President’s Blog
March 12, 2010
Mission Intentional Church Assessment
The Reading Hampden Heights church was the location for a Mission Intentional Church assessment and consultation beginning last Wednesday night through this Sabbath afternoon.
Our assessment team consisted of:
Elder Ray Hartwell, President, Pennsylvania Conference
Elder Bill Peterson, Assistant to the President for Mission, Pennsylvania Conference
Dave Morgan, Vice President of Education, Pennsylvania Conference
Tamyra Horst, Communication Director, Pennsylvania Conference
Elder Mike McCabe, Pastor, Kenhorst Boulevard Adventist Church, Pennsylvania Conference
Dr. Ray Pichette, Vice President of Pastoral Ministries, Potomac Conference
Coming into this assessment process, the local church provided the assessment team with a comprehensive document of the 20 year history of this church.
We conducted personal interviews with over 12 individuals asking about the strengths and weaknesses of the current church life. We also met with the church board and reviewed the data from the self-study the church board had provided. Later, we conducted a focus group interview, consisting of over 20 individuals representing a broad cross-section of the church by age, gender, ethnic and philosophical backgrounds. We also interviewed Pastor Brian Cassell and his wife. Then the assessment team indentified the major strengths and the major concerns affecting this church’s ability to effectively work on the mission and calling of Jesus for a church family. After these were listed, the assessment team provided a comprehensive list of recommendations or prescriptions for the church to implement for becoming intentional in mission going forward.
This report with the prescriptions will be shared tomorrow immediately following the fellowship meal right after church.
The Hampden Heights church will received this report, and then in 2 weeks will have a business meeting to vote whether or not to accept and implement all of the recommendations.
We in the Pennsylvania Conference are blessed by God to have a Conference staff like we do, that are dedicated and willing to coming alongside our churches and spend the time to support and equip our church families for service. Each church we work with has an assessment team that differs from church to church, that draws from the Conference leadership staff and pastors that we have. I am very proud of our staff and all the time they give and diligent work they do.
This is the 3rd Mission Intentional Church assessment process with a Pennsylvania Conference Church. Other churches are preparing to request the Conference assist them with this process. For anyone who would like Ellen White selections that provide the principles behind the MIC approach, feel free to request this of me. Also, I have a power point presentation that addresses many of the questions people have asked about the MIC process here in Pennsylvania, which I would be willing to e-mail to anyone who asks.
Mission Intentional Church helps a church apply a functional system and a structural framework to be the church we are called to be in the last days, that focuses on the calling to reach the lost for Jesus before He comes. It does not take the place of necessary prayer, reflection on God’s word and a deep, heartfelt call for the Holy Spirit. It also does not take the place of repentance and confession of unfaithfulness, which precedes the reception of the Holy Spirit. However, it does follow the counsel of Ellen White that we are to pray for the Holy Spirit, in order that we might plan and executive wisely (AA p. 50), and that “the leaders in God’s cause, as wise generals, are to lay plans for advance moves all along the line.” GW p. 351
