Fort Thomas Weekly Logistics

Principles

1. All meetings involving most or all community members must take place Sunday or Wednesday nights in order to leave the rest of the week open for informal gatherings, outreaches, family time and time to spend with neighbors.

2. Children events should resemble what is happening at adult meetings (i.e. kids craft time during project teams, boys activities during men’s group etc.)

3. This plan can accommodate a maximum of 100 adults per church. When a church grows passed 80 adults a new church will be planted because the relationships that form the foundation of the community will become too shallow.

Sunday
9-10:30am - Guys/Girls Discipleship (30 minute study & 1 hour sharing)
· Guys at Murriner’s house
· Girls at Herman’s house
· Boy children go with men & one man designated to referee boy’s activity from 9-9:30; same for girl children with the women.
- Have 3-5 regular activities planned with props special for this time period
· Childcare by babysitters starting at 9:30

11-12:30 – Project team meetings (Elder/Sophia combined meeting last Sunday of the month – no project team meetings)
· Childcare craft time prepared in advance by “Visual Arts Team”.
· Set up A & B Project Teams that will not meet during the same week.
· Childcare for both meetings - $3 /kid.

6-7:30pm – The Journey (Encounter Worship Service)
· Journey Prep 5-6pm
· 6-6:30 – Children’s Worship
· 6:30-7:30 – Children’s Church - hire Christian children’s leader & workers from another church? (Paid for 100% by church).

Wednesday
5:30-6:30 – Dinner
Dinner cooked and served at secondary house
Prepared each month by Cooking Team
Cooking Teams will be made up of people who sign-up to be on a cooking team. When you sign up you put down how many times per month you want to cook.
Meals cost $5 per adult $2 per child under 12.
No Childcare

6:30-7:30 – Study groups
Babysitters and teachers arrive at 6:15
Sign-up for a study on-line or at celebration
Maximum of 15 adults per study group
Childhood discipleship done by rotating teams
- 30 minute Bible lesson
- 30 minute Play time activity
- Babysitters take over by 7:00

7:30-8:30 – Sharing
Sharing with study group
Babysitter take over at 7:00
- 7:30-8 – Craft time
- 8-8:30 – Play time activity

8:30-9+ - Prayer & Worship
Childcare ends at 9pm sharp
- 8:30-9 – Video
Done at the “main house”

8:30-9+ - Hang-out
Childcare ends at 9pm sharp
Done at the “secondary house”
Total childcare for event $3/kid.

Community Celebration (On the 5th Wednesday after Study group are completed)
6:30-8pm
Rent a room big enough for the community
At the end of the service sign-up for next study groups
Elements of the service
- 25 minute vision sermon
- 5 minute children’s sermon
- Kids stay for first 15 minutes and are dismissed to childcare
- Baptisms for new believers
- Worship
- Community Announcements
- Dessert and hang-out at end

Logistical Questions –
How will babysitters be paid for? 50% church, 50% people at the meetings.
Childcare supplies and curriculum purchased by church budget
Total cost of childcare $6/kid per week.

Scalability Plan for Wednesday Nights
10-18 adults in the community
- 1 study group
- Team of 2 adults doing Childhood Discipleship Rotation

19-25 adults in the community
- 2 study groups
- Team of 3 adults doing Childhood Discipleship Rotation

26-35 adults in the community
- 3 study groups
- Team of 4 adults doing Childhood Discipleship Rotation

For every 10 additional adults add 1 more study group and 1 more adult doing Childhood Discipleship Rotation

Leadership Proposal Part 3 - Logistics

Fort Thomas Christian Church

Types of Leadership - There are five types of leadership functions in our church – Training, Protection, Creativity, Vision and Administration.

• Training – Leading the men’s and women’s discipleship groups, actively meeting with newer believers to build them up, equipping the body in their spiritual gifts for the work of the ministry
• Protection – To watch over the theology being taught within the church. To defend the body against community killing sins (divisiveness, gossip, idleness, unforgiveness, disorder). To intentionally care for the spiritual health of each member of the community.
• Creativity – To come up with creative solutions and add creative elements to different elements of the community. Discovering more efficient ways to accomplish our projects.
• Vision – To discover the direction being given to us by God. To set the direction and overall mission of the various projects.
• Administration – Organizing the elements of the community projects. Delegating tasks to various members of the teams. Making sure there is follow through on the tasks and evaluating the outcome.
  

