Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Paso Robles, Shell Beach, Pismo

Transcription

1 CALIFORNIA COAST INITIATIVE Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Paso Robles, Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Ventura, Oxnard & Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Santa Monica & Venice Beach, Playa Del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Carlsbad, Del Mar, La Jolla, San Diego.

2 - SUMMARY - West Coast Initiative [Center Output] Embracing the Wesleyan emphasis on the love of God and His power to transform people through relationships, Free Methodists see community as the key to Christian life. The time has come for the Church of Jesus Christ to focus her attention on planting vibrant Christian community along the California Coast. Depending upon the Holy Spirit and working with disciples who God will call, the Free Methodist Church is answering God s call to lead in this initiative. Currently, the Free Methodists in California are reaching diverse populations reflecting the California global reach and we recognize that this reality is magnified when expanding the vision to the entire California Coast. This multi-ethnic and multi-lingual community led by groups of 2-4 families or people will: Serve bi-vocationally, securing jobs and housing in a chosen city Identify a pastoral leader, however, practice a team or collaborative approach to ministry Receive several areas of training to internalize Relational Theology and the Theology of Love that is so irresistible when lived and shared in community Receive Internships, Coaching and Resourcing from the FMCSC Belong to the world-wide Free Methodist movement. Collaborative involvement with global missions, creative ministries, urban ministry, and international connections will help sustain the vision of becoming healthy biblical communities of holy people

3 CALIFORNIA COAST INITIATIVE: Planting Free Methodist Community along the West Coast Dr. Denny Wayman, Lead Superintendent FMCSC WHAT IS THE WEST COAST INITIATIVE? The California Coast is significant not only in its beauty but also in its disproportionate impact on world culture. As a strategic area, the time has come for the Church of Jesus Christ to focus her attention on planting vibrant Christian community throughout these coastal cities. Depending upon the Holy Spirit and working with Christians who God will call, the Free Methodist Church is answering God s call to lead in this initiative. The California Coast Initiative is a simple invitation to join us in this movement. As God impresses upon you that this is a possible purpose and direction for the expression of your faith in Him, we encourage you to pray, share this vision with friends and family, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify and gather together a team of two to four people, couples or families to answer this call. Then, together prepare to move to a coastal city and live shared lives such that others want to join you, inviting them into the worship and service of Jesus Christ. As a part of a larger movement, we will provide training, coaching, resourcing and belonging that maximizes our collective ministry effects. WHY FREE METHODIST COMMUNITY? Embracing the Wesleyan emphasis on the love of God and His power to transform people through relationships, Free Methodists see community as the key to Christian life. When two or more gather in intentional worship of Jesus Christ and the study of His Word, their shared life begins a mutually supportive transformation. This transformation is both inward and outward, as the individual and the community increasingly reflect the heart of God. This community then creates a reflection of Christ in unique and appropriate ways wherever it is planted. Rather than impose any specific style of worship or ministry upon the community, each group of gathered called-outones is entrusted to discover and implement vital Christian life, worship and ministry in its unique setting while being supported and encouraged by the sponsoring conference. This support will include belonging, coaching, investing and partnering with churches already at work to impact the Western Area for Jesus Christ. WHAT THE FREE METHODISTS ARE ALREADY DOING The first Free Methodist Church in Southern California began in the home of Rev. C. B. Ebey in 1888 with thirteen people. Under the leadership of Rev. Ebey, the people called Free Methodists expanded rapidly and, in the first 20 years, 18 Free Methodist communities were birthed. Currently, the Free Methodists in California are reaching diverse populations reflecting the California global reach. This multi-ethnic and multi-lingual community has Six Strategic Priorities: 1. Strengthening all churches to become healthy, Biblical communities. 2. Planting Free Methodist Communities and Churches throughout California. 3. Developing missional leaders willing to give their lives in service to Jesus Christ. 4. Creating a global compassion that cares about all people of all nations. 5. Being advocates for justice and creation care. 6. Being invested in each community by serving the poor and needy with sacrificial compassion.

