revised proposal part 2

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

F) Resources

Book lists:
1. Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives, Leonard Sweet and Associates, $14
2. A New Kind of Christian:, Brian McLaren, $15
3. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures Eddie Gibbs. $14
4. The Shaping of Things to Come… Innovation & Mission for the 21st Century
Church, Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch, $14
5. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of Church in North America. Darrell L. Guder, Lois Barrett, $18
6. A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian D. McLaren, $14
7 . Shaped by God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, Milfred Minatrea, $17
8. The Missional Leader, Alan Roxburgh, Fred Romonuk, $18
9. "Doing Church As A Team" by Wayne Cordeiro, Regal Books, 2001, ISBN:
0830726527
10. "The Church On The Other Side" by Brian McLaren, Zondervan, 2000, ISBN:
0310237076
11. "The End Of The World...As We Know It" by Chuck Smith Jr., Waterbrook Press,
2001, ISBN: 1578564026
12. “An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God ***Had in Mind” by Erwin McManus, $12-23
13. “The Church in Emerging Culture” by Erwin Raphael McManus, $12-22.
14. “Leadership on the Other Side” by Bill Easum, $14
15. “Birth of the Chaordic Age” by Dee W. Hock, $18.50
16. “Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church” by D.A. Carson, $15

Total Cost = $250+

















VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

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.
Mosaic – Erwin McManus is widely respected as a premier leader in the post-modern church. Mosaic has established itself as an affective beacon of truth and hope in the diverse and intense setting of LA. They have become relevant through the use of arts, media, relationship, relevant worship/teaching, cutting edge technology and multiplication strategies (Such as Multi-site)
Mars Hill Bible Church - Rob Bell is known as one of the more cutting edge spiritual entrepreneurs and teachers of our time. The mission statement of MHBC, “Mars Hill Bible Church is devoted to making disciples of Jesus Christ who are making disciples of Jesus Christ”, has obviously been more than words on paper. It has been the true pursuit of a church and the lifestyle of a leader. As a result this body has been able to reach an enormous amount of “20 somethings”, an age demographic that is sparse, at best, in the church today.
New Hope Christian Fellowship - According to Outreach Magazine, New Hope is one of the reasons that Hawaii is the only state where church attendance is outpacing population growth. NHCF is one of the fastest growing churches in America, but perhaps more important to the pursuit of our critical question is the fact that in a 2005 survey of 2,000 church leaders, New Hope was voted the 25th most influential church in America. Wayne Cordeiro has not only been a model of a leader who has given his entirety to the advancement of the gospel,but he is also one of the most affective leaders of a fractal based church ministry, providing opportunity for community and ministry to co-exist.
Kauai Christian Fellowship is an innovative church that has the goal of reaching the next generation at the core of its being. Pastor Rick Bundschuh has been guiding the church, via a "permission giving" philosophy, in such a way that the congregation has begun to live out their individual and corporate God-given gifts, by birthing ministry out of their passion and taking responsibility for seeing the ministry through. Where the other churches on the tour are quite large, KCF is smaller, in the 300 member range, which may give us a context closer to our own.

2. Itinerary/Schedule - May 7 Fly from Philadelphia to 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 Fly from Detroit to 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 Fly from Los Angeles, CA to 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 Fly from Honolulu, HI to Philadelphia, PA arriving home around 6:15
a.m.

3. Team building activities 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
Dave Ulm will be Navigator and recorder

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.
VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

H) Budget

1) Immersion Retreat
Flight plan for budget purposes: (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 per person = $1620.00

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 per person = $1266.00

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 = $3410.00

2) Resources (See section F for details) 250.00

3) Pulpit Supply 75.00



4) Technology 500.00
- High-speed internet for on-line discussions
and communication between cohort members
($20 per month for 24 months = $480)
- Web hosting ($5 per month for 24 months, split
between cohort members = $20)

Total per person $ 4235.00

Group Total $25,410.00

Additional expenses would include travel to monthly meetings 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 treasurer of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship will serve as cohort treasurer.
Mark Kneasel, 30 Palm Lane, Lebanon, PA 17042 (717) 274-9158































VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

I) Cohort Personnel (Newly formed group)

Tim Doering
547 N. State St Ephrata, PA 17522
Home- 717-721-3960 Work- 717-733-1229 Cell- 717-917-3039
tdoering@ephratabrethren.org

Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Atlantic North East
Ordained in 2004
Experience: 3.5 years of "full time" associate, 2yrs lay (team) ministry
CEU: Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership courses for ordination, COB
church planting conference "the Next Step" (2002), Beeson Institute for
Advanced Church Leadership (Module 9, 2003), Willow Creek Small Groups
conference "Becoming the Church Next Door" (2004), Easum & Bandy Associates
Convergence (2004), New Life Ministries "Renewing the Church, Reclaiming the
Gospel" (2005)
Pastor Of Discipleship Ministries: My role is to facilitate the spiritual
formation for the adults at ECOB, as well as creating opportunities for them
to experience spiritual transformation. I provide oversight for those who
work for similar things among the children and youth of our congregation.
Specifically, I provide: leadership for an emerging small group network, the
primary creative design for an elective adult education program that is
being birthed, the spiritual oversight for our "Promiseland" children's
ministry, administration for our mission focus (various mission initiatives
focused on Honduras), and vision for a Marketplace Ministry that is in early
developmental stages. In addition I provide support for the senior pastor in
occasional visitation, counseling, preaching...


Robert D. Eshelman
20 Lauren Lane - Ephrata, PA 17522
Home - 717-738-0486 Work - 717-733-1229 Cell - 717-203-3934
reshelman@ephratabrethren.org
Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Atlantic N.E.
Education completed: High School - The complete13course Brethren Academy Program. Education will never be complete.
Year Ordination - 2005


Years of Pastoral Experience: Approximately 9 months in my present fulltime position as Minister of Congregational Care & Middle School Ministries and 4.0 years in my part time position as Director of Middle School Ministries. Licensed to the Ministry in June of 2000. Worked as a volunteer middle school youth advisor for the Ephrata Church and the Atlantic N.E. Middle School Advisory board from 1996. -2002. Conferences: "Creating a Safe Place, A Community Response to Family Violence"(2005), "Renewing the Church, Reclaiming the Gospel" (2005) New Windsor, Maryland Ministry Formation (2005)
Presently enrolled in the EXCEL Program at Elizabethtown College to complete my Bachelor Degree in Religious Studies. I am in the final stages of completing the following areas in my Training in Ministry Program (TRIM): Polity and the Church, Brethren Experience, scheduled for September 12-16, and the Work Experience element of this course of study. Member of the newly formed Ephrata Youth Aid Panel with completion of 8-weeks of seminars and course study followed by certification. Completed the 13 courses in the Brethren Academy Program
Minister of Congregational Care/Director of Middle School Ministries: I have a pretty wide range from 10 years old to 99 and everyone in between as a mission field. My ministry comprises of visitation (home and hospital), coordinate the Senior Adult Fellowship Ministry, and Directing the Middle School Ministries our congregation. Direct the weekly out reach ministry Youth Club for children in the 4th through 8th grades. Create opportunities for adults and senior high youth leaders to share their gifts with the community through the Youth Club ministry. Provide support and over see the Sonshine Club out reach children's ministry held on a weekly basis as well. Provide assistance to the senior pastor in preaching, teaching, funerals, weddings, anointing,