Positions of Leadership – The above leadership functions will be carried out by the following positions –

Body of Elders – The body of elders are responsible for training the men of the community, protecting the body, and discovering God’s vision for the community

Council of Sophia – The council of Sophia are responsible for training the women of the community, protecting the body and confirming God’s vision for the community.

Project Teams – Project Teams are responsible for leading the body in all the elements of its life – weekly meetings, finances, outreaches, website, etc. Project Team members will lead the church through creativity, setting vision in their project areas and administrating the elements of their projects.

New members of the Elders and Sophias will be appointed by those groups because of the authority entrusted to them and because of their training function. Project Team members are open to volunteers from anyone within the church.

Elders and Sophia will meet once per month at a time scheduled by those groups and they will meet together on the last Sunday of every month from 11-12:30

Every member of the community will either be an Elder/Sophia member of be in training to become and Elder/Sophia.

Vision Meeting – Once per quarter instead of the Elder/Sophia meeting the whole body will attend a “Vision Meeting” from 11-12:30 to discuss big picture ideas within the community.

Project Teams will be designated A or B and will meet every other week from 11-12:30 skipping the last Sunday of every month. Community members can only be an active member of one A team and one B team. Community members can be a consulting member of any number of teams.

The Sabbath Concluded

Tonight we finished our Sabbath with a meal together where we filled a cup to overflowing as a symbol of God's abundant blessing for the week ahead.

As I put him down for bed I asked Jack if he liked the Sabbath. He said "Yah, it helped me to remember God."

Hmmmm....I'm beginning understand why God designed the Sabbath.

The Sabbath Meal

We're attempting to implement our vision a phase at a time.

This week we are celebrating our first Sabbath.

For the Jews Sabbath begins when the sunsets on Friday and concludes at sundown Saturday. The first church seemed to switch everything forward 24 hours so we started at sundown Saturday.

The first step was to find a Sabbath candle for each member of the family. I hit Yankee Candle and smelled virtually every candle in the store to settle on a Shabbat scent. Once I found one I got the three wicker for myself, a tall pillar for April and a big, medium, and small jar candle for each of the kids.

On my way out of JC Penny I saw these amazing dishes on sale. They were "Tuscan" style all hand-painted with grapes and other fruit. So I bought those along with some matching goblets and hit Kroger to get the meal complete with sparkling grape juice and matzo.

After we got the house prepared the kids were buzzing around asking questions about every detail. Why do we light candles? Is this grape juice Jesus' blood? The theological conversations were getting deep even before we got to the table.

Each of us lit our candles and we said the Hebraic blessing for lighting the Shabbat candles, as well as the blessing over the washing of hands, over the wine (sparkling grape juice in our case), son, daughter, and the meal. Then we took communion together and began to eat.

The kids immediately began asking all kinds of questions about Christianity. It was like the atmosphere of Shabbat was spiritually charged and lifting their thoughts toward God-centered things. This is going to be a great touch stone of their theological education.

After the meal I cleaned up while April read parts of the Torah portion and the Gospel and Epistle portion from the Messianic Shabbat calendar, while the kids colored pages of the story.

We took our candles into the family room where we had family worship and prayed over our move to Ft. Thomas (except both kids wanted to pray and thank God for the Sabbath).

They started making up songs and poems on their own. We then took their candles up to their room and put them to bed.

It was a great first meal and I'm really looking forward to having tomorrow as a day for prayer and reflection. It feels like the structure of the Sabbath has a soothing effect on the soul. I've heard from those who celebrate the Sabbath that it also has a profound effect on your whole week making you more productive through both being rejuvenated and knowing that your day of rest and reflection is coming.

Jesus said that the Sabbath was created for man not man for the Sabbath. This verse was what got me thinking about celebrating the Sabbath. If God created Sabbath for us He must have known that it was something we needed. Of course we should never celebrate the Sabbath in the Pharisaic tradition - ridged unbiblical rules and forcing them on others, but it seems in the church we've tried so hard to avoid doing that that we've decided to forgo the event all together.

We're looking forward to having friends come over and enjoy the Sabbath meal with us in weeks to come.

Mowry Family Vision

Check out the Mowry clan vision - The Vision of the Mowry Household

They are fellow Kingdom seekers in Ft. Thomas and offer an amazing exposition of Deut. 6 as it applies to their family.

Deut. 6 is the basis for a proper understanding God's expectation for a household.

