rob's E

“How will I personally and corporately measure the outcomes named in your learning objective?”

One tool of measurement for me will be the understanding of what this word missional means, and how it can effectively be applied in the life of our congregations to benefit the community and the church. Discover the pastor’s role in this unique puzzle and accumulate the knowledge and understanding to complete the puzzle. The opportunity to witness a church who has harnessed this missional thing, which seems so elusive to me.

Jay's info

B) Study Focus
What issues in your ministries led to your critical question?
Our church is located in a town ? Lebanon, Pennsylvania -- that is filled
with social problems. Drug, alcohol and sexual addiction are rampant, as
is mental illness. Cornerstone is a church that is full of young believers,
many of whom come with the baggage of these types of problems, and an
understanding of purpose is essential in leading them to be the people
God wants made them to be. The mission of the New Testament is not
having much impact on these tough problems in our town right now, so I
am also interested in learning how to lead our local church in missionally
impacting our town with the message of Christ.


E) Evaluation
How will you individually measure the outcomes named in your learning
objectives?
1. A working definition of missional leadership will be passed on the other
leaders in my church for evaluation and critique.
2. The research and Bible study that we accomplish corporately will inform
my leadership team meetings and times of teaching in such a way that
people begin to think missionally.
3. The Immersion Retreat will provide a paradigmatic scope of ministry
that will enable me as a pastor to view my church more objectively in
regard to missional ministry.


E) Evaluation
How will you corporately measure the outcomes named in your learning
objectives?
By meeting together regularly and engaging in meaningful discussion
about in regard to our reading list and Bible study, we hope to discover
together the truth of what it means to be missional leaders. We will know
that we are accomplishing this as we answer these questions:
Are we able to come to a solid working definition of what it means
to be missional? If not, why not?
Is missional leadership a good thing?
In what ways are our churches missional now?
In what ways are our churches not being missional?
Are we identifying and strategizing ways to break through barriers
to missional ministry?
Are our strategies working? If not, why not?
In what ways does our Immersion Retreat inform our strategies of
becoming missional leaders?

These are a few questions that could be useful from an evaluative
standpoint. To be sure, we want to understand this concept of ?missional?,
we want to learn what missional churches and leaders are doing in order
to be missional, and we want to understand what missional leadership will
be in the context of our individual ministries.

Dave takes another stab at the budget.

Rob gave me some revised figures and I missed a thing or two. Try this on for size. We may need to make a few adjustments. Also in my previous I only hd three nights in HI when it is four. Here are the revisions.

G. Immersion Retreat/Travel
1. Our destination.
We have decided upon multiple destinations for reasons described below. We
will be making a tour of several churches at the forefront of the “missional
church” movement.

2. Itinerary/Schedule
May 7 Depart Philadelphia for Grand Rapids, MI.
Travel by rental van to Mars Hill Church, near Grand Rapids MI for an evening
worship service.
May 8 Meet with Pastor Rob Bell and/or key staff for time of
interview/discussion/tour, etc.

May 9 Depart Detroit for Los Angeles, CA
(May 9 or 10) Travel by rental van to Mosaic church/offices to meet with
Pastor Erwin McManus and/or key leadership for time of interview/discussion/tour,
attend worship if possible. The other day will be used for sightseeing and
other team building activities.

May 11 Depart Los Angeles, CA for Honolulu, HI
May 11, 12, 13 or 14 Travel by rental van to New Hope Church to meet with
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro and/or key staff, for time of interview/discussion/tour
attend anything available at the church.

May 11, 12, 13 or 14 Travel by air to Kauai to meet with Pastor Rick
Bundschuh and/or key staff at Kauai Christian Fellowship, for time of
interview/discussion/tour attend anything available at the church. Pastor Rick is a personal
friend of cohort member Dave Weiss. Rick is a widely published author and
pastor a very missional church that is closer in size to most of our local
congregations at around 300 members.

May 14-15 Depart Honolulu, HI for Philadelphia, PA arriving home around 6:15
a.m.

