Discipleship of New Members Through Teamnet Ministries Teams

During the calendar year 2009 Canyonville Church plans to conduct a minimum of two full-message evangelistic series. These meetings will be conducted by our Evangelism Team leaders and members. Canyonville Church is organized as a networking system of individual teams focused on various aspects of church life.
The team responsibilities relating to discipleship of new members are as follows:

• The Evangelism Team will lead out in continuing personal Bible studies with the new members, utilizing the Good News for Today Bible study guides and the gift NKJV Bibles.

• Discipleship Team will encourage new members to active participation in the Pastor’s Bible Class during Sabbath School time.

• Ministry Team will give support to health education, lifestyle changes, and group clinics for victory over destructive habits and addictions as may be needed.

• Fellowship Team will foster integration of the new members into the fabric of the church family by providing safe and wholesome social events and encouraging healthy relationships.

• Worship Team will encourage worship leaders and “up-front” participants to always be sensitive to the needs of new members and guests who may not be familiar with in-house “Churchese.”

• New members will be immediately included in one of the 12 Pastoral Care Parishes led the church elders, deacons, and deaconesses.
It should be noted that although the organizational structure is in place, the responsibilities and relationships outlined above are still somewhat formative. We are growing in our understanding of these ministries, but we believe that by God’s grace we can truly make a kingdom difference in the lives of people in our communities who are hungering and thirsting for the gospel.

SGST Yahoo! Group -- New!

I've just created a new group on Yahoo! Groups for discussion of spiritual gifts. It is primarily for members of the Spiritual Gifts Support Team at the Canyonville Adventist Church, but we will gladly allow others join in the discussion. Our motto in Teamnet Ministries is "None of us is as smart as all of us!"

You can visit the Yahoo! group by clicking HERE

I've also posted a link on the left in the "Related Links" box.

Spiritual Gifts Support Team

The most current incarnation of Teamnet Ministries has seen the emergence of a group we call our Spiritual Gifts Support Team. The SGST came into being when the church I now serve as pastor decided to change the function and focus of what we had previously called the Human Resources Council. The HRC was basically a standing committee that functioned as a permanent personnel committee for the local church. Whenever there was a vacancy in an office, the HRC was called upon to find someone to fill it. The emphasis was always on Spiritual Gifts and finding the right person for the right job.

At a point about a year and three months ago, the church body decided they wanted to discontinue the standing personnel committee plan, but instead return to the previously tried-and-trusted annual nominating committee process. At the time, some Teamnet Ministries loyalists saw this as a serious retrogression back into lock-step traditionalism and control by the few. Others saw the step as a retreat from chaos, in that they could not understand the open system at the heart of Teamnet Ministries. Nevertheless, something very beneficial has emerged from that conflict.

What had been the Human Resorces Council was morphed into a Spiritual Gifts Support Team. The SGST has spent the last year and several months learning its new role, and most recently some tangible clarity has begun to emerge.

As we now see it, there are two main tracks of service lying before the SGST. (1) Spiritual gifts education for the church body, including promotion, awareness, training, and many other different aspects of helping the individual members become aware of their personal gifts and placing them in service for the Lord; and (2) a coaching/mentoring relationship with each of the team leaders/facilitators, in which the members of the SGST work in support roles with them. Their task in this track is to coach, ask questions, assist, and encourage the team leaders in their work to manage, inspire, and coordinate the spiritual gifts resident within the team members.

These two tracks are supported internally within the SGST through an intentional, focused plan of personal growth and inservice education. At present, the coaching skills of the SGST members are seriously in need of development. Communication skills and techniques need to be studied and put to use in sharing the inspiration and joy of service through using the gifts God has given to every believer.

The SGST is a wonderful outgrowth of a period of distress within the congregation. There are incredible opportunities lying ahead of us. It is truly amazing to see how God is leading in the ongoing development and evolution of this plan we call Teamnet Ministries.

As always, the glory is all His.