Family Vision Part 1 - Intro

Family Vision Statement

Family Mission – To intentionally develop our family into a productive and powerful team that seeks the Kingdom of God first and encourages each other and others to become like Jesus.

Why a family vision – We believe God created families to be productive not to just be. God intends for our family (meaning our immediate family and all of our descendants) to grow in influence and in ability, to partner with Him in expanding His Kingdom upon the Earth. We will be held accountable for every resource given and as we become better stewards of His assets we He will continually bless us with more.

How are we going to accomplish our mission?

• Develop a Vision for each of the major areas of our family’s life
• To understand that with each year’s growth in wisdom this document will need to be revised and updated.
• Evaluate our progress three times per year including one major evaluation at the family summit. Times for evaluation: mid January, mid May, late August.
• Each area of this document will be linked to a chapter in a manual describing in more detail how to accomplish these goals.

Family Summit

• Rent out an appropriate facility Friday-Sunday during late August every year.
• Line up presentations by family members to celebrate and understand the various things they’ve been growing in over the previous year (everything from a kids art and music show to adults proposal for a new book they’re writing).
• Family devotions each morning led by different family members.
• Present an annual report of the family assets and how various investments faired during the year.
• Present ideas for the family investments for the next year.
• Families spend time alone to work on and evaluate their family vision statements.
• Sunday evening families report on their progress during the previous year on their family vision and present changes and updates to that vision.

Family Vision Part 2 - Spiritual

Spiritual Vision

Develop a one-year curriculum of spiritual traditions to be followed and developed from 2005 forward

• Incorporate both Jewish and Christian calendars into a Pryor family calendar.
• Document activities that are done or developed so they can be repeated
• All activities should involve as many senses as possible and require participation by all family members.

Celebrate a Sabbath from sundown on Saturday until sundown on Sunday

• Attend a corporate worship service with our church family
• Have a Saturday night family meal and family worship (friends are welcome)
• Buy one candle for each person in the family with the same scent and light them in different rooms at sundown Saturday night and have a different prayer for each to signal the beginning of Shabbat. Blow them out and put them away sundown Sunday.
• Set aside one hour for individual quiet time to seek the Lord (perhaps 4-5pm Sunday)
• Plan the day to be restful by having all details for meals and activities planned in advance

Create a daily, weekly, yearly and seven-year rhythm that encourages each member’s discipleship

• Daily – Develop habits of prayer and Bible reading daily
• Weekly – Celebrate the Sabbath, participate in community and church leadership.
• Yearly – Family summit, yearly spiritual calendar, mission trip once per year.

Fully immerse our lives in a local faith community

• Take responsibility for the health of our church and the expansion of God’s Kingdom in the location of its mission.
• Find numerous ways to integrate our lives with others in our church and to give our time, money, ideas, gifts and prayers generously to them and to actively depend on them to do the same for us.

Family Vision Part 3 - Physical

Physical Vision

To become very knowledgeable in preventive medicine and nutrition and to avoid taking long-term drugs to attain wellness.

• Read one books per year on health and nutrition
• Take vitamin supplements daily
• Evaluate our overall diet once per quarter

To maintain and improve physical fitness through consistent cardio, strength and flexibility exercises.

• Balanced cardio/strength/flexibility work out 2-3 times per week
• Everyone in the family over 5 year old should be in a weekly physical competitive activity
• Have an all-family physical activity during vacations and days off.

To establish, teach and maintain habits of general health and wellness.

• To drink water and to strictly limit the amount of soda
• Eat three healthy meals per day at consistent times
• Plan and purchase for meals about 1 week in advance.
• When given a choice walk/bike instead of drive.

Family Vision Part 4 - Mental

Mental Vision

To actively shape the narrative expectations of our lives and our children’s lives

• Give them very clear rites of passage as they are given greater amounts of freedom and responsibility.
• Help them embrace the beauty of all the seasons of life – birth, growth, maturity, death.
• To teach life’s lessons and meanings primarily through biblical narratives.

To assist our children in gaining appropriate amounts of knowledge without allowing them to become prideful by over valuing its importance.

• Monitor their progress in school and provide additional challenge or additional help wherever necessary.
• Introduce our children to areas of knowledge not currently valued by our education system – ethics, language, philosophy, religions etc.
• Take our children on one educational vacation per year intended to shake up and form their understanding of our world in its history, diversity, size, beauty etc.

