Several people have asked me, “What do you think the core values should be?” It is my desire for us to come to some consensus regarding our core values. To accomplish this we state what we believe our values should be- that is, “What are the values to which we aspire?”   And answer the difficult question, “What are the values we actually embody?” Then we work on closing the gap, if any, between the two.

With that being said, I do have preferences (not positions) regarding the core values.  One is faithful living or living faithfully which is vital to who we are as a people of God and as United Methodists.  Our Social Principles, (part IV of the Book of Discipline) and the Book of Resolutions (just over 1,000 pages) “are a prayerful and thoughtful effort…to speak to the human issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and theological foundation as historically demonstrated in United Methodist traditions. They are a call to faithfulness and are intended to be instructive and persuasive in the best of the prophetic spirit.” (2008 Book of Discipline, p. 97).   A core value of faithful living or living faithfully (depending on the acronym) will keep us outward focused and stretch our faith to be more than just a “Jesus and me” faith.  It will be fun and inspiring to see how we, as different parts of the body, live out this core value.  For me, part of the living out this value is striving to be a faithful steward, not only in my giving to the church but in the purchases I make. So we try and purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate. The UMC actually has a partnership with Equal Exchange. Sometimes living faithfully is not easy.  I struggle with the idea of ‘is it more faithful to drive a paid-for vehicle that only gets an average of 12 mpg or drive a vehicle that gets 38 mpg but would cause us to be in debt.’ Though I am sure that living faithfully means we cannot use the better mpg to rationalize getting a new car.

Our core values provide us with the accountability that is necessary for vital discipleship.

May the Holy Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to the whole world.

Blessed to be your Pastor!

–Jeff

First I want to make a point of clarification regarding “Partners in Ministry” as a vision for the church.  As a vision for the church, I was speaking in terms of “Partners in Ministry” as a vision for the church and not merely referring to “Partners in Ministry” in terms of an annual event.

A vision should allow us to stay “rigidly flexible” in our specific goals and strategic plan while allowing for the Holy Spirit to continue to prompt us and guide us in ministry.   For example, a goal within the next three years may be to partner in ministry with the annual conference and birth another United Methodist congregation in this region. Then our strategic plan for the next three years (many churches have discovered it is fruitless to try and develop a strategic plan beyond three years) may include being partners in ministry with another church or mission project that is making a significant impact in an overseas mission.  I wonder if “Partners in Ministry” is a specific enough target to be a vision and if it captures the imagination?  If this were our vision how would our church look different in three years? Five years? Twenty years?

Our core values answers the question, “What do we stand for and believe in?”  I first presented some ideas on core values in the April 26^th blog.

Some examples of core values are:

D*R*I*V*E* Dignity, Relational, Integrity, Vitality, Excellence

G*R*A*C*E* Grace for all, Relational, Acceptance, Christ’s total forgiveness, Excellence in everything.

L*I*F*E* Living as God’s people, Investing in relationships, Forgiveness through Christ, Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The core values need to be framed in such a way that they can be prefaced with, “We believe…”  The L*I*F*E* values are an example of values framed in this way.  We believe in Living as God’s people etc.

Since that blog posted I have received some very engaging responses and ideas for our core values.

Here are some of them using FIRST as the acronym (as in putting God first in all things).

F aithful living – I ncarnating God’s love – R enewing power of the Holy Spirit – S triving for excellence –

T ransforming lives.

F ollowing Christ – I gniting Passion – R estoring Relationships – S erving our neighbors T eaching the Bible

F ollowing Christ – I gniting Passion – R elational Living – S howing Grace – T ransforming Lives

F aithful living – I ncarnating God’s love – R elational grace – S haring God’s word – T ransforming lives

Or you may prefer a hybrid of the above options.  What are your prayerful thoughts?

May God grant us success!

Pastor Jeff

“Your pastor is someone’s child.  Your child could be someone’s pastor.” 

I was blessed over the past ten days to have participated in two significant and vision clarifying events in the life of our church.  One was the National Day of Prayer service (thanks to all who participated and to Bev Tuggle and Elaine Passman for coordinating the event) and the other was the Partners-in-Ministry event this past weekend.  Both events were invigorating.  Both affirmed what I believed are strengths in the church and both gave clarity to a possible vision.

