# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2016_S20 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 20 Module Name OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS Module Description Module Objectives/Outcomes Module Name For the Love of Our Neighbors: Creating Connections with Our Community For the Love of Our Neighbors explores options for determining the best means of creating connections and building relationships with the people of the community, especially those who are unchurched or dechurched. It includes an overview of models for surveying, canvassing, social ministry, etc., and walks through a process of determining which models are most appropriate for the congregation’s setting. • An understanding of the relationship between Creating Connections/ Building Relationships and Making Disciples • Analyzing current outreach activities to determine their nature and effectiveness • Identifying at least one outreach activity (current or new) to implement using the Connect to Disciple model for outreach Gracious Hosts: Welcoming and Responding to Guests Gracious Hosts goes beyond training selected people for welcoming visitors (e.g., ushers and greeters) to creating an atmosphere in which the entire congregation takes an active role of receiving and responding to visitors as their guests. • An awareness of how people outside of the congregation perceive the congregation when visiting • A visitor experience enhancement plan for facilities and grounds • A plan for guiding every member to developing a more welcoming environment for visitors Revealed to Children: Reaching Families through Children’s Ministry Revealed to Children guides participants through the Connect to Disciple outreach model and then provides a process of evaluating how children’s ministries such as Sunday School and VBS are being used in all three phases of outreach and how they can be used more effectively to reach the families of the children being served. • An understanding of the relationship between Creating Connections/ Building Relationships and Making Disciples • An assessment of the barriers and gaps in how children’s ministries currently move people through the Connect to Disciple Outreach Funnel • A plan for addressing the barriers and gaps that are limiting disciple making Beyond the Classroom: Outreach through Lutheran Education Beyond the Classroom examines the importance of integrating the ministry that occurs in the classroom with the overall Word and Sacrament ministry of the congregation— and vice versa. Using the Connect to Disciple outreach model, Beyond the Classroom provides a framework for evaluating current practices and for charting a course for a more fully integrated ministry that enhances the mission focus of an educational ministry. • An understanding of the relationship between Creating Connections/ Building Relationships and Making Disciples • An assessment of the barriers and gaps in how educational ministries currently move people through the Connect to Disciple Outreach Funnel • A plan for addressing the barriers and gaps that are limiting disciple making 2016 Convention Workbook Module Description Module Objectives/Outcomes One Flock, Many Sheep: Holistic Group Ministry One Flock, Many Sheep explores the roles, dynamics, and impact of groups within a congregation and how those groups can be used for more effective outreach and assimilation. Moving beyond traditional small groups, One Flock, Many Sheep considers all of the types of congregational groups including those that are not typically considered ministry groups. • A catalog of all of the congregations’ groups, what they do, and how they fit into the congregation’s mission • A plan for integrating existing groups into the congregation’s mission and for adding new groups to meet unmet ministry needs As Iron Sharpens Iron: Growing through Conflict As Iron Sharpens Iron approaches the inevitable conflict that surfaces in a congregation as an opportunity for strengthening the congregation and its understanding of mission rather than as a problem to be solved. It lays the groundwork for directly addressing the conflict by exploring the underlying causes of conflict and works toward reconciliation leading to a renewed sense of having a shared mission in Christ. • A process for engaging and effectively resolving conflict • An awareness that conflict can be healthful for a congregation and helpful in fostering new ideas for mission and ministry • A productive resolution (including repentance and reconciliation) of issues resulting from any conflict(s) that may have triggered the training module