To Have A Growing Ministry

This past week I had the pleasure of taking a class led by Pastor Tyrone Gordon from St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX. He spoke on leadership. Here is a portion of the notes I took when he taught about how to be an effectively growing ministry:

To have a growing ministry:

1. I, as the leader, must have a sense of vision and purpose. I must believe that I’m listening to the voice of God and not be afraid to articulate this. I must find confidence in doing what God wants me to do. I need to incorporate the vision and mission of the church more often. This is what God has called us to do.
1. Jeremiah 29:11
2. I must make sure that worship is dynamic, transformational and inviting.
1. Psalm 100:1-2
2. If worship is not “on” then new people won’t come back.
3. Make sure everything is done so that the Pre-Christian can fit in – from order of service to hospitality to acronyms that outsiders won’t understand.
4. Start planning on worship as if we will have outsiders visiting every week and at some point we will.
3. There must be a strong pastoral and lay leadership.
1. Exodus 18:17-18
4. There must be a commitment by the pastor and the church to raise new leaders. We must invest time in leadership development.
1. Ephesians 4:12
2. Have a continuing education budget for laity as well as pastor
3. Expose the leaders to the best there is to offer. Take to good conferences and not just district stuff.
5. We must be open to new ways of doing educational ministries
1. Hosea 4:6
2. Sunday school is losing it's popularity for future generations. There has to be a new and fresh way of doing education.
3. People or more likely to do midweek studies
4. Small groups / Short term classes
5. We’ve got to lead people from membership to discipleship.
6. Preaching draws people, but quality teaching keeps people.
6. We must provide a variety of ministry and volunteer opportunities
1. Ephesians 2:10 & Titus 3:14
2. Help people discover their Spiritual Gifts
3. Each member should have a place of ministry
7. Challenge people to be involved in community service
1. Amos 5:24 – “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (NRSV)
2. The Church is a transformational community
3. At Pastor Gordon’s church they say that they come to worship but leave to serve. Wow!! What a concept.
4. The Lord came to save us from anything that hinders us from being all that God created human beings to be.
8. There must be an openness to change and transformation
1. Isaiah 42:9
2. We can’t continue to do the same things the same ways and expect different results.
3. We must not get stuck in a rut in the way we do things or else we’ll become a church that is stuck in a rut in every aspect of the church life.
4. We must reinvent ourselves as leaders and reinvent the church so that it will be relevant to the community.
9. Discover and understand our core values
1. We must know what makes our church who it is.
10. Teach and Preach about stewardship
1. 1 Corinthians 16:2 – “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with (your) income…” (NIV)
2. Stewardship is not just about money but about the whole of life.
3. We are to move people from trusting themselves to trusting God.