One event was lay driven and led with consultation from the pastors, and the other event was about leadership in the church by lay and clergy working together as a team of leaders.  The first event was a living testimony of what we learned in the second event.  I know this seems backwards chronologically, yet it affirms what I believe God has shown me as a vision as I have prayed and read the books of Nehemiah and Acts.

As I read the books I kept coming back to the idea of every member in ministry. (EMIM).  (This is actually the vision of Frazer UMC in Montgomery Alabama – a church of 100 at one time and is now a mega-church.)  As I have read and prayed and looked at the strengths of our church; the great and faithful laity, the mission and evangelism emphasis, the ability to pull-off the large events with excellence, the growth of the small group ministry, the talent of the staff, the willingness to step-out in faith, etc. I continue to be drawn to a vision that every member will be involved in the mission and ministry of the church.  Yet, there is something still unsettled or fuzzy about the vision that I am going to say was a prompting of the Holy Spirit which was to “wait upon the Lord.”

I offer a possible vision of (vision answers the question, “what is our preferred future?”)   Partners in Ministry.  “Partners in Ministry” (PIM – I already see a new lapel pin) “Partners in Ministry” adds the clarifying elements of; 1) Attention to the mission.  All our ministries will go through the filter of our mission.  2)  Affirming that all baptized Christians are called into ministry. 3) Agreement to live by the HEART principles 4) Accountability to the core values.  5) Assessing our priorities and 6) Allocating resources accordingly.

“Partners in Ministry” also adds the theological depth of the image of the church as the body of Christ and also the biblical principle of KOINOIA.  (Sermon from February 21^st, Stewardship: The Purpose  podcast available).

I look forward to reading your comments.

May God grant us success in discerning and living into a vision.

Pastor Jeff

P.S.  My next blog will present more ideas on core values.  Also, I am making a distinction between the vision and the strategic plan.  A vision can be ongoing whereas a strategic plan can, at best, guide us for no more than five years with three years being more realistic.

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. Acts 2:42 (CEB)

What is next in the process?  Prayer, prayer and prayer.  I invite you to join me in fervent prayer for the mission, vision and core values of the church.  If you will join me in this from today until Pentecost (May 28^th) please simply post a comment that you are joining in prayer.

A helpful resource in our endeavor of mission, vision and values and the framework to accomplish the mission and vision is Leading Change by Ministry Advantage. 

Mission seeks to answer: Why do we exist?  What are we trying to accomplish in general?

Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who know God, love people and serve their neighbor.

Vision seeks to answer:  What does the target look like specifically?  Where do we want to be in three years? Five years? Ten years?  What is our preferred future?

Some examples are:   1. Our vision is to be a regional church that brings wholeness to God’s people through risk-taking mission and birthing ministries (even churches) in the region and beyond.  Within three years we would birth a campus ministry, an online worshipping community and another risk taking mission that addresses poverty.  Within five years we would birth a new church, establish or partner with an overseas mission initiative and have a certified reconciliation ministry to help people in the throngs of conflict.  Within ten years we would have birthed three churches, including one overseas and a full Christian counseling center.

2.  Our vision is for every member to be in mission (M in M) or Christian Action for Everyone (C.A.F.E.).  Within three years every member would’ve identified their spiritual gifts and be involved in a ministry that uses these gifts.  Small groups on spiritual gifts would be ongoing.  This vision involves fostering a permission giving culture as opposed to an approval seeking culture.  Within five years we would have transitioned from committees to ministry teams, from focus on administration to focus on ministry. We may even move from Administrative Board model of the 1970s and 1980s to the “Church Council” model that was first appeared in the 1996 Book of Discipline.  Within ten years, we would be a teaching church that offers resources, consulting and conferences to help other churches to establish and implement a vision of Christian Action For Everyone.

(These are just examples and they are not mutually exclusive).

Values attempt to uncover:  What principles will we follow? What do we stand for and believe? What are the values to which we aspire? What are the values we actually embody daily? How do we close the gap between the two?

