Rise Up and Build
Rise Up and Build is a Region-wide two year process designed to assist individual churches in discerning and implementing God’s vision for ministry within their own context. This process has grown from the ABC/OHIO vision to help churches become healthy, vital, missional congregations. It involves a relationship with the ABC/OHIO Minister of Congregational Development who will covenant to walk along side the pastor and leaders and offer counsel and resources to assist the congregation in this process. Over the course of two years a leadership team, along with the pastor will work together using these building blocks for ministry.
The Inward Journey of Spiritual Formation
The Upward Journey to Discern Vision
The Outward Journey to Implement Vision
- The Inward Journey includes practicing the Spiritual Disciplines, moving from a mission-minded church to a missional church, and understanding the dynamics of change.
- The upward Journey moves a congregation to identifying core values, developing a purpose (mission) and discerning a vision – one that is challenging yet within reach of the congregation.
- The Outward Journey walks through the process of developing and implementing a strategic plan for new ways of ministry as a missional church.
Two quotes from Milfred Minatrea in Shaped by God’s Heart – The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, one of the texts used in Rise Up and Build.
At its core, it is not the number of activities a church is involved in that defines success, but whether those activities result in accomplishing God’s mission for His church. (from the Introduction p. xvi)
We can break down the difference between a mission-minded church and a missional church as follows:
- The mission-minded church emphasizes sending and supporting; the missional church emphasizes being and doing.
- The mission-minded church is representative; the missional church is participative.
- The mission-minded church perceives mission as one expression of its ministry; the missional church perceives mission as the essence of its existence. (p. 11.)
During the Rise Up and Build process a congregation will covenant with the Region to participate in these congregational development initiatives. The covenant affirms that the congregation is supportive of the process and that the Region staff person will set aside the time to work on a routine basis with the congregation. The covenant also acknowledges that a Leadership Team of 5 to 7 persons be chosen from among people of both position and passion (those who have been elected and those who have a desire to help the church take the next steps in ministry) and that the Region will provide leadership training events particularly for congregations involved in this process. Each quarter the congregational Leadership Team will meet with the team members from other churches involved in this same process in a cluster gathering.
A number of books will be used as texts for study by the Leadership Team and the pastor and will be used as guides in each of the Building Blocks.
This is a process for the congregation and not merely a new program being offered by ABC/OHIO. There is no template that is designed for all churches and in fact, each church will participate in this from their own context with the added value of the exchange of ideas from other congregations in cluster gatherings.
Contact your Regional Minister to explore this opportunity.
Staff
The staff of the American Baptist Churches of Ohio is here to serve you. To contact any staff member, select a name and a form will open to send them a message.
Rev. Jane Gibbons, Executive Minister of Ministry Programming and Ministry Development
Rev. Mark Click, Executive Minister of Administration and Denominational Relationship