CORE group work opportunity

You are invited to come to the church this Wednesday, Nov 24, at 2PM in Fellowship Hall to set up for the service project on Sunday morning. (If you think you can make it, please leave a comment below so we'll look for you.)

Sunday morning, after the 9:30 worship, we will invite our guests to join us in Fellowship Hall for a quick service project, coffee, and conversation. We will be signing thank you cards for the teachers at our neighborhood schools.

Because there will be elementary age children joining us, we will be setting up a mural or poster for them to help decorate for the school. If you have a fabulous idea on the specifics of what that might be, please leave a comment below.

Feedback Needed

If you attended the preview service for PVUMC930 and didn't get a chance to provide feedback, here are several ways to contact us. Your opinion is so valuable because we aim to create a comfortable worship experience - a new place for new people.

Contact us by:

• comment on this blog post
• email or Facebook message the person who invited you
• email or Facebook message Pastor Nathan

Lost and Found

http://amzn.com/0805448780

 

This book has great statistics and research to back up their findings. Here's the application information that stood out to me. Young unchurched people value COMMUNITY, DEPTH, RESPONSIBILITY, and CONNECTION.  This means that a church who encourages young people to become part of the family, teaches them with depth, and shows through works that the church is responsible for taking care of others, might have what it takes to reach them. The book discusses our need as a society for a "third place." For many of us, our third place of connection, outside of work and home, is our church. These are things that PVUMC is already doing well. By intentionally making new places for new people, we can bring new people in to share in the experience. We can demonstrate that Christians care for one another and the world. They may be skeptical, but they are open to learning about Jesus.

I'm interested in your response. How might PVUMC play to its strengths? What ministries might we include that would more intentionally reach out to young, unchurched people?

Radical Hospitality

Are you praying for the church? Are you praying for those who are not yet here? Have you made a list of who you will invite October 31st to try out the service and give us feedback?


Sunday morning, we discussed shaping a new place for new people by focusing on the needs of others. Worshipers who are experiencing church for the first time, or the first time in a long time, may appreciate learning about the rituals of the church during the service. We also discussed how a multi-sensory approach to worship (using music and visuals) may be more relevant to younger church goers.


In Robert Schnase's book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, he describes Radical Hospitality "as a genuine love for others who are not yet part of the faith community, an outward focus, a reaching out to those not yet known, a love that motivates church members to openness and adaptability, a willingness to change behaviors in order to accommodate the needs and receive the talents of newcomers."


We have also been challenged to find people in our daily lives to extend an invitation to. Schnase also reminds us that "by God's grace, people may be more ready than we realize to accept the invitation and initiative of Christ that comes through gracious hospitality." And, that "God's grace activates an interest and eagerness for relationship." It is encouraging to know that God is already working in us to create a place for new people to connect to Him, and that God is already working in hearts of our friends and coworkers so that they might desire a relationship with Christ.


Pray for our church. Pray for the people God has placed in your path. And just invite them! Be encouraged that God has been working on them already.

Dreaming About Our Future Together

A team from PV spent Thursday evening and all day Friday learning together and being recharged at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute in Leawood, KS. Our learning focused around enriching lives, renewing the church, and transforming the world. By focusing on these, we began to picture the future of the church -- a church that would be relevant and active, in and for the world of the 21st century. This is a picture of hope! God is doing good things through the love and ministries of PVUMC. 

As we begin to intentionally plan to share His love with people who are not actively participating in a church family, what dreams for our future do you have? How might we ENRICH LIVES, RENEW HIS CHURCH, and TRANSFORM THE WORLD?

Covenant - gathering ideas

This morning we met and discussed qualities of teams and leaders. We began the process of brainstorming what would be important to us in a covenant. What behaviors are important to our team?

• Contagious atmosphere / energy
• Attendance - strength in numbers
• Knowledge - pass on what is going on
• Participate - it's okay to do this
• Pray for each other
• Pray for those yet to come
• We are accessible to the world (don't limit ourselves)
• Be bold and do it
• Live the benediction - "...and live in such a way that others will want to know your God."
• Spirit of forgiveness
• Learn from our mistakes

Please post comments to this post suggesting other behaviors we need to consider for our covenant. Next Sunday, we will refine these and create our covenant.