In the book Simple Church there is an exercise that makes you be able to write your process for making disciples on a cocktail napkin. It has to be that simple and memorable.  Our values need to be simple and memorable.  I like to use acronyms for such list.

Some examples of core values are:

D*R*I*V*E*  Dignity, Relational, Integrity, Vitality, Excellence

G*R*A*C*E*  Grace for all, Relational, Acceptance, Christ’s total forgiveness, Excellence in everything.

L*I*F*E*  Living as God’s people, Investing in relationships, Forgiveness through Christ, Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

G*R*A*C*E*  Grace in and for all, Renewing power of the Holy Spirit, Accepting people as God accept them, Christ’ total forgiveness, Equipping, empowering and engaging people in mission.

Framework seeks to identify: What three to six priorities will all ministries be designed to serve?   An example of a framework is: Know, Love Serve.  This framework seems to be a given since it is part of our mission statement.

I am grateful to be part of a church that is not afraid of dialogue and wrestling with the difficult questions.

I hope you will post comments on the above.  I believe a vision is beginning to come into focus.

May God pour out His spirit so that the young will see visions and the old will dream dreams.

These chapters tell the story of Paul’s arrest, the plot on his life, his appeals, his house arrest, the voyage and storm, his continued sequestration and his continual preaching of the good news during this whole time.  Even while under guard he continued to preach.  The book of Acts ends with the words, “Paul lived in his own rented quarters for two full years and welcomed everyone who came to see him. Unhindered and with complete confidence, he continued to preach God’s kingdom and to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 28:30) The power of the word of God will never end.

Even while Paul was under arrest and waiting to make his appeals, he stayed focused on the mission and had a passion for people to hear the good news.  (see 23:11, 26:8, 26:28-29 and 28:28).  The arrest and sequestration did not put an end to Paul’s work.  Even Paul’s death was not the end of his work.  Paul had mentored leaders such as Timothy and Titus to carry on the work.  We must be about the work of engaging and preparing the “NEXT” people for leadership and ministry by involving them in leadership and ministry NOW.   Who are we mentoring in leadership?  Who are we talking to about a call to ministry?

In the UMC in the United States there are 16,954 active ordained elders.  Only 951 of them are under the age of thirty-five.  The church anticipates 14, 000 retirements of ordained clergy within the next twenty-years.  The power of the word of God will never end.  However, if we do not engage in the intentional activity of mentoring leaders and talking to young people about a call to ministry our proclamation of the word of God may come to an end.  Here is a paraphrase of a sign I saw at a catholic church:  “Your pastor is someone’s child.  Your child could be someone’s pastor.” 

Even if it is not a goal of the church or part of the vision of the church, (though I pray that it is) one of my goals while I am a pastor is to have at least one young person per year publicly declare his or her call to ministry.  If you are sensing a call to ministry or you know someone who is David and/or I would cherish the opportunity to talk with you.

May God grant us a future filled with hope.

Pastor Jeff

In Acts 20:21 Paul gives the core of the gospel: repent from sin; turn to God; have faith in Jesus Christ.  This was Paul’s message to both the Jews and the Gentiles.  This was the message Paul lived by, was arrested for and died for.  It is a simple message, one you could write on a cocktail napkin and yet this message has the power to change lives.  It was this message that drove the mission and the vision.  The mission was to make disciples; Paul’s vision from God was for Christianity to go beyond the boundaries of Judea.  What boundaries is God calling us to go beyond? Where is God calling us to take the message and make disciples?  How far are we really willing to go?  (Note in v. 24-27, Paul proclaims the good news of the wonderful grace of God, but how they respond to Paul’s message is not his responsibility).

As we discern God’s vision for the church we need to define our core values.  A helpful resource in our endeavor of mission, vision and values and the framework to accomplish the mission and vision is Leading Change by Ministry Advantage. 

Mission seeks to answer: Why do we exist?  What are we trying to accomplish in general?

Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who know God, love people and serve their neighbor.

