Cityreaching Conference Call
May 18, 2006 10:00 a.m.


Guest: Glenn Barth, CIR Convener
Topic: CIR Reflections and Future CIRs

Jarvis Ward, although traveling in West Virginia, welcomed callers, and asked Neil Cox of IndyChristian.com to open in prayer. Neil had stepped out of a meeting to be on the call, so he was asked to share at the top of the call as a follow-up to information on blogging presented at the CIR in Cedar Rapids.

Neil shared his sense of divine timing in that the Church of God Assembly is coming to Indy the same week as Loving Our Communities to Christ (LC2C) event is planned.

Neil: Regarding Internet connecting: We are asking God to show us how to use tools at our disposal in this new age to accelerate cityreaching movements. It is about connecting and communicating. We want to help in any way we can do. One way is facilitating public sites, which emanate from blews.net (Blogs+news = blews). We want to have 50 state sites functioning. We encourage all of you to get involved in your local state site. You can participate on an existing blog. Email me - go to www.blews.net and find my email address and contact info.

On an important semi-private basis, we have started www.crossroadsconnection.com. There are a lot of things that need to be done behind closed doors. We want to enhance that year-round connection. The only way is by invitation – email me for that access. We want to take cityreaching networking and communicating to the next level.

Jarvis: Any quick questions for Neil? Carolyn will email Neil callers on this call for access.
We appreciate how Neil is serving cities, helping them collaborate for transformation. Neil, you keep connecting us with the technology – the wind in our sails.

Jarvis: A few years ago, before Glenn Barth moved from Mission America into his role with Tentmakers, these monthly cityreaching conference calls began, joining men and women who want to come together in faith and love and walk together over a sustained period of time to see cities and systems transformed. The City Impact Roundtable (CIR) also emerged out of those efforts. We had a vision, and still hold to it: the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole city. This requires diverse leadership. We are coming out of two excellent years of CIR with Tom White as Convener. We got together and prayed together about who should be the next convener. We had hoped to be at the place where some of the ethnic leaders in cities could take this role, but there are some things that need to happen yet, so we’ve brought Glenn Barth back into the role where he can take us to the point where we pull together a planning team that will include some diverse and younger leaders. We want to be more than gray and white. We want to represent the whole body of Christ. It is designed to be intentional, connecting with all the members of the body of Christ. We are thrilled that God has put you in that role, Glenn, and we see even better days ahead. Glenn is now the Director of Nehemiah Leadership Institute with Tentmakers. Glenn has been a key servant leader in cityreaching over the years and a faithful friend. I welcome you to the call that you started.

Glenn: I’m pleased to be in this role. It has been such a pleasure to work with Jarvis through the years, also with John Quam, Phil Miglioratti, Tom White. One of the things we have tried to create is an open forum where cityreaching movements could learn together, with plenty of opportunity for conversation. The last couple of years the planning team, with good wisdom, has worked to bring in people like Wilson Goode, former Mayer of Philadelphia, Dolphus Weary and others, Francis Frangipane this year, who could speak into our movement. Barney Field has been on our planning team. He has encouraged us to tell city stories. We believe that’s a key, telling city stories, warts and all, telling the process, some of the challenges and hurdles, so we don’t get the picture that this is an easy thing you can do in three days. I remember going to a conference; there were about a hundred in the room who had been called together by a major leadership group in the U.S. They were told, “In the next three days we will work out all the issues regarding cityreaching, and we’ll have the answers to reach all the cities in the country.” God has a plan, but cities have differences. Overall, we believe God has a plan for the church to work together in our cities and communities across our nation.

Some of you on the call today were there at our recent CIR. Let’s have some open time when you share what you gained from that moment. Please give your name and city once again. What were some of the highlights?

Mike Douglass, Modesto: One of the highlights for me was Mike Stickler’s presentation on fund development and major donors. He had one of the most common-sense approaches to that issue. One of the other things that came through is how God works through cities with different personalities, and to hear that things don’t always go well. I appreciated that transparency, as people shared obstacles they had and how they overcame them. Kudos to Charles Daugherty for a fantastic convention. He handled the logistics incredibly well.

Glenn: Yes, he and his wife Patty did a great job. It was nice to have the event in a local church. There was an unfettered feeling where we could enjoy the conference because the details were taken care of behind the scenes Mike Stickler has become a good friend, both at Mission America and Tentmakers. He travels around the country and conducts his seminars in different cities. You might want to invite him to your city.

