due to their foundational place in ministry and those which can easily distract Christians from ministry if they are over-looked. At any rate, this is one perspective on a helpful way forward.This Second Edition concludes with 3 additional studies on aspects of evangelism from 1 Corinthians, reflecting the central importance of declaring the good news of Jesus through the life of a new church.Download the PDF, view the document below, or see a sample from the booklet at the bottom…
Role Descriptions for Volunteer Leaders Having clearly communicated expectations is an important part of looking after those who serve in leadership in our churches. It’s unkind to ask people to serve in leadership without clarity about what you’re asking them to do, what others are responsible for, and how they will be supported in their ministry. Lack of clarity leads to confusion, conflict, and frustration!These documents were written for volunteer leaders at Trinity Church Mount Barker in 2019. Your documents will look different according to your context, whether leaders are paid or volunteers, and depending on the the shape of your ministries, etc.Area Leader Role Descriptions:Area Leader – Bible Study Groups Area Leader – Music Area Leader – Welcoming Area Leader – Youth Team Leader & Team Member Role Descriptions:Bible Study Group Leader Team Leader – Creche Team Member – YouthTeam Member – WelcomingRole descriptions for 5M Purpose Leaders are also…