Galen R. Hackman
18 Springcrest Drive, Akron, Pa 17501
Home, 717-859-3309; Office, 717-733-1229; Cell, 717-368-4441 **ghackman@ephratabrethren.org <*
*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 2003Equipping 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.
*
* *Jay McCumber*
* 105 East Chestnut Street Lebanon, PA 17042
* Home - 717-274-6034 Work - 717-279-5683 Cell - 717-383-1623
* *
* Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Atlantic NorthEast
*
Education Completed: Bachelor of Theology from Applachian Bible College (May
1999)
*Ordained by Vincent Baptist Church, January 2000
Ordination approved and accepted by Church of the Brethren in June 2004
Years of Pastoral Experience
Youth Pastor, Hope Church St Louis, Missouri, November 1999-August 2004
Oversaw and administrated the student ministries of Hope Church.
Oversaw paid and unpaid staff of fourteen. Led and trained students in various
ministry
settings: weekly student meetings, mission trips, retreats, camps, etc.Senior Pastor
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Lebanon, Pennsylvania, September 2004 - present
Approaching one year in senior pastor ministry. Oversee church
leadership, paid and unpaid. Set vision and goals for church, administer pastoral
care, teach regularly, network with local pastors for community ministry vision.
Continuing Education
March 2000 - Youth Specialties YouthWorker Conference
September 2000 - Ministering to Postmoderns
Two Day Training Seminar at Covenant Seminary
May 2001 - Youth Specialties YouthWorker
February 2002 - Willow Creek Community Church, Youth Minister's Conference
January 2004 - Intimate Allies Marriage Counseling Training Seminar, Two Day Training Seminar - Mars Hill Graduate School
Currently enrolled in the Brethren Academy Program taking Church of the Brethren Polity and Practice
Senior Pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship:
My ministry context is in the middle of the city of Lebanon, a town of about
35,000 people. I lead the ministry leadership endeavors of Cornerstone to
equip the people of our church to reach Lebanon with the message of Christ.
I meet twice a month with a leadership team of seven elders, and together we
determine the vision, goals and programs of ministry to accomplish the task
of equipping our people well. I also oversee three other staff positions,
one full-time and two part-time. I provide pastoral care and am a part of
the executive team of the Lebanon Valley Ministry Network - a group of
ministry organizations that meet together regularly for prayer and community
networking in ministry. I teach weekly in our main service and oversee the
leadership of our small group programs, as well as other general pastoral
care.
**David Ulm*
* 2099 Mt. Zion Road, Lebanon, PA 17046
* Home - (717) 933-5077 Office - (717) 933-4926 Cell - (717) 222-0050
* Mt. Zion Road C.O.B., Atlantic Northeast District
*
* Bachelors Degree plus seminary work to satisfy District requirements for ordination
* Ordained July 31, 2005
*
* Pastoral experience - 7 _ years at Mt. Zion Road COB
*
* Continuing Education experiences in last five years
* Regular course work at Evangelical School of Theology in MAR program
*COB Polity & Practice and COB History, Life & Thought classes at Susquehanna Valley Satellite
*Various Seminars including Easum Bandy Convergence, Brethren Ministers Association pre & post conference meetings, denominational ethics training, Promise Keepers Pastors Seminar
*
*Head pastor of the Mt. Zion Road COB with part-time (10-12 hours weekly) associate. This church is a long-established congregation meeting in some form since 1860. This is a rural congregation which grew from an average attendance of 88 in 1996 to 128 in 2002, and has plateaued in the mid 120's since that time. Active membership has continued to grow to present high of 161. The congregation is in the midst of a building program to add a multipurpose building to facilitate ministry to the community.
**
* *David Weiss*
589 Stone Rd., Mohrsville, PA 19541
Home: 610-926-0488 Office: 610-562-9757 Church: 610-929-5212 Cell Phone: 610-451-4513
angelprty1@aol.com

*New Creation Fellowship, Reading, PA, Atlantic Northeast
Education Completed: 2003, Year Ordained: 2003
Years of Pastoral Experience: Two as “senior pastor” plus five years in
volunteer youth ministry
A listing of continuing education experiences for the last five years:
Brethren Academy courses to complete ordination training
Bethany Seminary Church Planting Course Spring 2002
Ashland Seminary Church Planting Course and Assessment- Summer 2004
Numerous one day workshops and courses, in ethics, ministry skills,
spiritual formation, etc.

*Ministry Context of Dave Weiss
After five years of volunteer youth ministry, I felt the call to plant
a new church, so with the blessing of the congregation and the
district, a core group of seven people began New Creation Fellowship in
September of 2002. The church was designed from its inception to be a
missional community of faith, attempting to fulfill both aspects of the
Great Commission (going AND making disciples). We have had some
success (especially in the latter) but the pressures of bivocational
ministry and a syndrome that I refer to as the “overcommitted
committed” i.e. people with missional hearts and extremely busy
schedules. We are surrounded by a community that (in a lot of cases)
has everything but Christ. My goal in this research project is to learn
more about how to take what is in my heart and the hearts of my
congregation as well as our God given gifts and abilities and place
them into action to the glory of God.
What also may be important to this project is that I have been
involved in the graphics/communications field most of my life and I
have a passion for using the visual arts in preaching, teaching and
reaching. I have put this to work in my ministry almost from the
beginning and create resources and teach seminars in the field of using
the visual arts in ministry. http://www.radicallyreal.com/amok I am
also convinced that music can be a powerful tool in reaching people
especially youth. As a result of this, I have become a lesson writer
for the Christian music based, youth ministry resource, Interlinc.

Group Dynamics

Galen, Tim and Rob serve together in the Ephrata Church of the Brethren. Tim and Rob would like to express that they do not feel shadowed by Galen’s leadership or position as senior pastor of ECOB. The three of them work closely together within the church structure and have mutual respect for one another. We are in this together pursuing the same goals and objectives; to become missional Christian leaders and lead missional movements within our congregations.*


For the three of us who are not members of the staff at Ephrata Church of the Brethren, we would like you to know that we are not bothered by the fact that Galen, Tim and Rob serve together at ECoB. We value these men as fellow pastors and as others on the journey to missional ministry and are not concerned with their ability to engage effectively with the cohort. We are seeking to become missional leaders, and this will flesh itself out not in the collective workings of the ECoB per se, but as Galen, Tim and Rob change as individual leaders becoming more missional. We value the cohort as the unit that it is and do not see the dynamic of our group being effected negatively by the fact that three of us serve at EcoB.


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group*


J) Group Roles and Norms

Group Roles:
Facilitator Galen Hackman
Treasurer Contact Jay McCumber
Writer/Recorder David Ulm
Technology Needs Dave Weiss
Travel Planner Robert Eshelman
Spiritual Formation Tim Doering


Group Meetings
This group will meet on a monthly basis, starting in January of 2006, for approximately two hours. We will rotate our meeting among our various churches, and other areas in the community. Group members will be expected to keep up to date on the relevant reading, to attend all meetings if possible, and to promote a safe, non-judgmental environment in which to share. If one member cannot be present for a meeting, the meeting will go on and adequate information from the meeting will be passed on via the blog, listserve, or web site. In two or more members cannot be present, the meeting will be rescheduled.