Vision seeks to answer:  What does the target look like specifically?  Where do we want to be in three years? Five years? Ten years?  What is our preferred future?

Some examples are:

1. Our vision is to be a regional church that brings wholeness to God’s people through risk-taking mission and birthing ministries (even churches) in the region and beyond.  Within three years we would birth a campus ministry, an online worshipping community and another risk-taking mission that addresses poverty.  Within five years we would birth a new church, establish an overseas mission initiative and have a certified reconciliation ministry. Within ten years we would have birthed three churches, including one overseas and a full Christian counseling center.

2.  Our vision is for every member to be in mission or Christian Action for Everyone (C.A.F.E.).  Within three years every member would’ve identified their spiritual gifts and be involved in a ministry that uses these gifts.  Small groups on spiritual gifts would be ongoing.  This vision involves fostering a permission given culture as opposed to an approval seeking culture.  Within five years we would have transitioned from committees to ministry teams.  Within ten years, we would be a teaching church that offers resources, consulting and conferences to help other churches establish and implement a vision of Christian Action For Everyone.

(These are just examples and they are not mutually exclusive).

Values attempt to uncover:  What principles will we follow? What do we stand for and believe? What are the values to which we aspire? What are the values we actually embody daily? How do we close the gap between the two?

In the book Simple Church there is an exercise that makes is so you are able to write your process for making disciples on a cocktail napkin. It has to be that simple and memorable.  Our values need to be simple and memorable.  I like to use acronyms for such list.

Some examples of core values are:

D*R*I*V*E*  Dignity, Relational, Integrity, Vitality, Excellence

G*R*A*C*E* Grace for all, Relational, Acceptance, Christ’s total forgiveness, Excellence in everything.

L*I*F*E* Living as God’s people, Investing in relationships, Forgiveness through Christ, Empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

G*R*A*C*E*  Grace in and for all, Renewing power of the Holy Spirit, Accepting people as God accepts them, Christ’s total forgiveness, Equipping, empowering and engaging people in missions.

Framework seeks to identify: What three to six priorities will all ministries be designed to  serve?

An example of a framework is: Know, Love, Serve.  This framework seems to be a given since it is part of our mission statement.

I am grateful to be part of a church that is not afraid of dialogue and wrestling with the difficult questions.

I hope you will post comments on the above.  I believe a vision is beginning to come into focus.

May our God grant us success!

–Pastor Jeff

In these beginning verses Paul calls people to a deeper discipleship than just an initial profession of faith.  This is why our mission is not just to make disciples, but our mission is to make disciples who know God, love people and serve their neighbor.  David McMinn and others are being very intentional to make sure we have a process to lead people to a deeper discipleship than just an initial profession of faith or just attending church.  This means we have to make a shift from recruiting members to making disciples.  This is not an easy shift.  Making disciples instead of recruiting members is one way in which we stand out from civic minded organizations such as Lion’s Club, Rotary, and Kiwanis etc.  All these clubs do valuable work and I am grateful to be a member of one of them.  The clubs recruit members, our church makes disciples. 

Paul asks some disciples if they have received the Holy Spirit.  They hadn’t even heard of the Holy Spirit!  As United Methodist we are part of the Wesleyan tradition.  We proclaim a belief in more than just an initial profession of faith or being justified by faith- some call it being saved.  We also believe that we can have a deep relationship with God through sanctifying grace, which is made possible through having the Holy Spirit.  We call this Sanctification, and it is also known as Holiness or Christian Perfection.

C.S. Lewis explained the distinction of justification and sanctification like the difference between paint and stain.  Justification is like paint, it covers us: it is what God does for us.  Sanctification is like a stain that soaks all the way through; it is what God does in us.  We believe in the Holy Spirit! As we seek God’s vision it must include leading people into a deep discipleship and transformation into new life.

Part of transformation into a new life is being able to let go of the past.  In Acts 19:2-28 they were not only worried about their wealth, but they could not let go of the past, that is their old way of doing things.  What of the past do we need to let go of for God to be able to transform us?  Think about this question not just in regards to your personal life but in the life of the church.

May God grant us success in making disciples who know God, love people and serve their neighbor.

