Captured By Vision Insight 034 By George Bullard
Vision crafted using an organizational model misses the fact that a congregation is a spiritual organism. Vision in an organization comes from the passion and dreams of leaders. They work hard to push their organization forward to achieve success. Even with the best of apparent altruism, the goal is the success of the organization. Obviously, […]
Gospel Saturation Insight 039
Insight 039: “Often the majority of the church’s growth doesn’t come from new converts, but from those who have been out of the church for a while and decide to reengage, or those who attend an unhealthy church in the city and decide to leave, or those who have been a part of a healthy […]
Captured By Vision Insight 033 By George Bullard
Casting vision is a forever activity. When does congregational leadership finish casting vision? Never, or vision wanes. Pastors, staff members, and lay leaders must continually cast vision until it becomes second nature. In casting vision, they are not promoting something to the congregation. They are celebrating a current and emerging characteristic of their congregation. Casting […]
Gospel Saturation Insight 038
Insight 038: “Gospel Saturation measures progress not in terms of the growth of any singular church, but in terms of the movement of God in a city.” (Gospel Saturation Primer, p.28) Download the full Gospel Saturation Primer — Gospel Saturation Primer.
Captured By Vision Insight 032 By George Bullard
Potential leaders who cannot articulate their passion for the congregation’s vision need to remain “potential leaders.” The functioning of lay leaders regarding vision needs to focus around their passion for fulfilling vision. If current and potential lay leaders do not feel passion for the vision and for fulfilling it, their actions and attitudes will not […]
WMU Children’s Mission Day — Saturday, March 23, 2019
Women’s Missionary Union in the CMBA is sponsoring a Children’s Missions Day on Saturday, March 23, 2019, 10:30 a.m. to Noon at Spring Valley Baptist Church, 91 Polo Road in Columbia.
Church Plants Must Serve in the Community, Connect with People, and Be Involved with Other Churches
In 2001, Erik Estep was serving Fellowship Baptist Church in Lexington, had never thought about church planting, and on this particular day was at the YMCA to watch his oldest son play soccer. “Like so many pastors, I was spending a lot of time in the church office,” Erik says. “Then, I started going to […]
Church Adoption Within Our Family of Congregations
As your associational director of missions, I frequently use the metaphor of family to describe the best possible relationship we have within our fellowship of churches. At the top of our website at www.ColumbiaMetro.org is the tagline “A Family of Baptist Congregations in the Midlands of South Carolina.” Within biological families are parents and children […]
Midtown Fellowship: Two Notch—A Church Plant in the Inner City to Reach into Poverty
Midtown Fellowship’s downtown Columbia church plant began in 2007 with a Sunday worship gathering and intentional Life Groups to primarily express its vision to share Jesus with 100,000 people within a 5-mile radius of the South Carolina state capital. Though a believer since middle school, one of those drawn to Midtown’s vision was Antony “Ant” […]
Captured By Vision Insight 031 By George Bullard
Few followers get vision easily. Leaders must paint a picture of what the congregation could be like once captured by vision. A key part of a pastor’s vision casting role is using preaching, teaching, and other formal and informal opportunities to tell stories and paint a vivid picture of what vision looks, feels, and acts […]