November 29, 2012 By Phil Maynard Although I have been a life-long United Methodist, one of my most formative experiences in the faith journey was the introduction to accountable discipleship. Drawing on the rich heritage of the Wesleyan Class meetings, the accountable discipleship helped me understand that being a disciple of Jesus Christ was [...]
November 8, 2012 By Phil Maynard It would seem to be a ‘no-brainer’. If we’re going to connect with our community, engage our community, and make a difference in our community we have to ‘know’ our community. I am discovering however that ‘knowing’ the community is not always the case for congregations. A while back, [...]
August 27, 2012 By Phil Maynard I was sitting in my preferred seat (the nosebleed section) of the annual denominational meeting of my tribe with a lot of other bored people. Then it happened. The smell of fresh popcorn wafted across the aisle. The little girl enjoying her snack had no idea the impact she [...]
August 27, 2012 By Phil Maynard Chapter 1: A Biblical Mandate for Fruitfulness The authors remind us that the Bible begins and ends with images of fruitfulness and conclude that the church is also intended to be fruitful. They identify three types of fruitfulness that God hopes we will display: The Fruit of God’s expanding [...]
August 1, 2012 By Phil Maynard For some reason ministry leaders seem to think they have to figure it all out on their own. Maybe it’s the title that does it, maybe its our culture we were brought up in, or maybe its just about our egos. But its time that the church figured out [...]
July 24, 2012 By Phil Maynard Right Here Right Now is structured with three major sections: Putting our Hearts into it (missional paradigm) Wrapping our Heads around it (missional analysis) Doing something about it (missional action) Alan Hirsch provide a briefing giving some foundations for a missional framework and a debriefing summarizing what he considers [...]
July 17, 2012 By Phil Maynard I was coaching a pastor several weeks ago who shared that he was looking for a way to get a new family at the church more connected. Joe, the father in the family, was a well-known businessman in the community. The pastor said: “I’m thinking about asking him to [...]
July 12, 2012 By Phil Maynard Jim Collins made this first part of the description of effective leaders almost a household term. It, of course, refers to selecting the right people to be leaders for any organization. The question is: How do you know who the right people are? I, for much of my [...]