Meeting Outline
Spiritual Formation 20 minutes
Alternating from one month to the next:
Either debriefing on latest reading or Acts Bible study 50 minutes
Visit learning objectives and record progress 15 minutes
Sharing issues & prayers *35* minutes
Total 120 minutes

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS

ANE Missional Studies Group*


K) Recommendations
Letters of recommendation will be attached to the hard copy coming from Galen/Tim at Ephrata* *COB

revised proposal

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

A) Critical Question

How do pastors develop and perpetuate Christian missional ministry and lead missional movements?


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

B) Study Focus

Rationale:
Galen: Has spent most of his life in traditional churches with concern for survival, church business, maintaining the status quo, and not risking ourselves. Trying to break out of myopia which is strangling ourselves and develop missionary strategies. Catch the vision and lead
Jay: Theology informs our actions through the Great Commission. Our identity as Christians forces us to be missional.
Tim: Sick and tired of doing church just to do it. Life is found in mission, it is the purpose why I live.
Dave W.: Desire to get past sermon as the only thing that get’s done as bi-vocational pastor
Rob: Has seen church buried under itself and scared of being missional, Need for purpose and re-learning
David U: Return to the original vision of ministry when God called me

Issues in Ministries:
Jay’s 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 the town right now, so he is also interested in learning how to lead his local church in missionally impacting the town with the message of Christ.
For Dave Weiss, pastor of a small, new church, growth is a necessity. He has been blessed to see many members of his congregation grow into new ministries, leaving their “comfort zones” to do the work of ministry that needs to be done. This has been good for them and for the church. However, the group is becoming very close knit and while this can also be a very good thing, there is a very real possibility of becoming “impenetrable.” This will impede their shared mission. He am a bivocational pastor whose time resources are being stretched just to maintain the status quo. Short of major growth, he will remain bi-vocational and the status quo may be all they get. That is not what he feels God is calling them to do. They are in a fairly affluent community but one with a lot of problems that needs strong churches rising up to make a difference and be the body of Christ.
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.

Assumptions:
1) It is better to be missional than inward-focused. Not missional is not healthy.
2) True spirituality combines outward ministry with inner spiritual health.
3) Missional is well-balanced.

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.”
The church Jay McCumber leads, 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 his people are young believers in Christ and are excited about who Jesus is. His 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. This congregation has loads of excitement and passion for Jesus, he believes they are missional in their hearts, but they 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. Jay is part of this team to try to discover how to perpetuate and deepen that missional mindset and see it change our city.
This question is appealing to David Ulm because he and his congregation have been in dialogue for some time as to how they can substantially increase their ministry in a relatively rural community. They have taken concrete steps in the form of building plan to facilitate greater ministry, while not having a specific vision of what this ministry will look like (perhaps putting the cart before the horse).
In the contest of Dave Weiss’ small, two year old church plant, becoming missional to their community is essential to their survival as a congregation. He finds himself with the luxury of having nearly every member of the church committed to this, mainly because it was the one thing all the members of the core group were desiring when they set out to do this work. The congregation is willing, but they need to learn how to do what they are setting out to do more effectively if they want to survive and thrive.

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.




VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

C) Learning Objectives

1) Define what missional is
2) List obstacles and barriers to development of true missional leadership
3) Identify the common characteristics of two or three Christian missional leaders and communities
4) Gain understanding of the missional philosophy and the application of that philosophy to each member’s ministry setting
5) Develop a community that supports and nurtures each other in developing missional ministries
6) Identify the qualities, characteristics, and skills needed to lead a congregation through the missional transition
7) Identify potential strengths and liabilities inherent in each cohort member leading to or detracting from developing enduring missional leadership


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

D) Learning Activities

1) Visit and interview leadership at Cedar Ridge Community Church, a church which has made the transition to missional ministry
2) Visit and interview leadership at missional churches such as Mars Hill Church, Mosaic Church, New Hope Church, and Kauai Christian Fellowship on our Immersion Retreat
3) Become well-versed in publication of churches visited, books on reading list, and on-line resources and discussions
4) De-brief with one another after visits and reading, utilizing our blog, list-serve and web site, as well as our regular meetings
5) Participate in Bible Study of Acts with appropriate aids
6) Each cohort member will write an original plan (paradigm, description, process) for our own ministry context
7) Field test what we’re learning in each of our congregations simultaneously, and in our own lives
8) Work individually with personality/gifting/leadership assessment tools to determine how we measure up with the characteristics we have observed in missional leaders
9) Develop interview tool to gather consistent information from leaders


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

E) Evaluation

Group Evaluation: By meeting together regularly and engaging in meaningful discussion in regard to our reading list and Bible study, we hope to discover the truth of what it means to be missional leaders. We want to understand this concept of "missional", we want to learn what missional churches and leaders are doing
in order to accomplish missional ministry, and we want to understand what
missional philosophy will look like in the context of our communal and
individual ministries. Our primary means of group accountability and
assessment will be through gauging one another by the "indicators" listed
below, as well as the use of "measuring sticks" listed by individuals in
their personal evaluation sections. In order to do this effectively we will
visit one another in our particular church settings.
These hoped-for-outcomes and indicators-along-the-way are as follows:
1. To identify a working definition of missional and determine to what
extent our leadership styles and the ministries under our leadership fit that
definition.
Indicator: Consensus among cohort member as to definition and an
understanding by the other members of each individual's critique of his own
leadership/ministry in light of said definition.
2. Formation of a paradigm of missional philosophy implementation through our
Immersion Retreat.
Indicator: Completion of purposeful Immersion Retreat.
Indicator: Completion of missional leadership assessment tool at each
ministry site of Immersion Retreat and organization/analysis of collected data.
Indicator: Deeper understanding and conversation around missional
philosophy and how to be a more missional leader based on our findings during the Immersion Retreat.
3. Develop a list of characteristics of missional leaders from our
Immersion Retreat and understand how to implement those characteristics.
Indicator: Completion of missional leadership assessment tool at each
ministry site of Immersion Retreat and organization/analysis of collected data.
Indicator: Usage of assessment tool on each individual cohort member on
a quarterly basis to examine how the implementation of these missional
characteristics.
4. Formation of a true community of our cohort members, challenging one
another to live out
God's mission in our personal lives and corporate and personal ministries.
Indicator: Moving our relationships from that of acquaintance to friendship.
Indicator: Providing a safe, nurturing atmosphere as a community to
speak to one another's weaknesses as a missional leader.
5. To see the missional philosophy that we possess as leaders begin to change the hearts and minds of the people we lead, particularly lay leadership.
Indicator: Seeing purposefully missional programs begin to increase in number.
Indicator: Seeing non-missional programs begin to decrease in number and phase
out.
Indicator: Hearing missional philosophy language and discussion increase among the members of our congregations, particularly the lay leadership.

