Invite, Welcome, Connect Summit Vitality & Effectiveness: Sharing Stories in the Missionary Church

The Numbers Don’t Lie… But do they tell the whole story?

The Road to Emmaus Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:13-35

Filling out the Church Register Two-Three for Communion?? Did Jesus take a “Judas Walk” so do we count him?? Our ASA is really low! But what about the story or transformation? Discipleship? Spiritual Development? How do we count that? And when they went running to tell others—how do we count the effect of their story telling in leading others to Christ?

“ ” 1. The Damascus Road. This is the road on which someone encounters Christ, often dramatically, and is gloriously convinced of the Christian Faith. 2. The Desert Road. This is the road where you keep reading the Bible and somebody comes along and explains what you are reading, and suddenly the passage comes alive and everything begins to make sense. 3. The Emmaus Road. This is the road where you are asking question about God [and telling your story], and a friend comes along and journeys with you for part of the journey and explains a little. -Michael Harvey, Unlocking the Growth The Three Roads to Mission

Our current model of uses limited GPS coordinates to track travel along the Emmaus Road. Our GPS are currently calibrated to only giving us maps for people who are on the Desert Road or Damascus Road. The Parochial Report really focuses on two categories: huge life moments (Baptisms, Confirmation, Marriage, etc.) and a weekly sacramental encounter with the Church. The First is the Damascus Road- people have a huge moment with God and need to have a sacramental response. Life is forever changed in an instant. Easy to track! The Second is the Desert Road- We travel along each week trying to explain the Bible to people without hearing their stories. Also relatively easy to track. But how do you track the Emmaus Road? How do you track relationship and transformation? Very difficult to track in a register.

So we have two questions to ask: 1. How do we travel the Emmaus Road of Mission? 2. How do we track this kind of travel?

Question One: How do our Churches Become Emmaus Communities? There are some key elements of the Emmaus story that are critical for creating church that is rich in this kind of mission- mindset: Jesus LISTENS to them. Jesus TRAVELS with them Jesus SHARES his story with them. And only then does he break bread with them

TRAVELING WITH THE STORY The first thing to notice is that they are traveling together and talking about spiritual matters but walking away from their religious home. That is our society today—spiritual but not religious. Jesus invites himself to travel with them in their moment of deep grief—this is also counter-cultural to a society that distances itself from people in grief. We need to go to where the people are. Our data at the moment only counts when the people come to where we are. Resource Tip: Invite- Welcome- Connect Resource Tip: Living in the Green (Beecken Center at Swanee)

LISTENING TO THE STORY Jesus listens to the disciples and welcomes them into conversation. This is one of the most counter-cultural thing to do in our modern world. Listening is a profoundly life changing gift. With the exception of confessions, we are not counting how many times people are listened too in our current model. Resource Tip: Stephen Ministry unit on listening makes a great adult education class. Resource Tip: Invite-Welcome- Connect

SHARE THE STORY Only after traveling with them and listening to them does Jesus open up the scripture to them and breaks bread with them—the thing that we are already measuring. He connects their experience to the larger story of the movement of God in all of history. Resource Tip: Renewal Works

Question Two: How do our Churches track travelers on the Emmaus Road?

Two Practical Applications

Reconciliation Thesis Thesis on Reconciliation as an agent of transformation in a church that was unaccustomed to it. Requirement for graduation was that transformation had to be evident and measurable. One way was simply the numbers of confessions heard before and after—but story gathering was much more exciting! First obstacle was the small group needed to create the programs. FTE: Small group story prompt: “Tell a story about a time someone forgave you.” Created theme clouds to find out what people really wanted to learn or talk about. (example- what is it like for the priest to hear confession?) Created a document with all kinds of questions for participants: “How much does sin weigh?” “Have you ever been to confession-why or why not?” The participants took as survey and were interviewed by team members before and after the class—the stories of transformation were incredible! Traveled with people in their preconceived notions of confession, listened to their stories (or even their sins), shared the story of God’s reconciliation.

Long Term Planning Current church setting. How to add metrics to spiritual growth? Vestry retreat for mission statement and long term plan. “Tell a story….” Word cloud created. The inhale and exhale of God= Renewal Works (measurable=spiritual life inventory & feedback forms) Invite-Welcome-Connect (measurable= inventories & numbers of people/invites & traditional data) Traveling- St. Christopher if the patron saint of travelers. They actually really get community! They are having a hard time with the invite piece though. (IWC) Listening- First we need to listen to our own identity and beliefs (Renewal Works) Share Story- Or story with God grows as our community grows.

Tell a story about a time… When Jesus meant you on the Road. When you were seen as more then just a number. When you couldn’t breathe. When the church came and journey with you in your time of need.

Happy Trails! Hillary Raining