To value wisdom (the appropriate application of knowledge to life) as the ultimate end of education

• To set up mentoring and apprentice relationships for our children in crucial areas of their education.
• To consistently ask good deep questions in order to challenge each others thoughts and decisions.

Family Vision Part 5 - Emotional

Emotional Vision

To value imagination above knowledge as the highest cognitive ability given to us by God.

• To introduce our children to engaging literature, films, poems, art and music.
• To encourage our children to create. To help them develop skills that will allow them to express their thoughts and feelings in increasingly beautiful ways.
• To discourage apathy and sloppiness toward life and creativity and to inspire fiery passion and beautiful perfection in all areas of life.

Create an environment in our home of shalom and unconditional love

• Find ways to make our home a place of beauty, peace and inspiration.
• We will embrace conflict as a necessary part of growth in relationships but will only fight fair in our house (no extreme accusations, keep a civil tone, value the relationship above all else).
• To simultaneously teach our children the value of money, hard work and perseverance but also demonstrate our love through lavish generosity.

To simultaneously help our children develop thick skin in order to guard their hearts and to show them how to open their hearts fully in truly safe environments.

• Teach them the true nature of both good and evil; the real danger of evil and the power of the Kingdom of God to overcome anything.
• Teach them the importance of loyalty to God, family, clan and country.
• To instill into each other reservoirs of endless courage.

Family Vision Part 6 - Financial

Financial Vision

To spend all of our working hours on developing long-term passive income producing ventures.

• Never allow short-term financial gain to out weigh greater long-term financial gain.
• Set up every business venture to produce the maximum amount of money for the minimum time investment.
• Always value cash flow far above cash on hand.

Understand that every dollar and asset our family gains is entrusted to us by God to build His Kingdom

• Give skillfully and generously to ministries and churches that are expanding God’s Kingdom around the world.
• Partner with other families in business venture that share our value for furthering God’s Kingdom.
• Entrust real resources to our children at a young age to teach them the value of owning and developing assets to produce income.

To pray and actively seek the expansion of our basin of resources and to protect it from misuse or disrepair.

• To never put a cap on the amount of resources God gives but to actively pursue more and more as we daily become better stewards.
• To track every dollar spent and to carefully evaluate the wisdom of our decisions as we report on changes of percentages in different areas of our spending.
• To eliminate threats to our basin and to consistently upgrade the security and diversity of our investments.

Stephen's Kid Question...

Stephen wrote -

"Can someone explain to me the multiply and subdue the earth thing. I think my generation has a problem with that. We've plugged the womb with the cork of self-centeredness and hedonism. I'm convinced a paradigm shift in parenting needs to occur in order for me to be passionate about more children (although we have been trying for some time). I understand the sons and the quiver thing, but I'm so far removed from that culture that I really want to "see" it. Any historical recommendations? "

First, great description of the problem.

I agree the problem is a paradigm problem. When God told Adam and Eve to subdue the Earth He was commanding them to spread the Kingdom of God (His orderly rule and reign) throughout the Earth. The Earth was an untamed wilderness. Eden was an orderly garden where the presence of God moved freely. Adam and Eve were to make the world like Eden by extending its boundaries to encompass the entire Earth. Having children is obviously important part of doing this because the job will take thousands of years and millions of workers.

The same is true today as we try and extend the Kingdom of God throughout the Earth via the church. We need children because we need they're help. This would be easier to see if we all lived 900+ years.

Our problem is we're long-term planners if we have a 5-year plan - Adam had a 500+ year plan and so did Abraham. We don't think that way. In a 5-year plan children are a major liability but in a 500 year plan they are, by far, your biggest asset.

Almost all of God's promises to Abraham related to things that were going to happen 500-2000 year later and that was the motivation of Abraham's life. Hebrews 12 says Abraham was not living for his generation alone, his eyes were on a city whose architect and builder is God. He wanted to produce a line of descendants that would bless the Earth and ultimately bless God.

Once you've accepted this paradigm everything changes. Lots of kids, family assets, multi-generational education, symbolic heirlooms, even family monuments become your most important tools.

This way of thinking is so counter-cultural in America where most of us don't even know our descendants beyond 3 or 4 generations that you have to unlearn everything you thought you knew about family planning.

What do you think Abraham would have thought of Planned Parenthood?

When will we admit...Method is Important!

