Pres Presenta entation of ion of O Our ur Re Revit vitali - - PDF document

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Pres Presenta entation of ion of O Our ur Re Revit vitali alizati ation Plan

• n Plan

Centennial Church Board of Elders

Here is our best attempt to give you a summary of the presentation we did on July 29, 2018, of our revitalization plan that we hope to enter with Elmwood Evangelical Free Church and Park Community Church. We apologize that we do not have an actual audio recording of this presentation. We hope that this summary, along with a series of videos we are producing, will give everyone in our congregation thorough information on how we have arrived at this decision and what it

• entails. Thank you for taking the time to hear,

think, and pray on this endeavor. Intr troducti tion The purpose of today’s presentation is to lay things out at a fairly high level in the time that we have, as more of a general overview. After today, you will then have the opportunity to hear more details and engage in more discussion in smaller groups of about 12. Originally, we thought about beginning with these smaller groups, but instead, we decided to start here with the overall storyline and then go to smaller groups for anyone interested. Anyone who wants to ask questions or give feedback can do so in one of these groups, or if you prefer, one of our elders would be glad to talk with you privately. Background o

• n th

the purpose of John’s emplo loyme ment Five years ago, John was hired as Pastor of Church Multiplication. His assignment was to help us develop Gospel Communities that could possibly lead to new worship gatherings and then to lead us toward launching another congregation. The development of Gospel Communities has been a circuitous course as we have moved back and forth between the theoretical and the

• practical. Sometimes what looks good on

paper does not always turn out as we would expect in practice. We have made several course corrections along the way and we continue to tinker with the best practices for getting people into meaningful community with

• ne another. It has been much more like

paddling a river rather than paddling across a lake. Going back to his hiring 5 years ago, we’ve always known that it was unlikely that he would stay in this location permanently. During this time, he has built a GC in the Columbia Heights area that has shared his vision for a congregation closer to the neighborhood where they live. Because of this, we’ve also known for a while that some of the people in Columbia Heights Gospel Community (CHGC) are here in waiting mode because they have a heart for reaching their community. Because of this, we have not expected them to be permanent either. They are here dreaming

• f and working toward a congregation in the

neighborhood where they live Th The att ttempted ted part rtners rship ip wit with Oak H Hill ill Baptis tist In the second half of 2017, we discovered a potential partnership with Oak Hill Baptist, an aging and declining congregation in need of a

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• pastor. Why we saw this as an opportunity to

revitalize a dying congregation and to replant a revitalized congregation under John’s leadership. Through this process we have had a growing vision for the revitalization of declining

• churches. While we recognize there will

always be a need for new churches, we also believe that the revitalization of declining churches is an overlooked ministry. Park Community Church, St Louis Park, has demonstrated this potential. They have successfully brought together an aging declining church with a young and vibrant

• church. Replanting a declining church, can

mean resources are available at start-up that new churches may take many years to gather. How w Oak Hill ill unra raveled In the early stages, the elders were optimistic about the possibility of partnering with Oak Hill even though we knew there were some large issues that we would have to work through. We were not at all certain or confident, but at each step we would check ourselves and ask if we should keep going forward or pull out. Step by step we slowly moved ahead, meeting with key leaders on a regular basis and forming a revitalization plan. This unraveled in the course of one meeting between our elder team, a couple men from CHGC, and about 25 congregants of OH. In the course of this meeting, we perceived attitudes and heard opinions that were unhealthy and toxic to our mission. Before our elders had even left the parking lot after the meeting, we were in agreement it was over. How w this this disa isappoin intm tment t unexpecte tedly ly prepared red us This led to a grieving process because of all the time and effort that had been put into this. John had spent untold hours meeting with their key leaders and their boards. Elders had spent time meeting with them. Our elders had spent time with each other and with NCD leadership evaluating and strategizing and praying over this idea. John had spent hours writing documents on the strategy and the details of how it would work, which the elders then spent time reviewing, editing, and revising. For a moment it felt as if this had all gone up in

• flames. As we did a post-mortem, we all

realized how much we had learned through this, how much clearer we were on our vision, and how much better prepared we would be if anything like this were ever to come our way again. Th The Re Repla lant a t and R Revit italiz lizatio tion o

