The excitement builds...with a nervous level head of course....

Well, I have been to so many conferences as of late that I am having a hard time digesting them and applying them to The Waters. As soon as I have some time I plan on going over everything that was taught and really creatively attempt to bring the best of all that we have learned so far to further the vision and purpose of The Waters. I still need to share the second day of the Multi-Site Conference with you all and the three day intensive Greenhouse Story 1 conference I attended this weekend. So at the end of this post look for day 2 of the Multi-Site conference wrap-up.

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I continue to make several contacts that are living and growing organic cell churches in this world. I met with several people @ the Greenhouse conference that most were not in the United Methodist Church, but there was a laity couple that were there...but very frustrated with how to bring the organic/simple church model into the United Methodist Church. And while it is a challenge I do not see that it is an impossibility, but a challenge that could really be a a true benefit to the United Methodist church bringing it back to it's Wesleyan roots of Bands. But it will take a lot of discernment from several players with-in the UM church. I think it is very exciting..but I also am running into people that are frustrated with the polity of the UM church and how it has dealt with risk taking leaders and churches especially with church models that might not fit exactly into the traditional (traditional in the sense of the last 100 years) understanding of "church". This is not a problem...but a challenge to grow a re-newed understanding of "church" from the fist century model to the original Wesleyan model. So, we will be looking for creative ways to bring this organic way of being and doing church into the world that we live in.

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I also have continued to meet with more people in the Vineyard Central network of churches in the Cinci. area...as well as a new pastor from that network that is trying to get something started in the eastern part of Northern KY! So, great contacts to have and grow. And besides even though I have only met most of them one time...I feel some great friendships coming on, heh....Check out the VC's website and you can get a small glimpse of what a possible way The Waters could look similar to:


www.vineyardcentral.com

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I also got a phone call today from Bryan Sims (a leader in Spiritual Leadership Inc. That will probably start a coaching relationship with me and The Waters this upcoming year to promote leadership, spiritual, and "the starting process" development of The Waters! Bryan teaches Incubator groups all over the country with SLI and remembered that there was another UM pastor in West Virginia that had the same passions and vision for a Organic/Cell church and wanted to put me in contact with him! Well, excited to know that there might actually be another United Methodist in this world that might be looking at the model and challenges of doing these kinds of ministries with-in the United Methodist Church polity, and discipline. Well, needless to say we met over the phone and were both encouraged beyond anyway we could imagine! He old me that there is only one other women in Seattle that is looking at the same ideas we are looking into for the Organic church way of being church. So, we will continue this relationship and grow together in prayer, and help formulate each others vision for what God desires in both of our regions. Great great great!

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Oh, and after going to the Greenhouse Conference I realized the importance of leadership developing out of each of the Organic church attendees. So, there is a huge challenge of how to meet the UM polity standards of the leadership with in a network of Organic/cell churches....and then I thought about how my brother was excited at one time about the Lay Minister certification that the General Conference of the UM just passed this last General Conference...I really believe that this certification will allow this primary understanding or leadership development to occur...so I have put some phone calls into those responsible of the development of the Lay Minister certification..so please be in prayer for how we can use this new form of minister/pastor in the UM church to allow this vision we have to be brought into development! Great news...that needs a lot of prayer!

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Today I sent a letter to all those whose names are on the map to invite them to the November 13th planning block party meeting @ 6:00 pm in the sanctuary...so next is a sending of an email to as many of these people as well and then a phone call the week of to make sure we cover as many ways as possible to contact everyone, and give everyone an opportunity to make sure they show up so that we can start to form the parties in the Union area and start developing the relationships and friendships that will become the basis for the Organic churches with the purpose of promoting Christ centered community in this area!

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This week will also be the week that the Waters 2006 purposed budget will formed to be brought to t he Florence UMC budget on November 11th. This is extremely important that we are following God's desires and leading for the financial support needed for The Waters to become a reality, and to give the existing Florence UMC the opportunity to financially support God's dreams and desires to reach everyone who needs a supportive Christ centered community in their lives to transform them into lives with significance! Please poor prayer into that other aspect of The Waters!

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OK second day of Multi-Site Conference wrap-up....

I thought that since I am so very tired right now that I would share the two breakout session insights with you and then a few more thoughts from a few of the main speakers. Please know that this stuff is from the Multi-Site Conference and not the Greenhouse conference..that will have to come later...Thanks for understanding.....