Laurraine Huffman: I agree with the premise that you were talking about with Barney. It’s good to hear other cities share their stories. There are a lot o little nuggets we came away with.
Glenn: Any one city story?
Laurraine: Not a particular story, but one thing – the Cedar Rapids bookmark thing encouraged us to have one designed for El Paso, Juarez and Las Cruces. We sat around the table at CIR and heard how one pastor had used that bookmark in his church, and the results they saw.
Glenn: Tell everyone on the call the design and use of the bookmark:
Laurraine: It talked about prayer, care and share. We came away and did our own, remodeled it with a designer here in El Paso so that it fits our city. It’s a great tool, and people need tools to do the work of the Lord.
Glenn: These bookmarks – Mission America has been encouraging people to have a “Go to the Wall” day, writing on a wall all the names of people they are praying for. The bookmark was used as a reminder to pray every day for those five people, and then look for ways to care for them and share a gospel witness.
Laurraine: We’re asking people to pray for seven people. You can take what works for you and run with it. We’re talking about reaching our border community which includes the three cities. It’s a tool for evangelism and to unite the body of Christ. Our bookmark is so professionally done that people want to be a part of it, that kingdom idea.

Glenn: Mike Douglass mentioned before that it’s important to tool things for your particular needs. There you have a large Spanish speaking population. One of the things that strikes me is how it customizes your movement. You are showing the love and compassion of Christ in an area (policy issue) that is touching our nation these days.

Carl Nelson, Minneapolis: The models and examples of diff cities were helpful. I particularly benefited from Eric Swanson’s presentation over dinner on his book, The Externally Focused Church. It gave a good theological foundation to understand and move toward externally focused efforts, to go into our communities. I found it to be very helpful resource. I think that can become an important foundation to help pastors and congregations, and have a biblical and theological approach to our mission.

Glenn: It was great to have Eric with us. He’s easy to relate to. He’s doing a lot of research on city movements in the U.S. and even overseas. I’m glad you had that table talk session with him. He’s in Boulder, Colorado.

Paula: Have you ever met Eric Swanson? Eric works with the Leadership Network. He and a local pastor have written a book, a story of some churches who have done the prayer-care-share model in different ways.

Someone asked, “Does he have a website?” Its www.Leadnet.org

Barney: One thing that was helpful to me was getting a copy of Bud Ford’s book, Transformation: the Missing Piece. I found it fascinating. He said basically there has been a miracle in the Marion Correctional Institution producing tremendous revival, darkness to light, and he transfers those principles to cityreaching.

Glenn: I had a chance to have dinner with Bud one evening. I think his book is self-published. If you want to get a quick update on that book or story, I’ve written a piece on it at www.Tentmakerstraining.org. You can click on blogs. It’s the most recent entry. I appreciate your saying that, Barney. We’re always looking for things that work.

Jarvis: Since you are talking about books, Phill Butler’s book was made available. Has anyone on this call read it?

Neil: Absolutely. I’m not through it, but I’m penciling things in it. I picked up things at the conference from Dave Hackett, who I’ve gotten to know. The book is awesome. It is titled, Well Connected by Phill Butler, printed by Authentic Media (Press). The Externally Focused Church was done by Group Publishing. Transformation: The Missing Piece is by Streams Publishing Co. 2006, Bud Ford.

Glenn: Would anyone like to recommend any other books on cityreaching? One of the feedback pieces we got after CIR was a desire for a well thought-out cityreaching theology. In New York City, Tim Keller had some excellent presentations. (They are available at
http://207.200.19.180/images/10000/3000/216CI/user/10-03 Tim Keller Notes.doc? )
He did a Bible study each day, a biblical basis for cityreaching. Then there is Ray Bakke’s book, A Theology as Big as the City.

I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with the CIR (City Impact Roundtable). We had just over 150 leaders at our meetings in Cedar Rapids, coming from cities all across the nation. We are intentional about engaging African, Asian and Hispanic leaders who would engage with us at the CIR, and also we want to think cross-generational. I think we had more young people there this year. It’s imperative for those of us who have been at it for some time to be thinking how they can have more buy-in for the future. My intention as convener is to draw from different streams. We will look toward the Christian community Development Assn. (CCDA) that was founded by John Perkins, to Leadership Foundations of America, as well as the prayer movement which has contributed so much. When Christians from these different streams come together and interact, we are richer for it. If you have someone you would like to recommend to the leadership team, email me Glenn@cityreaching.com. Tell us a little about their background and qualifications as leaders as you recommend them to me. Are there any other thoughts?

John Evans, Modesto: Regarding cross-generational leadership, Barna has written a new book. Making Champions out of Children (Kids). He has thrown his whole effort toward that group, and he’s talking about kids, not 20-somethings or 30-somethings. Of course his book on the Revolution is good.

