New The UCC... NEW Ideas for NEW Churches V o ume The New Church Leadership Team 3 n Issue III CHURCHES Birthing CHURCHES God is sti speaking, ready, set, grow! Church Mutipication Shining A Guiding Light Churches Birthing Churches: Facts to Know NCLI 09 Highights
Church Mutipication 101 By Michae Piazza, Dean of the Cathedra of Hope UCC in Daas, Texas O The Cathedra of Hope has panted severa new churches through the mutipication process. Our three most recent efforts have been very different experiments: one is a seven-year-od UCC in another conference; one is a one-year-od congregation that has not yet affiiated with the UCC; and one is a six-month-od parish extension of the church in Daas. Cathedra of Hope Okahoma City Cathedra of Hope Okahoma City began with one man who moved there from Daas and coudn t find a church that met his needs. He and his partner started a sma group that we ca a Circe of Hope. When the circe had grown arge enough to mutipy, we hosted a service just prior to Christmas, and then, severa months ater, we returned with the choir and orchestra and ed a service on Easter Sunday evening. During May, June and Juy I drove up to OKC to ead workshops for which we averaged between 50 and 60 peope. We were cear about the purpose, and, after the second one, asked peope to begin signing up for various vounteer positions. After my third workshop in Juy, we announced we woud gather for our first service at the Unitarian church the first Sunday evening in August. The first month we averaged between 50-65 in worship, and we were very quicky financiay sef-sustaining. We began amost immediatey ooking for a person who coud serve as pastor of that congregation. Within a year, the congregation had a pastor and had grown to around 120 members. At that point, I came up to preach on specia occasions or when the pastor was on vacation. I mentored their new pastor, and we provided the congregation with administrative support, produced their buetins, and did their accounting. The pastor was a hired member of the CoH staff. I ocated the person, and we few them in to preach and spend a week with the congregation. I then invited the congregation to make their views known to me and based my hiring decision entirey on their input and feedback. They technicay did not eect their pastor, but, in actuaity, they did. This was important because that congregation didn t have a board or church counci to provide management eadership. In order for the pastor to be accountabe at a they had to be under the personne poicies of the Cathedra of Hope in Daas and its board. We were very deiberate in this. With any new congregation you have a imited number of peope who have strong eadership skis, deep commitment or significant heathy church experience. We beieve it is a strategic mistake to take that imited number of your most devoted peope and put them into management. Our priority was to take our best and most devoted peope and make them eaders of ministry. This sent the cear message that the heroes of this new church were those who invested in and ed ministry. Rather than having a board gather to argue about financia or management decisions, we had a Counci of Ministry that gathered to strategize about how to mobiize the congregation to serve the needs of that community. Church in the Ciff Whie doing some demographic research, we discovered that we had about 850 peope in our database who ive in the South Daas area caed Oak Ciff. We decided to try to gather a group of those foks together to see if there was an interest in starting a parish extension in that area. As we were doing this work, we were approached by another oca congregation that had ost its ease and was ooking for a new home. They asked if they might attend our inquiry session. The group that gathered was made up of about haf their foks and haf ours. Since the pastor of that congregation was a friend, and someone with congruent vaues and theoogy, we decided to partner with them on this new adventure. - continued on next page. NEW TIMES: New Ideas for New Churches Rev. CameronTrimbe Editor UCC New Church Strategist cameron@progressiverenewa.org The United Church of Christ 700 Prospect Avenue Ceveand, Ohio 44115 Office: 216-736-2100 www.ucc.org New Times is a bi-annua pubication of the Congregationa, Vitaity & Discipeship Team of the United Church of Christ. Contributing Editor: David Punkett Editor dpunkett@cathedraofhope.com 02
