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23  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  - Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV)
 
        When you read those words from Hebrews what do you think of?  Let me see if I can read your minds…  Most of you thought about the importance of worshiping with the body of Christ.  Some of you thought about studying the Bible with your small group.  None of you thought about District Conference!  How did I do?
        I get it.  Traveling to scenic Northeast Iowa and sitting in a meeting all day probably isn’t on your “top ten list” of fun things to do.  If it is, you maybe need to get out a little more…
        If you are one who views district conference simply as a necessary (or maybe unnecessary) item on your to-do list, read on for a couple of minutes and allow me to highlight a few of the reasons I believe this annual district gathering is so very important:
 

• CELEBRATION--God has done some amazing things in our district over the past 12 months including starting three new churches, with a fourth set for launch this fall.  We also have a number of established churches that are experiencing revitilization.  We have much to celebrate!
• SHARPENING OUR VISION--We will collectively focus on where we believe God is taking us as a district.  I will be laying out specific goals that will help us to achieve our strategic priorities. 
• EQUIPPING--This year Steve McVey, founder of the “Dirt Roads Network” will be making two presentations at our conference.  I heard Steve at The Gathering and he blew me away!  I can’t wait for you to hear him! 
• NETWORKING--The best part about our district gathering is the opportunity to connect and network with other teammates from our two-state area.  We really are better together!

       
      I hope to see you in just a couple of weeks at our Conference.  And if you can’t make it, please pray for us; it’s going to be an incredibly important day of encouraging one another and “spurring one another on toward love and good deeds.”

​“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”    -John 15:5 (NIV)
 
      Recently I read, An Unhurried Leader, by Alan Fadling and was impacted and convicted by the following quote by Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth-century reformer in the Benedictine order of monks:
 
“The [one] who is wise, therefore, will see [their] life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then [offers] the overflow without loss to itself ... Today there are many in the Church who act like canals; the reservoirs are far too rare .... They want to pour [this stream] forth before they have been filled; they are more ready to speak than to listen, impatient to teach what they have not grasped, and full of presumption to govern others while they know not how to govern themselves.”
 
      It reminded me of the part of the speech the flight attendant gives right before the airplane takes off; you know, the part about being sure your oxygen mask is in place before attempting to assist someone else. Pretty good advice.  It’s hard to assist someone else if you’re passing out from oxygen deprivation!
      Choose your analogy; the branch that doesn’t stay connected to the vine, canal versus reservoir or the airplane passenger trying to assist others while being short of oxygen themselves.  The point is that we can’t pour into others without continually and consistently being filled ourselves.
      “God, make us reservoirs. Teach us to be before we do, listen before we speak, learn before we teach, and be sure that you are leading us before we attempt to lead others. Amen.”

​      I suspect that you have already noticed this, but there are a lot of people with gray hair (or no hair) in our congregations.  I’m definitely not against people with gray hair, because I am one.  But the reality is that most churches, by and large, we are not effectively reaching and keeping young people.  And I’m not just talking about Wesleyan Churches, I mean all churches.  Adults ages 18 to 29 comprise 17% of the adult population in the United States and yet that age group represents less than 10% of church attendees.
      As I visit the churches in our district, I often hear comments like, “Young people just aren’t interested in God anymore,” or “The younger generation doesn’t want anything to do with church.”  Both of those statements are false.  Young people are as hungry for God as ever and are as willing as ever to connect with churches that will really value them.  That’s why I’m excited about our upcoming Pastors’ Round Tables where we will be digging into the book, “GROWING YOUNG.” 
      In case you are tempted to believe that your church can’t reach and keep young people, check out this list of qualities that churches DON’T need to grow young:

1. A precise size. There is no “just right” size.  Churches of all sizes can reach and keep young people.
2. A trendy location. Urban centers, rural areas or middle-class suburbs; location isn’t a limitation.
3. A certain church age.  Churches over a century-old as well as new church plants can be equally effective.
4. Denomination or no denomination. Young people are not drawn to or turned off by denominational affiliation.
5. An off-the-charts-cool quotient. Don’t waste your time trying to build a cool church culture.  For today’s young people, warm is the new cool.
6. A big, modern building.  You don’t need new state-of-the-art facilities.
7. A big budget. Churches that grow young invest in young people, but while financial investment can be helpful, relational investment is what wins the day.
8. A “contemporary” worship service.  While young people tend to prefer “casual and contemporary,” young people have an appreciation for older forms of worship as well.  But it has to be meaningful and well-done.
9. Watered-down teaching.  Young people want to hear about Jesus and the cost of following him.
10. A hyper-entertaining ministry program.  Good news we don’t have to compete with the entertainment industry.  Slick doesn’t equal success.

