Cities and Communities Conference Call
May 17, 2007

Hosts: Rev. Glenn Barth – President of GoodCities
Rev. Montie Ralstin – Pastor

Topic: Externally Focused Church Leadership Communities
Guest: Chip Sweney of Perimeter Church

Glenn welcomed callers. (The call is being recorded.) Montie Ralstin opened the call with prayer. Montie is with the Boise Valley Christian Communion.

Announcements – Glenn
► Next Call: June 21, 2007 (We do this call the third Thursday of every month.) On our June 21 call, Glenn, Phil Miglioratti and Tom White will be discussing Regional City Impact Roundtables, sharing what they have meant to unity in the Body of Christ in various communities.

► Loving Our Communities to Christ (LC2C) is an initiative of the Mission America Coalition. Phil Miglioratti works with LC2C. He invited callers to go to www.missionamerica.org and click on LC2C logo for more information. He also mentioned a blog of information on resources for prayer, care and share, stating, “We have been in this for several years, moving forward with nine pilot cities for the last nine months. LC2C is a catalytic resource for cities. It is about leadership teams, people praying, caring, sharing, not bringing anything new to the table, but catalytic resources. Some cities are more focused on the prayer aspect, getting church members to pray by name and neighborhood. Others are focusing on the care aspect - It has been neat for me to see evangelistic churches recognize that vital component of demonstrating the gospel, even before able to proclaim the gospel through significant care aspects. In the share aspect, we see that our culture has changed, and the mindset of nation has changed. Cedar Rapids, rather than having traditional big meetings where everyone comes to a “one size fits all” meeting, is moving to a month-long series of various venues and locations with different affinity groups, different evangelists coming in to saturate the city, providing simple steps for people to come to a share situation to hear the gospel. In the future, we will talk about coaching aspects, coming in, not bringing a program but coming in as a coach. That is one of the things we are exploring. I just had a conversation about having a next wave of cities. We would come alongside them as they uniquely customize for their situation in prayer, care and share. You can email me Phil@nppn.org or go to the LC2C website or ask Glenn how to reach me.

► New updated www.powerofconnecting.net Glenn shared a new resource. visionSynergy is helping us explore the power of partnerships. Some key highlights: 
• The Netwiki allows users to enter information about their network and to view details about other networks. This is user driven and over time should become the place where people can find other like minded, ministry focused people.
• Downloadable content that will help those involved in partnerships explain and understand “working together.”
• “Ask the Expert” feature will allow anyone who wants some outside advice on performance issues of partnerships to seek help from someone who has been there before

We are always trying to highlight resources that will help others across the country.

► New www.goodcities.net Andy Rittenhouse, Knoxville, TN; Chip Sweney, Atlanta; Ray Williams, Little Rock; Eric Marsh, Long Beach; and Glenn Barth, Minneapolis have formed the National Coaching Network, with a focus on word-and-deed ministries. You can go to that new website and of course www.cityreaching.com where city reaching resources are available.

Glenn continued: “Today I’m in Little Rock, talking to leaders about moving forward as they reach their city. Last week I was in Atlanta, seeing how they are taking steps in a life-long journey with the Externally Focused Churches Leadership Community. Eric Swanson wrote the book The Externally Focused Church, and shared that vision through Leadership Network. One of the new things we are seeing in city reaching today is how mega churches have moved into the heart of city reaching, and have hired people to lead city movements. The exciting thing the leadership community offers is to help a city reach out together. Members of churches are encouraged by changes they are seeing – that efforts are evangelistically fruitful, and community outreach is not just a one-time event.

Chip Sweney works from Perimeter Church in Duluth, Georgia, and gathered 10-12 church leadership teams from the Atlanta area.

Glenn: Chip, how did you first hear about Externally Focused Church Leadership Communities?
Chip: We were invited by Leadership Network. I think we were the first; five groups of churches have gone through the program. We were with about twelve churches from around the country, beginning in 2004. We met every six months for a couple of days each time. It was a very good experience. We learned a lot from other churches. It helped us hone in on our own strategy for external focus. One thing we noticed was that with churches around the country, it is difficult to stay connected relationally. We couldn’t really work together because we were in different places. Let me give a brief background on Unite! Unite was launched in 2003, birthed out of a couple of churches saying “we’re each doing some neat things in the community. Why don’t we do something together?” Atlanta is huge. We said we aren’t going to try to pull together the whole city, but what about the northeast quadrant? We started casting vision with top Unite! churches to pray, serve and celebrate together to see our community transformed. That has been going on for 3-4 years. We have just begun to see it multiply in other parts of the city. There are 10-15 churches in the northwest quadrant launching Unite! Six months ago, this was a great learning community, and we thought, “Wouldn’t it be more powerful if we took the same model and targeted strategic churches to go on 2-year learning journey together.” Because we are in same city, we could build relationships and make a difference in Atlanta.