Glenn: I’m reading The Victory of Reason, a book about how democracy and capitalism arose not merely from northern Europe but southern Europe during the Dark Ages. It’s an unusual thesis, but I’m enjoying it. I’m always trying to understand the history of the church as well as what’s currently happening. One of the things we are doing in Minnesota: we have a quarterly meeting of state denominational leaders. Carl Nelson, who is on the call, is part of that group. We are trying to identify every pastor’s association and pastor’s prayer group in our state. We hope to establish a strong communications network that will move them toward praying together, seeking the heart and mind of God, and seeking ways they can reach out together as pastors, leaders and marketplace people. This all grew out of a simple prayer meeting that one of our leaders brought together here. It encompasses Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Evangelical, etc. They have 2 people share their testimonies each time. Carl shared recently. Most of those leaders are evangelical or charismatic, and have a heart for reaching their communities. It’s state reaching, community by community.

Carl Nelson: I would just say it is incredibly encouraging to see Christian leaders sit down for lunch together, and pray and share together with a common heart, while the public media shows the differences. This is occurring in a more private arena.

Glenn: What would you like to see at our next CIR next March or April?
Barney: It would help if we got more front-line cityreachers to be there. I think we should call them soon and ask what it would take to get them there. I’d like to see the number of key cityreachers triple. I don’t know how many fulltime cityreachers were there
Glenn: Some cityreaching leaders brought a team from their city. I’d like to get a much larger participation.
Charles: I think Barney and I define cityreachers as those who are fulltime. We had 48 people from Cedar Rapids, but I’m the only one who is fulltime.
Glenn: The good thing about having 48 of your people there is they caught the vision of what is happening nationally.
Charles: Everyone who was there was important.
Carmen Falcione, Montgomery, AL: Barney, you don’t have to motivate me. I just couldn’t make it this year, but it’s something we really love and are looking forward to next year. I meet with state leaders, and I always encourage that.

Glenn: As we brainstorm about recommendations for next year, we will try to get more fulltime cityreachers to attend.

Jarvis: What other suggestions are there? I’m curious as to logistics. How do others feel about meeting at a church as opposed to a spot where you meet under one roof?

Laurraine: It is easier for people to come and go when it is held in a hotel rather than a church (i.e. run up to our room in between sessions).

Mike Douglass: I would echo that. I loved the church environment. It was fantastic, but there are downsides in terms of travel logistics. The other things, in terms of design, I would suggest that there was a lot to do, and that’s one of the benefits, a chance to network. Maybe a little more free time could be built in to network and absorb, discuss together in an unofficial “down time” way. It was like drinking from a fire hydrant. It was good water, but hard to have time to digest it all.

Glenn: That is graciously said. We went hard, and I felt it by the third day.

John Evans: To echo Mike’s comment, we found the same thing about our meeting in Modesto. He called it “more deck time.”
Glenn: Does that mean we should do it on a cruise? Affirmation by several.
Charles: On the planning team, we said we had a fire hydrant in St. Louis – I wanted to visit with Mike but didn’t have time. But we keep getting more good things. I agree.
John: Charles, you did an outstanding job on logistics. Major applause!
Charles: We had 11-12 on the committee, but we kept getting good things. I have this book on Boundaries. I haven’t read it yet. When I went to the conference in Little Rock, it’s held at Fellowship Bible. When I went to Willow Creek, it’s held there. NAE met at a hotel, and then they went into the red. Leith Anderson had it at his church. One real benefit of meeting in a church facility is the cost. The downside is that people couldn’t go to their rooms, but that’s almost an upside. The cost was huge – we didn’t have to pay for meeting rooms, and people who wanted to stay in a $49 a night room could.

Glenn: You are right. We want to keep it reasonable. It’s always a challenge. For the first few years we were at Simpsonwood in Atlanta. In St. Louis we had the Athletic Club. Now we’ve had the experience at the Assembly of God Church. Facilities matter. Facilities are meant to facilitate. If you have to travel too far from where you are staying, I see that could be a hazard for those who need some rest during the day. That coffee shop at the church was great.
Any suggestions program-wise? We do want a little less content, more deck time. What kind of leaders do you want to hear from: Here were some suggestions: Eric Swanson, Tim Keller, John Perkins, Steve Shogrin, Reid Carpenter, and Robert Lewis. Any women? Any others? None volunteered. Glenn invited people to email him with suggestions.

Any final thoughts?
Laurraine: Some of the workshops that were very beneficial, like Mike Sticklers, you might want to repeat in future years.

Jarvis: I want to ask Laurraine or Charles to pray for you, Glenn, as our next CIR Convener, to ask God’s blessing before we get off this call.

Laurraine prayed. Jarvis thanked all who took the time to participate.






.