3. Team building activites will include sight seeing in some of the most
beautiful places on earth, finding something really nice for our wives to make up
for taking this trip without them and some members may surf.

4. Individual Roles and Responsibilities
Rob Eshelman arranges travel/lodging/ground transportation
Dave Weiss arranges meetings at the various churches
Tim Doering will handle spiritual formation
Galen Hackman will facilitate meetings
Jay McCumber driver (help me out here guys I ran out of jobs)
Dave Ulm Navigator (help me out here guys I ran out of jobs)

5. Why did we pick this trip for our immersion activity? You might think it’s
because everyone wants to suffer for the Lord in Hawaii, and while there is
no denying that this will be a great trip, there is much more to it than that.
Our key question revolves around becoming missional leaders leading missional
congregations. The churches that we will be touring are led by men who are
on the forefront of the missional movement. Our hope is that through this
tour, visiting these churches and meeting with these leaders, we will learn
principles and ideas that we can adapt to our own ministry contexts. We will see
churches in a variety of contexts from urban, postmodern/emergent megachurches,
to a medium sized semirural church. These churches minister to variety of
cultures. What the churches all have in common is that they are all having a
profound impact on their communities.

A word on the lateness of our immersion retreat. We realize that the
program indicates that we should be doing this activity earlier in our time
together. This was an impossibility for a number of reasons, one cohort member
will be on sabbatical, one will be leading a tour to the holy land, our
bivocational member is unable to secure the time off before this time due to a major
conference for his place of employment, and this time seems to work better for
some of the people we will be visiting. Our intent is to meet starting in
January of 2006 and begin with the study of some of the books written by the
pastors we will be visiting so that when it is time for our visit we will be a
better informed cohort. This will make for a better immersion retreat all the way
around.


H. Budget
Flight plan for budget purposes only: (May 7th and returning May 15th at 6:17
A.M.)

Philadelphia to Grand Rapids- $340.00
Detroit to Los Angeles - $189.00
Los Angeles – Honolulu $351.00
Honolulu-Kauai (Round Trip) $187.00
Honolulu to Philadelphia $553.00

Total airfare per person = $1620

Hotel Accommodations May 7th and 8th
Detroit – Courtyard by the Marriott - $278.00

Hotel Accommodations May 9th and 10th
Los Angeles – Radisson Hotel Chatsworth - $272.00

Hotel Accommodations May 11th – 14th
Honolulu, Hawaii – Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio - $716.00

Total lodging per person = $1266

Mini Van Rental
Detroit - $ 65.00 x 2 = $130.00
Los Angeles - $52.00 x 2 = $104.00
Hawaii - $56.00 x 5 = $280.00
Gas - $200.00

Total ground travel per person = $119.00

Meal Expense:
Breakfast - $8.00 x 9 = $72.00
Lunch - $14.00 x 9 = $126.00
Supper - $20.00 x 9 = $180.00

Total per meal expenses person = $378.00

Total Immersion retreat expense per person = $3383.00

Resources per person=$250
As seen on our list under Section F we should be far in excess of the maximum.

Pulpit supply per congregation=$75.

Total expense per person=$3708

Total expense for Cohort Group=$22248

Additional expenses would include travel to monthly meeting and a day trip to
Brian McLaren’s Cedar Ridge Church will be covered under either cohort
members’ educational reimbursement accounts or deducted as travel expenses from
individual taxes.

The Cohort Treasurer will be (Jay I need this info (name address phone#) from
you.)

Dave Weiss’ Evaluation

How will you personally measure the outcomes named in your learning
objectives? I remember very clearly the first time I heard someone refer to “building
missional communities of faith.” My first thought was, “ Oh great. some new
buzzwords, but what do they mean?” I have been trying to get a handle on
post-modern and emergent ministry and what that means to me here in suburban
Pennsylvania. What really helped was really disecting the phrase. Missional (which
still trips most spell checks), the idea of the fact that we are surrounded
by a mission field and that God has a mission for our lives. This is a two
fold issue, dealing with two very important relationships, my relationship to God
(internal mission) and my relationship to my fellow man (external mission).
Community, the idea that the people in the church are interdependent, and of
course the faith that holds the whole thing together.

