WELCOME Ushering in a New Era of Serving Together and Reaching our Cities In Unity with the Good News of Jesus Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
LOVING OUR CITIES AND COMMUNITY Meeting Agenda Welcome, Prayer, Purpose of meeting Acknowledge Work of Churches in the Area, History (Dick Renard) Serve Days and Relationships (Claudia Schaub, Shelley Bilyeu) One Church s Story of Joining LOCC (Casey Aguilar) Ideas for Working in Unity Amongst Churches Background of Love Our Cities and LOCC Primary objectives Vision for 2018 Big vision what could happen? What is the ask/commitment Next steps
Purpose of Meeting Brief history about churches working together in Monterey County (Jeremiah 29:7 - Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.) Celebrate the good work already happening Discover together where God is at work in pulling together the Body of Christ Ideas for serving together and progressively impacting our communities even more Discuss some proposed models for serving together and testing the waters And. hopefully leave asking the question of how are we serving our communities, what makes sense to do alone, and what should we be doing with other churches
CONNECTING CHURCHES IS LIKE HERDING CATS Herding Cats
Examples of history of church collaboration in Monterey County Dick Renard CASP, Marketplace Meets Mission Restoration story and vision from Nehemiah 3 for central coast Salinas Valley Community Church and partners Carmel Presbyterian Church CASP church participants Other
Recognition of Examples of Church Outreach in Place 1st United Methodist Salinas SVCC 18 years of serve days Catholic Charities & Parishes food, clothing, shelter Shoreline Church HOPE party, serve days Comunidad Cristiana de Fe farmworker program Angel Tree, Prison Fellowship Most churches: Food and clothes closets, etc.
Salinas Valley Community Church & Carmel Presbyterian Church Serve Days & Relationships Claudia Schaub Director of Outreach SVCC Shelley Bilyeu Outreach Coordinator CPC History of Serve Days and Types of Projects Relationships made and one example of impacts Why working together can make a purposeful difference
Background of Love Our Central Coast/Love Our Cities Eric Johnsen Love Our Central Coast, R3 Pastor John Houseman Shoreline Church Love Our Cities Background and Connection First year in 2016 Shoreline only event, 600 volunteers, 25 projects Partnership with Love Our Cities in 2017, six local churches In 2017, LOCC hosted 1,100 volunteers and 45+ community projects in August Backbone website through Love Our Cities provides for easy project management for ongoing projects across multiple churches Unity between churches was both welcomed and celebrated in 2017, community favor Desire to grow, include other partners, impact our communities! Initial Partners Carmel Presbyterian Victory Temple Monterey Church Shoreline Community Salinas Full Gospel Vineyard Christian Cypress Church
Core Objectives for Love Our Central Coast 2017 and forward Serve the Community in unity with purpose and engage with people in meaningful ways while remaining true to mission of Preserve the relationships and good will already developed and build up it with other churches (i.e. Loving Salinas) Love those we serve with the heart of Christ and perhaps earn the opportunity to share the love of Christ Build strong and lasting partnerships and programs with community organizations and between Bible believing, Christ-centered church partners Build upon our successes for future service opportunities and ways to further mobilize the body of Christ into serving and to stimulate an ecosystem of church planting and community engagement
Salinas Full Gospel Church Impact of LOCC Casey Aguilar Lay Coordinator for Community Service How we got involved and first year as project recipient What happened within the congregation What we did in year 2
Strategic Direction Church Relevancy and Relationships This is not a program, but an intentional strategy helping to make the church relevant in our cities again. Community-based model rather than a church-based model. We are not just one church or multiple churches getting involved (the church doing this FOR the city). We work hand in hand with government (city, county and state), education, neighborhoods, media, businesses, non-profits, other community organizations to make this a community-wide effort. (the church doing this WITH the city) We have found by focusing on doing things WITH the city, it has opened up new relationships with key people and departments that we never have had access to previously and provides amazing evangelism and discipleship opportunities. Interested in a sustainable model (community wide volunteer days are just a catalyst for the entire year). This doesn t happen overnight, but is a goal that would develop over time and is unique to each city. LEVEL 1- Catalytic Event (community wide volunteer days) LEVEL 2- Year Round Initiatives (these initiatives should be a result of collaboration with city leaders and hearing the needs of the city from the city s perspective and other community partners.) Love Our Neighborhoods (impacting our neighborhoods) Love Our Schools (impacting student lives) Love ALL Our Kids (impacting lives through foster care/adoption) LEVEL 3- Leadership Collaboration Among Leaders - leaders from non-profits, churches, business, education, government, neighborhoods, etc. working together to transform our cities as well as pastors
Vision for Central Coast for 2018 Vision: meaningful service, true unity in purpose and love in body of Christ, ownership by all churches, impact on community issues Serve days: two key days in 2018 - April 21 and October 27 and invite churches who are ready to participate together Monthly serve opportunities, committed mission leaders (as opposed to just project leaders) Community interviews with key target organizations to determine needs Lead church(es) for each project date Minimal funding, community donations Leadership team with all churches involved Funding sources, church participation, donations
LOCC Website Tool
Possible elements of a Bigger Vision. 1. Future possible 501c3 umbrella organization closely tied to partner churches, but able to receive outside funding from individuals, foundations, private businesses 2. Combination of a couple large-scale community service days and ongoing monthly service 3. Raising up and training leaders in both overseeing service and organic outreach 4. Providing unified approach from churches in addressing head-on difficult community issues such as homelessness, education and literacy, youth violence, economic justice, etc. Centralized homeless services centers for food, clothing, employment, housing, counseling and other resourcing After school literacy programs and adopt-a-school by one or several churches 5. Hosting church-wide partner church celebration events, prayer summit 6. Mission trip collaboration and opportunities, crisis response teams 7. Mayors breakfasts in all cities? 8. Other?
What else/reaction to the possible vision What are some other possible opportunities or doors God is opening? What won t work or is of concern? Avoiding cultural conflicts while still unifying in purpose and service? How best to deal with geography realities, great lettuce divide? Best way to include other churches and invite them in?
Church Partner Commitment Discussion Commitment expectations Dating Participate on one or several projects on one of primary serve dates (4/21 or 10/27) Attend planning and leadership meetings Honeymoon (all of above plus ) Promote serve days and sign ups for projects Possibly identify 1-2 projects where couple churches can take the lead Minimal financial support for web tool and promotional costs Getting married (all of above plus.) Adopting local schools and kids Ongoing relationships with key community organizations Financial commitment to projects and organizational support Taking lead on key projects throughout year specific to church neighborhood
Next Steps Sign-on as partner church Assign committed pastoral staff and lay person as liaisons for church Review project list for April 21 and evaluate which ones are good fit for your church and sign up Identify other possible projects your church might take lead on or partner with another church to serve Begin attending planning meetings Be part of identifying and meeting with key community partners, city leaders, schools, etc. alongside of other church partners Consider financial participation, even minimal, to cover administrative, promotional and web-hosting costs