That congregation is now caed Church in the Ciff, a mosty heterosexua emergent congregation whose ministry centers on art and artists. They worship in Oak Ciff in a city recreationa faciity, and they office in our buiding. Our accounting staff pays their bis and keeps their books, but they technicay are a partner congregation that we hope soon wi seek affiiation in the UCC. Cathedra of Hope Houston Through the years, severa hundred of our members have reocated to the Houston area. Naturay, many of them had found homes in existing congregations there, but many of them had not. In fact, severa significant eaders ive there now, and they had been appeaing to us for some time to start a Cathedra of Hope in Houston. We again started by offering monthy workshops. We have been worshipping since January 2009 and have a congregation of about 50-65 core peope who aready are sustaining the church financiay. The other amazing thing about that congregation is that 100 percent of them aready are invoved in ministry. Again, as in Okahoma City, we have organized things there in such a way that no one reay has to do any management, but can give a their energy to their ministries. In the preiminary workshops, we made it cear that if management and contro are their vaues when it comes to being invoved in church this probaby isn t the pace for them. It is vita that the Birthing Church aow the new congregation to focus its time and energy on deveoping programs and ministries that enhance the growth and stabiity of the new congregation. One vita piece is that the senior pastor (or perhaps a ong-term associate) takes responsibiity for being the coach of the pastor of the new church start. This doesn t require a great dea of time, but to have someone to tak to and ask questions of when you are getting started is critica for a new pastor. The Birthing Church aso has resources and answers that the new church does not. For exampe, the senior pastor ikey wi know off the top of their head who the new church pastor shoud tak to about rea estate issues. In addition, the new church ikey has itte in the way of music, but the sponsoring congregation probaby has a whoe ibrary to share. They aso probaby know peope who can be caed upon to ead music, and, in our case, we have more sooists than we have opportunities for them to sing. Being abe to share the gifts of these foks heps everyone. This ist coud go on and on, but the point is that the Birthing Church has a ot to share. Whie it may not cost much to share od hymnas with a new congregation, it woud cost the new congregation a fortune if they had to buy them. The vaue received far exceeds the cost of what is given. Much of what an estabished congregation knows was earned at a high cost of time invested and mistakes made. To share these insights and resources with a new congregation is invauabe. These are just a few of the many reasons why church mutipication is so much more successfu than simpy parachuting a eader in to start a new congregation under the authority of the conference or association. The money and other resources spent go much, much farther in a mutipication setting because the existing church provides a ot of support that costs them itte but is very vauabe. For more information contact Michae Piazza - mike@progressiverenewa.org. 03 UPCOMING EVENTS February 12-13, 2010 CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY TRAINING God is Sti Speaking! Learn about exciting new onine toos to hep churches getting vita and staying vita. Ready, Set, Grow! This meeting wi be hosted in Ceveand, OH. For more information contact Vivian Santiago-Riccio at santiagv@ucc.org February 19-20, 2010 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEVADA CONFERENCE, UCC Worshipping Into your Congregation s Future: An event for pastors, ay eaders and growth teams ed by Rev. Anthony B. Robinson, consutant and coach in church eadership, and former pastor of Pymouth UCC, Seatte; and Rev. Michae Piazza, Dean and Nationa Pastor, Cathedra of Hope. Look for detais at www.scncucc.org. February 26-28, 2010 UCC WEB UNIVERSITY A three-day Congregationa Vitaity event! Join us for workshops on: Buid effective websites at ow cost Increase traffic to your website Deveop cost-saving emai newsetters Best practices for safety on Facebook. Best practices for onine fundraising Socia media: the next wave August 2-6, 2010 NEW CHURCH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE NCLI gathers potentia and practicing new church deveopers and revitaizing pastors for one week during the year for an intensive training in the atest toos and theories for church panting and redeveopment. For more information, go to www.growtheucc.org
