This Friday and Saturday we had a Missional Outreach Seminar, hosted by the Buckingham Rd. Church of Christ in Garland, Texas. Richard Blaisdell is the preacher--a great fellow. Ron and Linda Sportsman are at Buckingham Rd. Ron served as an elder with me at the Liberty Church of Christ, in Liberty, MO, where I was a minister for 6 years. With the help of wonderful people like Ron and Linda, the church in Liberty grew from about 220 to 320, with nearly 100 baptisms from the community. I have dear, lifelong friends there, and I am so glad that Ron and Linda are here in the area.
Ron recommended to Richard to bring me out for this outreach seminar, and I am so glad that I came. The people were warm and gracious. We had nearly 100 people there, with a good showing from Buckingham Rd., as well as several from the Missional Outreach Network connections--Gerald Mwebe, church planter in Uganda, Carlos Acosta, a Latino church planter, Joe Diaz who works with Hispanic ministry at the Waterview Church of Christ, my preacher buddy John Dobbs from West Monroe, LA, & Jon Mark Smith from MacGregor, TX.
What I was most excited about was the conversations that those present had at our discussion group sessions. The people were sharing ideas about how to reach out, how they could be a light and presence in the community, looking for where God was already at work. They really understood that outreach is not a program, but ministry that flows out of the hearts of people for God and others.
It was great to be able to show many of the missional outreach videos that we recently made at High Pointe Church of Christ. These clearly made an impact, with powerful story, music, pictures, and actual examples of missional outreach. The strength of the missional movement has been its theology, but much of it has been theory. Hopefully our small efforts in missional outreach provide "flesh" to these theories, and can inspire others in reaching out like Christ.
I will come back and update this post, with pictures and videos samples. If you have any pictures, please post them! The church also made audio recordings of the sessions, which I will get and post here.
Thank you to all for attending! Please give me some feedback, including:
What was your favorite part of the seminar? How was it helpful?
What can be added, extended, cut out, or improved?
What churches and contact people do you know who might be interested in having a Missional Outreach Seminar. Please share!
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