Nashville Discipleship Summit

[Barb Bouldrey]

Any of you going to be at Nashville Grace next Saturday for the Discipleship Summit?

John and I are attending.

Barb

[Marsha Lynn]

Any of you going to be at Nashville Grace next Saturday for the Discipleship Summit?

John and I are attending.

Barb

Barb, how was it? I'm planning to attend the one in Indianapolis on March 29. I can't find where anyone who has been to one has brought back a report to us.

Marsha

[Barb Bouldrey]

Marsha,

Nashville got hit with a snowstorm on Friday evening and all night. 300 were registered to attend and only 70 of us made it.

Woody Stevens did a great job with his introductory message. The materials were good. The break out sessions were good.

The concept was great. The sharing was valuable.

But I felt as if it was a lot of generalized ideas with no "how to's." And that disappointed me. I wanted some new ideas, but got none. We received two books as we left and one of them was almost word-for-word the message Woody Stevens gave at the beginning.

Actually, I felt that the General church is wasting a whole lot of money on these discipleship summits. It needed more "meat."

I attended the adult breakout sessions and enjoyed input from people from other districts.

The challenge to "make disciples" was important and well presented.

Barb

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

I got a call from Mecca (KC) asking if I was attending and bringing a group. I told them it was a bit far (Dallas) to take my folks for an event like that.

With the explosion of technology I wonder if our denomination ought to move to internet video events instead of "come to us" events. With our big screen video projection systems, high speed internet connects, etc. I think conferences could attract a significant grass roots audience if some effort was put into it.

Personally, I think "come to us" thinking is going away sooner and not later. People are more and more accepting of training, etc. in a distance learning format.

By the way, I think local church events are headed that way too -- in not too many years, most churches will be quite comfortable with "Welcome to our worship service, both you here in the sanctuary and those participating from home."

[Sue Pyles]

I think our Summit will be at the Grove City Church of the Nazarene in May.

I'll be going.

[Marsha Lynn]

I got a call from Mecca (KC) asking if I was attending and bringing a group. I told them it was a bit far (Dallas) to take my folks for an event like that.

With the explosion of technology I wonder if our denomination ought to move to internet video events instead of "come to us" events. With our big screen video projection systems, high speed internet connects, etc. I think conferences could attract a significant grass roots audience if some effort was put into it.

Personally, I think "come to us" thinking is going away sooner and not later. People are more and more accepting of training, etc. in a distance learning format.

By the way, I think local church events are headed that way too -- in not too many years, most churches will be quite comfortable with "Welcome to our worship service, both you here in the sanctuary and those participating from home."

Scott, if my primary interest were in the material that will be presented, I wouldn't bother with this, even at a mere 90 miles away. I absorb new information much better in printed form than oral. I could stay home and read a book custom-selected for me by Amazon to learn about making disciples. (And am already reading several, for that matter.) Or I could order a CD and listen to it later.

I'm hoping that the value of this event will be more than simple exposure to the information being presented. To me, it's a chance to monitor the heartbeat of the denomination by gathering with other Nazarenes and seeing what message our leaders bring to us and how others, including people from outside my local church, respond to that message.

I certainly have much to learn in the area of making disciples. However, while it may sound arrogant to say so, I will be surprised if Kansas City comes up with anything that will shed significant light on that topic for me. Still, I'm willing to give up a Saturday for the privilege of being part of this denomination-level event. If something significant IS happening at these events, I want to get it first-hand rather than second.

Marsha

[Barb Bouldrey]

Who is discipling you? Whom are you discipling? Each one reach one. How are you and your church accomplishing this?


These are the main themes of the Summit.

I have always believed that the way to reach the lost and unchurched is friendship evangelism and the way to make disciples is friendship mentoring.

I no longer believe in mass evangelism to build the local church.

I no longer believe in revival evangelism. It just does not happen here.

I gave up on contests working years ago.

I no longer believe in calling programs because no one wants to do it and people do not want to be bothered in their homes.

Dare to Care works if you work it. But it is hard to get people committed to even participate in THAT.

The old fashioned, "Lord, lay some soul upon my heart, and love that soul through me," is still the best way to build the church and make disiciples.