Read this great quote this morning from Brother Maynard

"In my own experience of trying to introduce any measure of significant change to church life, I’ve surmised that one cannot try to do a new thing the old way, or you’ll end up with the old results. The very familiar quote which applies (attributed to both Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin) is “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Or as Frederick Winslow Taylor put it, “Every system is perfectly designed to produce the results it produces.” Note: the answer to improving results is foundational to the method." - http://www.subversiveinfluence.com/wordpress/

If you do not like the results your current church is producing in your life and in your community dig deep into how things are being done and you're likely to find the problem. But most refuse to dig deep enough and so the same old problems are reproduced time and again in church after church.

Time to get out the shovel and pick axe...

Bahama Momma

I’ve resisted going on a cruise for so long sometimes I think I’m the only one who hasn’t given this a try but for anyone else who has not and is wondering what they’re like I’ll write some of my experiences to help you make up your mind.

First the facts – We’re on a 3-day Carnival cruise on the Fascination, a four star ship, and we’re staying in a standard state room with a picture window on the main deck. Our cruise goes from Miami to Nassau Bahamas on Friday and leaves the Bahamas on Sunday morning returning to Miami by Monday AM.

What I like –

The food – Of course everyone says it’s good and they’re right. Lobster tails, prime rib and Cornish hen to name a few of last nights entrees.

The strangers at our table – We’re seated with some very fun people: Drew and Linley met 9 months ago in Tampa and are really starting to “hit it off”. He’s a lawyer and she’s in her last year of college hoping to open a café featuring seasonal gourmet. Jim and Samatha are from Framingham MA. They have two kids and he’s a head hunter for civil engineers. Gary and Matika are from Maryland (we haven’t gotten to know them too well yet).

The exercise room – I’m not real big into exercise but having tread mills facing the setting sun on the top deck is pretty darn cool.

The weather – It’s actually not very sunny (please don’t expect us to come home with a tan…not gonna happen) but it is warm. Whenever you can take your shirt off and be comfortable in January it’s a good thing.

Time alone – Yah…that’s what’s most important. It’s so good to get away in the midst of this crazy busy season. We’ve been working on our Family Vision and I’ll post it when we’re done.

Atlantis – Geesh…that place is amazing. It’s like another world (and since our business is “Another World Enterprises” you can imagine how I feel about that). We just took a peak while we were in Nassau and the aquarium, architecture (complete with Atlantian runes), beaches etc looked amazing.

Not so fun stuff…

Believe it or not I wasn’t familiar with the term booze cruise until yesterday but believe me when I tell you – I’m now all too familiar with it… On the plane, in the shuttle, walking onto the ship all I heard was people bragging about how totally smashed they planned on getting. Minutes after you walk on you’re handed a heavily liquored margarita and it never stops. We were in the theater room last night and were offered drinks about every 2 minutes during the show. I was tempted to get one just so they’d stop asking. Don’t worry, I’m sticking to my 1 drink per day limit.

The Casino – I’ve never had a moral problem with gambling a bit for fun and I had always assumed that someday if/when I ever went on a cruise I’d play a little blackjack. All of our friends from the dinner table see the casino as the highlight of the cruise. So after dinner we headed up to check out the action. And…I couldn’t do it. Knowingly walking into a situation where it’s carefully engineered to take your money was more than I could stomach. I think my other problem is I’ve been praying a lot lately for God to bless our businesses. Asking our Lord for more resources to invest in His Kingdom and then taking some of those and gambling seemed inconsistent…am I wrong?

The spirit of the place – I’m someone who has grown increasingly sensitive to the way my spirit seems to react in new physical spaces. Sometimes I feel peace, I feel evil, I feel light, I feel darkness etc. It’s always hard to describe. This time I have to say the feeling I get when I’m honest about this place is disgust. I was laying on the sun deck looking at the 200+ foot yachts come into the harbor and the largest one I saw was named “Just One More Toy”. That’s when the bile starts to rise. I can almost hear my friends say “Relax and just have a good time” but I can’t help but think that’s like telling a Native American to relax and enjoy what the white man has done to your country. God’s gorgeous creation is just another play thing for the filthy rich to consume and toss aside. I long for God’s Kingdom to cover this place but I sense He would be most unwelcome. And why – this is His, and so I sense the jealousy of God in the face of blatant idolatry.

So we’ll see how it turns out in the end. April asked me if it’s what I wanted and I told her that, if when I get back, I have more energy to face all the things we have to do when we return, it was a success. We both needed this change of pace so we can hit the ground running in Ft. Thomas.

