We took three months (and one Sunday) to pray and seek the Lord's will through The 2819 Club, shared the raw data results of the responses, and now those results have been subsequently been categorized. The results are in a PDF file with it's link below (and also through the title of this post).
Our next step is taking these leadings and focusing on the concretes of what we are to do and how we will go about achieving those goals.
God bless,
Pastor Scott
http://stmarkhouston.org/documents/20080908--2918_Club_Response_Data--Categorized.pdf
Showing posts with label Vision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vision. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
A "Campaign of Commitment"
Gentlemen,
First let me say what a pleasure it was to work with you during this process. It was an experience that pushed me outside of my “box”.
I never saw a singular direction for our church. With so many people with so many talents certainly God wouldn’t limit us to one goal. When I prayed, “Lord, what do you want your people at St. Mark to do to touch people with the love of Christ?” I saw individuals, families and groups of families Committed to doing that which God has lead them to do. If you would, think of a family working with a mission to help the people there, a group of families coming together to help start a satellite church or 50 men joining with Fred and the Men at the Cross. There are too many possibilities to see them all. The common thread through all this is the commitment, the commitment to do as God would have you to do and follow through with it. I see the church leading a “campaign of commitment” where our members commit to doing something to touch someone with the love of Christ, to do as Christ has commissioned us to do. I realize this is late in the process, but I have struggled with the question “is this meant for me or the church”. I have come to the conclusion that it is me and my family and it is something we will do. Whether this is God’s vision for our church, I don’t know, but I thought I’d put it in to the forum to see where it leads.
Again, Thanks
Frank Radtke
First let me say what a pleasure it was to work with you during this process. It was an experience that pushed me outside of my “box”.
I never saw a singular direction for our church. With so many people with so many talents certainly God wouldn’t limit us to one goal. When I prayed, “Lord, what do you want your people at St. Mark to do to touch people with the love of Christ?” I saw individuals, families and groups of families Committed to doing that which God has lead them to do. If you would, think of a family working with a mission to help the people there, a group of families coming together to help start a satellite church or 50 men joining with Fred and the Men at the Cross. There are too many possibilities to see them all. The common thread through all this is the commitment, the commitment to do as God would have you to do and follow through with it. I see the church leading a “campaign of commitment” where our members commit to doing something to touch someone with the love of Christ, to do as Christ has commissioned us to do. I realize this is late in the process, but I have struggled with the question “is this meant for me or the church”. I have come to the conclusion that it is me and my family and it is something we will do. Whether this is God’s vision for our church, I don’t know, but I thought I’d put it in to the forum to see where it leads.
Again, Thanks
Frank Radtke
2819 Club -- Raw Data Results
From May through July several people met for 19 minutes on Sunday morning to ask what the Lord wanted the people of St. Mark to do to touch people with the love of Jesus Christ.
That question was also asked in worship at both services on Sunday, July 27.
The following links to a rather large document which contains the raw answers that basic question. The only editing that has taken place is for style, mistypes, and spelling, and other minor aspects. The responses themselves remain unchanged.
From here, we will go through these results in more detail, categorizing and summarizing them into like areas and fields. Following that, we will prioritizes the goals and the means by which we will reach them by God's grace.
In His service and yours,
Pastor Scott
http://stmarkhouston.org/documents/20080728--2819_Club--RESPONSES--COMPLETED.pdf
That question was also asked in worship at both services on Sunday, July 27.
The following links to a rather large document which contains the raw answers that basic question. The only editing that has taken place is for style, mistypes, and spelling, and other minor aspects. The responses themselves remain unchanged.
From here, we will go through these results in more detail, categorizing and summarizing them into like areas and fields. Following that, we will prioritizes the goals and the means by which we will reach them by God's grace.
In His service and yours,
Pastor Scott
http://stmarkhouston.org/documents/20080728--2819_Club--RESPONSES--COMPLETED.pdf
Saturday, June 7, 2008
2918 Club -- Leadings
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
About a year and a half ago my mind was opened to many outreach opportunities that I had not previously considered. Many of these came as a part of my classes with the Pastoral Leadership Institute and others through the Texas District, itself. I have always been a proponent of letting others know of “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” by whom all are saved; but these new ways of thinking about growing the Kingdom of God “clicked” in my mind. I had known many of the truths, but they had not been presented in a way that changed my thinking.
We are living in a country and with a whole generation of people who are biblically illiterate and far from God and, hence, salvation. We, at St. Mark, have been abundantly blessed by God with resources many congregations could only dream of. But more importantly, we have enormous harvest fields all around us. People for whom we are to share Christ with through the use these resources.
When Pastor Woolsey of CrossPoint Community Church, Pastor Steve Simon of Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, and I originally met about a mission plant in West Houston, I was excited (and still am)! There are so many people who are meeting with the Gospel at St. Mark; but there are so many, many more people all around us who are not going to step through our doors to hear about Him. It is, therefore, our privilege and responsibility to “send” us out and “seek” them; as our mission statement declares.There are many places within 10-15 miles of St. Mark where a “more traditional” church plant could go and do well. (One being in the neighborhood I live in.) But my mind keeps going back to another vision. This has been resonating more and more as I have been with so many others praying to the Lord, “Lord, what do You want Your people at St. Mark to do to touch people with the love of Christ?” during the 2819 Club prayer time each Sunday morning.
Before I share my heart here, let me share this:
- The “target group,” in my mind, would be primarily the “busters” generation. Of course it would touch many others, but this is a generation of “post-moderns” who, by and large, do not know Christ and are completely biblically illiterate. Most of them did not grow up in church and have a very pluralistic and mystic mindset of “god.” They are very tolerant of others, but question everything.
- A meeting place needs to be where the people are, as they have no inclination of going to a traditional sanctuary or church campus. (It’s not really that they are opposed to this; it just doesn’t cross their minds.)
With those, and other factors in mind, I started thinking about a place that has countless people passing by and browsing every day – seven days a week, 365 days a year. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds meet there and interact on a regular basis. It is a place that is minimally affected by fluctuations in rain or heat.
Have you guessed it? It’s a mall. More specifically, I have been thinking of Memorial City Mall.
The opportunities boggle my mind!
This is where I am feeling led when I have been talking with the Lord about the opportunities He has in mind for us at St. Mark for the people of Houston, Texas.
What is He saying to you?
In His Plan with you,
Pastor Scott Heitshusen
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