Motivation

Bryn Hughes presented a fascinating insight into the work of David McClelland the whole area of motivation. If you ever get a chance to hear Bryn talk I strongly urge you to hear him.

This evening Bryn discussed how peoples needs, or motivations, can generally be classed as either achievement, affiliation, or power. Studies have shown that the majority of people have one of these areas as their primary motivation. If you were on the course this evening, have a look at the new polls on the right - which motivation most resonates with you, and maybe more contentiously, which motivation would you ascribe to your wife/fiancee/best friend/general-significant-other? (remember voting on the poll is strictly anonymous!)

Model or Vision?

Here's a question:

How would you compare having a Model for Ministry as discussed by Pete Read with Having a Church Vision as presented by Colin Baron?

Does working out the calling that God has placed on you as a local fellowship of believers supercede any model you might consider working to?

Let us know your thoughts.

Add a comment!

Can I encourage you, dear reader, to make a comment on the posts you are reading. You don't need any special password for this - just click on the the "comments" word on the bottom right of the post, and add your thoughts.

The more people join in, the better it becomes!

Models of Ministry

One of Pete Read's models was based on the great commission, where he used Matthew 28:19-20 to suggest that if our aim was making disciples then we should do this by 'going', 'baptizing', and 'teaching'. These three actions could give us three aspects of church ministry - mission, pastoral, and training.

This suggested this week's poll to me - which of these three areas of ministry would come most naturally to you? Click on your answer on the poll on the right hand side, and lets see what we have on the course. Note you don't need to be logged in to vote - in fact it's open to anyone, and your selection is anonymous!

Sue's contribution....

Wow....what great fun......I'm learning to blog and loving it! I'm really enjoying the Master Builders course and I am seriously impressed with how professional it is. Colin's talk on Vision last Wednesday was great, especially when he talked about articulating a vision. It was a practical and honest look at how we can get to grips with what God is saying. One of the most inspiring moments of the evening was when Colin started to talk about communicating vision in stories. I recalled my own story and what God has spoken to me......and I have decided to write my own story (as it unravels) so that I can build my own faith when life overtakes me, and remember what God has promised. Finally...be brave and have a go at blogging - it's easy, honest!

Paul's Blogging Presentation

For you information & entertainment, here's Paul's Blogging presentation as a movie ...



... just press the play button.
Simon

Diary updates

The talk on Empowering Volunteers on Feb 20th will be presented by Bryn Hughes. Bryn is an excellent speaker who runs a Christan training and consultancy company. For more details see his website http://www.church-matters.co.uk/.

The talk on Feb 27th will be on "Ministry in Community", by Pete Read.

There will be no talk on March 5th, as John Kpipi will cover Leadership Faith during his weekend conference on Fri 7th and Sat 8th March.

The course program on the blog right hand side has been updated with these details.

Online poll

Colin spent some time talking about God's overall vision for his creation and his people, and how our church vision and our personal vision should come under that. With this in mind I've set up a little online poll with the question - to what extent do you feel you have a well formed personal vision? I'll let you know that I personally struggle with this. There are lots of things I do, and stuff I can capable of doing, but I'm not sure I'd be able to articulate it into a coherent vision. Definitely something I'm praying about, and one of the reasons I found Colin's talk so provoking.

Notes

I have added Colin's notes from the Church Vision talk to the blog, under the "Speakers Notes" section on the right hand side.

Sue Ward also typed up her notes from the first session, which I've added under the "Delegates Notes" section.

If you have any other documents, or links you think might be useful, let me know and we'll see what we can add.

I hope you find these resources helpful.

Next evening (6th Feb)

Colin Baron will be presenting the second evening in the Master Builders training track, talking on "Growing and Developing a Vision".

Hyde Town Hall,
6.30 for food, 7.30 for the talk.

Blogging

By the way, if you'd like to contribute to this blog there are two ways:

Anyone can enter a comment on an existing post - just click where it says 'comment' and add your thoughts

If you wish to add your own main post, then your email has to be set up on the blog system, which sounds a bit scary but is really easy - email me if you fancy that!

Reclaiming the idea and the simplicity of Ministry

In the first evening of the new training track Peter Read gave an excellent introduction to the idea of Christian ministry, discussing what ministry might involve, and where the agenda for church ministry might come from.

He poked fun at the idea that “Christian ministry” meant working full time for a church organisation, asking us to think far wider than that.

Though we’d all agree with the idea of the priesthood of all believers it’s easy to lapse in our minds into a hierarchy – full time workers, then the keen and gifted, and then the rest of us. Peter used the image of a cruise liner, where 5% of the people onboard doing all of the work, while the rest sit and try to relax, while the ship sails round in circles. He encouraged us to think of a battleship instead, where everyone plays their part, on a journey with a purpose!

His teaching style was to talk for a bit, then ask simple but thought provoking questions for us to discuss in twos and threes, and then gather feedback. He finished with a short video to make us consider what ministering to one another in a loving community might involve – particularly in the area of antique cars!

On your marks

Master Builders Leadership training track will commence on Wednesday 30th January 2008 at Hyde Town Hall - 6:30pm for food, 7:30pm for talks.