Your Bohemian for a Day

Fathering Young Children and related mysteries

Can someone please tell me what is a father of young children supposed to do?

I take Kelsey on dates to Red Lobster
I have daily padded sword fights with Jackson
I chase Sydney in a continuous circle around the house
I discipline them consistently
I teach them the Gospel

But in the midst of this melee of activity I’m constantly wondering am I doing enough? Am I doing the right things? Or…am I doing more than I have to? Which is brought on by the really hard question I can’t answer – can I handle more (and still be a good dad)? If so how many? 4, 5, 6+???

How can I decide how many children we can handle without knowing, even now, whether I’m meeting the minimum requirements?

I love my children but little kids exhaust me. Potty training, feeding, putting them to bed (5x per kid per night), getting them dressed, refereeing their fights and list goes on…

This dilemma is compounded by the fact that both April and I would really love a BIG family. Children are one of the biggest blessings the Lord could ever give and we’d love to be really blessed.

Sometimes I think I could handle lots of kids if they came in 3-4 year increments but April, like every other woman I’ve talked to, would much prefer to get it all over with and pop them out as quickly as possible.

Could you imagine – 5+ kids under the age of seven in one house with an extreme introvert like me. That’s a formula for temporary insanity.

So then I begin to devise psychotic solutions like a Pryor’s children farm where twice a week we would shower our perfectly cared for children with parental love and then harvest them into our home with they start 1st grade.

Which brings me back to the question – what do little children need from their dad? When is a dad being distant and when is he doting?

Do young children really need a lot from their dad before the age of 6?

Strategy vs. Virtue: Exploring the Tension

I just had an epiphany. Everyone who has talked to me about the “Separate but Equal” post has had basically the same reaction – “It sounds so right but something feels really wrong.”

Let’s keep exploring that dissonance on that post but this brings up a topic I’ve longed to explore.

Thesis: In the church it’s considered Christ-like to allow the slightest appeal to virtue to trump the most prudent strategy.

I can think of hundreds of examples in the church when the smart thing to do was overturned because it might be seen as mean or unloving. Many churches seem to distrust strategic planning as a lack of faith of feel strategic moves that involve people would threaten relationships. Probably the best examples I’ve seen of this have been incompetent people elevated into leadership positions and then left there indefinitely to inadvertently damage the ministry because it would be unloving to remove them.

Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek, chose to recruit much of his staff from the business world valuing competence and real-life experience over theological education. Our church model is worlds apart from his but I believe this was one of the keys to their success.

Counter Thesis: Choosing the most strategic path is an act of love with a heart for the future.

Paul taught us that love is the most excellent way. I agree, therefore, that love does trump any other virtue but I believe it’s easier for our heart to feel an action with short-term good result is more loving than an opposing action with a long-term much better result. This kind of thinking sounds like – “I can’t discipline my kids because I love them too much”.

This is not an appeal for smaller hearts and bigger brains, it’s an appeal for bigger hearts for the bigger picture.

Our hearts and minds create a wonderful internal system of checks and balances but beware of limiting your heart to the present. God’s love reached through the ages of time to you and me and our love must do the same for others.

Leadership Proposal Part 2 - Sophia

2. That a Council of Sophia be commissioned to serve the body in the following ways
· Train the women of the church
· Take leadership and responsibility over defined areas of the body
· Be responsible before Christ to nurture the church as it grows into maturity

Rather than continue to define the rest of the elements (which are very similar to what has already been described for the Board of Elders) I want to discuss what the council is and why I’m proposing it.

What is a Council of Sophia? This is a group of women in the body who are asked to serve as leaders in the church and train the other women of the church. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom (also philosophy) and this council will be building up women of wisdom who skillfully grow their families and the church.

Why is a Council of Sophia necessary? Having an organized and authoritative body of men leading without an equivalent body of women throws the entire body into imbalance. The position of elder is patterned after the position of husband in the home but where is the position of wife? We believe in male headship not male dominance. Women must have a powerful voice in the home in order for it to grow and mature and the same is true of an organic church.

Is this idea biblical? First, this idea is not in Scripture I made it up. However, Titus 2 tells women to train other women. We have female church leaders mention in Romans 16 and in the book of Acts but no description of how these leadership positions were formalized.

Qualifications of a Sophia? These will come primarily from Proverbs 31 (which is written more as a poetic description so these qualifications will come from principles derived from the Proverbs)
· Manages her household well
· Hospitable to the community and to the needy
· Joyful, strong and full of wisdom
· Productive and not idle
· Has the respect of her husband and the greater community

Please offer your feedback. This is just a rough draft.

