FLING OPEN THE DOORS

FLING OPEN THE DOORS sub heading Giving The Church Away To The Community. (c) 200 Abingdon Press, Nashville. pp.247 price. 32.95
Paul Nixon- pastor, Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Chapter One. A Village Church.
The virtual village of a church are the people in the community. Within the church there are villages that form around diverse interests. A brief history is given of Gulf Breeze church. Nine specific characteristics of a Village Church are listed and explained. A chronological record is presented of the church as a Village Church. The question is posed, "What is your church’s story?"p.31. Every church is on a contiuum between being a fortress or a community centre. Being commited to the community is costly and involves crossroads where significant changes have to be made to remain relevant. There is a natural drift back to a fortress mentality. "Across the street from most Christian sanctuaries are neighbors who are honestly clueless."p.35. Technology (internet) is changing the make-up of the virtual village of a church. The Christian community is becomung much more available. There are actually no physical boundaries.
Chapter Two. A Gift To The Community.
Community centres have a history of some one hundred and thirty years beginning with the Y.M.C.A. An episode in the life of Gulf Breeze is related as it affected the ministry to the community. This involved the purchase of land and the building of a community centre as a gift to the community and an enlarged arena of ministry. This facility was on a campus some eight miles removed from the church. It was staffed by the church but used by the community. User fees helped cover some of the costs of operation. Public relations were given high priority. It became an excellent bridge from the secular to the sacred. i.e. Regular church services were held in the facility.
Chapter Three. Hospitality, Hope, and Healing.
Successful hospitality is very sensitive to first impressions. The church "belongs to every resident in the community".p.84. In the church environment new people should have the option of just blending in. We need to put ourselves into the shoes of the guests. Insider language needs to be avoided. Hospitality happens before and after services. "Hospitality is not to change people but to offer them a space where change can take place." Henry Nouwen. Our culture is not conducive to such hospitality. Hospitality needs to point to hope. Hope is communicated in the preaching and the teaching. People need hope in financial management. When we celebrate things that unite it brings hope. Out of hope comes healing. There are many forms of healing; physical, emotional,spiritual, relational, memories that need to be healed, etc. Brokeness requires healing. We all need healing.
Chapter Four- Until The Pastor Is Ready, The Church Isn’t Ready.
Much of pastoral training has to do with yesterday. The traditional view of the pastor does not endorse the need for meeting community needs. One significant change that has happened in many churches is the change from solo leadership to team leadership. For pastors, the loyalty to a denomination needs to enhance not jeopardize their ministry to the community. Holy vision and love are basic ingredients of effective leadership in an established church. Vision usually comes in an environment of retreat or rest. Without love vision will become confrontive and ineffective. Furthermore, such love will not be limited to the congregation, it will include the community. The author makes nine suggestions on how to lead.
Chapter Five.- Building a World-Class Leadership Team.
A leadership team is made up of paid and unpaid members. "Paid staff members exist to coach others in ministry, to lead leaders."p.145. The effectiveness of paid staff members should be measured by the results of ministry not the job descriptions. There are many more unpaid leaders and coaches in an effective team than paid. The qualities that are important for leaders are "training, experience, beliefs, relative giftedness, and attitude". p.145. Attitude impacts all the other qualities. A search committee made up of representatives from various factions of the church, armed with a job description, is not the best way to find appropriate leaders. It is easier for one or two people to come up with a short list and then involve an interview team from those who will be working with the new leader to make the final choice. Leaders need to be given the opportunity to build their own teams. It is a very sound concept to hire from within. Interviewing and hiring procedures at Gulf Breeze are discussed. Lines of accountability are described. This applies to paid and unpaid leadership.
Chapter Six- Taking Christian Worship To The Community.
There are two tensions that a worship leader needs to be aware of and be able to deal with effectively; "the tension between planning and spontaneity",p.177, and "the tension between church and culture’.p.178. Worship is "reaching out with the people to God and reaching toward the people on behalf of God."p.179. The words traditional and contemporary are very relative terms when describing worship. Reinventing worship services is an option but must be done in the right way. The stories of change at Gulf Breeze are related. The issue of solo and team led churches is revisited. When there are challenges given in worship and preaching there must also be an opportunity for a public response.
Chapter Seven- Birthing Pains.
Reaching out is not an option so there will be birthing pains that come with growth. The challenges of planning, building, and operating a multi-campused church are visited briefly. Other challenges of expanding ministires are discussed.
Chapter Eight- The Stories Yet To Be Written.
The author presents three challenges. One to the church, another to the church leaders, and the third to those who are called to start new churches. God wants to grow spiritual villages in all types of communities. A brief overview is done of various kinds of communities.
Comment. hd.
We have a very interesting story here of a church that did some out of the box ministry through a church owned and operated community centre. It is a book that challenges churches to become community focused. The question that this book raises in my mind is - How community friendly is our church, really? Can we really call our church a community church? A thoughtprovoking read.