1. Where am I now in relation to the critical question? My honest answer to
this question is I don’t know. I want to be a leader that leads his
congregation toward being disciples of Christ, fulfilling both their internal and
external missions, but I am not sure that I am there yet, and even if I am getting
there, I sense that I have a long way to go. How would I describe my own
baseline of understanding? What are my assumptions related to the question? I have
really outlined my basic understanding above. The assumption is that
missional is what I need to be to fulfill God’s mission for my life and for the church
that He has called me to pastor.

2. Where would I like to be at the end of two years? What are my hoped for
outcomes? By the end of two years, I would like to be a lot more informed about
what it takes to be a missional leader. I would like to have spent serious
time in self examination and in community with my brothers in this cohort, so
that I can better understand what being a missional leader looks like when
manifested in me. I hope to also spend time being inspired by people who have
already accomplished what I am setting out to achieve. Out of this experience,
and my own self discovery of mission, I hope to help the people in my
congregation to discover their God given gifts, talents and mission and resource them
to carry it out to the glory of God.

3. What are some of the indicators (markers along the way) that will tell me
I am moving toward my outcomes? 1. My brothers in the cohort and I will build
real community, challenging each other to live out God’s mission for our lives
and for our churches. 2. Out of that community will develop opportunities to
serve and help each other. 3. Some of these opportunities will involve
members of our congregations, building unity and community among our congregations,
modeling the body of Christ working together to fulfill God’s mission. 4. I
will have a better understanding of being missional, my mission, and that I
will model missional leadership to my congregation, and that they in turn will be
inspired to step out into God’s mission for their lives.

Dave's first run at the budget and itinerary

G. Immersion Retreat/Travel
1. Our destination.
We have decided upon multiple destinations for reasons described below. We
will be making a tour of several churches at the forefront of the “missional
church” movement.

Itinerary/Schedule
May 7 Depart Philadelphia for Detroit MI.
Travel by rental van to Mars Hill Church, near Grand Rapids MI for an evening
worship service.
May 8 Meet with Pastor Rob Bell and/or key staff for time of
interview/discussion/tour, etc.

May 9 Depart Detroit for Los Angeles, CA
(May 9 or 10) Travel by rental van to Mosaic church/offices to meet with
Pastor Erwin McManus and/or key leadership for time of interview/discussion/tour,
attend worship if possible. The other day will be used for sightseeing and
other team building activities.

May 11 Depart Los Angeles, CA for Honolulu, HI
May 11, 12, 13 or 14 Travel by rental van to New Hope Church to meet with
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro and/or key staff, for time of interview/discussion/tour
attend anything available at the church.

May 11, 12, 13 or 14 Travel by air to Kauai to meet with Pastor Rick
Bundschuh and/or key staff at Kauai Christian Fellowship, for time of
interview/discussion/tour attend anything available at the church. Pastor Rick is a personal
friend of cohort member Dave Weiss. Rick is a widely published author and
pastor a very missional church that is closer in size to most of our local
congregations at around 300 members.

3. Team building activites will include sight seeing in some of the most
beautiful places on earth, finding something really nice for our wives to make up
for taking this trip without them and some members may surf.

4. Individual Roles and Responsibilities
Rob Eshelman arranges travel/lodging/ground transportation
Dave Weiss arranges meetings at the various churches
Tim Doering will handle spiritual formation
Galen Hackman will facilitate meetings
Jay McCumber driver (help me out here guys I ran out of jobs)
Dave Ulm Navigator (help me out here guys I ran out of jobs)

5. Why did we pick this trip for our immersion activity? You might think it’s
because everyone wants to suffer for the Lord in Hawaii, and while there is
no denying that this will be a great trip, there is much more to it than that.
Our key question revolves around becoming missional leaders leading missional
congregations. The churches that we will be touring are led by men who are
on the forefront of the missional movement. Our hope is that through this
tour, visiting these churches and meeting with these leaders, we will learn
principles and ideas that we can adapt to our own ministry contexts. We will see
churches in a variety of contexts from urban, postmodern/emergent megachurches,
to a medium sized semirural church. These churches minister to variety of
cultures. What the churches all have in common is that they are all having a
profound impact on their communities.