Montie: What kind of churches and church leaders did you invite and who showed up? When you talk about the 10-12 churches, was that just from community focused, large or small churches?
Chip: We were intentional about getting churches from different parts of the city. Long term, we wanted strategic churches. there were four churches in the northeast quadrant, a couple from the northwest, 3-4 in the central part of the city, some southeast and southwest. We wanted to build relationships, begin to connect the dots around the city. We targeted some key churches that were already doing externally focused ministry at different levels. They demonstrated that heart; they were doing it, and were willing to be learners. We wanted churches that wanted to learn from other churches, and churches that were interested in partnering. Part of this is how each church can improve in their externally focused ministry, but also partner with other churches in their area. Diversity was important. Atlanta, like many cities, is very diverse. We have Anglo churches, African American churches, Asian. We looked at all those factors as we put this together.

Glenn: I know of New Birth Church, where 25,000 worship on Sunday. You have several thousand at Perimeter, some newer churches, some long established churches. What are hoping to see as a result of this two year leadership community? How will this further the cause of Unite!?
Chip: First I would say relationships – relationships - relationships. One of the things we are learning from Unite! is relationships. Strategy and goals are important, but relationships more so. Partnering and kingdom impact happens. Connectivity. Unfortunately the body of Christ is so disconnected. So if we can build connectivity between churches as we work together to see our city and community transformed. We want to see each church go to the next level in word and deed ministry, being as effective as we can. If we ended up with12-14 churches involved, that would be a great result. How can we together be more effective in partnering together? Kind of the big church for Atlanta. Another way we see it thru Unite! is with churches in different parts of the city, we see them as flagships for their part of the city.

Montie: As you were hosting this group, tell us about your experience during this first two-and-a-half day meeting. How are you integrating people in business and other sectors in the movement?
Chip: It drove me to greater passion for our city. We had someone come in and tell about the history of our city. It brought even a greater appreciation for what God has done and is doing. We had a neat time at the end. We took everyone to the top of a 72-story hotel, to a restaurant that turns. You can see the whole city. We had a powerful prayer time. We could see the opportunities, the assets of Atlanta. Second, we see how important it is to have multi-sector collaboration, to connect the public sectors (government, education, etc), private sectors like marketplace, and non-profit sectors. How do we cast vision, raise up Christian leaders, thinking and dreaming of how to connect in Atlanta. There are a lot of marketplace ministries and other unity movements in Atlanta. How do we connect with a similar dream?

Glenn: You tried to bring whole leadership teams. Perimeter had two lay people and two staff people there, who could make decisions for the whole Outreach Department.
Chip: We wanted two or three leaders from each church. It often but not always included the Senior Pastor. Team concept was a really important part of what we did.

Glenn: Eric Swanson was excited about the opportunities for on-going leadership in a city. We want to make clear on this call that GoodCities is making an offer to bring in leadership that can facilitate an Externally Focused Churches Community. Chip has explained well what that is about.

Glenn: What are your next steps?
Chip: Let me add, the facilitation model is very important, highly interactive, with lots of small group time where people from different churches are working together, dreaming – “What would the best externally focused church model look like?” Part of the time was spent working with your own church team. It was quality time, not a sit and soak time, by any means.

Glenn: It is important to understand that this is a 2-year model with 2-day meetings every few weeks. It is the participants who decide how they can connect with other churches in ministry.
Chip: I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from churches. They are producing things they will use in on-going ministry.

Glenn: We began with what churches were doing, what they wanted to do, and now, what would next steps?
Chip: The beauty is that churches from the city have already taken first steps to gather leaders from the churches to meet every 4-6 weeks, and get couples from different churches together. thahat is the relationship piece. As for Unite! We launched with Compassion in Action weekend, and are talking about how to broaden that with more churches involved in October, 2007. We want to see Unite! in other parts of the city. It started in northwest Atlanta, but has broader representation now.

Question and Answer

Montie: I’ve heard two things. You talked about how important relationships are, and I’ve heard you use the word team. Those things will equal word and deed ministry. You said not everyone is getting on board, but I’m positive you’ve invited them all. You are pressing ahead with the willing?
Chip: Yes, we’ve got approximately 100 churches on paper that say they are part of Unite!. It’s a small sampling of all the churches in Atlanta. We are working with those who are willing to partner. We’re going for it. We aren’t worrying about how big we are, but how God can use us.

Glenn: As we move to Q & A, un-mute your phone to ask your question.