Pastor Jeff

For the benefit of those of you who may be reading these blogs for the first time.

“Where there is no vision, the people get out of control…” (Proverbs 29:18 CEB)

During the Lenten season I embarked on a journey to discern God’s vision for our church.  The journey includes praying and driving around the Ft Hood/Killeen and Harker Heights communities; spending a few days on retreat so God can have my full attention; and spending time each morning reading through the books of Nehemiah and Acts. The first leg of the journey is the daily Bible reading.  I invite you to join me on this journey through blogging.   I will read your comments but may not reply.  Even if you are not inclined to follow the blogs, I ask for your prayers during this time of discernment.

What would we do if we were not afraid to fail?   Acts 18

            I was with a small group of clergy and was asked the above question by Bishop Mike Lowry.  (He will be preaching at our church on May 20^th).  The question challenged me to take risks in ministry and mission for the kingdom of God.

In the first few verses of Acts chapter 18, Paul is faced with opposition and failure, some do not respond to his preaching.  Paul shakes the dust off and moves on. (v.6). Paul was not afraid of failure and it didn’t stop him from continuing the work.  He moves on and establishes a church in Corinth.  The only people who don’t fail are the people who don’t try.  Some ministries we try will succeed and some ministries will fail.  We need to celebrate both the ones that succeed and the ones that fail.  What would we do for the kingdom of God if we were not afraid to fail? 

Paul preaches to both the Jews and the Gentiles.  I am wondering how this may apply to us.  Any ideas?  I am thinking that we are being called not only to reach the non-churched (like the Gentiles of Paul’s day) but also the nominally churched (the Jews of Paul’s day).

May God grant us success and the courage to celebrate our failures.

Pastor Jeff

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a meeting with the Bishop on “New Places for New People.”  It was a presentation on a different model for birthing new churches and starting satellite campuses.  A parent or mother church with the help of the conference would give birth to a new church.  It was also an invitation to spend time in prayer asking if this is a way God is calling us to reap the harvest.  It is not a decision to rush into.  Yet, I know that the harvest may not wait for us.  A church starting other churches is not a new concept to FUMC Killeen.  Our church has faithfully and fruitfully done this in the past.  It is living out the commission; it is living out the principles in the book of Acts.  I was of course intrigued by the concept and the challenge, and I was most intrigued by the timing.  We are looking at the book of Acts as we seek God’s vision for our church.  The book of Acts is about starting new places for new people.  Paul is going from city to city taking the good news starting churches and finding leaders to take charge.  It is a blessing to belong to a church that understands that this is a central part of our heritage.  What mission field is God calling us to harvest?

—Pastor Jeff

Outward Focused – Inward Pulling

                I am still feeling the powerful impact of the Holy Week events at our church.  Jerusalem was a meaningful event, “Reverse Advent” was profound, the tremendous Easter egg hunt was like a family picnic and Easter Sunday was a joyous celebration of the resurrection, including the fellowship at breakfast.  I am grateful to have celebrated these events with you.

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas end up in prison (see v. 19ff).  As the power of God goes when God’s people are put in bondage, jail or a tomb, there is an event that enables God’s people to be freed.  In this specific incident, it is an earthquake.  God’s people being freed by God’s power is not an unusual experience.  What is unusual is that Paul and Silas stay in the jail and do not immediately go free.   As a result a jailer’s life is saved and he comes to believe in Jesus Christ.  The jailer and his entire household are baptized.  The actions of Paul and Silas are an example of being extremely outwardly focused.  Paul and Silas were so focused on the mission and purpose that they put aside their chance for freedom in order to share the good news.   Their being outward focused caused an inward pulling of the jailer toward Christ.  An outward focus will cause an inward pulling of others toward Christ.  The inward pulling is the work of Holy Spirit.

Last evening I heard testimonies of three people that felt an inward pulling to our church as they drove by the church and witnessed it being built.  This inward pulling is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it is also because of the outward focus of the church to build a new place to reach new people.  IT WORKED AND IT IS WORKING!

May God continue to grant us success in reaching new people for Christ.

Pastor Jeff