Workshop on Lay Leaders and Mission
Missional Church empowers apostles. Remember that a disciple is a follower and an apostle is one who is sent. I encourage people to reclaim and/or use this language. A disciple is not a blind sheep,but a servant and student of the mission. I am a disciple of the love of God, the gospel (teachings) of Jesus and the five smooth stones of religious liberalism. I also consider myself an apostle of the love of God, the Gospel and the five smooth stones. Their mission sends me into the world to create the beloved community, the imperial rule of God, the commonwealth of all people.
People who are empowered for mission need to be granted permission to follow their passions and live and serve out of their strengths .
The first workshop I attended at the Change the World Conference at Ginghamsburg Church was about ministries started by lay people in the church.
Ginghamsburg encourages people to find their burning bush – the place where God sets them on fire for service and encourages them to serve the community. The workshop was largely a presentation of various ministries started when people pursued their burning bush. I learned about.
All benevolent ministries at Ginghamsburg are listed under one 501 c3.
The New Path Inc., a 501©3 non-profit organization based in Tipp City, Ohio, serves the greater Miami Valley area in Ohio by assisting with the basic needs of families to build community, support stability and foster transformation. As an affiliate, non-profit partner with Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, New Path has grown from a food pantry, opened in 1980, to 19 program areas that provide for physical concerns within the community ranging from food, clothing, cars, furniture, medical equipment and other material assistance to feeding pets in need and providing budgeting and other life skills training designed to provide a hand up to those seeking new life opportunities.
New Path, a United Way agency, also works to engage the entire community by building bridges of understanding across socio-economic lines.
“Donna” started a women’s support group two and a half because she had a burning bush: the Lord kept speaking to her about what to do in a society where women struggle with men who struggle with infidelity and pornography. Her husband was one of these men. She started a supported group for herself and other women. The group supports women in relationship with men struggling with infidelity and pornography. Ministering out of strengths, she drew on one of hers, which is empathy. She started a small group. It grew and grew
and she was strong in her recovery and that helped. Donna says:
The group is a place of trust forgiveness, seeking God, and it is
Not therapy, it is place of mutual support and spirituality.
Donna’s husband Reed was the cause of her pain. He says: I had other addictions as well. I came to know the men’s sexual addiction group
Through the 12 step that met on another night.
“Evelyn’s burning bush started in food pantry making thousand with sales of clothes, she asked: why don’t we do it all year? She started Anna’s Closet. She thought to herself, "We needed a building, looking for places to rent and God led us the entire way. We found a building – a former dog grooming place for
$250 a month. We came up with a name The Gleaners and we made 32k$ selling things people give away. Everything is donated. We have 30 servants and not all go to Church here (at Ginghamsburg).
You don’t need experience to serve. I never had retail experience. I’m a biology teacher.
Charlie and Monty started a Bible study with men released from prison. the noticed that men released from a local jail had nowhere to go. Charlie said "We saw a need. You know, – You are the light of the world –
If you don’t know who you are how can you help broken people?”
Monty said “At the jail we saw guys being recycled. As pastor Slaughter said, ‘You got to hang out with the sold out.’
Another woman whose name I missed spoke of losing her job to finding herself and working with women who now find themselves where she used to be. "God took me on a journey through poverty to teach me about poverty.”
Red Pill Brethren 