Simple Steps

Two things stuck out for me in Tony Morgan's Webcast on Ministry Strategy, and they both describe aspects of keeping things simple when it comes to helping people to connect and grow.

First, a listener asked how they manage complexity as the church and ministry grows. The answer was that they really don't get more complex, they try hard to keep things as simple as possible. Wondering what they meant by that, I looked at their web site - New Spring Church at http://www.newspring.cc. Hmmm, pretty simple actually. I was curious about their approach to discipleship: how do you help someone go from a new believer to a fully-devoted follower of Christ? The key items on the home page were the worship service video, "New Here?", "Next Steps" and "Connect." Following the "Next Steps" link brings up a page with a small number of steps that describe their development process.

Jesus - Baptism - Commit - Volunteer - Groups - Care

The order here was the second point of interest - they view serving as a volunteer as a primary vehicle for growing in your faith. If you think about the times in your life you were most stretched, it was probably when you were serving others and doing something beyond yourself. After deciding to follow Christ and making this public, they place a high importance on membership so that everyone knows and understands the vision and direction of the church. Groups are promoted as the best way to find community, to stay connected to God and other people. (By a group they're referring to a small group, most often meeting in a home, for fellowship, bible study, prayer and accountability.) The volunteer ministries are under six umbrellas: guest services, creative and technical arts, care and outreach, membership and groups, children's ministry, student ministry.

Make the steps clear. Make it easy to take the next step.