Leadership Proposal Part 1 - Elders

In our church planting meetings we’ve been trying to decide what type of church government we will use for Ft. Thomas.

I was asked to submit a proposal that we can work off of so here’s the summary of the first draft for discussion (We appreciate feedback from anyone reading this not just Ft. Thomas people).

Core Assumptions –

1. Spiritual leadership in the body is an absolute requirement. Jesus holds the leaders of His body accountable for the health and growth of the church and if the body begins to fail Jesus Himself will remove the lamp stand of that church (Revelation 1-3) and the church leaders are considered ultimately responsible.

2. All leadership accounts in the New Testament are descriptive not prescriptive (they are not commands that must be followed but a historical record of how the first church was lead).
However, New Testament descriptions of leadership contain binding principles that should not be violated.

3. The First Church leadership structure was patterned after the family. Male headship with elders being chosen primary based on their success as a head of a household (1 Timothy 3).

4. Community-based churches, like the First Church, are also very family-like and thus the New Testament pattern should be followed if at all possible. If a change is made from the N.T. pattern the burden of proof is on the church plant to show why the change is necessary.

5. Everyone in the body should strive to be qualified for and promoted into a position of leadership. (1 Timothy 3:1)

Proposal –

1. That a body of elders be commissioned to serve the body in the following ways -
· Train the men of the church
· Take spiritual responsibility for the care of the flock
· Listen to the Head of the church (Christ) and be responsible to lead the church where Jesus is guiding

A. How elders are chosen
· Initially elders are chosen by the head church planter and the elder(s) of the sending church
· After the body of elders is formed it will choose qualified candidates from within the church by unanimous agreement

B. Qualifications of an elder (1 Timothy 3)
· A good reputation that is above reproach in the community of the church plant.
· Faithful to his wife, exhibits self-control and lives wisely
· Enjoy having guests in his house
· Able to teach
· Not a heavy drinker or violent
· Gentle, peace loving & not a lover of money
· Manages his own family well. His children must respect and obey him.
· Not a new convert

C. Exceptions to the qualifications
· Because of the household requirements of an Elder it makes it impossible for a single man or a married man without children to serve as an Elder. This is partially because someone who is single should use that freedom to build the Kingdom with a greater degree of freedom (which a family man is unable to do) and because we cannot test his qualities as the head of a household. In this case we will make the following exception. If a man is qualified in every other way to become an Elder he will be appointed to the board but will not receive the status of full elder until he has served for one year as a testing period (to replace the household tests). The only thing he cannot do until he becomes a full-elder is participate in the practice of the unanimous vote.

D. How the Elder board functions
· Each Elder is given a specific area of oversight within the body
· Each Elder must regularly be in prayerful consideration concerning where Christ is leading the body
· All decision of the Board of Elder’s must be made by unanimous vote
· The Elders are commissioned to release the five-fold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers to build up the body.
· The Elders must also equip the members of the body to use all the spiritual gifts to build up the body.Every Elder must participate in training the other men of the congregation to qualify for the position of Elder as soon as they are able.

Separate but Equal: A case for cultural segregation in the church

The myth that individual local churches need to be a place of cultural diversity is only made possible by eliminating cultural differences instead of celebrating them.

I believe this myth is the single driving factor that keeps so many strong Christian young people fighting it out in their churches only to discover they've lost twice. You lose the first time when you try to change someone's cultural (it's impossible to make a modern person post-modern for example) and a second time because you lost the people in your own culture (no one is reaching them).

I grew up in a community with an enormous number of Korean immigrants. They had some of the most vibrant churches in our city. No one suggested they give all of that up to join our English speaking churches. We supported what they were doing.

If 3000 Portuguese suddenly moved into your town and you wanted to reach them wouldn't you need to learn the language, the culture and plant a church to reach their culture.

Then why in heaven's name do we tell young people who are post-modern culturally that they need to grow up and attend and build modern churches? When they dutifully say yes the biggest loser are the post-modern non-Christians who never get to experience a church designed for their culture. So the Gospel is never preached to them in a way that they can hear it...as good news.

If you find that you have a significant difference than your church culturally and there are a lot of lost people in your area within your culture then you need to plant or support a church plant that is designed to reach your culture. Stop with the grin and bear it approach to being a cultural misfit in a modern church. You will only stifle your own discipleship and seal the fate of non-Christians who share your cultural values.

