Archive for May, 2016
Pastors: Fulfilling Your Church’s Mission Through Small Groups
As a pastor, you want the best for your church’s small groups. But you also want the groups to fulfill your mission as a church. How do you go about choosing a curriculum that will come alongside you?
We’ve all used different things over the years. Some we’ve liked, some not so much. We know nothing is perfect, even if it’s the latest thing. Maybe you’ve chosen something based on a catalog you got in the mail, read about online, heard about from a friend, or picked something up when you were in the Christian bookstore. None of these methods are bad or wrong. But they may leave your small groups lacking in purpose and direction.
The Evaluation Process
You can’t just pick something up and go. That might work for a time, but after that curriculum cycle is finished, you will likely be back where you started – quickly looking for something to fill the time instead of looking for the right thing for your small groups. There is a process to finding the right small group curriculum for your church, and I believe it should not be taken lightly. Curriculum has to be read, evaluated, prayed over, and many times, agreed upon. This takes time.
Pastors, ask this question to help clarify your need: What do you want your groups to do? At the very basic level, I believe small groups should be purposeful and facilitate growth in the spiritual lives of those who attend. They should encourage people to step out in their faith and step up in their spiritual lives. And most importantly, they should proclaim the Truth of the Word at every opportunity.
How can small groups help you fulfill your church’s mission? First, you must identify your mission as a church. Then, you can decide how small groups can help accomplish your mission. At Cross Church, our mission is: Reaching Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ. We are Great Commission church. So we want to use a curriculum that not only fulfills our mission to further the Great Commission, but helps our members grow in their own spiritual lives. If our small group members are growing spiritually, they are walking witnesses and are fulfilling the Great Commission as they go about daily life.
An Evaluation Guide
Thankfully, LifeWay provides a tool to help in the selection process. No matter what you are looking for in a small group curriculum, this decision-making guide will help you discern what type of curriculum will likely work best for your church. Maybe you’ve never evaluated curriculum in a manner quite like this before. Now is a good time to start.
Don’t be afraid to start from scratch. You may find out what you’re currently using for small groups doesn’t meet your needs like you expected it to. And you may find you are already using the best option for your church.
Our Choice
So what did we choose? Cross Church has been using Bible Studies for Life for the past three years. It has more than met our needs – it has provided a catalyst for spiritual growth in our small group members and take the Great Commission as our people go throughout the world.
Choosing curriculum can be a challenge, but if you take the necessary time to address the needs of your people while ensuring you are remaining true to your church’s mission and vision, you will not regret it.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
A National Conversation on Racial Unity, 2016 Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis
When I was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention in June of 2014 in Baltimore, little did I know God would take me through the open doors of addressing racial challenges in America.
While racial unrest already existed in our nation, it was not until August 9, 2014, and the tragic death of a black teenager named Michael Brown, shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, that we began to see this racial unrest erupt like a volcano across our nation.
God Adjusted My Path of Understanding
From my very first press conference as the newly-elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention, I began calling upon Southern Baptists to join me in praying extraordinarily and passionately pursuing the next Great Spiritual Awakening in America. When the Ferguson tragedy occurred, God burdened my heart immediately, adjusting my path of understanding. Politicians, corporate leaders, educators, religious leaders, and pastors in America rarely initiate and move forward a positive agenda that leads to racial unity. We should seek to change this.
While this path is still toward the next Great Awakening, God revealed clearly to me and anyone else that has been spiritually alert in America that one of the greatest sins in our nation today is the sin of racism.
I encourage you to take the time to review the following articles, which will recount the journey taken to bring us to the upcoming session at our 2016 Southern Baptist Convention, A National Conversation on Racial Unity.
- Southern Baptists: When Crises Abound, What Should We Do?
- The Wounds Run Deep: Racism and Injustice Must End and Let Grace and Love Begin
- The Spiritual State of Our Union
- 5 Actions for Southern Baptists to Take Now Due to the Conflict in Our Culture
- We Are a Country in Chaos: What Southern Baptists Should Do
- A National Conversation on Racial Unity
- Now is the Time for the Racial Crisis to End in America
- It’s Time for Pastors to Lead a National Conversation on Racial Unity by Jerry Young and Ronnie Floyd
- From the New York Times: Race, History, and Baptist Reconciliation
Jerry Young, Marshall Blalock, and the Racial Unity Panel
Immediately following my Presidential Address, we will move into our National Conversation on Racial Unity. Dr. Jerry Young, President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, and Marshall Blalock, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, will begin the conversation. Dr. Young will speak on “Where We Are Today and Where We Must Go in the Future,” and Pastor Blalock will speak on “The Tragedy and Triumph of Charleston, South Carolina.”
From this foundation, I will lead a panel conversation on racial unity in America. During this fifty-five-minute section of our Southern Baptist Convention, we will be joined by the following ten pastors:
- Marshal Blalock, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Charleston, SC
- Jerry Young, President, National Baptist Convention, USA
- H.B. Charles, Senior Pastor, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FL
- Joe Costephens, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Ferguson, MO
- Timmy Chavis, Senior Pastor, Bear Swamp Baptist Church, Pembroke, NC
- D.A. Horton, Church Planter, Reach Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA
- Fred Luter, Senior Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA
- Gregg Matte, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Houston, TX
- Kenny Petty, Senior Pastor, The Gate Church, St. Louis, MO
- David Um, Senior Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge, MA
The entire Tuesday morning session will be powerful, so please do not miss any of it. All scheduled luncheons will occur following the dismissal of the morning session. You won’t be late!
Tuesday Morning Will Help Set Up Tuesday Night
One of the areas we will pray about on Tuesday night of the convention in our National Call to Prayer for Spiritual Leadership, Revived Churches, and Nationwide & Global Awakening is the racial crisis in our nation. How do we not do this when we are meeting within twenty minutes of Ferguson, Missouri?
Pray Now for This National Conversation
Would you begin to call out to God daily by name each of us who will be participating in this conversation during our convention gathering? Put the attached graphic in a prominent place and join me in this prayer initiative.
The sin of racism is a spiritual stronghold in this nation and now is the time this wall must come down. As we repent of it personally, repent of it in our churches, and repent of it in our nation, we will perhaps see the next Great Spiritual Awakening in our generation.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
President, Southern Baptist Convention
*******
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is currently serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.7 million members in over 51,094 churches nationwide.
To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.