A word on the lateness of our immersion retreat. We realize that the
program indicates that we should be doing this activity earlier in our time
together. This was an impossibility for a number of reasons, one cohort member
will be on sabbatical, one will be leading a tour to the holy land, our
bivocational member is unable to secure the time off before this time due to a major
conference for his place of employment, and this time seems to work better for
some of the people we will be visiting. Our intent is to meet starting in
January of 2006 and begin with the study of some of the books written by the
pastors we will be visiting so that when it is time for our visit we will be a
better informed cohort. This will make for a better immersion retreat all the way
around.

May 14-15 Depart Honolulu, HI for Philadelphia, PA arriving home around 6:15
a.m.

H. Budget
Flight plan for budget purposes only: (May 7th and returning May 15th at 6:17
A.M.)

Philadelphia to Detroit - $133.00
Detroit to Los Angeles - $189.00
Los Angeles – Honolulu $351.00
Honolulu-Kauai (Round Trip) $187.00
Honolulu to Philadelphia $553.00

Total airfare per person = $1413

Hotel Accommodations May 7th and 8th
Detroit – Courtyard by the Marriott - $278.00

Hotel Accommodations May 9th and 10th
Los Angeles – Radisson Hotel Chatsworth - $272.00

Hotel Accommodations May 11th – 14th
Honolulu, Hawaii – Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio - $537.00

Total lodging per person = $1087

Mini Van Rental
Detroit - $ 65.00 x 2 = $130.00
Los Angeles - $52.00 x 2 = $104.00
Hawaii - $56.00 x 5 = $280.00
Gas - $200.00

Total ground travel per person = $119.00

Meal Expense:
Breakfast - $8.00 x 9 = $72.00
Lunch - $14.00 x 9 = $126.00
Supper - $20.00 x 9 = $180.00

Total per meal expenses person = $378.00

Total Immersion retreat expense per person = $2997.00

Resources per person=$250
As seen on our list under Section F we should be far in excess of the maximum.

Pulpit supply per congregation=$75.

Total expense per person=$3322

Total expense for Cohort Group=$19932

Additional expenses would include travel to monthly meeting and a day trip to
Brian McLaren’s Cedar Ridge Church will be covered under either cohort
members’ educational reimbursement accounts or deducted as travel expenses from
individual taxes.

The Cohort Treasurer will be (Jay I need this info (name address phone#) from
you.)

Galen's additional info

Denominational Guidelines for Continuing Education.

We expect that our study will speak to at least two, and possibly three, areas of continuing education as listed in the 2002 Guidelines for Continuing Education. Our learnings around missional movements will most certainly speak to the areas of Pastoral Leadership and Church Growth and Evangelism. We expect our experience together will also contribute to Spiritual Hardiness.

B. Study Focus

Issues in Ministry

Tim, Rob, Galen and Dave Ulm serve in congregations of a traditional nature which have a long history and a deeply seated sense of who they think they are as a church. The struggle here is against rigid traditionalism, people growing comfortable with the way things have been, trust in programs that have worked in the past and the tendency to be internally focused. These pastoral leaders seek to establish new vision for the church, increased passion for outreach and an openness to change, while honoring the history and heritage of the congregation and meeting the legitimate needs of the existing members.

Ministry Context

Tim, Rob and Galen serve in one of the largest Church of the Brethren congregations in the nation. It is one of the few churches that has a multiple staffing beyond just two or three people. The Ephrata Church is located just a mile or so from the famed Ephrata Cloister, so there is a rich sense of heritage. The church also is just across the yard, so to speak, from the Ephrata Middle School. It is located in an upper-middle class community. The town of Ephrata itself is about 12,000 people, situated in a larger area of 50,000 or so. The community has significant social service needs. About 55% of the community is considered “unchurched.”