Individual Evaluation:
Tim - Assumptions: 1) The term "missional" could be defined as revolving around or focused on the mission. 2) The primary mission of humanity is to glorify God. 3) The primary means by which this is done in the church is by knowing and loving God and helping others to do the same, or in religious terminology: growing in personal discipleship while making disciples of others. 4) While these are the primary means I do not see them as the exclusive means. 5) I also assume that I will only have "abundant life" if these purpose and means are set and seen exclusively in the context of a daily, authentic relationship with the living God. 6) I assume that glory and discipleship are terms given to help us understand and chart certain aspects of that relationship. In the broadest sense how can one quantify or evaluate the quality of any given relationship, let alone a relationship with the divine? My assumption is that the term "missional" is an attempt to do just that; quantify and evaluate the quality of an aspect of this relationship. Specifically, the term "missional" is there to help us understand how effective we are at shaping our lives and ministries around the pursuit of God in our lives and the lives of others.
I believe that at the end of these 2 years I should be able to 1) give adequate defense to these assumptions of the mission, the means, and the term "missional" or 2) I should be able to give a well supported rebuttal to these assumptions and a defense for the newly formed assumptions.
Given the first scenario I will need to be able to quantify the level at which I (and the ministry that I lead) am becoming missional in order for the term to serve its purpose of quantifying a certain aspect of my (our) relationship with God. I will attempt to quantify that by a few different means. a) I will list the major duties that I perform and the major things that I give my resources (time energy and money) to. I will explain, for each of those, how and to what extent they do or do not conform to the mission. b) I will provide true purpose descriptions of the ministries that I work with and compare and contrast them with the mission. c) I will take a fruit inventory in my life/ministries to see if there has been fruit born of the mission. d) I will also ask the members of the cohort to evaluate me with the resource, ministry, and fruit inventories.
Given the second scenario I should be able to a) diagram how those new assumptions will shape my future life/relationship/ministry. I should also b) develop a method to measure my effectiveness in that pursuit. c) I will ask the members of the cohort to 1) review and adjust the diagram 2) use that method to measure my effectiveness.

Rob - When I hear the word missional my mind immediately assumes it means going on a mission for God. In other words, taking Christ’s church out of the confines of the brick and mortar and taking it into the streets of our community. It is reflecting the life of Christ and effectively applying this to my life and the life of the congregation I serve. I hope to discover the pastor’s role in this unique missional puzzle and accumulate the knowledge and understanding through this endeavor to find where I fit in this puzzle. Having the opportunity to witness a church and its leaders who have harnessed this missional thing, which seems so elusive to me, will hopefully, answer the many questions swirling around the “Missional Church.”

Questions such as: How does a missional church function? What makes it different? Who’s involved? Where do I fit in the picture? Do I fit in the picture? Is this where God is calling me to go? All of these questions are racing through my mind right now. If at the end of this whole learning experience I can evaluate information obtained and answer these questions, I will have accomplished my personal goals. By discovering what missional and a missional church appears to be in the world and how this fits or does not fit into my life, I will have a clearer understanding and be able to interpret this concept to others.

Being included in this cohort group with a diverse group of individuals is a blessing from God. We all bring different insights and have our own visions of what missional means, but as a group we will discover a collective response to the critical question, “How do pastors develop and perpetuate Christian missional ministry and lead missional movements?” Through self evaluation and group evaluation we will achieve the mission set before us. I look forward to establishing lasting relationships through this journey with my brothers in Christ. I will look to my brothers to critique my leadership style and keep me focused on the mission at hand. We were placed together in this cohort group purposely by God. He has a plan for us and we need to see it through.


Galen - I do not feel that I have a comprehensive understanding 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.
I am hoping that the Cohort group gels and that we can develop a deep
sense of community in which we support each other, challenge each other,
and grow together. And then that that sense of community affects us in
such a manner that it flows into our congregations. Ephrata has been
working intentionally at building deeper community.
I hope we will be able to help each other congregationally, as we seek
to define and evaluate and apply missional concepts.

Jay - If in am becoming more missional, which I assume to be a good thing mirroring the mission of God in this world in my personal life and ministry, then I should be able to see my mind and actions changing in the regard. To pursue missional ministry, I take two viewpoints: personal and corporate.
Personally, I desire to:
1. Develop a tool (or use the cohort tool) to critique myself personally on an on-going basis. The assumption is that as I endeavor to become more missional, I will
actually see that happening.
2. See missional characteristics become a part of who I am in my essence, not just what I tell the people that I lead to do. For instance, if missional ministry
means purposeful, authentic relationships with neighbors, then I should be growing in the relationships of the people who live around me from acquaintance to friendship.
3. Be in constant evaluation of my personal schedule. Am I engaging in activities that show that I am being missional?
4. I will look to the members of the cohort to inform me personally as well as from a ministry-leadership vantage point.
5. Seek to engage my wife and kids in pursuit of missional ministry.
Corporately, as a pastor of a church, I desire to:
1. Use the cohort tool to critique my ministry on an on-going basis.
2. Philosophically and methodologically begin to challenge the lay leadership around me as to their engagement in true missional ministry.
3. Rely on the cohort to speak into my ministry and church as to its relationship to missional ministry and how to be more effective in it.
4. See missional programs develop and non-missional programs fall away.


David Ulm - I feel I am significantly behind the others in this group in my understanding
of missional ministry. I know what I believe it to mean , but am unsure of how my understanding relates to the meaning used by the larger church community.

Hoped-for Outcomes: I hope that at the end of this two-year study I will have a firm grasp on what the missional concept is all about and what a missional leader looks like. I hope to know whether that concept is one that fits my God-given calling, and should therefore be pursued, or whether it is foreign to my calling and should be abandoned. More importantly, I hope to have a solid plan for moving myself and my congregation in whatever God’s direction is for building His kingdom in our ministry setting. I also hope to have a greater connection with those in the cohort group, so that we can encourage each other, and work side by side in ministry.

Indicators: I’m sure I will be looking at myself and the knowledge I am acquiring, and hoping to see a decrease in the gap between myself and the other group members. I will also be looking at the dynamics of our group and how we are impacting each other as we study this issue. But more than anything else, I will measure the outcome by how I and my congregation are progressing in our current attempts and future plans to impact our community with the love of Christ and the message of salvation. If more people in the congregation are involved in ministry beyond our four walls, if our community is being changed in some way, if meaningless activities of “doing church” are being replaced with activities that “make disciples,” I will be moving toward the hope-for outcome.

I hope to invite a member of the cohort group to visit my church and analyze a worship service, sit in on a leadership team meeting, and interview several of my church leaders in order to provide input on my progress toward becoming a missional leader.

Dave Weiss - 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.
My hoped for outcomes for this cohort group are:
1. To experience, in a small microcosm, missional community in this cohort as we encourage each other, build each other up, and keep each other accountable through this study (internal mission) and prepare to communicate our findings to other cohorts (external mission).
2. To grow in my own personal understanding of what to means to be a missional leader and apply what I learn in my ministry context so that I can lead by example and encourage others to fulfill their God-given missions both internal and external.
3. To discover the current missional elements in my ministry and to learn what elements are off mission and need to be re-evaluated.
4. To revitalized my walk with the Lord.
5. As a bi-vocational minister, I hope to learn how to lead missionally helping others to gain a sense of mission and help them to take some of the load off me so that I can remain on mission and not distracted by things that I do not need to be doing. My hope further is that I will gain some of this information from my brothers in this cohort. One of the things that I value in this group is seeing three brothers who are on one church staff and seeing how they delegate to one another. If I am to continue in this ministry, delegation will be vital.
6. To build deep relationships with my brothers in this cohort that will spill over into our congregations working together as the body of Christ should.
7. That through this group and the skills learned that we might learn real world applications that we can share with other leaders in the Church of the Brethren, to light a “missional fire” that may stop the decline of the denomination.
The indicators for me will be
1. Gaining a better understanding of what it means to be missional, that I can not only define it but also live it.
2. That I will be able to lead more of the members of my congregation into active ministry, using their gifts and talents to serve the Lord.