The breakout group discussions on what churches are doing to try to accomplish making disciples is worth the trip.

And it helped me to see that as an adult Sunday School teacher, and my methods of teaching, I AM discipling my class. I AM attempting to teach them how to be better disciples.

Barb

[G R 'Scott' Cundiff]

Of course, I believe in people "coming." Otherwise, I'd spend a lot of time doing stuff online or on the radio and reaching out to people right where they are.

Err....hummm....anyway....

I see the wonderful advantage of personal contact and the ability to look around and soak in the atmosphere of the event. I go out to the baseball game a few times each year to watch a game I could have seen better on my TV.

Still, I think the handwriting is on the wall. My wife did coursework on both her Bachelor's and her Master's as a distance learner.

I can't help but think that more people could be impacted by using technology to include those off site. I guess its a trade off -- fewer people being impacted in a greater way, or more people being impacted at lower levels.

With the advance of technology, the only thing that stands between us doing both is vision and money.




Scott, if my primary interest were in the material that will be presented, I wouldn't bother with this at all, even at a mere 90 miles away. I absorb new information much better in printed form than oral. I could stay home and read a book custom-selected for me by Amazon to learn about making disciples. (And am already reading several, for that matter.) Or I could order a CD and listen to it later.

I'm hoping that the value of this event will be more than simple exposure to the information being presented. To me, it's a chance to monitor the heartbeat of the denomination by gathering with other Nazarenes and seeing what message our leaders bring to us and how others, including people from outside my local church, respond to that message.

I certainly have much to learn in the area of making disciples. However, while it may sound ostentatious to say so, I will be surprised if Kansas City comes up with anything that will shed significant light on that topic for me. Still, I'm willing to give up a Saturday for the privilege of being part of this denomination-level event. If something significant IS happening at these events, I want to get it first-hand rather than second.

Marsha

[Mike Schutz]

The general church had no desire for anyone in the Northeast to attend. They didn't even bother to schedule one on the ENC region.

[Ryan Scott]

The general church had no desire for anyone in the Northeast to attend. They didn't even bother to schedule one on the ENC region.


Maybe they knew better?

[Andrew Henck]

The general church had no desire for anyone in the Northeast to attend. They didn't even bother to schedule one on the ENC region.

Looks like they just added a venue in Manchester, CT on April 5th.

Still no venues for any churches in the Southern California area...

[Marsha Lynn]

Looks like they just added a venue in Manchester, CT on April 5th.

Wow! That's quite the responsiveness to NazNet whining! Maybe it's time to pay attention to the old adage of being careful what we wish for?

:eek:

[Ryan Scott]

Still no venues for any churches in the Southern California area...


They really know better than that!

[Marsha Lynn]

I didn't see any of you there. :basic04

The program was well worth the trip for me. I thought the topic was handled well. There was a brief summary of several different "canned" discipleship programs, but this was not another one. We interacted with each other in small groups three different times -- first with strangers, then with those who happened to sit at a lunch table together when we divided by age interest, then with those from our own church. The contribution of ideas that are working and/or being tried in other churches was interesting. The various age-level leaders from Kansas City did an excellent job summarizing what came out of the discussions in the age-level sessions when we reconvened.

So am I ready to head right out and make Christlike disciples? Well, sort of. I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the end of the afternoon, back to the idea that my church could grow if only we really caught the vision and really prayed and fasted and really cared about the lost, and really got to know unchurched people. It always seems pointless to protest, but I DO care, I DO pray and fast, I know MANY unchurched people, and I share my faith with anyone who gives me an opening to do so. None of those things is measurable and I left with fear and trembling that someone would come up with a way of measuring my effectiveness and/or a program I need to work and that I would be found wanting, again.

But that may be simply a case of personal neurosis. I can't pin that on the SDMI people. They did an excellent job preparing and presenting encouraging material, in my opinion.

Marsha

[Jon Twitchell]

Manchester, CT got added a couple of months ago. But it was added after the initial promotional slicks were printed, so it continued to look as though there was nothing happening in the NE. I have to say that I was pretty disgusted when I saw the first promotional slick with nothing in NE.

