WORD OF MESSIAH MINISTRIES
2011 PLANTER'S CONFERENCE REPORT
by Matt Nadler
On December 4th
through 7th, Messianic leaders from 14 congregations and fellowships around
the country met to discuss and solve the problems of Messianic
congregational planning. Organized by Natalia Fomin and emceed by Hope of
Israel youth leader Gary Corrado (and Greg Leekley), and brought to fruition
by a number of volunteers from Hope of Israel who tirelessly served, we
received feedback that the conference was not only highly useful and
understandable, but also quite challenging from the Scriptures, laying out a
full vision for Messianic congregations.
The first day (beginning on Sunday evening) was a “boot camp” wherein Sam
gave a course covering the gamut of responsibilities and systems of the
congregation. The sessions delved into the contents of the book,
Establishing Healthy Messianic Congregations, addressing the
responsibilities of prayer, the ministry of the Word, and overseer within a
congregation, as well as the systems of contact-making (evangelism),
disciple-making, member-making, and leader-making, which are essential for a
congregation to grow and stay healthy. The morning worship and devotional
times (given by Ron Bohning, Michael Herts, and Ben Alpert) were a real
delight.
The second day began the main conference with an evening session on the
overview and vision for Messianic congregations. We considered the “iceberg
principle”: the real structure and relationships which make up the Messianic
congregation are mostly below the surface, but we tend to focus on external
issues which might distinguish one congregation’s service form another’s,
for example.
The next morning, a CPA and expert on finances in ministry gave a practical
session on how to handle finances in congregation planting, addressing the
real need for responsibility and integrity before the community
andgovernment. We also considered the function of administration ministry
within a congregation, and during a session on Prayer and Worship there was
an in-depth panel discussion led by Steve Weiler (of Shoresh David) on the
various life-cycle ceremonies performed in a congregation, as well as a
panel discussion on dance ministry in the congregation led by Debbie
Bateman. In the afternoon there were sessions on discipleship, considering
its values and materials in both the home and congregation, with panel
discussions on ministry to women, men, youth, and a Children’s Ministry
workshop led by Debbie Holford.
After dinner, a conference session on evangelism and outreach co-led by Sam
Nadler and Steve Weiler covered matters both visionary and practical, from
the use of festivals and getting members trained to the role of the internet
and considering the demographics of your community. Finally, on the last day
a very spirited discussion took place where leaders wrestled with questions
about the realities of congregational membership, and the conference closed
with a session on leadership development. Please remember the leaders as we
continue building together.
This report is reprinted from
Word of Messiah's
Shmooze Letter of September 2012 with permission.
Word of Messiah may be contacted via
http://www.wordofmessiah.org.
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