Shining A Guiding Light By Bob Townsend Mayfower Congregationa UCC Births A New Church in Napes, Forida Today we have a heathy, growing new church. It has been a ong and wonderfu road fied with earning, inspiration and courageous eadership on the part of the peope at Mayfower, Lighthouse & our Conference. In the fa of 2007, Rev. Bob Townsend, then pastor of Mayfower Congregationa UCC in Napes, Forida, and the Forida Conference s New Church Deveopment (NCD) committee had a crazy, yet inspired, idea: pant a new church 13 mies north of the existing congregation. Begun in 1990, Mayfower is a predominanty senior citizen congregation ocated on a 10-acre campus that incudes a 400-seat sanctuary and a famiy ife center. The congregation had served as a progressive witness to the peope of Napes, Forida for 17 years, yet they noticed a arge community of progressive peope iving in an area about 13 mies north of their church. So the conference NCD committee asked Rev. Townsend and the Mayfower congregation to pant a new church to reach these new peope. Rev. Townsend recas, The Church Counci at Mayfower approved the idea on the basis that Mayfower woud free up time from my schedue to start the new church, and the conference woud provide financia resources: $30,000 the first year and $41,000 the second. Lighthouse Congregationa United Church of Christ hed its first worship service on November 2, 2008. Lighthouse is a mission of Mayfower Congregationa United Church of Christ and the Forida Conference UCC. Of course, there is much more to this story. Here are Rev. Townsend s refections: I was asked and made a three-year commitment to start the new church. As a beginning pace, I asked the peope in the Mayfower congregation to pray for the new church start. We prayed during worship, during counci meetings, during a important gatherings of the church. Those prayers continue to this day. With the hep of the Forida Conference, we conducted demographic studies of the area using a denominationa service. We then gathered peope from Mayfower who ived in the area and asked them to hep us seed this new church. That night, one dozen peope committed to Lighthouse Congregationa UCC. We then went on to hod meetings to discuss how, when and where, as we as to put voice to hopes, dreams and needs. With a gathered core group of vounteers, we began the formation phase. We articuated our core vaues for the new church and wrote a vision for the congregation. We aso sought training at the New Church Leadership Institute in Atanta, GA. In 2008, the Forida Conference approved the new church at the annua meeting and asked other churches for their spiritua and financia support. Having created a cear vision of the church that we were dreaming of birthing, we set out to find a worship space, eventuay renting space from a Seventh-day Adventist church. We formed a worship team from peope in the community and purchased most of the resources that we needed for worship: computers, sound equipment and a projector. We then set a date and time for the first worship service. Since Mayfower s service is at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, we designated our service at Lighthouse to start at 11 a.m. During the same time, we aso were deveoping our website, www.ighthousenapes.com, and buiding our ogo/brand. We deveoped a series of three postcard maiings to our target area announcing the church opening and inviting peope to worship with Lighthouse. We aso taked with the oca paper, which featured the start of our new church in an artice. We advertised everywhere in oca papers, the oca high schoo s basketba program, and in footba programs. We aso ran an ad on cabe TV using the Steepe Ad from the United Church of Christ and added a Lighthouse tag on the end. Today, we have a heathy, growing new church. It has been a ong and wonderfu road fied with earning, inspiration and courageous eadership on the part of the peope at Mayfower, Lighthouse and our conference. Perhaps our greatest surprise was that we encountered rea excitement about birthing a new church. It often is said that everyone shoud be part of a new church at east once. This is my second experience in starting a new church, and that joy has been overwheming. To contact Rev. Townsend, go to www.ighthousenapes.com. 04