On top of that, I got an email the other day saying that the Manchester, CT conference had been moved to a nearby church because the Manchester church had to "service a funeral" on the 5th.

[Wesley Smith]

Marsha and All,

My take on the Discipleship Summit that was conducted on our District and included Oregon Pacific and the Northwest District. I really thought it was tremendous. When we decided to make the change from a single focus on Sunday School to an important focus on Discipleship, it was very apparent that no one was "up to speed" in that arena. I joined several other people back in Kansas City several months ago to dialogue about how the SDMI Ministries Department was going to respond to the Discipleship challenge. In my humble opinion, Woodie Stevens is doing a powerful job of helping us to refocus. The task must be overwhelming at times. Anyway, I appreciated your comments!

Friend,

Wes

[Marsha Lynn]

Thank you, Wes, for the response here and your input into the discipleship summit. Also, for encouraging us several years ago to start being more intentional in prayer and fasting for our church. It's because of your efforts that I could mark on my survey Saturday that I fast "at least weekly." I heard someone seated in front of me whisper something about fasting falling by the wayside in today's church. Thank you for your part in counteracting that trend.

BTW, I see that my comment about not seeing any NazNetters at Indy may have been incorrect. Woodie Stevens became a registered NazNetter sometime Saturday.

(Woodie, if you happen to read this -- Welcome to NazNet!)

Marsha

Marsha and All,

My take on the Discipleship Summit that was conducted on our District and included Oregon Pacific and the Northwest District. I really thought it was tremendous. When we decided to make the change from a single focus on Sunday School to an important focus on Discipleship, it was very apparent that no one was "up to speed" in that arena. I joined several other people back in Kansas City several months ago to dialogue about how the SDMI Ministries Department was going to respond to the Discipleship challenge. In my humble opinion, Woodie Stevens is doing a powerful job of helping us to refocus. The task must be overwhelming at times. Anyway, I appreciated your comments!

Friend,

Wes

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

We no longer get all of the first hand notices, since Dwayne is not a pastor. I guess we learn about it if the pastor wants to participate.
But, we are going to te Prime Time Retreat April 7-9th. Wish you and John could be there Barb.

[Woodie Stevens]

Mike and Ryan:
I will look forward to meeting you this Saturday morning in Rockville, Connecticut at the Northeast Discipleship Summit.
You will be interested to know that we offered five different dates to the Northeast, none of which seemed to work. Even last week we had to change sites in Connecticut because of schedule complications in the area. It's a long story.
I call the summit, "a listening to you" tour because I'm new to the SDMI job. How can I help the local church if I don't know where you are coming from, the challenges you face, what's working and what's not working?
I have an important message from the Generals but I want to earn the right to say it, by listening to what you have to say about making disciples.
What if, "making Christlike disciples in the nations" is exactly what the Spirit is calling all of us to do? Imagine what our church will look like when every member has a positive response to the questions, "Who is discipling me?" "Who am I discipling?"
Hope to meet you Saturday,
Woodie J. Stevens
Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International, Director

[Mike Schutz]

Mike and Ryan:
I will look forward to meeting you this Saturday morning in Rockville, Connecticut at the Northeast Discipleship Summit.
You will be interested to know that we offered five different dates to the Northeast, none of which seemed to work. Even last week we had to change sites in Connecticut because of schedule complications in the area. It's a long story.
I call the summit, "a listening to you" tour because I'm new to the SDMI job. How can I help the local church if I don't know where you are coming from, the challenges you face, what's working and what's not working?
I have an important message from the Generals but I want to earn the right to say it, by listening to what you have to say about making disciples.
What if, "making Christlike disciples in the nations" is exactly what the Spirit is calling all of us to do? Imagine what our church will look like when every member has a positive response to the questions, "Who is discipling me?" "Who am I discipling?"
Hope to meet you Saturday,
Woodie J. Stevens
Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International, Director



Woodie,
I would have loved to go. Unfortunately, the information on the Connecticut event was not available when we had to make scheduling and budgeting decisions. I am disappointed, as the content looks like it is right on target for what we need.
And, if my previous post about nothing being scheduled in the north east sounded like a whine - well, it was.