Incarnate Recap

Here is a recap of Incarnate 2010 held on November 19th. It was a fantastic, spirit-led time and we were honored by the attendance of almost 70 people throughout the day. 

These notes are a combination of the collective conversation, my own notes and the thorough note taking of George Chatham from Tillman Road Church of God. I encourage you to read through and pass on to those at your churches and to those that could not make it, but wish they could have. 

Please use this space to add your additional thoughts in the comments section. It’s up to you to continue the dialogue online. Like my friend Craig says, “when you share, we all gain."

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Opening Remarks from Joe Johns

Assumptions

• You Love Christ… and your take your responsibility seriously because of your love for Christ.
• You are continually wrestling with how to get your Church outside the walls.
•  How well are we doing?
•  Is that happening?
•  Can we have more of an impact?

Three Lens:

• How are you personally doing responding to the needs of your neighborhood?
• How is your Church/organization doing with its “incarnational” ministry to the community?
• The Church in General… how is it doing?

John 1:14 (NIV) 

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 20:21-23 (NIV) 
²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

As I have been sent… you are sent.

Our essential nature is our “sentness”

Interactive #1 - Assessing The Impact of The Church on our City. - Joe Johns

We need to get a 20,000 feet perspective of what the mission is all about.

• If Paul was to write a letter to one of the churches in Fort Wayne, whose church would he send it to?… It would be to the Church in general.

As leaders our obligation is to ask the hard questions?

Are we having an impact in our larger community?

What more can we do?

The cost is too great, if we aren’t asking the question?

• To individual in our Church
• To the community of FtW
• To those who never darken the door of a church

Identifying the needs of our Community… listening to the community

• If you could tell the pastor of this area anything, what would you tell them?
• What do you feel is the greatest need of this community?

Interactive #1 - Small Group Questions & Group Responses

What “Brutal Facts" must We Confront? 

• Leaving comfort zone
• Territorial
• Internally Focused:  Yes/and issue
• Going Beyond Sunday
• Where does discipleship happen?
• Are the “un-loved” welcome inside church?
• Followers the lose desire to share Christ.
• Where is the passion to risk all for Christ?
• Churches aren’t being intentional about helping people to connect to the mission outside the walls.
• The Attractional method is not getting it done…
• How much money is spent on overhead?
• Short term Results vs. Long term Impact
• How much does it cost to get a baptism?
• What are we a city of?… if we are no longer a “City of Churches”?
• Our personal sins… and the unconfessed sins of our church…

What Facts Can We Celebrate? 

Interactive #2 - Recovering a Missional Theology - John Barce

Story of the Babble—Genesis 11

Covenant with Abraham—Genesis 12

Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV) ¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. ² "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and 

all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 

Leviticus 19:33-34 (NIV)

³³ “‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. ³⁴ The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Interactive #2 - Small Group Questions & Group Responses

Who Pays The Cost of us NOT engaging in Mission?  - What is the Cost?

• We do…God blesses us when we do
• They do… “Those that have not heard”
• We will be judged ourselves by God.
• The cost is darkness: Isaiah 58:6-10 (NIV)
• Our Children
• Our testimony & the power of Christ’s name
• Our loss of mission leads to our loss of Christian Unity

What are the benefits of engaging in mission? 

• Christians who are less bored/boring
• Cycle of discipleship is completed - move from being serve to serving
• We become better disciples
• When we engage in mission, our differences disappear
• God’s presence and blessing is with us when we are engaged in missions
• We build the Kingdom
• We lessen fear
• People get to know Jesus and get a new destiny
• We get pass our “Consumer" mentality
• "I am come that you may have life and Life more abundant." John
• Surprising collaborations: Churches/Govt/Media/Business/Svcs

INTERACTIVE #3: “Sharing Your Ministry Story” - Luther Whitfield, New Covenant Worship Center - Youth For Christ

• Attended several private schools.
• Mentored by Oscar Mindenwood
• Grew-up with 34 nieces and nephews 
• Most urban churches don’t have a Youth/Children Ministry.
• Fort Wayne Youth for Christ… first minority staff.
• I wanted to kill the myth that minorities can only minister to a certain group of kids.
• Kids don’t care about race… they want someone who cares.

David Velma - YFC, Primetime Community Center Operations Director

5 Components of Primetime Center Activity

1. Spiritual & Moral Values
2. Education - Horizon Leadership Scholarship - Partnership with Huntington University
3. Economic Literacy
4. Health & Safety
5. Civil Literacy

What is Your Ministry Doing to Impact Those Inside Your Community?

LSS: (Lutheran Social Services)

• Trying to get people plugged into Church

• Financial Literacy 

• Pregnancy Counseling/education

• Financial Assistance

Gone Fishing Ministries:

• Prison and Jail ministry

• Returning Offenders… are we willing love and accept them where they are at.

ENL Classes

• How God will use an evangelical pastor, a Buddhist daughter-in-law to reach the Burmese Muslims only God knows the end of the story.

In-as-Much Ministry of Broadway Christian Church

• Alan Biddle

• Last Friday of the Month—networking meeting of help/service givers.

Mission Church:

• Collecting coats - Distribution on Christmas Eve during the day

Anchor Community Church

• Working with court system
• Neighborhood collaboration among churches
• FW Fatherhood Coalition 
• Recently hired part time social worker to help holistically 

St. Mary’s Catholic: (A Church I wanted to Immolate) –Luther Whitfield

• Matthew 25 Ministry

• Dances for the Kids on Saturday

• It was a Church that went out.

• When lightning struck and the church burnt, people wept for that church that it was a person…

• “It was not my fault… but it now becomes my problem”… it may not be my fault… but now it is my problem.

• If there’s a hole in the boat, it’s not just one part of the boat that sinks, the whole boat goes down.

• We need each other…  and we can learn from one another…  

• There are people who feel disconnected from government and the community… but who need our help.

Interactive #4: Incarnational Aids Panel Discussion –Andrew Hoffman – Director of NeighborLink Fort Wayne

What Tools Exist to Help Us Facilitate Incarnational Impact in Our Churches?

Tony Hudson - Blue Jacket Inc - Formed in 2005

• Intense professional development/rehab program for ex-fellons
• Not faith based, but deeply rooted and driven by faith

Arlie Hatch - Grub & Go, Fellowship Missionary Church - NeighborLink volunteer

• Retired guy organizing other retired guys to fellowship and serve twice a week since early summer 2010
• Responsible for Connecting volunteer to over 200 NeighborLink projects to-date in 2010
• He has immersed himself into the lives of those he’s serving and serving with.
• "We can only do what we can do…that’s all God asks"
• There is no rule or play book to follow. You can only follow your heart and the Spirit’s calling in serving those in the margins.

Megan Menchoffer - World Relief FW & Charis House

• Re-located from safety of TUFW campus her senior year to Autumn Woods Apts where large Burmese refugee population lives. 
• Described the main components of CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) - made huge influence on her after attending conference her Junior year. 
• Her college experience led her to work as a social worker/case worker at World Relief FW resettling refugees
• As office closes, she’s working at Charis House, a women and children’s homeless shelter. 

That’s It. Please fill in any thoughts, items that I missed by leaving a comment. Also, please start a conversation around a topic if you’d like to get some feedback.