Churches Birthing Churches: Facts to Know My Name is Cameron Trimbe & I Am Here to RECRUIT YOU! We Need Your Hep - n Revitaizing our existing churches by giving new ife to new communities of faith. n Finding creative soutions to the chaenges of membership decine facing our oca congregations. n Imagining that a growing denomination is possibe. If you want to know more about how your church can start a new church, visit www.growtheucc.org - or emai - Rev. Cameron Trimbe at cameron@progressive renewa.org - or - Rev. Michae Piazza at mike@progressive renewa.org By Cameron Trimbe, UCC New Church Strategist If someone asked your church to birth another UCC church, woud you do it? This is the pivota question that is now facing a of our heathy, growing churches. If the United Church of Christ is going to have a significant impact in the future, we must get serious about starting new churches. We can be a growing denomination if you wi hep. In 2006, the UCC set a goa of panting 250 new congregations by 2011. It seems ike an audacious goa, a bit ike when Nehemiah asked his peope to hep rebuid the ruined was of Jerusaem. He coud see a future that embraced progress, innovation and faith as its guiding vaues. I wonder if, in our most courageous and visionary moments, we can imagine the United Church of Christ as a progressive eader in rebuiding the faith of ibera peope. Can we imagine the United Church of Christ present in every community across our nation? Can we imagine the United Church of Christ being the fastest-growing, most innovative and reevant mainine church in our time? If you can see that vision, then I want you on my team. Here is our current reaity: Every week in the United Church of Christ we ose or cose three churches; every week we start ess than one. In other words, we are standing at the base of a crumbing wa, piecing it together again, brick by brick. However, we ive in a word of skyscrapers. We have the capacity to buid was that stretch for thousands of mies and far into the sky. We do not buid these was with bricks and mortar. We pour concrete into forms that are reinforced with rebar. We have bueprints, arge machinery and trained craftsmen who know how to buid strong, soid was that stand the test of time. It is time to rebuid the United Church of Christ using our best resources. Whie conferences and nationa settings have served as the primary drivers for starting new churches, we know that these settings are not the best paces from which to start new churches. Just as rabbits give birth to rabbits, churches give birth to churches. You do not have to be a arge church to hep in this effort. Any size congregation can hep to start a new congregation. Here are some standard modes for church mutipication: Daughtering: a singe oca church initiates and eads the birth of a new congregation. Partnership/Network: when two or more congregations work together to parent a church. Sateites: off-campus ministry sponsored by oca church with goa for sef-sustaining church. Restarting: a oca congregation, in partnership with a conference, comes aongside a strugging congregation. The strugging congregation is cosed and a new congregation is started in its pace. Don t see a mode that woud fit your setting? Then deveop your own! Starting a new church is an art, not a science. Each setting is different and requires contextuaization. The important thing is that you start. Here is how your church can birth a new church: G - Grab the vision. R - Refect and discern as a congregation how God is caing you to act. O - Obtain congregationa support through a congregationa vote. W - Work with your most creative eaders to envision the specifics of the new church. T - Train your core eadership team in basic church panting. H - Hire a new church panter and secure the needed resources to make the church start successfu. E - Equip your core eadership team to manage both the birthing and parenting processes. U - Utiize Rent-A-Member - ask your congregation to visit the new church to buid critica mass. C - Commission the new ministry and your eaders in a Sunday morning service. C - Ceebrate the Birth! These suggestions are genera, of course. Behind these tactics are we-researched strategies, theories and resources that are avaiabe to your church shoud you choose to undertake this chaenge. If your church discerns that God is caing it to birth a new congregation, we wi hep you make that a success. What we need from you is the wiingness to try. In the movie Mik, Harvey Mik stood on the sidewak of Castro Street facing the gathering mobs of peope protesting the atest discriminatory egisation passed by their city representatives. He yeed, My name is Harvey Mik, and I am here to recruit you. That is a good ine, and I am steaing it. My name is Cameron Trimbe, and I am here to recruit you! We need your hep to buid the UCC so that our progressive voice is heard across our and with a message of grace, incusion and justice for a. 05