Here are a few insights to be able to creatively communicate creativity:

Going through the way they develop the worship experience for each week:

The Message -- the central place of creativity
The Meeting -- the place where the teaching team leads everyone else into what the possibilities could be for use in the worship experience!
The Moment -- The one moment in the worship experience that is the goal and everyone will leave knowing this
The Method -- This is when the support team tells everyone everything that they will do for the worship experience from lighting, to songs, to sermon manuscript...via email and blog
The Mode -- This just explains the way how they get this info out to all of the multi-sites, and the key to to keep it really simple for everyone involved!
Then they
Render -- which a term that graphic artists do to make sure the entire worship experience is finalized and actually happens!
Review It -- Go over how the worship experience an find out what and how they could make any changes before Sunday morning.
Redo it -- start the process all over again!

the second break out session I went to was all about marketing or in other words 5 Ways to Spread The Word:

Word of Mouth: This is the best form of marketing..and what The Waters is totally based upon!
Word of Mouse: Use the computer to spread the word via blogs (sound familiar, heh?) email, E-invite cards, etc...
Word of Mail: This is a great idea, and one we plan on putting to use with The Waters...in this idea they actually create a personal invitation that the existing church members to take write a personal note to people they may know in the area of the multi-site church, and they even put a stamp on the envelope of the personal note to make it as easy as possible...very useful for a ministry idea like our that will be key to developed relationships
Word of Mouth 2: This time it is not talking about getting the word out...but this time it is talking abut feeding people and then talking to them to get the word out..for example throw parties and feed people and then develop relationships with others.....hmmmm once again I think that maybe we are going in the right direction? hmmm heh heh....
Word of Mass: This is mass mailings, or TV ads, or Radio Ads...and these are by far the most expensive, and least effective...sadly (that word "sadly" was their word so don't think I am saying this...but I totally agree with them, heh)
Signs: This last one was added from a former CEO that had joined their church and he told them they they can never underestimate the power of signs. So they spend tons of money on reality signs that they put up the day of the worship services and then they take them immediately down because they were being stolen...now this might be applicable to any of the Organic Churches that might be meeting in homes to put the sign up and down each day that the worship at that house, but of course this would not work for those Organic churches that would meet in a Starbucks, or Barnes N Noble, etc.....and besides if these organic churches are developed through relationships then signs would not be the key to our "marketing" and our "marketing" would be relationships and friendships!
Other: And they also talked about how important it was to be active in the community and of course put up signs and the community events, heh....

Ok main talks:

• Don't do "membership classes" do "fellowship classes"
• 2 Questions every asks when visiting a church: Who is in charge? & Who can answer my questions? and the campus pastor is that role.

two great things that Greg Surratt @ Seacost Church told us about were how they decide what they are going to put their time and energy into through this simple matrix:

I can not draw on this so it might be a little hard but I will try:

(side note...Ok well, the drawing did not workout so I will have to draw it for yall larer and then put it up for everyone!) thanks for understanding!)

1. Add a multisite worship at our current location
2. Add a multisite within 10 mins of our current location
3. Add a multisite in another country
etc...

Now they write up all the things that they have been brainstorming for what they know they feel God leading them to do and they look for the one that is High impact and low regret! And so after placing them all on the chart they want to do the ones that are Easy and have a big payoff for the Kingdom, they want to do a few that are hard and big payoffs for the Kingdom, and of course the others. So I thought it was a great resource to deciding anything in a church!

The other useful tool that Greg taught was how to help develop leadership qualities with-in every Christian and especially the leadership of the multi-sites and small group leaders:

the next one I will not be able to draw but I will try to describe it. He would draw a circle on a piece of paper and he would explain that everything inside this circle was their Christian life and everything outside was on the outside was the parts of their life that were not Christ-like. Then he would read to them John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." so he would put a small circle in the center of the other circle and explain to him that this is the life every Christian strives to live, because that is the true life...i.e. Jesus. So he would mark six sections between the small circle and the outside circle, and ask where this person felt he was in his life in the following 6 questions:

Are you worshiping weekly in community?
Are you connecting regularly?
Are you growing daily?
Are you Serving unselfishly?
Are you sharing your faith effectively?
Are you giving Generously?

So how are you who are reading this post doing in these areas? Do you need to work on some of these areas? I invite you to look deep in your life and answer them honestly between you and God, and share them with someone who can help remind you to keep all these areas as close as you can to Jesus in the center of your life!

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OK, I need to go to sleep, so please please please, KUTPs!!!! And, spread the word for The Waters!

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Maximus: What we do in life echoes in eternity.
--Gladiator