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September/October 2020

Newsletter


Where is Everybody?

by Amy Schenkel

Earlier this year, when churches went virtual, there was great excitement about the number of views our worship services were getting online. But then, after Easter, those numbers started to dwindle. Some churches decided to begin meeting in person again but still found that their average attendance hovered around 50% of what they usually could expect in the summer. Surely, things would bounce back in the fall when the school year starts, and people are home from vacation, right?  

Probably not. 

Recently George Bullard posted that "churches are discovering people who have become inactive during COVID-19…these people have discovered that they can do life without church." Amid this reality, many councils and pastors ask, "How do we get people to come back to church?" 

But what if this is the wrong question? READ MORE

Resource Spotlight

The Leadership Training Event is brought to you by Resonate Global Mission and Volunteers In Service. This year’s theme is Learning New Ways, and we’ll be exploring the New Way of Being Present, the New Way of Conversations about Race, and the New Way of Charity.

For one registration per church, you will receive:

  • Access to 3 TED-style videos from our 3 speakers:

           Stacy Brungardt - Learning the New Way of Charity

           Jason Caston - Learning the New Way of Conversations about Race

           Tim Soerens - Learning the New Way of Being Present

  • 3 PDF Discussion Guides
  • A packet of books/resources sent to your church (if you register by October 13)
  • An invitation to engage the 3 speakers on Zoom calls on October 29, 7:30 pm
Registration
More Information
Recently, Resonate Global Mission developed a partnership with Fresh Expressions, an organization that encourages the church to develop a "mixed economy" of church. Want to learn more about gathering as smaller house churches? Check out this recording from our partner, Fresh Expressions.   (free account required)
 

You are invited to a Joining God in the Neighborhood virtual Zoom Cohort!

Join us on Zoom on September 22, October 6, 20, and November 3 from 7-8:30 PM
We can't meet in person, so we have adapted and refined the Go Local process for this new context. We want to help you—both your congregation and you individually—to develop missional practices and be the hands and feet of Jesus in their neighborhood.

Through this process, you can learn how to listen, discern, trust, and respond faithfully to where God is at work in your neighborhood!

We are calling this opportunity, “Joining God in the Neighborhood.” Through this experience, you will receive coaching from an experienced Resonate staff person and join an online community that will meet 4 times—and it’s free to participants!
Email our Great Lakes Local Mission Leader- Carla Bieber  cbieber@crcna.org  for more information.
 

A zoom link will be sent to you when you register here.

Resonate Partners with these Upcoming Events 

Great Lakes Church Planters and Friends

The Hebrew word used for freshwater in this passage is RAVAH.  This year as we plan our RAVAH church planter gatherings, we will especially be focused on what will refresh and revive you, on how God can use our time together to restore you.  We will be inviting guests to join us who can help us with self-care, with stress management, with watering our roots that are deep in Christ.

On November 11 we will be meeting with Irene Kraegel author of The Mindful Christian
 
Please put these dates in your calendar now: 8:30-10 am on the following Wednesday mornings:

September 9

November 11 - special RSVP link

January 13

March 10

May 12
 
RSVP
5 Ways to Engage with the [re-designed] Leadership Training Event

1. Choose one of the three topics for your leadership team to focus on during the month of October. Watch the short video together, use the discussion guide for a conversation, and record your thoughts/questions for the online conversation with the speaker on Oct. 29. The materials will be kept online, so you could use the other topics later in the year!

2. Invite your leadership team to divide into three small groups, based on the topics they are interested in. They may even want to invite others from the congregation to join them as they watch the video, use the discussion guide, and join the Zoom calls with the speaker of their topic on Oct. 29.

3. Gather your leadership team earlier in the evening on October 29, and anyone else who may want to join you, for a simple dinner, followed by time to watch one or more of the videos and to engage in small group discussion before the online Q&A starts at 7:30 pm.

4. Offer the three topics to small groups in your church, to use during the month of October. Ask them to share with your leadership team any ‘ah-ha’ moments from their learning and discussions.

5. Invite other pastors or ministry leaders from your classis to use the videos and discussion guides for a lunchtime learning opportunity. This could be done online or in-person, depending on your circumstances!

Copyright © 2020 Christian Reformed Church Resonate Global Mission, All rights reserved.


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