Montie: In Q & A, we sometimes get into telling our stories instead of asking questions, so please let’s take advantage of Chip.

Phil Miglioratti, Chicago: Help us understand the difference (if there is one) between the externally focused church, which is the title of a book, and a concept, not just a holy huddle. When you use that term, is it in the “branded model” of the book or is it a concept, a movement?
Chip: I would say that we don’t always use the term “externally focused church”. I think we’re talking about how we together do holistic ministry. We aren’t trying to take a brand that was created by the book. We’re just asking how we as the body of Christ can be more effective in word and deed.

Jennifer, Cleveland OH: I work with The City Mission. We’ve had a group of 400 meeting off and on since October, 2006. It is a multi-sector collaboration. We are forming group identity. I would like advice as to ways to phrase a mission statement or develop core values that will not isolate or alienate members of non-profits or government that will not offend them by our Christian faith.
Chip: Are you trying to pull together a coalition that includes those different groups?
Jennifer: Yes, the road is getting bumpy because the bulk of us are committed to the process because we are Christians. Help us insure that multi-sector is not limited because of “Christian-ese” or language.
Chip: One thought, I guess we have gone a little different direction. There are already some entities in the community like the Chamber of Commerce that are already an example. We’ve tried to say, “How can we as churches come along and be a blessing and servant to the public schools or work with government. agencies regarding homelessness?” When Katrina hit, one of the great things that happened was the community saw that churches could make an impact. We had not been invited to the table before. So we aren’t trying to form a new one.

Bud Ford, Oh: Would you elaborate a little more on how you arrive at collaborative efforts (interference on line made it difficult to fully hear his question.)
Chip: We have a huge influx of immigrants who live in apartment complexes. We’ve seen churches working together there in after-school programs, doing ESL, block parties, etc. Public schools are another example. We cast vision for a number of churches to work in the hub of our community, being servants to schools, tutoring, come alongside teachers and principals. We’ve seen medical professionals seeing a need for health care, who ended up forming Good Samaritan Health Center, which came out of Unite! We don’t try to define exactly how churches partner. We let it happen thru relationship.

Montie Ralstin, Go back to multi-sector collaboration. I think I hear you say, “let the churches come together and decide. Join in with what other churches are doing as it fits their mission.”
Chip: There is already substantial infrastructure in place. So whether it is business, government or education, we look at how we can come alongside.

Harry, Waco, TX: Leadership Network and learning communities have some fees involved. Can you comment on those? You’ve commented on the benefits, but I believe there are consulting fees.
Chip: Yes, we charge a fee for each of the churches to be a part of this. They are paying $1500 for the 2-year journey. We know that won’t cover the total cost, but we have raised additional funds from interested parties to subsidize it. I think it gives the churches some ownership.
Harry: Is it $5000?
Chip: When we did it initially, it was s$1500, but it could be more now.

Montie: I think the statement about buy-in – are you forming an association?
Chip: In terms of Unite! or the Leadership Community?
Montie: Unite!
Chip: Unite! is a network of local churches, so people on staff like myself and some of our leadership team churches are giving time to it. There is not fund raising for staff position.
Montie: Would you have fund raising among Unite! churches to pull off a campaign?
Chip: Yes, and we have some foundations that give toward it.

Glenn: Tell us about Compassion Weekend, both short term experience and long term.
Chip: One of the things we saw initially was how it brought synergy and launched the movement. It gave something practical churches could be involved in, very tangible for a weekend. We could do it together. It was a strong, visible demonstration to the community that churches care about needs and can work together. It’s not the end-all of Unite! but gives a boost each year, fuels partnering for the rest of the year.

Glenn: So it focuses churches on a particular weekend. Who is identifying the service projects?
Chip: Each church comes up with projects, sometimes planning it together. There is no administrative hub planning it. The churches do it. Each year more and more partnering takes place between churches. This year will be our 5th. Of the 100 churches, about 50 participated last year.

Glenn: It focuses attention and raises awareness for church members.
Chip: We have been amazed at the positive press. The Atlanta Constitution has been great. It’s kind of a “shock and awe” to people who think churches don’t care about the community or can’t work together.

Glenn: I want to thank you, Chip, for exposing us to your experience with the Externally Focused Church Leadership Community in Atlanta. I hope this won’t be just a 2-year experience but as Reid Carpenter talked about at the CIR, a life-long community seeing Christ’s kingdom grow over a life-time in renewable 15 year segments.
Chip: Yes, it’s all about long-term relationships.

Glenn: Our next call is June 21, 2007 at 10 a.m. central time. We’ll talk about Regional City Impact Roundtables.

Jan Kennedy was asked to close in prayer.