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by Eric Swanson
When I chat with people about becoming an externally
focused church, they often ask how they can measure
their progress in loving and ministering to those
outside the walls of their church.
We have identified two primary variables for tracking
the effectiveness of externally focused people
and congregations that change a community and
grow one's own soul: Depth of engagement and frequency
of engagement.
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A
couple of years ago, I was talking with
Eli Morris from Hope Presbyterian Church
outside of Memphis. Over a plate of barbecue
at Eli's favorite restaurant, he sketched
three concentric circles depicting how he
gauges the spiritual progress of folks at
Hope. "There are people who give money
and things," Eli explained. "There
are people who engage in projects, and there
are people who engage with people. Life
change happens best when people engage with
people. So we want to move people from the
outer circle (those who give money and things)
to the inner circle (those who engage in
ministering to people)." Wow! Now that
was a big idea. |
Money and things
If we are honest with ourselves, we'd probably
admit that giving money and things is pretty painless
and doesn't stretch us much. Throwing a ten-spot
in the plate, giving a toy for tots, a shoebox
of love or a winter coat is a good thing. But
we can grow and be stretched even more.
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That
20 Million May Hear
The Los Angeles-based Foursquare
Foundation is disbursing financial grants
designed to accelerate high-yield evangelism in
the world's most fertile regions. The vision is
to reach 20 million additional people who will
follow Jesus Christ, and to invest in proven and
emerging leaders who will accelerate evangelistic
efforts to transform people, cities, and nations.
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Busting
the Summer Giving Slump
With the summer months being difficult financial
times for churches and ministries, the June issue
of the Maximum
Generosity newsletter offers tips on
overcoming the "summer slump" in giving.
Maximum Generosity is a ministry of national
and international speaker, author and consultant
Brian Kluth. |
More
Giving Good News
Charitable contributions by Americans rose 5 percent
last year to $248.5 billion, the first increase
since 2000, according to a report from the Giving
USA Foundation. Churches, synagogues, mosques
and other religious entities continued to receive
the largest share--more than $88 billion last
year, or one-third of all charitable contributions
in the U.S.
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Maybe
You Missed These. . .
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Check
the Leadership Network Advance archives for these and
other feature articles on church innovation: |
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