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f Elmw lmwood Evangelic lical F l Free Church rch Preliminary work by North Central District and Park Community Church: Elmwood EFC is a declining congregation in St. Anthony, near 35W and CR D. Their facilities are in fairly good repair with a sanctuary that seats about 250. Their current pastor, who has been there 15 years, will be retiring by the end of 2019. Recognizing their declining condition, they reached out to the NCD for advice and

• coaching. They expressed a desire to be

replanted in partnership with another church. NCD encouraged them to also reach out to Park Community, because Park is a success story of a dying church being replanted and revitalized by a thriving, younger church. NCD

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and Park then spent time with Elmwood’s leadership talking very frankly with them about what needs to change and what needs to happen in order for them to be vital again. This preliminary work has helped Elmwood’s leadership to see their current reality clearly and situate them in a place where they are ready for change. Our Invitation: The NCD (Dan Moose, multiplication catalyst) was aware of and very involved in our attempt to partner with Oak Hill. Park Community (Andrew Peterson, pastor) was also aware because we were talking to them about what we were doing and getting their advice and input into our strategy. After talks between NCD/Park/Elmwood had been going on for a while, Dan and Andrew suggested John to Elmwood. Dan and Andrew thought we had done excellent work on our strategy with Oak Hill, that we had put a lot of thought into revitalization, and that John as Elmwood’s lead pastor along with the CHGC would be the best way to lead a revitalization and replant at Elmwood. How we were invited into this: After the Oak Hill situation, we were prepared to wait. Even though we knew NCD/Park were talking to Elmwood, at no time did we ever suggest

• urselves to anyone or pursue involvement in
• it. We deliberately remained passive, believing

that they would approach us if they sensed God’s moving in that direction and that if they did not, we would go in our own direction. When we were approached with this invitation by NCD/Park/Elmwood, their spirit seemed to be that of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 when they wrote “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” Therefore, we took very seriously their suggestion. It’s important to know that this is an

• pportunity that found us, not the other way
• around. We at not time sought this out. Also,

those who found us and invited us in are people who know John well, who know our church well, and who are approaching us because of something they see in us and our philosophy of ministry. The crux of their suggestion was that John consider coming to Elmwood as lead pastor, joined by the CHGC, with a view toward replanting and revitalizing Elmwood. Along with this, Park Community desires to send their pastoral resident (Matt Frey) to work alongside John along with a group of willing people from their church and a financial contribution to help get things underway. Our r St Strateg rategy: Generosit sity tow toward rd kin ingdom m advancement There are times when business principles and kingdom principles align and there are times when they seem to collide. This is the latter. Many of us are asking ourselves, what happens to Centennial if we give away John and his gifts that we have all enjoyed and a group of

• ur people? What happens to us? The short

answer and most honest answer is that we really don’t know. But we know that we need to grip our resources loosely and all we know about God tells us he will provide, and that he can be trusted. While it may not make sense for a church of

• ur size to do this at this time, in this three-

church partnership, in this location, at this

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time, there may be more potential for multiplication than any of us really know. In a certain sense, it is like we currently own the seed that is needed for an entirely new crop in another location that may become a larger crop than we are even capable of growing in this current spot. Yes, this is conjecture but that neighborhood along with John’s skills, may have much greater potential than what exists here. Sometimes God calls us to do what the Macedonian churches did: And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

3 For I testify that they gave as much as they

were able, and even beyond their ability. -1 Corinthians 8:1-3 This is the spirit of our elder board. A desire to be generous with our resources toward kingdom advancement elsewhere. What w t will ill we give?

• John and his family
• A group of people (essentially CHGC)

pre-screened by the elder board

• $25K from our church multiplication

fund What t will will Park rk Comm mmunity ity giv ive?

• Matt, part-time pastoral resident at

Park

• People who live near Elmwood and

have a vision for revitalization

• Money, amount still to be determined

What t will will Elmw lmwood g give?

• The money that it takes to “bridge the

gap” between outside contributions and what is needed to cover a new budget.

• Their consent to structural changes

and to follow the revitalization plan

• The disbanding of their current

leadership board, and the acceptance

• f a transitional leadership team
• The acceptance into membership of

those sent from Centennial and Park with the blessing of their respective elder boards

• Agreement to immediately begin work
• n the writing of a new constitution

and bylaws What t Can I I D Do?

• First and foremost, we need to pray.
• We need to gather regularly to be

reminded of our identity in Christ and to be formed by His Word.

• We need to give generously of our

resources.

• We need to serve to our full capacity

within this local body and the community around us.