4 WHY THIS NEW METHOD? The Great Commission which was given to us by our Lord calls us to go into all the world and make disciples of all people. In our day, the world is coming to California and California culture is impacting the world. However, the traditional way of planting churches faces two primary barriers: salaries and facilities. We have far too long allowed the traditional methods of church planting with those barriers to stop our effectiveness in this expensive area of the world. We must think and act in new ways. As the call of God has come to us, He has also been speaking to the larger church and strategists like David Fitch are helping us understand why. He writes: This is an idea whose time has come. It is easy, simple, saves money, and I think it seeds the mission of God in North America for generations to come: STOP FUNDING TRADITIONAL CHURCH PLANTS and instead fund missionaries to inhabit contexts all across the new mission fields of North America. Traditionally denominations have funded church plants. They do this by providing a.) a full time salary plus benefits for three years, and b.) start-up funds for equipment, building rental etc. to a well-assessed church planter (read entrepreneur). The goal is a selfsustaining church in three years paying its own pastor s salary and assorted sundry costs of running the church s services. The costs are astounding, perhaps ,000 dollars or more to get a church plant going. Today, in the changing environments of North American post Christendom, this approach to church planting is insane. For it not only assumes an already Christianized population to draw on, it puts enormous pressure on the church planter to secure already well-heeled Christians as bodies for the seats on Sunday morning. This in itself undercuts the engagement of the hurting, lost peoples God is bringing to Himself in Christ. Instead of funding one entrepreneurial pastor, preacher and organizer to go in and organize a center for Christian goods and services, let us fund three or four leaders or leader couples to go in as a team to an under-churched context. (Most often, these places are not the rich all-white suburbs where evangelicals have done well planting churches). These leaders will have time and space to then a.) get to know and listen to the neighborhood and the neighbors; b.) establish rhythms of life together which include worship, prayer, community, discipleship and presence among the neighbors; c.) discern God working in and among the neighbors and neighborhood; d.) bring the gospel to these places wherever God is working. (This includes reconciliation, peace, forgiveness, healing, righteousness, and new creation.); e.) develop a way of bringing those coming into faith in Christ into a way of growth and discipleship.

5 THE SIMPLE PLAN OF THE WEST COAST STRATEGIC INITIATIVE Deploy 2-4 Couples/Singles/Families into fertile cities as MINISTRY PIONEERS: They will be bi-vocational, securing jobs and housing in the chosen city. There will be an identified pastoral leader, however, the team works together. This leader will be trained and deployed by Free Methodist Church in Southern CA (FMCSC) leadership. (See training plan below.) Model of team ministry partners: One example of this model is a team of two couples who now serve in Madagascar. The pastoral leader is married to a nurse practitioner who both felt God s call to serve Jesus on the Red Island. In sharing this call with good friends in their university, their friends felt God s call to join them. Their friends are trained as a physician and a counselor. The four are now sharing lives and ministry as they fulfill God s call on their lives in multiplied and holistic ministry. TRAINING FOR EFFECTIVENESS The California Coast Initiative will include several areas of training for each team and each team member. The traditional method of training only pastors is incomplete because each member of the team plays a vital role in being effective in making disciples. The training provides a foundation upon which the Free Methodist communities can build. 1. Understanding the Relational Theology and the Theology of Love as core to Free Methodist communal life. a. Courses will be taught on Wesleyan Theology and Free Methodist ministry 2 b. Courses and seminars will be taught on healthy Biblical community, understanding and teaching the Bible, effective discipleship, relational evangelism, multi-cultural ministry, transforming culture and creation care. For those called as pastoral leaders, ordination training will be provided both through formal and informal education. c. Books will be read together, such as: i. The Wisdom of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove - intentional, committed community living. ii. The Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology by Mildred Bangs- Wynkoop iii. John Wesley s Class Meeting iv. The Radical Wesley by Howard Snyder v. The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter, III d. Mentoring with Free Methodist pastors and scholars 2. Interning, Coaching and Resourcing a. Internships are provided during or immediately following formal education to allow the Free Methodist community culture to be experienced. b. Coaches are provided for ministry-site-specific guidance along with team building tools such as spiritual gifts assessment and Strengths-Finder. c. Peer-to-Peer communication and resourcing as the West Coast Initiative Team. 3. Belonging to the world-wide Free Methodist movement with global missions, creative ministries, urban ministry, and international connections.

6 FINANCIAL RESOURCES The financial viability of the initiative is due to the bi-vocational pastoral teams and low facility costs. However, there will be fundraising that will be provided in cooperation with the Center for Transformational Leadership to provide for oversight and resourcing. In addition, the Free Methodist Church in Southern California will also be making resources available as each community develops in our region. These sources will help provide financial resources to the entire initiative. FERTILE COASTAL CITIES OF CALIFORNIA There are many cities that do not yet have the opportunity for Free Methodist community. These are some of the possibilities: Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Paso Robles, Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Oceano, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Ventura, Oxnard & Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Santa Monica & Venice Beach, Playa Del Rey, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Carlsbad, Del Mar, La Jolla, San Diego. In addition, there are some growing areas further inland: Antelope Valley (Lancaster & Palmdale), Valencia & Newhall Ranch, Tejon Ranch, Hemet, Palm Springs, Bishop and Mammoth. HAWAIIAN ISLANDS INITIATIVE: Planting Free Methodist Community on the Islands A secondary emphasis of this movement is to replicate this method on the Hawaiian Islands. Due to the distance and geographical isolation, this phase of the initiative will begin when there are at least three teams prepared to go to the islands together. This will occur by God s timing and the invitation to consider this is also being made.