NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH USA EXHIBITION

Transcription

1 NEW APOSTOLIC CHURCH USA EXHIBITION

2 For a list of all the ways to connect with the New Apostolic Church USA and all the resources that are available to you, just visit

3 Exhibition will run from 12-5pm. NAC Talks (taking place in the Wedding Chapel) 3:45 4:00 DA Kriel (English) Work with What You Have 4:00 4:15 DA Deppner (French or English) NAC Life in the Congo: Urban vs. Rural 4:15 4:30 DA Montes de Oca (Spanish) Brazil and Bolivia: Plurality in the Heights and Enormous Distances 4:30 4:45 Ev. Kiefer (German translated into English) The Life and Times in the First Church

4 New Apostolic Church Development Institute As a church that embraces change, we want to be in a state of continual learning. Striving to learn more allows us to grow in ways that will help us reach congregational health by cultivating our culture, divine service experience, pastoral care, and structure. The NAC-USA Development Institute (NDI) is our designated website that assists our ministers and members in growing in their knowledge and equipping themselves to serve in various functions in the congregation. The site offers e-learning courses that can be accessed on demand 24/7. The courses are self-guided, and students can move through the courses at their own pace. In addition to the e-learning courses, NDI offers resources to assist our congregations with their youth care, pastoral care, giving, greeting, and spiritual gifts. Here s a list of the courses we currently have available: Effective Preaching Engaging the Holy Spirit Liturgy of a Divine Service Praying more Effectively 1 & 2 Pastoral Care at the End of Life Grief and Grief Support Inner Authority Youth Program Goals Youth THRIVE Small Group Catechism of the NAC What is the Gospel? Understanding Liturgy Vision and MissionSpiritual Gifts Introduction to Small Groups

5 The Faith Arc is a strategy for the continual spiritual development of a soul in the congregation. One of the definitions of arc is a continuous progression or line of development. We in the New Apostolic Church USA want to create this continual progression and have a path for developing souls into disciple of Christ. This can only be done with support from the whole congregation. We are all the church, all the time. As a congregation we have a holy responsibility to invest in the church, which includes devoting time into relationships with the people around us. By doing this, we show not only our love for each other, but for Christ.

6 Giving Giving allows us to give expression to our passions, interests, and feelings by offering ourselves and our resources to help advance them. As Christians, giving is an integral part of our faith and a vital part of our profession to the world that we are followers of Jesus. As believers grow spiritually, and mature in their faith, they gain the understanding that all they have is given by God and belongs to Him. With the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, believers learn to trust in God and recognize how they can use what they have been given to give generously to the church and others to help all people come to know Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission. The Work Group Giving prepared a paper, Reflections on Giving, which shares how giving was viewed in the Old and New Testaments, and then connects giving to the Catechism of our Church. To help make this topic of giving more relevant in the lives of our members, we want to discover together some deeper aspects of giving and grow in our understanding by focusing on: Giving is Love Giving is Faith Giving is Worship Giving is Mission Giving is Sacrifice Giving is Secret Giving is Joy

7 You re home Part of the vision for our church is to become a place where people feel at home. This is why the NAC-USA welcome resources are called, You re home to support us in making all people feel at home when they enter our congregations. Comprised of three levels, You re home is a package of materials and resources carefully designed and branded for use in our congregations. These resources help guide a person s journey from being a first-time guest, to their further interest in our faith, and to their desire to become a member. Level 1 - Greeter Resources Level 1 is the Greeter Resources that provides an initial contact between a guest and the congregation. They include a guest brochure, which highlights some of our offers and the divine service sequence. It points to our Vision statement and it can be customized for each congregation with service times and address. Also included are guides for greeters and ushers, which offer important points for our members involved in these ministries. A procedure guide is also included to help create a safety plan for each congregation. Level 2 - The Basics As a guest continues attending, they may be interested in learning more about the New Apostolic Church and its beliefs. Level 2 offers The Basics, which is a small group experience for guests and present members to share their faith with each other and inspire deeper discussions about various aspects of the Church. It includes 3 small group videos and a guide for discussion. Level 3 - Sacramental preparation Level 3 assists ministers (or possibly members) in preparing a person or family to become a member of the Church. It walks through the meaning of adoption and the three sacraments. In this section, you will find teachings on each of the sacraments and the important aspects of each sacrament that need to be discussed and understood by each person who is becoming a member. This material is coming in 2018.

8 A Charity of the New Apostolic Church re Charitable Ministry, the humanitarian charity of the New Apostolic Church USA, supports congregations and members in turning Christ s commandment to love our neighbors into actionable results. Yet, effective charity is often more difficult than expected. How do we engage without creating long-term dependencies? What do we do if a specific situation requires assistance beyond our abilities? What does it actually mean to reach out and walk with someone? For congregations which are planning or are already doing charitable outreach in their communities we offer workshops that prepare and assist local members and teams for this task. We look at charity from various different perspectives, critically evaluating whether actual results are being achieved. After all, what we read in Matthew 25:34-40 challenges us as Christians in a very profound way. We also support local activities that meet our project standards with small grants and other assistance. All these activities are based on pro-active local members who apply their spiritual gifts to this aspect of our faith. In addition, re Charitable Ministry is actively engaged in managing selected project partnerships around the world. As a long-term partner of the Kings Children Home (KCH) in Belmopan, Belize, we are already in our 7th year of volunteering with the local team in providing the children with time and facilities suitable to their needs. Teams usually visit twice a year, helping to strengthen a wonderful friendship and connection with the 100 kids under the care of Ms. Leonie and her team. In addition, work is currently underway to establish a partnership in Haiti, focusing on medical outreach. We are excited that a personal investment of one of our young members, who lived in Haiti for a year, has resulted in this wonderful opportunity. From time to time, re also cooperates with other carefully vetted and like-minded charities in providing volunteer cross-support. As part of such a cooperation a volunteer team recently helped with the construction of a school expansion in Ndola, Zambia. Volunteering with re Charitable Ministry in an investment in your personal growth and faith and requires commitment and sacrifice. However, the friendships formed during our projects and workshops transcend congregations and districts. If you are interested to learn more, please visit us at our exhibition booth or send us an to re.charitableministry@nac-usa.org.

9 Spiritual Gifts This small group series was designed to provide tools to help people discover their spiritual gifts and equip us in working together to fulfill God s calling. Through this discovery, we can grow to engage our spiritual gifts in our families, congregations, and communities. This Spiritual Gifts small group series is designed to promote ongoing benefits: Finding your place in the Body of Christ. Aligning yourself to the purposes and good works that God has planned and prepared for you. New opportunities for Christian sharing, fellowship, and joy in serving others. A source of new joy, enthusiasm, ideas, and talent into your life and into your congregation. A new culture of shared congregational leadership based upon collaboration, inspiration, and respect for diversity. A sharing of congregational responsibilities, allowing members and ministers to focus on areas of passion and giftedness.

10 The Scriptures often compare the relationship between Christ and His church to that of a bride and a bridegroom, signaling to Christians that their marital relationship deserves a special focus. The PREPARE & ENRICH program is designed for those that would like to participate in either evaluating their current relationship in preparation for marriage or for a married couple that would like to assess their marital health in search for potential growth areas. It is scientifically validated as a foundational program for premarital education, marriage enrichment, couples therapy, marriage mentoring, and marriage education. The New Apostolic Church USA encourages our members to explore the PREPARE & ENRICH program in order to strengthen their marital bonds and also seeks men and women to serve as trained facilitators in their local congregation.

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