Interview With A Minister By Brian Bagwell

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.

Award-winning journalist, Lee Strobel wrote The Case for Christ to retrace and enlarge his journey toward becoming a Christian. Strobel once atheist, and now Christian, shares how he began to look upon the Bible and God. As an atheist, Strobel lived the life of selfishness and only worried to please himself. When his wife began to go to church he wasn’t very pleased until after he saw the positive and attractive change in her. This is the start of his curiosity and investigation about Christianity. He wanted to understand what changed her like this. He wanted to relate with his wife so he decided to study about this and attend church services with her. Strobel began his journey and interviewed thirteen leading scholars who defended their views concerning the historical reliability of the New Testament. Strobel splits the case for Christ into three basic sections: Examining the Record, Analyzing Jesus, and Researching the Resurrection.

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.

Award-winning journalist, Lee Strobel wrote The Case for Christ to retrace and expand his journey toward becoming a Christian. Strobel once declared atheist, and now Christian, shares how he began to look upon the Bible and God. As an atheist, Strobel lived the life of selfishness and only worried to please himself. When his wife began to go to church he wasn’t very pleased until after he saw the positive and attractive change in her. This is the start of his curiosity and investigation about Christianity. To relate with his wife he decided to study about this and attend church services with her. Strobel interviewed thirteen leading scholars who defended their views concerning the historical reliability of the New Testament.

The strategic objectives that reflect a biblical , or Christian worldview .The way I see the elements of the world view exemplified .The first one Colorado Christian university shall teach students how to learn .A world view for me is time I look at the way I have been challenge to manage time wisely . Time management is very important when getting the assignment completed .While trying to go from work, church, school it don’t seem like it’s a lot of time left to do much more but by the grace of God I have been able to complete each session . Time has never really been as important to me until I became a Leader in the Church and also decided to go back to school. I try my best not wasting my time I learn that there are so much more opportunities that I can have when I use that time right .Someone once told me to either make the time I have to be somewhere and get things done or beat the time so far I been beating that time and it shows that I am dependable and get the job done .The second world view exemplified Be a servant of the Church a world view that I see here is that people think that it’s only the ones that have an official office position is able to be a servant. I think we all can serve in the house of the lord until both believers and nonbelievers truly become a member they won’t fully understand what it takes to have a church flow , function and operate decent and in order . I heard some say because of certain religious belief it

“The Gospel for Those Broken by the Church” by Dr. Ron Rosenbladt is a presentation that focuses on those who have left the church behind and no longer associate themselves with it. He categorizes those who have left into two sections: “sad” alumni and “mad” alumni. Sad alumni are those people who really wanted to believe but never could really get it right, while mad alumni are those who were “conned” by the church into giving themselves over to Christ and trying to believe and then when things didn’t quite work out, they were tossed away. This presentation focuses on how to bring people like this back to the faith, both the sad and mad alumni.

For this paper, I choose to interview Jean Proll, Elijah Purnell, Alex Synder, Zach Perry, and Cynthia Bring. Jean Proll has been working with children ministries in her church for many years. I thought that she would be a good choice because she grew up in a completely different American culture than I had, so I thought she would have some good advice on how to deal with things changing, and different types or kids. I then decided to interview Elijah Purnell, because he lives in New Zealand and I thought it would be interesting to see how they lead the ministries and work in groups. I also thought it would be a good idea because I don’t know who God will bring into my path or where he will take me, so I would have some insight into another country’s culture when it comes to leadership in groups. Alex Synder has started a lot of groups around the community to help many people and she has also helped her brothers find Christ. She also has helped out the Christian students in our high school and help them start a before school Bible Study. Zach Perry was one of my choices because he led many small groups in his church and he helps many people get back on track with God. Cynthia Bing has been a devoted Christian from a very young age. She has started a women’s ministry at her church to bring the women of the church together.

In the book “The Making of a Leader” Clinton discusses what it means to be a leader. He gives us the formula of what it takes to become a leader. Clinton does a wonderful job at revealing the process, and the cost of what it means to be a leader. He makes it very clear, throughout the book that effective ministry flows from who we are and not just what we do.

Cindy Lamar is a volunteer Chaplin at South Pointe Hospital under the Pastoral Care Ministry Department. In the interview, she shared with me how their church evangelism ministry witnesses in the community. She said tht after she introduces herself and shows herself friendly, she watches the person and listens to the person attentively before asking them if she could pray for them. If they say yes, all is well and if no, she blesses them and keeps it moving.

How was Grace Bible Church founded? Who has the ultimate and final human authority under Christ for the direction, doctrine, discipleship, and discipline of the church? Since the church is elderly led, what are the qualifications for the office of elder and what are their responsibilities? What is the process of selecting an elder? What is the mission, vision, and core values of the Church?

During this week, I read an interesting book “Big four” wrote by Dr kidder. This reading assignment helps me see how the ministry can be fruitful when you are willing to commit your life to Christ completely.in the beginning of this book he point out the two things that every members desired about church. The thought church is an exciting place to do ministry and experience the grace of God in community.in addition, the want their church to be a place where people can find they love of Jesus Christ.

Randy Newman’s book, Questioning Evangelism, is a book about on how evangelizing is to ask questions, and therefore, letting people communicate with questions about their own truths about God. Newman writes this book hoping that anyone who reads it will gain a better understanding of what evangelism is. Newman’s book is divided into three parts: why questioning evangelism is needed, considering what questions non-believers are asking, and observing why asking questions and knowing answers doesn’t mean a Christian’s own problem like cold-heartedness or anger. Throughout the book Newman brings readers right back to bible scriptures. Even though he appeals to accounts of people like Paul in Acts preaching on Mars Hill, he also shows how the wisdom literature is applied to our evangelistic attempts.

The idea of spiritual formation has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of “going to church” versus retaining the understanding that we in fact are the church and we carry within us the knowledge and the skill to be transformational. The role of evangelism in Christian education is to aid in church growth and expansion, as well as advancement toward the salvation of souls.

This course has had a great impact on my walk with Christ as well as my witness for Christ. I pastor a church and teach two classes and for me I thought that I was doing plenty. However this course has helped rekindle my passion for sharing Jesus Christ with people through personal evangelism. This paper will demonstrate what I have learned throughout this course.

Furthermore, it is vitally crucial for the church leadership to clearly articulate its missional vision, which is to be embraced by the rest of the church’s community. The process of spiritual transformation starts from the invitation and continues through engagement and discipleship. This transformational process embodies the missional vision and the language for 'right now ' and 'here '. Surely, the church’s vision ought to be aligned with the missional attributes of the gospel itself, which are 'the good news is for everyone ' and 'belonging before believing '. Our witness should take place amidst relationship and listening. One principle that I consider to be exceptionally useful in my community is St. Patrick’s idea of Celtic Evangelism: establish community, engage in conversation, and invite commitment (2009, 101).