P.S. I’m not talking about racial segregation. There are many Asian, African-Americans and White people in our country who share the same culture. It has nothing to do with your color but has everything to do with your culture.

The Devil's Playground

Just watched a documentary called "The Devil's Playground". Its about how the Amish tell there kids at the age of 16 that they are now passed the age of accountabililty and must decide for themselves if they want to join the church. They are released into what is called "Rumspringa" where they spend a couple of months or a couple of years trying out whatever vice suits their flesh. Some become pregnant other become drug dealers almost all become party animals. The Amish church claims that 90% of them eventually decide to join the church, embrace the Amish lifestyle and turn their back forever on the world - "The Devil's Playground."

It struck me how we have no rite of passage for our young people. We live under the delusion that if they asked Jesus into their heart with they were 4 years old they are now a Christian and have fully embraced the lifestyle to follow Christ. When I was in youth ministry I would say this was the single most destructive thing for church kids to believe. Salvation was an event that occured when I was 4 and now I'm bound by that 4-year old's decision.

As a youth pastor I always had to spend the first 6 months with the teenagers convincing them they weren't saved so they could actually consider the Gospel.

With our kids we're doing everything we can to show them the power and truth of the Gospel but I will not lead my kids in the "sinners" prayer. When they become teenagers I want to have a real discussion with them about the Gospel and tell them to "count the cost" as Jesus tells us to do in Luke 14 (how in the world does a 4 year old count the cost?).

The Amish don't have it all figured out but they're a heck of a lot closer than we are on this one.

New Year's Reflections

The beginning of a new year and this new year corresponds to the beginning of a new season of my life.

2004 brought into existence AWE, brought to a close my time on staff at the Florence Vineyard; a number of significant changes, but not nearly as large as the changes I can already see 2005 is going to bring.

2005 will mark the launch of Marketplace Earth, a move from the rural areas of Burlington to the almost urban areas of Ft. Thomas, but the most radical change without a doubt will be the start of our community-based church, where, for the first time, our family will intentionally move to live life in community with other believers and call it “church”.

One of the questions I’m asking myself today is what kind of a person do I need to be this year in order to take these steps forward? Are there practices missing from my life, old habits that need to die and new habits that need to be formed? I’ve learned that a person with my personality (a “P” from the Myers-Briggs) means it’s better for me to begin a change by examining and changing my convictions instead of starting with outward behavior modification (like making new year’s resolutions). Here are some changes I'm working on making...

1. Blogging - The first change I’m making is this decision to blog. I wrestled with the idea of a blog for a long time. I’m very reserved and having my internal life exposed in this way feels too vulnerable. But what do I really have to lose? What if the sharing of my thoughts and feelings help those who I love understand me and interact with my ideas. So what if someone wants to take advantage of this vulnerability, what can they really do?

2. My physical body – When I discovered my cholesterol was very high it really changed the way I thought about eating and exercise. I need to take the next step in this area this year but I’m not sure how to begin. I enjoy going to the gym and working-out on occasion but when life gets busy that habit falls away without a second thought. I think joining an organized sport once we move to Ft. Thomas may help. They’re starting dodge ball at the Florence Vineyard which is an awesome idea but I won’t be living near the church for long.

3. Community Living – When we move to Ft. Thomas I’ll be living in community with people who live in houses within walking distance. This is sure to change our lifestyle as a family in many ways that are difficult for me to predict. What can I do to prepare for such a transition? April and I are both introverts and retreat from people to gain energy but we also want people to be much closer and interconnected to our family. It’s going to be a delicate balance. I’m most excited about how this will draw me closer to Christ.

4. Prayer – Perhaps the change I long for more than anything is for my prayer life to improve. I’ve had some amazing encounters with God through prayer this year but I feel I’ve taken only the first step on this journey. I struggle with setting aside time for prayer (I gain to much of my energy from the flurry of activity in my life). It’s also difficult to get private time in a private place. Sometimes I think if I only had a prayer closet or if their were a house of prayer near where I live but I have a feeling that’s a lot like living under the delusion, if I only had a membership to the gym I would work out. There’s so much more to prayer than those externals. Any ideas…?

I’m sure there are many more things but I’m going to start with these. I value feedback from any of you who might happen to read these thoughts and I will do my best to offer feedback to anyone else who is willing to share their inner world with me.