January28, 2012 Steve Court, Superintendent Southern Hills District Please silence your cell phone.

1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.

2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

 If Jesus is a Rabbi – who are the students?  What do good students do?  What do good teachers do?

 Teaching - skilled & knowledgeable  Curriculum - content with a purpose  Family - personal devotion  Community of Learners - all levels  Assessment – clear next steps

 The mission of every United Methodist Church is to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Another way to say this is….

 The mission of this United Methodist Church is  to be and help others become  students of Jesus  so that all people may repent, be forgiven, and grow in faith, hope and love.

 What do we already do well?  What connections do we have with the community?  What people already have a good relationship with us?  What energy, time, abilities and resources are we giving to Jesus?

 Who do we have a passion to reach?  What have we learned from MissionInsite or other data about the community?  What have we learned from other conversations?  How has our surrounding community changed over the past 40 years?

 Goals are based on sincere prayer – listening to God –  seeking God’s will for how we can BEST reach people not yet connected to God in Christ and strengthen people already connected to God in Christ.

 Goals are the picture of what our community will look like if the Spirit moves.  What results will be visible if there is movement in this direction?

 We need general direction (2-5 years)  We need short term detail. What do the committees and teams need to do in the next months  Focus and follow up are key.

 Everyone is welcome in our church. Communion is open to all. All are invited to worship.  God can be known to people in many different ways. Worship is one, but there are others. Some of our goals need to connect people with Christ in settings other than worship.  We can only offer the resources, time, and energy we have.

 Numbers are not the goals – reaching people with Christ is the goal  Numbers are signs – flags or sticky notes that tell us when something has changed.  Changes in numbers may indicate that the Spirit is working in our midst.

 Sharing the stories of how the Spirit is moving in our midst is what counts most!

 Cluster Charge Conference  Vital Congregations  Vital Signs  Compass Groups

 Vital congregations pulls together data we have always reported at year end (conference statistical tables)  Plus the goals THE LOCAL CHURCH sets.

 Vital congregations is a way for the Superintendent, the congregation, the compass group, the covenant community to realistically understand where this community is and where we are trying to go.

 Vital congregations is NOT needed to “evaluate the effectiveness of clergy” – we already have that in our reporting and consultation process.

 Vital congregations is a way to help the local church be involved in self assessment and prayerful focus.  Conversations about vitality include but are more than numbers (signs).

 Vital Signs is a new experiment.  Participating churches will receive a weekly asking for a few areas that can be measured PLUS an area for comments – ways to share stories.

 Most of our existing data (including the fall consultation forms) is collected about things that happened a long time ago.  Vital signs attempts to identify movement of the Spirit in real time.

 Vital Signs information will be available across all churches, compass groups, conference teams and even across conferences.

 We hope to capture ideas from churches in other states that are in communities similar to ours!

 Cluster Charge Conference  Vital Congregations  Vital Signs  Compass Groups

Purpose Picture Plan Partners

PURPOSE: Compass Groups strengthen the ministry and mission of the local church as we continue to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

PICTURE: Compass groups point us to church vitality through Wesleyn accountability. They are spiritual covenant groups which involve both lay and clergy. We become a community of people learning from Jesus and one another.

PLAN: Compass Groups provide an arena for meaningful and supportive conversations with peer accountability. Lay and clergy work together to assess and increase the vitality of our local churches. We share resources.

PARTNERS: Compass groups work in partnership with the district compass coordinator, the conference director of connectional ministries, the district mission strategy team, and the district superintendent.

 Compass groups will support one another in covenant and prayer by asking…  How is it with your soul?  What have we each accomplished toward our individual church or charge goals?

 What did not go as well as expected?  What have we learned?  What will we do in the next 3-4 months to make progress?  How may I/We best pray for you in this mission?