2010 Plan Update #23: October 2002
2010 Plan's Objective: Enlisting the conference and its churches to reach new population groups for Jesus Christ.
Key Developments Since Last Update:
- CHURCH DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. The Committee on Church Development approved a $100,000 three-year grant (contingent on meeting certain goals) to fund Valparaiso First UMC’s plan to establish a new congregation.
The committee also approved $5,000 matching grants for FW Aboite and Hanfield UMCs, and a $4,500 matching grant to Logansport Crosswind UMC to help these churches launch new worship services targeting unreached population groups.
- CHURCH PLANTER ASSESSMENT. Dr. Charles Ridley assessed a potential North Indiana Conference church planter October 10th. This person is being considered for a possible church plant in Schererville in the Calumet District.
- OTHER NEW-CHURCH DEVELOPMENTS. Rev. David Schrader and Ed Fenstermacher met with representatives from five Gary UMCs that are exploring the possibility of entering into a cooperative ministry or even a merged congregation.
Rev. Larry Ray and Ed Fenstermacher met with pastors from For t Wayne’s north side churches to continue exploring the best ways to reach and disciple the growing population. A couple of churches are considering relocating or starting second campuses and establishing a new church is also being considered. The district is conducting a study to determine the best strategy.
Rev. Oscar Ramos has also been working with groups forming new Hispanic faith communities in Fort Wayne, South Bend, Warsaw, as well as in other areas.
- REVITALIZATION. The Division on Parish & Community Development has endorsed a 2010 Plan redevelopment process that is being developed by Ed Fenstermacher that is a two-year process designed for local congregations.
- TRAINING. Ed Fenstermacher joined four other UM church developers from across the U.S. to study church planting in the Philippines. The trip was sponsored and funded by the General Board of Global Ministries. (See attached for some of his learnings. Additional learnings will be in his December “Vital Signs” article.) The team will be sharing what they learned at several national events this coming year.
Prayer Concerns:
- Pray for Rev. Kevin Buckley and the new Pathways UMC in South Bend.
- Pray for possible new churches in Schererville, north Fort Wayne, and Valparaiso.
- Pray for the Gary congregations to know what direction they should go.
- Pray for Rev. Oscar Ramos and our conference’s Hispanic faith communities.
- Pray that God would make our hearts--ache for the lost!
Philippines Church Planting: Fall 2002
by Ed Fenstermacher, North Indiana Conference
Description of the country
Although the Philippines is slightly larger than the state of Arizona, its population is 84,500,000, with 10,000,000 living in its capital Manila. It comprises over 7,000 islands.
Its people are 95% literate, yet 40% of households’ incomes are below the poverty line. In 2002, the unemployment rate was 10%. In 2002 there were 27 births per 1,000 people, 6 deaths and 1 net loss due to migration, so the population continues to rapidly grow.
It is the most Christian nation in Asia with 92% of its population claiming to be Christian—83% are Roman Catholic, 9% are Protestant. A small minority of the population is Moslem and they’re primarily on the southern island of Mindanao.
State of the United Methodist Church
United Methodism’s presence in the Philippines began back in 1898 when the Spanish ceded the country to the United States. The two oldest churches are Knox and Central UMCs located in Manila.
By 1980, the United Methodist church was an aging denomination with very inward-focused congregations. In 1980, Bishop Emerito Nacpil, now retired, had the dream that every United Methodist church would regularly be involved in establishing a new outreach mission (mainly churches).
As a result, a church-planting movement has developed in the Philippines that is local-church initiated with the Bishop and superintendents’ support. Taytay UMC, for example, established twenty new churches over an eight-year period. And it has had 40 laity receive the call to ministry since 1980! The church in the Manila Episcopal Area alone tripled in size—from 100,000 to 300,000 people. The number of churches has increased from 200 to 600. As a result not only have new districts been established, whole conferences have been formed as well!
The Central Conference of the Philippines now comprises three episcopal areas with eighteen annual conferences. In many ways, the movement is reminiscent of North Indiana back in the 1800’s when churches were establishing other churches, lay persons were providing leadership, and circuit riders were supervising and administering the sacraments.
Some Challenges that Faced the Philippine UMC
- Established churches had become inward focused.
- The clergy were more reticent to embrace the bishop’s vision than the laity.
- Seminary-trained pastors seemed to lack the passion to fulfill the Great Commission.
- Conference resources weren’t being allocated to fund a local-church outreach.
- The society is hostel in many areas to non-Catholic outreach.
Some Responses to These Challenges
- The bishop, who had helped initiate three churches in a four-year period himself, cast the vision--raising the expectations of his superintendents, pastors, and churches--and provided accountability.
- The Bishop and superintendents relied on the laity to help fund, initiate, and lead the new churches.
- To become a pastor, you first have to plant a new church.
- Although seminary is still encouraged, primary training is a two-week intensive on how to be a pastor and plant a church, followed by local-pastor school.
- The conference reallocated most of its resources to the local-church effort.
Now What Are the Leaders’ Roles?
- The bishop’s role continues to be casting the vision and holding people accountable, but it also includes raising funds for pastors’ salaries.
- The district superintendent’s role is identifying potential mission areas, helping local churches identify potential church planters, supervising pastors, and raising funds for church planting, including pastors’ salaries. (One district raises pigs to earn funds. A local church is assigned the responsibility of raising them.)
- The local church’s role is to be actively sending out teams to start new churches, providing funds for church plants, and recruiting and supporting new pastors.
Learnings the Philippine UMC Has Had the Past Twenty Years
- A church’s location is important. Some hard-to-get-to churches are struggling.
- Teams plant churches better than solo church-planters. Some churches now are being planted with two local pastors, a key lay couple from the sponsoring UMC, and a supervising elder that meets with the pastors each month.
- An effective model for establishing a new faith community includes:
- Having a sponsoring UM church or churches.
- Having UMC members already in the targeted community.
- Initially reaching the children through programming.
- Meeting physical as well as spiritual needs.*
- Starting Bible studies in homes.
- Contemporary worship is essential if the young people are to be reached. (Their services—including the songs they sing—are very similar to those in the NIC.)
- Reaching men is hardest. They usually come once they see the changes in their families.
- Prayer is a key ingredient.
What’s Transferable to North Indiana?
- The power of a vision to get inward-looking churches outward focused?
- Laity that want to make a Kingdom difference and are simply waiting to be challenged and empowered?
- An aggressive recruitment of clergy out of the local-church laity?
- What would you put on this list????
*They use M.O.D.E.L. which stands for medical, optical, dental, evangelism, and legal. Lay teams with those gifts come for a day to meet the needs of those living in the target area. Before the physical needs are met, each household has a spiritual assessment done. Those unchurched are then invited to attend home Bibles studies and an evening evangelistic worship service.