New Church Leadership Institute 2009 The New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI), a ministry of the United Church of Christ, kicked off this past August as 125 pastors from across the United States converged on the Cander Schoo of Theoogy at Emory University. NCLI gathers potentia and practicing new church deveopers and revitaizing pastors from the UCC and other denominations for a week ong intensive training in the atest toos and theories for evangeism and church growth. Divided into two tracks, the New Church Track and the Revitaization Track, NCLI offers workshops by gifted eaders, pastors and visionaries from within the UCC and esewhere. Faciitators incude Rev. Michae Piazza, Dean of the Cathedra of Hope UCC in Daas, Texas; Tom Brackett, the Director of Church Deveopment for the Episcopa Church USA; and Jim Griffith, the founder of Griffith Coaching Network, a network of coaches committed to heping church eaders deveop more fruitfu ministries. We beieve that new and revitaizing churches hod the vision for the future of the progressive church, said Cameron Trimbe, NCLI 2009 NCLI s director, and the work we wi do this week wi take us further on our journey to buiding the Body of Christ. This year marked an important expansion of the New Church Leadership Institute with the addition of a new track for pastors and ay eaders engaged in redeveoping existing churches. Directed by Rev. Dr. Geneva Butz, Associate Conference Minister of the Pennsyvania Southeast Conference, participants earned about congregation size theory, spiritua discernment, improving congregationa behavior, socia networking, adaptive change, fundraising, stewardship, worship and preaching. Amost haf of those who attended the NCLI serve in settings where revitaization is the greatest hope. One participant noted, This was an extremey usefu and worthwhie training. I was mesmerized by each and every presenter. I waked away with so much information and an abundant burst of energy for my ministry. The Revitaization Track offered students the opportunity to network with coeagues from across the country, incuding a Skype ca with Rev. Cindy Bagey and her eadership team at Dunbarton Congregationa Church in New Hampshire. Students aso have the opportunity to continue their education through our onine university found at www.growtheucc.org. The new church deveopment track expanded this year to incude speakers such as Jim Griffith from Griffith Coaching. Jim has been a pioneer and champion for nurturing vita church eadership through coaching, said David Schoen, eader of the UCC s Congregationa Vitaity & Discipeship Team. He has gathered a group of great coaches to work with new church panters and pastors in redeveoping congregations. The vaue of Jim Griffith Coaching is inestimabe. By participating in the New Church Leadership Institute, church panters and redeveopers have the opportunity to work with one of severa coaches who were in attendance during the week. Pau Nickerson, the coach to the coaches and an ordained UCC minister of 27 years, was onsite to coordinate the coaching program. On Wednesday, a participants in the New Church Leadership Institute had a chance to hear from Peter Wernett and Chuck Sater about a 06
Refections from Atanta NCLI was ike going to Church for me. Experiencing a variety of peope seeking to find reevant ways to bring Christ aive through, with and for others was an inspirationa experience. I am caed! - NCLI 09 Participant If God has given you the passion to pant a new church, then you need to attend the NCLI! You wi eave the conference inspired by the Hoy Spirit and fu of practica wisdom about how to grow the vision that has been paced upon your heart. - NCLI 09 Participant The NCLI provided an exceent thermometer for taking the temperature of where your congregation is reated to revitaization. The references and resources were exceent and the networking with other attendees invauabe. - NCLI 09 Participant NCLI continued ECUMENICAL NCD EVENTS GRIFFITH COACHING Church Panting Boot Camps by Jim Griffith are Basic Training events specificay designed for pastors who are panting new churches in 2009 or for those who have recenty panted a new church. For more information visit: www.griffithcoaching.com 2010 Apri 6-8 Atanta, GA May 4-6 Fayettevie, AR May 11-13 Champaign-Urbana, IL August 17-19 Daas, TX August 24-26 Richmond, VA new demographic resource avaiabe to conferences and oca churches caed Mission Insite. The foowing day, Rev. Donna Aen, Founder and Pastor of New Reveation Community Church in Oakand, Caifornia, and Rev. Michae Piazza deivered powerfu chaenges to the participants. Rev. Piazza began the morning by sharing his experiences panting mutipe churches in a variety of settings, and offered creative ways that pastors and deveopers can enhance their worship service through technoogy. When Rev. Piazza was caed to the Cathedra of Hope, the church had 300 members. It now has more than 4,000. Rev. Aen, who aso is Visiting Assistant Professor of Preaching at Lancaster Theoogica Seminary, presented ways in which reevant preaching wi