3. That God will use these “ministries” to add to the number in my congregation. (I will try not to be number focused, but in my ministry context as a new church plant, growth equals survival.)
4. More free time as I let things go into the hands of others, allowing me to spend more time with the Lord and family.
5. A willingness (both personal and in my congregation) to reinvent ministries and cut ministries that are not bearing fruit, and a clearer understanding of what that fruit should look like.
6. One of my favorite speakers always says that “If you want to be successful, speak to people who have been successful.” My hope is that in our immersion retreat, through meeting and speaking with “successful” missional leaders that I will gain a new perspective on what success (and fruit) looks like in a missional context.
7. FRUIT!

Revised proposal part 2

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

F) Resources

Book lists:
1. Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives, Leonard Sweet and Associates, $14
2. A New Kind of Christian:, Brian McLaren, $15
3. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures Eddie Gibbs. $14
4. The Shaping of Things to Come… Innovation & Mission for the 21st Century
Church, Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch, $14
5. Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of Church in North America. Darrell L. Guder, Lois Barrett, $18
6. A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian D. McLaren, $14
7 . Shaped by God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, Milfred Minatrea, $17
8. The Missional Leader, Alan Roxburgh, Fred Romonuk, $18
9. "Doing Church As A Team" by Wayne Cordeiro, Regal Books, 2001, ISBN:
0830726527
10. "The Church On The Other Side" by Brian McLaren, Zondervan, 2000, ISBN:
0310237076
11. "The End Of The World...As We Know It" by Chuck Smith Jr., Waterbrook Press,
2001, ISBN: 1578564026
12. “An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God ***Had in Mind” by Erwin McManus, $12-23
13. “The Church in Emerging Culture” by Erwin Raphael McManus, $12-22.
14. “Leadership on the Other Side” by Bill Easum, $14
15. “Birth of the Chaordic Age” by Dee W. Hock, $18.50
16. “Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church” by D.A. Carson, $15

Total Cost = $250+

















VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

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.
Mosaic – Erwin McManus is widely respected as a premier leader in the post-modern church. Mosaic has established itself as an affective beacon of truth and hope in the diverse and intense setting of LA. They have become relevant through the use of arts, media, relationship, relevant worship/teaching, cutting edge technology and multiplication strategies (Such as Multi-site)
Mars Hill Bible Church - Rob Bell is known as one of the more cutting edge spiritual entrepreneurs and teachers of our time. The mission statement of MHBC, “Mars Hill Bible Church is devoted to making disciples of Jesus Christ who are making disciples of Jesus Christ”, has obviously been more than words on paper. It has been the true pursuit of a church and the lifestyle of a leader. As a result this body has been able to reach an enormous amount of “20 somethings”, an age demographic that is sparse, at best, in the church today.
New Hope Christian Fellowship - According to Outreach Magazine, New Hope is one of the reasons that Hawaii is the only state where church attendance is outpacing population growth. NHCF is one of the fastest growing churches in America, but perhaps more important to the pursuit of our critical question is the fact that in a 2005 survey of 2,000 church leaders, New Hope was voted the 25th most influential church in America. Wayne Cordeiro has not only been a model of a leader who has given his entirety to the advancement of the gospel,but he is also one of the most affective leaders of a fractal based church ministry, providing opportunity for community and ministry to co-exist.
Kauai Christian Fellowship is an innovative church that has the goal of reaching the next generation at the core of its being. Pastor Rick Bundschuh has been guiding the church, via a "permission giving" philosophy, in such a way that the congregation has begun to live out their individual and corporate God-given gifts, by birthing ministry out of their passion and taking responsibility for seeing the ministry through. Where the other churches on the tour are quite large, KCF is smaller, in the 300 member range, which may give us a context closer to our own.

2. Itinerary/Schedule - May 7 Fly from Philadelphia to 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 Fly from Detroit to 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 Fly from Los Angeles, CA to 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 Fly from Honolulu, HI to Philadelphia, PA arriving home around 6:15
a.m.

3. Team building activities 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
Dave Ulm will be Navigator and recorder

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.
VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

H) Budget

1) Immersion Retreat
Flight plan for budget purposes: (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 per person = $1620.00

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 per person = $1266.00

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 = $3410.00

2) Resources (See section F for details) 250.00

3) Pulpit Supply 75.00



4) Technology 500.00
- High-speed internet for on-line discussions
and communication between cohort members
($20 per month for 24 months = $480)
- Web hosting ($5 per month for 24 months, split
between cohort members = $20)

Total per person $ 4235.00

Group Total $25,410.00

Additional expenses would include travel to monthly meetings 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 treasurer of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship will serve as cohort treasurer.
Mark Kneasel, 30 Palm Lane, Lebanon, PA 17042 (717) 274-9158


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

I) Cohort Personnel (Newly formed group)

Tim Doering
547 N. State St Ephrata, PA 17522
Home- 717-721-3960 Work- 717-733-1229 Cell- 717-917-3039
tdoering@ephratabrethren.org

Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Atlantic North East
Ordained in 2004
Experience: 3.5 years of "full time" associate, 2yrs lay (team) ministry
CEU: Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership courses for ordination, COB
church planting conference "the Next Step" (2002), Beeson Institute for
Advanced Church Leadership (Module 9, 2003), Willow Creek Small Groups
conference "Becoming the Church Next Door" (2004), Easum & Bandy Associates
Convergence (2004), New Life Ministries "Renewing the Church, Reclaiming the
Gospel" (2005)
Pastor Of Discipleship Ministries: My role is to facilitate the spiritual
formation for the adults at ECOB, as well as creating opportunities for them
to experience spiritual transformation. I provide oversight for those who
work for similar things among the children and youth of our congregation.
Specifically, I provide: leadership for an emerging small group network, the
primary creative design for an elective adult education program that is
being birthed, the spiritual oversight for our "Promiseland" children's
ministry, administration for our mission focus (various mission initiatives
focused on Honduras), and vision for a Marketplace Ministry that is in early
developmental stages. In addition I provide support for the senior pastor in
occasional visitation, counseling, preaching...


Robert D. Eshelman
20 Lauren Lane - Ephrata, PA 17522
Home - 717-738-0486 Work - 717-733-1229 Cell - 717-203-3934
reshelman@ephratabrethren.org
Ephrata Church of the Brethren, Atlantic N.E.
Education completed: High School - The complete13course Brethren Academy Program. Education will never be complete.
Year Ordination - 2005