BOOK REVIEW
FLING OPEN THE DOORS sub heading Giving The Church Away To The Community.
Paul Nixon- pastor, Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church, Gulf Breeze, Florida.
(c) 200 Abingdon Press, Nashville. pp.247 price. 32.95
Chapter One. A Village Church.
The virtual village of a church are the people in the community. Within the church there are villages that form around diverse interests. A brief history is given of Gulf Breeze church. Nine specific characteristics of a Village Church are listed and explained. A chronological record is presented of the church as a Village Church. The question is posed, "What is your church’s story?"p.31. Every church is on a contiuum between being a fortress or a community centre. Being commited to the community is costly and involves crossroads where significant changes have to be made to remain relevant. There is a natural drift back to a fortress mentality. "Across the street from most Christian sanctuaries are neighbors who are honestly clueless."p.35. Technology (internet) is changing the make-up of the virtual village of a church. The Christian community is becomung much more available. There are actually no physical boundaries.
Chapter Two. A Gift To The Community.
Community centres have a history of some one hundred and thirty years beginning with the Y.M.C.A. An episode in the life of Gulf Breeze is related as it affected the ministry to the community. This involved the purchase of land and the building of a community centre as a gift to the community and an enlarged arena of ministry. This facility was on a campus some eight miles removed from the church. It was staffed by the church but used by the community. User fees helped cover some of the costs of operation. Public relations were given high priority. It became an excellent bridge from the secular to the sacred. i.e. Regular church services were held in the facility.
Chapter Three. Hospitality, Hope, and Healing.
Successful hospitality is very sensitive to first impressions. The church "belongs to every resident in the community".p.84. In the church environment new people should have the option of just blending in. We need to put ourselves into the shoes of the guests. Insider language needs to be avoided. Hospitality happens before and after services. "Hospitality is not to change people but to offer them a space where change can take place." Henry Nouwen. Our culture is not conducive to such hospitality. Hospitality needs to point to hope. Hope is communicated in the preaching and the teaching. People need hope in financial management. When we celebrate things that unite it brings hope. Out of hope comes healing. There are many forms of healing; physical, emotional,spiritual, relational, memories that need to be healed, etc. Brokeness requires healing. We all need healing.
Chapter Four- Until The Pastor Is Ready, The Church Isn’t Ready.
Much of pastoral training has to do with yesterday. The traditional view of the pastor does not endorse the need for meeting community needs. One significant change that has happened in many churches is the change from solo leadership to team leadership. For pastors, the loyalty to a denomination needs to enhance not jeopardize their ministry to the community. Holy vision and love are basic ingredients of effective leadership in an established church. Vision usually comes in an environment of retreat or rest. Without love vision will become confrontive and ineffective. Furthermore, such love will not be limited to the congregation, it will include the community. The author makes nine suggestions on how to lead.
Chapter Five.- Building a World-Class Leadership Team.
A leadership team is made up of paid and unpaid members. "Paid staff members exist to coach others in ministry, to lead leaders."p.145. The effectiveness of paid staff members should be measured by the results of ministry not the job descriptions. There are many more unpaid leaders and coaches in an effective team than paid. The qualities that are important for leaders are "training, experience, beliefs, relative giftedness, and attitude". p.145. Attitude impacts all the other qualities. A search committee made up of representatives from various factions of the church, armed with a job description, is not the best way to find appropriate leaders. It is easier for one or two people to come up with a short list and then involve an interview team from those who will be working with the new leader to make the final choice. Leaders need to be given the opportunity to build their own teams. It is a very sound concept to hire from within. Interviewing and hiring procedures at Gulf Breeze are discussed. Lines of accountability are described. This applies to paid and unpaid leadership.
Chapter Six- Taking Christian Worship To The Community.
There are two tensions that a worship leader needs to be aware of and be able to deal with effectively; "the tension between planning and spontaneity",p.177, and "the tension between church and culture’.p.178. Worship is "reaching out with the people to God and reaching toward the people on behalf of God."p.179. The words traditional and contemporary are very relative terms when describing worship. Reinventing worship services is an option but must be done in the right way. The stories of change at Gulf Breeze are related. The issue of solo and team led churches is revisited. When there are challenges given in worship and preaching there must also be an opportunity for a public response.
Chapter Seven- Birthing Pains.
Reaching out is not an option so there will be birthing pains that come with growth. The challenges of planning, building, and operating a multi-campused church are visited briefly. Other challenges of expanding ministires are discussed.
Chapter Eight- The Stories Yet To Be Written.
The author presents three challenges. One to the church, another to the church leaders, and the third to those who are called to start new churches. God wants to grow spiritual villages in all types of communities. A brief overview is done of various kinds of communities.
Comment. hd.
We have a very interesting story here of a church that did some out of the box ministry through a church owned and operated community centre. It is a book that challenges churches to become community focused. The question that this book raises in my mind is - How community friendly is our church, really? Can we really call our church a community church? A thoughtprovoking read.