transform the preacher, the congregation and the cuture. Both presenters posited that the United Church of Christ is uniquey positioned to join the heart of traditiona, evangeica worship with the head of ibera, progressive theoogy to make the Church of Jesus Christ a more reevant force in the 21st century. The dates for the next NCLI Training are August 2-6, 2010. The event wi be hosted once again in Atanta, Georgia. The 2009 participants and eadership team set a goa of doubing attendance to 300 participants in 2010. The New Church Leadership Institute offers essentia training for pastors and ay eaders serving in ministry today. We are training the best and brightest to engage in transformationa ministries that wi strengthen the UCC for many years to come, Rev. Trimbe said concerning the outcome of this event. We need as many peope as possibe to experience this training as we grow the United Church of Christ. Register for NCLI 2010 at www.growtheucc.org 07
Resources for Church Deveopers WEBSITES www.growtheucc.org - Through a partnership with the Southeast Conference and Loca Church Ministry s Congregationa Vitaity and Discipeship Team, www. growtheucc.org is a site designed to provide resources for those interested in new church deveopment, revitaization and mutipication. You aso can find information about the New Church Leadership Institute and upcoming church vitaity events happening across the country. We highy recommend you check out this site. hirr.hartsem.edu - Hartford Seminary s Hartford Institute for Reigion Research has a 32-year record of rigorous, poicy-reevant research, anticipation of emerging issues, and commitment to the creative dissemination of earning. This record has earned the Institute an internationa reputation as an important bridge between the schoary community and the practice of faith. BOOKS AND ARTICLES The Church that Mutipies, by Joe Cominskey. Pubished in 2005 by CSS Pubishing, Moreno Vaey, CA. A Mainine Turnaround: Strategies For Congregations And Denominations by Lye Schaer. Pubished in 2005 by Abingdon Press in Nashvie, TN. The Mutipying Church: The New Math for Starting New Churches by Bob Roberts. Pubished in 2008 by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Muti-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement s Next Generation by Scott McConne and Ed Stetzer. Pubished in 2009 by B&H Pubishing Group, Nashvie, TN. Panting Churches that Reproduce, by Joe Cominskey. Pubished in 2009 by CSS Pubishing, Moreno Vaey, CA. Panting Missiona Churches, by Ed Stetzer. Pubished in 2006 by Broadman and Homan Pubishers, Nashvie, TN. Rekinding the Mainine: New Life Through New Churches by Stephen Compton. Pubished in 2003 by the Aban Institute in Herndon, VA. UCC WEBINARS (Register @ growtheucc.org) Leading Libera Latino/as - (March 9, 2010, 2 p.m. EST) Addressing issues such as sexuaity in Latin cutures is chaenging for a variety of reasons. This is a community aready confronting issues around immigration injustice and prejudice. Aejandro De La Torre, pastor of a mosty LGBT Hispanic congregation in TX, presents this webinar in Spanish. U-Turns Aowed - (Apri 13, 2010, 2 p.m. EST) Many, if not most, mainine congregations are statisticay headed in the wrong direction. Honesty facing that reaity is the toughest chaenge. Jim Powe is ready to take an honest ook at the situation and appy effective business principes and toos to turn around decining congregations. We suited for pastors, ay eaders, and judicatory eaders who support them. Progressive Renewa - (May 11, 2010, 2 p.m. EST) Michae Piazza wi ead a workshop in niche marketing which cas on progressive congregations to focus their resources more effectivey. This webinar is designed to hep us discover how we can find new ife in our changing society. Panting Progressive Churches - (June 17, 2010, 2 p.m. EST) Why are these churches needed and how to succeed in panting them? Cameron Trimbe, founder & director of the New Church Leadership Institute, and eading expert in the wide range of issues surrounding panting progressive congregations wi ead discussion on what is required to pant new progressive churches in conservative settings. Pease Note: Our nationa and conference staffs have found these resources to be hepfu in our ministries. We do not advocate or support a positions of the authors, especiay if they are excusive of women and minority peopes. If you have resources that you woud ike to suggest, e-mai them to: Rev. Cameron Trimbe at cameron@progressiverenewa.org NEW TIMES Past editions of the New Times Newsetter are avaiabe for downoad at - www.growtheucc.org 700 Prospect Ave. East, Ceaveand, OH 44115 NOW FOR IS NEW THE CHURCH TIME DEVELOPMENT