CHAPTER ONE: DISCERNING THE NEED From the Project Director’s experience, it is common to hear and feel a sense of gratitude and positive pride that Lenexa Baptist Church (LBC) is an excellent church from both leaders and the small group setting participants. Any faults found are minor and pale in comparison to many of the issues a church could face. LBC is a regional church with multiple campus locations strategically selected for maximum impact to reach Kansas City with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is more to celebrate than to be concerned about at LBC, but there are areas requiring growth. One of them has been discovered through the process of developing this dissertation project. There will be ? ::: Demographic Survey to show the capacity to give. The demographic information about the community and surrounding counties places LBC in an area of affluence. Demographics Establishing the Capacity to Give In order to discern the capacity to give, it is important to be familiar with the demographic data related to the topic of stewardship and the overall capacity of Christians spanning from worldwide to Millennials in Johnson County, Kansas attending LBC. For this section, the demographic content starts with worldwide and US statistics. Then shift from Kansas City (metro-wide), to county (Johnson County, Kansas), then community context for Lenexa Baptist Church. The demographics then will focus more on Millennials and then Millennials at Lenexa Baptist
As a “cradle Methodist,” the standards and theological tasks mentioned in Part III of the Discipline are ingrained in how I understand and apply my faith. These aspects of the United Methodist tradition have been a foundation from which I have grown during my formative years. Although I have not always been able to articulate these beliefs, I have learned the power in living them in addition to teaching them. I believe that much of the affirming, teaching, and applying of our standards and theological task that I do in my ministry is out of this same foundation that was formative to my faith. It informs how I preach, the lead Bible studies I lead, how I lead youth group, and my interactions with congregants and the community.
In my experience at first progressive Baptist Church I was very much out of my comfort zone because not only did I not feel as welcomed but it was a little awkward because of all the looks I was receiving. I felt I was not dressed as they were and felt as if I didn't fit in and right away I just didn't feel appropriate with my attire. While I was there I actually had people wanting to shake hands and asking me questions about me coming and there was one man who just stared at me and so it was uncomfortable and didn't know how to react. While I was there I started to notice that there is a little difference from the church I go to and the music was way different as well, everyone will talk back with amen or thank you Jesus. The difference
Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.
1. What does the increase of education Among African-American clergy indicate? (Chapter 5) As the results of our survey will show, educational level has been a key variable in determining a pastor’s awareness of social problems in the surrounding community, cooperation with social agencies, attitude toward politics, and awareness of internal problems in church structures (Lincoln, C. Eric, and Lawrence H. Mamiya 130).
On Monday, I went to the local Crossroads Baptist Church, located at 850 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA. This was my first time experience as I am Hindu and my parents never exposed me to any churches. Dr. Kenneth K. Baldwin was the pastor at the time I went. Luckily, I got the chance to speak with him after the service. After our brief conclusion, I realized that he had a great vision for his church and is leading it to success through his passion. I sensed his passion for preaching and religious beliefs as they were evident during the service. Despite this being my first visit to a church, I learned a lot of valuable things about churches and Christianity.
The First African American Baptist Church was originated in 1773 under the leadership of Reverend George Leile. In 1775 of May he was ordained as the pastor and December of 1777 the church was officially consulted as the body of believers. During the decades of slavery in America, slave association were a constant source of concern to slave owners. Religious exercises of slaves were closely watched to detect plans for escape or insurrection. African-American churches showed an air of militancy in the eyes of white Americans. Insurrections such as Nat Turner's in Virginia, born out of the religious inspiration of slaves, horrified white Americans. Understanding the potential end which could result
The Bayou Macon-Madison Baptist Association is located in Epps, Louisiana and is headed by Director of Missions Bro. Jay Morgan. It is an organization of 36 churches that work together to spread the word of Christ and to improve the lives of church members as well as members of the community. Bro. Jay Morgan serves the churches of the association as an advisor. He advises the pastors of the churches and acts as a resource person to them. The association offers different programs for pastors to help them improve their skills so they can better serve their churches.
Pastor Fred Dyess had retired after serving as pastor for thirty years and Director of Missions for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans for fourteen years. The Lord called him out of retirement to start a new church. Bro. Fred checked with the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association Director of Missions, David Brown, to learn what areas the association had targeted for a new church and what was needed. He was told that the Louisiana Baptist Convention required a new church to have a sponsoring church. Dr. Roger Dunlap and Macedonia Baptist Church gladly voted to be our sponsoring church. The Louisiana Baptist Convention and the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association each gave Victory a budget supplement of $500 per month decreasing
The Making of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message. A. J. Smith Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008.
Since its’ inception, the Southern Baptist Convention has stood in unity against the consumption of alcohol for recreational and social purposes. However, there has been a growing group of Southern Baptists that are challenging this historically held position. Richard Land and Duke Barrett write a defense of Southern Baptists historical position on abstinence from alcohol.
Victory Baptist Church in Walker, Louisiana is a young church that had become complacent. They experienced a lot of success in a short amount of time. They went from meeting on Fred’s back porch to renting a bigger space at a local school. Then they acquired the land on which they built their building in just four months. Over the course of four years they have paid of the land and are well ahead of their note for the building.
The Holy Bible authorities people to be evangelists for Jesus Christ, and they will impart their beliefs on others, therefore knowing the doctrine of Jesus Christ is important.
I jumped at the opportunity to complete the extra credit assignment because of the topic. I have always wanted to attend an African American Baptist Church. I was raised Catholic in a predominantly white community and for the chance to experience something different was appealing. I’ve seen the stereotypes in movies and on TV about what an African American Baptist church looks like but I wanted to experience it myself. I wasn’t sure on what to expect but kept an open mind about the situation.
57% of Dakotas’ churches have fewer than 50 weekly attendees (and 16% of the conference’s total weekly attendance) while 13 churches contain 36% of the conferences total weekly attendance. In comparison to other conferences, a large portion of the conference’s membership is concentrated in large churches. Since 2005, attendance has declined by 584 attendees-per-year, while the overall population has barely
I decided to go to a Baptist Church here in Miami. The reason that I chose Coral Park Baptist Church was because most Baptist Churches that I called here in Miami had the service in Spanish but Coral Park Baptist had an English service as well. I went to the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. The whole church itself was pretty big. There is the main temple that has the regular service in Spanish and then there is a whole other building that has separate classrooms where the English service is held and other Sunday school type classes are held.