Stillwater District Office

A WORD FROM THE STILLWATER DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT

We had a great district evangelism training in Bristow not too long ago led by Dr. Bob Pierson.   A few of the highlights:  he introduced the “tell” strategy. 

T is for truth.  Christians need to tell others about the truth we find in Christ – done best by telling our own faith story.

E is for explain.  We need to be able to explain how faith works in our lives.

L is for living.  Our witness must be lived in our day-to-day lives to be authentic.

L is for lead.  Willingness to invite, that is, lead others to Christ. (Dr. Pierson has just published a new book by the same title. Order from www.leadershipnexus.org)

Year-Round Evangelism:  Important to note the key seasons of our culture and take advantage of these and develop year-round programs for your church to do evangelism together to reach people for Christ.  The five seasons are:     

• Back-to-school/Football season
• Advent and Christmas
• New Year/Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day
• Easter and Post-Easter family (Mother’s Day, Graduations, etc)
• Summer

The timing of this workshop was strategically chosen to give us opportunity to focus particularly on the upcoming Advent/Christmas season and the importance of developing a strategy for this season since more people, who don’t regularly attend church, are thinking about going than any other time of the year! 

Do you have a plan?  We looked at the Home for Christmas plan developed in the North Texas Conference. It has a step by step guidebook to empower your church to reach people this year!  (More info at www.thecrouchgroup.com)

Training is key to continued effectiveness in ministry.  Effective training improves our skill and knowledge base.  New skills applied make for lifelong effectiveness in ministry.  Research indicates without reviewing or renewing our skills we tend to diminish in effectiveness over time.

For more details on upcoming events in 2012 click here. http://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c2547/2012_upcoming_events.doc 

The Vital Congregations Invitation
http://umvitalcongregations.org/

The mission of The United Methodist Church is to “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” (Matt 28:18-20 & Matt 22:36-40) This mission is achieved through vital congregations that equip and empower people to be Disciples of Jesus Christ in their homes and communities around the world.

Vital Congregations Are:

• Spirit-filled, forward-leaning communities of believers that welcome all people (Gal.3:28)
• Places where Disciples of Jesus Christ are made through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:18-20)
• Communities that serve like Christ through justice and mercy ministries. (Micah 6:8, Luke 4:17-21)

A Vital Congregation Has:

• Inviting & Inspiring Worship
• Engaged Disciples in mission & outreach
• Gifted, Empowered & Equipped Lay Leadership
• Effective, Equipped & Inspired Clergy Leadership
• Small Group Ministries
• Strong Children’s & Youth Ministry
• 16 drivers of vitality according to CTA

A Disciple of Jesus Christ: 
Matthew 22:36-40

• worships regularly
• helps make new disciples
• is engaged in growing in their faith
• is engaged in mission
•  shares by giving in mission