Years of Pastoral Experience: Approximately 9 months in my present fulltime position as Minister of Congregational Care & Middle School Ministries and 4.0 years in my part time position as Director of Middle School Ministries. Licensed to the Ministry in June of 2000. Worked as a volunteer middle school youth advisor for the Ephrata Church and the Atlantic N.E. Middle School Advisory board from 1996. -2002. Conferences: "Creating a Safe Place, A Community Response to Family Violence"(2005), "Renewing the Church, Reclaiming the Gospel" (2005) New Windsor, Maryland Ministry Formation (2005)
Presently enrolled in the EXCEL Program at Elizabethtown College to complete my Bachelor Degree in Religious Studies. I am in the final stages of completing the following areas in my Training in Ministry Program (TRIM): Polity and the Church, Brethren Experience, scheduled for September 12-16, and the Work Experience element of this course of study. Member of the newly formed Ephrata Youth Aid Panel with completion of 8-weeks of seminars and course study followed by certification. Completed the 13 courses in the Brethren Academy Program
Minister of Congregational Care/Director of Middle School Ministries: I have a pretty wide range from 10 years old to 99 and everyone in between as a mission field. My ministry comprises of visitation (home and hospital), coordinate the Senior Adult Fellowship Ministry, and Directing the Middle School Ministries our congregation. Direct the weekly out reach ministry Youth Club for children in the 4th through 8th grades. Create opportunities for adults and senior high youth leaders to share their gifts with the community through the Youth Club ministry. Provide support and over see the Sonshine Club out reach children's ministry held on a weekly basis as well. Provide assistance to the senior pastor in preaching, teaching, funerals, weddings, anointing,

Galen R. Hackman
18 Springcrest Drive, Akron, Pa 17501
Home, 717-859-3309; Office, 717-733-1229; Cell, 717-368-4441 **ghackman@ephratabrethren.org <*
*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 2003Equipping 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.
*
* *Jay McCumber*
* 105 East Chestnut Street Lebanon, PA 17042
* Home - 717-274-6034 Work - 717-279-5683 Cell - 717-383-1623
* *
* Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Atlantic NorthEast
*
Education Completed: Bachelor of Theology from Applachian Bible College (May
1999)
*Ordained by Vincent Baptist Church, January 2000
Ordination approved and accepted by Church of the Brethren in June 2004
Years of Pastoral Experience
Youth Pastor, Hope Church St Louis, Missouri, November 1999-August 2004
Oversaw and administrated the student ministries of Hope Church.
Oversaw paid and unpaid staff of fourteen. Led and trained students in various
ministry
settings: weekly student meetings, mission trips, retreats, camps, etc.Senior Pastor
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Lebanon, Pennsylvania, September 2004 - present
Approaching one year in senior pastor ministry. Oversee church
leadership, paid and unpaid. Set vision and goals for church, administer pastoral
care, teach regularly, network with local pastors for community ministry vision.
Continuing Education
March 2000 - Youth Specialties YouthWorker Conference
September 2000 - Ministering to Postmoderns
Two Day Training Seminar at Covenant Seminary
May 2001 - Youth Specialties YouthWorker
February 2002 - Willow Creek Community Church, Youth Minister's Conference
January 2004 - Intimate Allies Marriage Counseling Training Seminar, Two Day Training Seminar - Mars Hill Graduate School
Currently enrolled in the Brethren Academy Program taking Church of the Brethren Polity and Practice
Senior Pastor at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship:
My ministry context is in the middle of the city of Lebanon, a town of about
35,000 people. I lead the ministry leadership endeavors of Cornerstone to
equip the people of our church to reach Lebanon with the message of Christ.
I meet twice a month with a leadership team of seven elders, and together we
determine the vision, goals and programs of ministry to accomplish the task
of equipping our people well. I also oversee three other staff positions,
one full-time and two part-time. I provide pastoral care and am a part of
the executive team of the Lebanon Valley Ministry Network - a group of
ministry organizations that meet together regularly for prayer and community
networking in ministry. I teach weekly in our main service and oversee the
leadership of our small group programs, as well as other general pastoral
care.
**David Ulm*
* 2099 Mt. Zion Road, Lebanon, PA 17046
* Home - (717) 933-5077 Office - (717) 933-4926 Cell - (717) 222-0050
* Mt. Zion Road C.O.B., Atlantic Northeast District
*
* Bachelors Degree plus seminary work to satisfy District requirements for ordination
* Ordained July 31, 2005
*
* Pastoral experience - 7 _ years at Mt. Zion Road COB
*
* Continuing Education experiences in last five years
* Regular course work at Evangelical School of Theology in MAR program
*COB Polity & Practice and COB History, Life & Thought classes at Susquehanna Valley Satellite
*Various Seminars including Easum Bandy Convergence, Brethren Ministers Association pre & post conference meetings, denominational ethics training, Promise Keepers Pastors Seminar
*
*Head pastor of the Mt. Zion Road COB with part-time (10-12 hours weekly) associate. This church is a long-established congregation meeting in some form since 1860. This is a rural congregation which grew from an average attendance of 88 in 1996 to 128 in 2002, and has plateaued in the mid 120's since that time. Active membership has continued to grow to present high of 161. The congregation is in the midst of a building program to add a multipurpose building to facilitate ministry to the community.
**
* *David Weiss*
589 Stone Rd., Mohrsville, PA 19541
Home: 610-926-0488 Office: 610-562-9757 Church: 610-929-5212 Cell Phone: 610-451-4513
angelprty1@aol.com

*New Creation Fellowship, Reading, PA, Atlantic Northeast
Education Completed: 2003, Year Ordained: 2003
Years of Pastoral Experience: Two as “senior pastor” plus five years in
volunteer youth ministry
A listing of continuing education experiences for the last five years:
Brethren Academy courses to complete ordination training
Bethany Seminary Church Planting Course Spring 2002
Ashland Seminary Church Planting Course and Assessment- Summer 2004
Numerous one day workshops and courses, in ethics, ministry skills,
spiritual formation, etc.

*Ministry Context of Dave Weiss
After five years of volunteer youth ministry, I felt the call to plant
a new church, so with the blessing of the congregation and the
district, a core group of seven people began New Creation Fellowship in
September of 2002. The church was designed from its inception to be a
missional community of faith, attempting to fulfill both aspects of the
Great Commission (going AND making disciples). We have had some
success (especially in the latter) but the pressures of bivocational
ministry and a syndrome that I refer to as the “overcommitted
committed” i.e. people with missional hearts and extremely busy
schedules. We are surrounded by a community that (in a lot of cases)
has everything but Christ. My goal in this research project is to learn
more about how to take what is in my heart and the hearts of my
congregation as well as our God given gifts and abilities and place
them into action to the glory of God.
What also may be important to this project is that I have been
involved in the graphics/communications field most of my life and I
have a passion for using the visual arts in preaching, teaching and
reaching. I have put this to work in my ministry almost from the
beginning and create resources and teach seminars in the field of using
the visual arts in ministry. http://www.radicallyreal.com/amok I am
also convinced that music can be a powerful tool in reaching people
especially youth. As a result of this, I have become a lesson writer
for the Christian music based, youth ministry resource, Interlinc. *
*** Group Dynamics
**For the three of us who are not members of the staff at Ephrata Church of the Brethren, we would like you to know that we are not bothered by the fact that Galen, Tim and Rob serve together at ECoB. We value these men as fellow pastors and as others on the journey to missional ministry and are not concerned with their ability to engage effectively with the cohort. We are seeking to become missional leaders, and this will flesh itself out not in the collective workings of the ECoB per se, but as Galen, Tim and Rob change as individual leaders becoming more missional. We value the cohort as the unit that it is and do not see the dynamic of our group being effected negatively by the fact that three of us serve at EcoB.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
*ANE Missional Studies Group*
*
* J) Group Roles and Norms
*
* Group Roles:
* Facilitator Galen Hackman
* Treasurer Contact Jay McCumber
* Writer/Recorder David Ulm
* Technology Needs Dave Weiss
* Travel Planner Robert Eshelman
* Spiritual Formation Tim Doering
*
* Group Meetings
* This group will meet on a monthly basis, starting in January of 2006, for approximately two hours. We will rotate our meeting among our various churches, and other areas in the community. Group members will be expected to keep up to date on the relevant reading, to attend all meetings if possible, and to promote a safe, non-judgmental environment in which to share. If one member cannot be present for a meeting, the meeting will go on and adequate information from the meeting will be passed on via the blog, listserve, or web site. In two or more members cannot be present, the meeting will be rescheduled.
*
* Meeting Outline
* Spiritual Formation 20 minutes
* Alternating from one month to the next:
* Either debriefing on latest reading
* or Acts Bible study 50 minutes
* Visit learning objectives and record
* progress 15 minutes
* Sharing issues & prayers *35* minutes
* Total 120 minutes


**VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
*ANE Missional Studies Group*
*
*K) Recommendations
*
* Letters of recommendation will be attached to the hard copy coming from Galen/Tim at Ephrata* *COB

Revised proposal

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

A) Critical Question

How do pastors develop and perpetuate Christian missional ministry and lead missional movements?

VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

B) Study Focus

Rationale:
Galen: Has spent most of his life in traditional churches with concern for survival, church business, maintaining the status quo, and not risking ourselves. Trying to break out of myopia which is strangling ourselves and develop missionary strategies. Catch the vision and lead
Jay: Theology informs our actions through the Great Commission. Our identity as Christians forces us to be missional.
Tim: Sick and tired of doing church just to do it. Life is found in mission, it is the purpose why I live.
Dave W.: Desire to get past sermon as the only thing that get’s done as bi-vocational pastor
Rob: Has seen church buried under itself and scared of being missional, Need for purpose and re-learning
David U: Return to the original vision of ministry when God called me

Issues in Ministries:
Jay’s 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 the town right now, so he is also interested in learning how to lead his local church in missionally impacting the town with the message of Christ.
For Dave Weiss, pastor of a small, new church, growth is a necessity. He has been blessed to see many members of his congregation grow into new ministries, leaving their “comfort zones” to do the work of ministry that needs to be done. This has been good for them and for the church. However, the group is becoming very close knit and while this can also be a very good thing, there is a very real possibility of becoming “impenetrable.” This will impede their shared mission. He am a bivocational pastor whose time resources are being stretched just to maintain the status quo. Short of major growth, he will remain bi-vocational and the status quo may be all they get. That is not what he feels God is calling them to do. They are in a fairly affluent community but one with a lot of problems that needs strong churches rising up to make a difference and be the body of Christ.
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.

Assumptions:
1) It is better to be missional than inward-focused. Not missional is not healthy.
2) True spirituality combines outward ministry with inner spiritual health.
3) Missional is well-balanced.

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.”
The church Jay McCumber leads, 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 his people are young believers in Christ and are excited about who Jesus is. His 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. This congregation has loads of excitement and passion for Jesus, he believes they are missional in their hearts, but they 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. Jay is part of this team to try to discover how to perpetuate and deepen that missional mindset and see it change our city.
This question is appealing to David Ulm because he and his congregation have been in dialogue for some time as to how they can substantially increase their ministry in a relatively rural community. They have taken concrete steps in the form of building plan to facilitate greater ministry, while not having a specific vision of what this ministry will look like (perhaps putting the cart before the horse).
In the contest of Dave Weiss’ small, two year old church plant, becoming missional to their community is essential to their survival as a congregation. He finds himself with the luxury of having nearly every member of the church committed to this, mainly because it was the one thing all the members of the core group were desiring when they set out to do this work. The congregation is willing, but they need to learn how to do what they are setting out to do more effectively if they want to survive and thrive.

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.


VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

C) Learning Objectives

1) Define what missional is
2) List obstacles and barriers to development of true missional leadership
3) Identify the common characteristics of two or three Christian missional leaders and communities
4) Gain understanding of the missional philosophy and the application of that philosophy to each member’s ministry setting
5) Develop a community that supports and nurtures each other in developing missional ministries
6) Identify the qualities, characteristics, and skills needed to lead a congregation through the missional transition
7) Identify potential strengths and liabilities inherent in each cohort member leading to or detracting from developing enduring missional leadership
































VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

D) Learning Activities

1) Visit and interview leadership at Cedar Ridge Community Church, a church which has made the transition to missional ministry
2) Visit and interview leadership at missional churches such as Mars Hill Church, Mosaic Church, New Hope Church, and Kauai Christian Fellowship on our Immersion Retreat
3) Become well-versed in publication of churches visited, books on reading list, and on-line resources and discussions
4) De-brief with one another after visits and reading, utilizing our blog, list-serve and web site, as well as our regular meetings
5) Participate in Bible Study of Acts with appropriate aids
6) Each cohort member will write an original plan (paradigm, description, process) for our own ministry context
7) Field test what we’re learning in each of our congregations simultaneously, and in our own lives
8) Work individually with personality/gifting/leadership assessment tools to determine how we measure up with the characteristics we have observed in missional leaders
9) Develop interview tool to gather consistent information from leaders



























VIP PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
ANE Missional Studies Group

E) Evaluation

Group Evaluation: By meeting together regularly and engaging in meaningful discussion in regard to our reading list and Bible study, we hope to discover the truth of what it means to be missional leaders. We want to understand this concept of "missional", we want to learn what missional churches and leaders are doing
in order to accomplish missional ministry, and we want to understand what
missional philosophy will look like in the context of our communal and
individual ministries. Our primary means of group accountability and
assessment will be through gauging one another by the "indicators" listed
below, as well as the use of "measuring sticks" listed by individuals in
their personal evaluation sections. In order to do this effectively we will
visit one another in our particular church settings.
These hoped-for-outcomes and indicators-along-the-way are as follows:
1. To identify a working definition of missional and determine to what
extent our leadership styles and the ministries under our leadership fit that
definition.
Indicator: Consensus among cohort member as to definition and an
understanding by the other members of each individual's critique of his own
leadership/ministry in light of said definition.
2. Formation of a paradigm of missional philosophy implementation through our
Immersion Retreat.
Indicator: Completion of purposeful Immersion Retreat.
Indicator: Completion of missional leadership assessment tool at each
ministry site of Immersion Retreat and organization/analysis of collected data.
Indicator: Deeper understanding and conversation around missional
philosophy and how to be a more missional leader based on our findings during the Immersion Retreat.
3. Develop a list of characteristics of missional leaders from our
Immersion Retreat and understand how to implement those characteristics.
Indicator: Completion of missional leadership assessment tool at each
ministry site of Immersion Retreat and organization/analysis of collected data.
Indicator: Usage of assessment tool on each individual cohort member on
a quarterly basis to examine how the implementation of these missional
characteristics.
4. Formation of a true community of our cohort members, challenging one
another to live out
God's mission in our personal lives and corporate and personal ministries.
Indicator: Moving our relationships from that of acquaintance to friendship.
Indicator: Providing a safe, nurturing atmosphere as a community to
speak to one another's weaknesses as a missional leader.
5. To see the missional philosophy that we possess as leaders begin to change the hearts and minds of the people we lead, particularly lay leadership.
Indicator: Seeing purposefully missional programs begin to increase in number.
Indicator: Seeing non-missional programs begin to decrease in number and phase
out.
Indicator: Hearing missional philosophy language and discussion increase among the members of our congregations, particularly the lay leadership.