      Don’t give up on reaching younger generations.  They are very reachable, but not if we continue to do ministry in a business-as-usual manner.  It’s time to get strategic about GROWING YOUNG!  

“…make disciples…”  Matthew 28:19 (NIV)


      Dress up your church’s mission statement any way you like, but we all understand that Jesus gave the church a two-word job description: “MAKE DISCIPLES.” Everything we do should work toward the ultimate end of bringing people into the Kingdom of God and helping them to become fully-devoted followers of Jesus.  We get that and we say that making disciples is a priority, but the problem is our process.
      Most churches approach discipleship with a hodge-podge of various programs; Sunday School, men’s Bible studies, women’s Bible studies, small groups, midweek services, etc. The problem is that those ministries tend to operate independently of each other and there is no guarantee that the people attending will get the teaching and mentoring they need to really become disciples.
      There is a better way; the discipleship pathway.  Instead of a hit-or-miss program approach, the church with a discipleship pathway has a logical, well-defined process in place to walk with people through the steps of becoming a mature disciple of Jesus Christ.
      Recently I had the opportunity to attend a seminar with several other leaders from our district that was sponsored by an organization called, 95Network. One of the sessions really helped to clarify for me the basic steps for designing and implementing a discipleship pathway.
      First, it’s important to determine the win.  In other words, how will we know that we have really made a disciple?  What does a genuine disciple of Christ look like?  I want to suggest that a disciple is three things: a learner (Matthew 11:29), a follower (Matthew 4:19a), and a reproducer (Matthew 4:19b).  Let’s be honest. In the past our attempts at making disciples has been limited to helping people get spiritual knowledge through all of those classes we offer and we have neglected the mentoring that is required to develop a followers and a reproducers.
      Secondly, we have to prioritize what actually helps people get there.  That’s the pathway part and it’s really hard. It’s pretty easy to offer programs, but it’s hard to put our energy into relationships that really help people learn, follow and reproduce.  Did you catch that word, relationships?  Discipleship is relational.
      Finally, we absolutely must communicate those next steps clearly and consistently.  For anyone attending our churches there should be no confusion about the steps they need to take to become a devoted disciple of Jesus.
      It’s time for some honest self-evaluation.  Our mission is to make disciples, not to have programs.  If your church isn’t making disciples effectively, maybe it’s time to evaluate all of those programs and start planning a pathway.

​Let’s face it.  Every church claims to be friendly.  I once heard someone say, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, “I have yet to visit the second friendliest church in town!”  He has a point.  Nearly every church I meet with would list friendliness as one of their strengths.
      I’m not going to debate whether or not every church is friendly.  However, even if that was true, being friendly isn’t good enough.  For one thing, many times when a church claims to be friendly what they really mean is that the people in the church are friendly to each other!  Visitors either go unnoticed or receive a perfunctory greeting from the designated greeter.
      Better than being a friendly church is being a welcoming church.  There are huge differences between the two:

• Friendly happens by chance. Welcoming happens intentionally.
• Friendly requires little effort or planning.  Welcoming requires a lot of effort and planning.
• Friendly is often focused on other members.  Welcoming focuses on guests.
• Friendly only focuses on what happens inside the church. Welcoming considers everything from the church website, to signage to the parking lot to the cleanliness of the facility.

      If you would like your church to be more welcoming, one of the best resources I can suggest is Thom Rainer’s little book, “Becoming a Welcoming Church.”  If any of you pastors don’t have it, let me know and I’ll get it for you (but only if you promise to read it!).
      Friendly is okay.  It’s certainly better than unfriendly.  But if you want to reach and keep guests, welcoming is infinitely better.