Vision of new churches in focus dline...
02-18-2009By BOB CROSSMAN
Arkansas’s Catch the Vision offering is in harmony with a new emphasis coming from the Council of Bishops, Connectional Table and General Conference.
Over the next four years, the vision and yearnings of the church will focus the work of making disciples for Jesus Christ around four areas of ministry: 1) creating new places for new people and revitalizing existing congregations; 2) developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world; 3) combating the diseases of poverty by improving health globally; and 4) engaging in ministry with the poor.
Funds received from the Catch the Vision offering will help the Arkansas Conference to “create new places for new people” and give birth to new United Methodist congregations in response to the changing demographics of Arkansas.
I have the privilege of serving on the Path One team of the General Board of Discipleship. Our purpose is to re-evangelize the USA so that we might reach more people, more young people, more diverse people for Christ by creating new places for new people. In response to Vision Pathway 1 set by the Council of Bishops, the national strategy created by the congregational developers, and the desire of many of our agencies and Racial Ethnic National Plans, Path 1 seeks to create the leaders and processes to regain our healthy denominational habit of starting a church a day.
During the week of Feb. 9-13, 158 pastors are coming to Arkansas to learn how to start new churches. At this New Church Leadership Institute, the participants will be equipped with both the knowledge and the skills to sponsor a new congregation across town, or to be the pastor of that new congregation themselves in a new church appointment.
New churches and multi-site congregations started under this new initiative include: Mount Olive UMC in Van Buren, Journey UMC in Fort Smith, Christ UMC in Cabot, Living Water UMC in Bentonville, Grace UMC in East End, Vietnamese UMC in Fort Smith, Crosspoint UMC in Conway, Woodlands UMC in Fort Smith, Pontiac UMC in Springdale, Christ’s Way UMC in Jonesboro, Argenta UMC in North Little Rock, and the North Fort Smith Hispanic UMC.
The new churches that are three years old are ranging from 180 to 300 in worship so far this year. The new congregations that are 1 or 2 years old, are averaging from 85 to 185 in worship. Our newest congregations, only 4 months old, are ranging from 40 to 60 in worship already — giving evidence that the harvest for the kingdom will be great.
Your generous gifts will help these new churches to reach more people, more younger people, more diverse people with the saving good news of Jesus Christ.
The generous support of the Catch the Vision offering is helping these new churches to begin, but our task is not over. The Bishop and Cabinet are exploring sites across the conference where the demographics indicate a successful new church could be launched.