E. Evaluation

Galen—I do not feel that I have a comprehensive understand of what it means to be missional. I hear the word tossed around today and, on the one hand, I think it is simply the new word for being “evangelistic,” but, on the other hand, I have this sense that there is much more to it. I hear of a missional movement, but very frankly have been so busy building a growing church over the last several years, that I have not had the time to read material coming out of these missional movements. (And it bugs me that my spell checker keeps flagging this word “missional.”)

At the end of these two years I would like to be able to intelligently discuss this concept, even if it means I do not buy into it. For sure I would like to be able to define what parts of it resonate with me and what parts seem foreign. I begin with the assumption that it is good to be missional—I may be wrong about that. I begin with the assumption that I am already somewhat missional and that makes me want to be more so—but I may be wrong about that, too.

I expect that growing understanding, a change in how I think about the church, more intentionally focusing outward and more courage in my life personally to reach out, would be markers that something is changing in relation to our study together.

Galen's info

Name: Galen R. Hackman

Address: 18 Springcrest Drive, Akron, Pa 17501

Phone numbers: Home, 717-859-3309; Office, 717-733-1229; Cell, 717-368-4441

Email address: ghackman@ephratabrethren.org


Congregation: Ephrata Church of the Brethren

District: Atlantic Northeast

Education: Bachelor of Theology and Master of Arts in Religion

Year Ordained: 1976

Years of Pastoral Experience: 28

Continuing Education Experiences in the last 5 years: (this is at best a
partial listing)

Turn Around Pastors Summit, Easum, Bandy and Associates, December 2000

Sustaining Long Term Pastorates, Alban Institute, October 2000

Ethics in Ministry Relations, ANE District, February 2002

Where is Jesus Going?, Easum, Bandy and Asso. April, 2002

Faith Formation through Liturgy, Word, Music, Art, Drama, ANE Leadership
Event, November 2002

The Character of Leaders, CCN Leadership Series, January 2003

Developing Leaders, CCN Leadership Series, February 2003

Worship Leadership, Billy Graham Association, June 2003

Equipping Churches Learning Summit, Eastern Conference, United Methodist
Church, February 2004

Small Groups Conference, Willow Creek Association, September 2004

Global Positioning for the Soul, Easum, Bandy and Asso., March 2004

The Bible and Bioethics, Brethren Village Pastor’s Conference, January 2005

Renewing the Church, Reclaiming the Gospel, New Life Ministries, April, 2005

Worship and the Arts, Willow Creek Association, June 2005

Pastors and Leaders Conference, Compassion Intl., August 2005

Leading Multiple Staff, Alban Institute, October 2005

Brief Description of Ministry Context:

The Ephrata Church of the Brethren is a long-standing congregation which
has roots into the Ephrata Cloister and the early Brethren who have
settled the Conestoga valley. After reaching a peak in attendance of
over 500 in the early 1990’s, the congregation entered a period of
significant decline, hitting a low of 365 or so in worship by the end of
2001. The church had a strong heritage of giving and of volunteer
ministry. On this foundation we have been building a ministry
emphasizing lay leadership, spiritual formation, outreach and singleness
of purpose. The congregation has launched a very effective contemporary
worship service in addition to traditional worship, small group
ministry, several support/recovery groups and expanded children’s
ministries resulting in increased attendance and support. As of August
2005, attendance is averaging 450 and income has increased each year.
Additionally, we have seen scores of people rise up to take on
leadership roles in the church.

The town of Ephrata lies in the northern section of Lancaster County,
PA. As such it lies in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country where
Anabaptists have long been present. Ephrata is a town of about 15,000
people in a surrounding community of about 50,000. Population is
increasing and the schools are stable.

And now what we've all been waiting for...Travel info!

Hawaii, here we come!!!!!

Flight plan for budget purposes only: (May 7th and returning May 15th at 6:17 A.M.)