Individual Evaluation:
Tim - Assumptions: 1) The term "missional" could be defined as revolving around or focused on the mission. 2) The primary mission of humanity is to glorify God. 3) The primary means by which this is done in the church is by knowing and loving God and helping others to do the same, or in religious terminology: growing in personal discipleship while making disciples of others. 4) While these are the primary means I do not see them as the exclusive means. 5) I also assume that I will only have "abundant life" if these purpose and means are set and seen exclusively in the context of a daily, authentic relationship with the living God. 6) I assume that glory and discipleship are terms given to help us understand and chart certain aspects of that relationship. In the broadest sense how can one quantify or evaluate the quality of any given relationship, let alone a relationship with the divine? My assumption is that the term "missional" is an attempt to do just that; quantify and evaluate the quality of an aspect of this relationship. Specifically, the term "missional" is there to help us understand how effective we are at shaping our lives and ministries around the pursuit of God in our lives and the lives of others.
I believe that at the end of these 2 years I should be able to 1) give adequate defense to these assumptions of the mission, the means, and the term "missional" or 2) I should be able to give a well supported rebuttal to these assumptions and a defense for the newly formed assumptions.
Given the first scenario I will need to be able to quantify the level at which I (and the ministry that I lead) am becoming missional in order for the term to serve its purpose of quantifying a certain aspect of my (our) relationship with God. I will attempt to quantify that by a few different means. a) I will list the major duties that I perform and the major things that I give my resources (time energy and money) to. I will explain, for each of those, how and to what extent they do or do not conform to the mission. b) I will provide true purpose descriptions of the ministries that I work with and compare and contrast them with the mission. c) I will take a fruit inventory in my life/ministries to see if there has been fruit born of the mission. d) I will also ask the members of the cohort to evaluate me with the resource, ministry, and fruit inventories.
Given the second scenario I should be able to a) diagram how those new assumptions will shape my future life/relationship/ministry. I should also b) develop a method to measure my effectiveness in that pursuit. c) I will ask the members of the cohort to 1) review and adjust the diagram 2) use that method to measure my effectiveness.

Rob - 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. I hope to 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, will be most helpful.

Galen - I do not feel that I have a comprehensive understanding 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.
I am hoping that the Cohort group gels and that we can develop a deep
sense of community in which we support each other, challenge each other,
and grow together. And then that that sense of community affects us in
such a manner that it flows into our congregations. Ephrata has been
working intentionally at building deeper community.
I hope we will be able to help each other congregationally, as we seek
to define and evaluate and apply missional concepts.

Jay - If in am becoming more missional, which I assume to be a good thing mirroring the mission of God in this world in my personal life and ministry, then I should be able to see my mind and actions changing in the regard. To pursue missional ministry, I take two viewpoints: personal and corporate.
Personally, I desire to:
1. Develop a tool (or use the cohort tool) to critique myself personally on an on-going basis. The assumption is that as I endeavor to become more missional, I will
actually see that happening.
2. See missional characteristics become a part of who I am in my essence, not just what I tell the people that I lead to do. For instance, if missional ministry
means purposeful, authentic relationships with neighbors, then I should be growing in the relationships of the people who live around me from acquaintance to friendship.
3. Be in constant evaluation of my personal schedule. Am I engaging in activities that show that I am being missional?
4. I will look to the members of the cohort to inform me personally as well as from a ministry-leadership vantage point.
5. Seek to engage my wife and kids in pursuit of missional ministry.
Corporately, as a pastor of a church, I desire to:
1. Use the cohort tool to critique my ministry on an on-going basis.
2. Philosophically and methodologically begin to challenge the lay leadership around me as to their engagement in true missional ministry.
3. Rely on the cohort to speak into my ministry and church as to its relationship to missional ministry and how to be more effective in it.
4. See missional programs develop and non-missional programs fall away.

David Ulm - I feel I am significantly behind the others in this group in my understanding
of missional ministry. I know what I believe it to mean , but am unsure of how my understanding relates to the meaning used by the larger church community.

Hoped-for Outcomes: I hope that at the end of this two-year study I will have a firm grasp on what the missional concept is all about and what a missional leader looks like. I hope to know whether that concept is one that fits my God-given calling, and should therefore be pursued, or whether it is foreign to my calling and should be abandoned. More importantly, I hope to have a solid plan for moving myself and my congregation in whatever God’s direction is for building His kingdom in our ministry setting. I also hope to have a greater connection with those in the cohort group, so that we can encourage each other, and work side by side in ministry.

Indicators: I’m sure I will be looking at myself and the knowledge I am acquiring, and hoping to see a decrease in the gap between myself and the other group members. I will also be looking at the dynamics of our group and how we are impacting each other as we study this issue. But more than anything else, I will measure the outcome by how I and my congregation are progressing in our current attempts and future plans to impact our community with the love of Christ and the message of salvation. If more people in the congregation are involved in ministry beyond our four walls, if our community is being changed in some way, if meaningless activities of “doing church” are being replaced with activities that “make disciples,” I will be moving toward the hope-for outcome.


I hope to invite a member of the cohort group to visit my church and analyze a worship service, sit in on a leadership team meeting, and interview several of my church leaders in order to provide input on my progress toward becoming a missional leader.

Dave Weiss - 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.
My hoped for outcomes for this cohort group are:
1. To experience, in a small microcosm, missional community in this cohort as we encourage each other, build each other up, and keep each other accountable through this study (internal mission) and prepare to communicate our findings to other cohorts (external mission).
2. To grow in my own personal understanding of what to means to be a missional leader and apply what I learn in my ministry context so that I can lead by example and encourage others to fulfill their God-given missions both internal and external.
3. To discover the current missional elements in my ministry and to learn what elements are off mission and need to be re-evaluated.
4. To revitalized my walk with the Lord.
5. As a bi-vocational minister, I hope to learn how to lead missionally helping others to gain a sense of mission and help them to take some of the load off me so that I can remain on mission and not distracted by things that I do not need to be doing. My hope further is that I will gain some of this information from my brothers in this cohort. One of the things that I value in this group is seeing three brothers who are on one church staff and seeing how they delegate to one another. If I am to continue in this ministry, delegation will be vital.
6. To build deep relationships with my brothers in this cohort that will spill over into our congregations working together as the body of Christ should.
7. That through this group and the skills learned that we might learn real world applications that we can share with other leaders in the Church of the Brethren, to light a “missional fire” that may stop the decline of the denomination.
The indicators for me will be
1. Gaining a better understanding of what it means to be missional, that I can not only define it but also live it.
2. That I will be able to lead more of the members of my congregation into active ministry, using their gifts and talents to serve the Lord.

3. That God will use these “ministries” to add to the number in my congregation. (I will try not to be number focused, but in my ministry context as a new church plant, growth equals survival.)
4. More free time as I let things go into the hands of others, allowing me to spend more time with the Lord and family.
5. A willingness (both personal and in my congregation) to reinvent ministries and cut ministries that are not bearing fruit, and a clearer understanding of what that fruit should look like.
6. One of my favorite speakers always says that “If you want to be successful, speak to people who have been successful.” My hope is that in our immersion retreat, through meeting and speaking with “successful” missional leaders that I will gain a new perspective on what success (and fruit) looks like in a missional context.
7. FRUIT!