Philadelphia to Detroit - $133.00
Detroit to Los Angeles - $189.00
Los Angeles – Honolulu $351.00
Honolulu to Philadelphia $553.00

Total per person = $1226.00

Hotel Accommodations May 7th and 8th
Detroit – Courtyard by the Marriott - $139.00 (double occupancy)

Hotel Accommodations May 9th and 10th
Los Angeles – Radisson Hotel Chatsworth - $136.00

Hotel Accommodations May 11th – 14th
Honolulu, Hawaii – Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio - $417.50

Total per person = $692.50

Mini Van Rental
Detroit - $ 65.00 x 2 = $130.00
Los Angeles - $52.00 x 2 = $104.00
Hawaii - $56.00 x 5 = $280.00
Gas - $200.00

Total per person = $119.00

Meal Expense:
Breakfast - $10.00 x 9 = $90.00
Lunch - $15.00 x 9 = $135.00
Supper - $20.00 x 9 = $180.00

Total per person = $405.00

Total trip expense per person = $2442.50

Rob's book list

Rob’s Book List for SPE
September 7, 2005

1. Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives, Leanard Sweet and Associates
$14.00
2. A New Kind of Christian:, Brian McLaren $15.00

Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
Eddie Gibbs $14.00

4. The Shaping of Things to Come… Innovation & Mission for the 21st Century
Church, Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch $14.00

Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of Church in North America.
Darrell L. Guder, Lois Barrett $18.00

A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian D. McLaren $14.00

Growing your Church from the Outside in: Understanding the Unchurched & How to Reach Them, George Barna $12.00

Shaped by God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, Milfred Minatrea $17.00

The Missional Leader, Alan Roxburgh, Fred Romonuk $18.00

Stumbling in the Light: New Testament Images of a Changing Church, Robert Kysar $11.00

Reclaiming God’s Original Intent for the Church, Larry Crabb $14.00

Blue like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, Donald Miller
$11.00

Out of the Question…..Into the Mystery: Getting Lost in God Life Relationship, Leanard Sweet $14.00

14. A Church for the 21st Century, Leith Anderson $20.00

Do They Run When They See You Coming: Reaching out to Unchurched
Teenagers, Jonathan R. McKee $13.00

16. Becoming A Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels & Mark Mittelberg $15.00

17. Building A Contagious Church, Bill Hybels & Mark Mittenberg $16.00
Total cost for books = $250.00

Jay's how the question effects me and reading list

I'm writing to relate how our key question effects my ministry specifically.

How do pastors develop and perpetuate Christian missional ministry and lead
Christian missional movements?
The church that I lead, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, is a pretty
missional church. Cornerstone is only about ten years old and still has the
feel of a church plant. Most of our people are young believers in Christ
and are excited about who Jesus is. Our church has a real vision to see the
community we are living in -- Lebanon, Pennsylvania -- alive in Christ. As
of now though, that's not happening. My congregation has loads of
excitement and passion for Jesus, I believe we are missional in our hearts,
but we have little to no structure for allowing people a concrete outlet for
that passion. The founding pastor of Cornerstone did a great job of
developing missional ministry. I am part of this team to try to discover
how to perpetuate and deepen that missional mindset and see it change our
city.

Recommendations for Reading List:
"The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball, Zondervan, March 2003 ISBN: 0310245648
"Doing Church As A Team" by Wayne Cordeiro, Regal Books, 2001, ISBN:
0830726527
"The Church On The Other Side" by Brian McLaren, Zondervan, 2000,
ISBN:0310237076
"The Prevailing Church" by Randy Pope, Moody Press, 2002, ISBN: 0802427413
"The Equipping Church" by Sue Mallory, Zondervan, 2001, ISBN: 0310240670
"The End Of The World...As We Know It" by Chuck Smith Jr., Waterbrook Press,
2001
ISBN: 1578564026
"In The Name Of Jesus" by Henri Nouwen, Crossroad Publishing, 1989,
ISBN:0824512596