Something that has been on my heart for a while now is how we can better work together to encourage and recruit people into full-time gospel ministry. Club 5 played a major role in helping me think through full-time ministry. The conference/network provided a number of things.
1. Each year at the Club 5 conference I had to prepare a talk and have it critiqued, as well as getting taught by John Chapman and John Woodhouse how to preach.
2. Each year at the Club 5 conference I was interviewed by a coach and this helped me think through things.
3. Club 5 provided an opportunity to mix and talk with other people who were wrestling with similar issues that I was.
4. Each year at the Club 5 conference there were talks specifically aimed at people thinking about full-time ministry, I especially remember the talks from Timothy and the call to suffer for the gospel.
At the present time in Dubbo I have some guys who are at that stage where I want to be challenging them about full-time ministry, but Club 5 does not exist any more. Spur only runs for a day and it’s hardly worth the trip from Dubbo. I’d love them to rub shoulders with some others. I think within the Pressy network there are many others in a similar situation.
So I have 2 ideas.
One idea is to take them along to the Anglican “Mission minded” conference which seems to be Philip Jensen’s spin on Club 5 for the Anglicans. So basically we could gate-crash the Anglican conference and if they do anything particularly Anglican we could split into our own little group and run things.
Would anyone else be interested in doing this – either this year or 2012?
MMNLetterOfInvitation is the invitation letter.
Number 2 idea is to start our own recruitment conference on the long weekend, maybe in 2012 or 2013. I think it would need to have all the elements that the old Club 5 conference had. Someone to do some tough Bible talks aimed at people thinking about ministry, (Luke Tattersall, Craig Tucker, etc) we would get the people who come to prepare a talk and have it critiqued by ministers who come along, and also get someone to do some seminars on how to preach from the Old Testament, NT etc (Bryson Smith, Phil Campbell etc). Also we would assign each person coming along to a coach for the weekend who will take them through some questions and encourage them to try ministry in the church they are in at the moment, plus some panel sessions where we interview people about ministry options and pastoral ministry and so on, Paul Sheely, Dave Thurston, etc, Plus we could interview people about ministry in Western New South Wales, ministry on the north coast, ministry in Sydney, MTS/metro options, getting thru college, platform costs, training options and so on.
I am very keen to hear peoples responses and gut reaction to this.
Love idea #2 …we @ the Northern Rivers are thinking through the same ideas .. develop and encourage guys into full time ministry
Its a great idea Wayne… METRO conference works for those perhaps one step closer to taking the plunge. In seeking new METRO trainees for 2012/13 a common theme I’m coming across is a lack of people ready or able to be trained for METRO.
I think though that a more foundational aspect to all this is to be encouraging pastors & leaders to be intentionally providing this sort of training in their local setting. I can see the conference you are describing being a spur and a support to that sort of local discipleship training but without it happening locally I’m not sure much is gained.
I also think that at least one of your suggested input people is a bit suspect!
Thanks Wayne this thinking is VERY NEEDED… I hope we can do something like you’ve suggested. Paul I’m wondering if this really fits neatly under the METRO umbrella anyway, i.e. the Recruiting Organization bit… any chance of adding to the existing METRO conference (even if it ends up being a week long event)? maybe start the conference with what Wayne has suggested. Start 2012 and really target pastor and leaders… let’s presume that pastors/leaders are keen, but don’t know where to start, find it too risky etc… we just need a jog along and some training/wisdom from experienced guys to get going… a day and a half might be a great investment in the Kingdom… as it develops people could come to the conference for everything or just the ‘recruiting’ half or just the ‘training’ half… we need to keep up the conference for the trainees/trainers/coaches but is there an opportunity to also spur on intentional recruiting? There’s lots of things I could commit a week to but won’t (unless I have to!!)… get this off the ground and it’s the first thing in my diary!
We definitely need a movement to generate this sort of stuff…. our denominational structures won’t & perhaps can’t deliver this sort of stuff…
But it needs people committed to making it happen the difficulty is always carving out time away from your local ministry…. we need a bigger kingdom vision!
I did wonder about putting it at the start or end of Metro Conference or even as a strand within the METRO conference.
ADVANTAGE: Lots of stuff overlaps eg how to give a talk, coaching and interviews, main bible talks etc.
DISADVANTAGE:
(1) The people we are aiming to bring probably all WORK so a long weekend is better than a working week. Can Metro be moved near to a long weekend?
(2) If it’s Presbyterian are we obliged to encourage people people to Presbyterian Ministry? Eg Club 5 recruited me from Anglican Church into Presbyterian Ministry, I’d like to have the same flexibility without unnecessarily upsetting people.
What do you think Paul?
METRO conference can’t really be moved because its important o be near the beginning of the year.
I think we’re recruiting gospel workers not presbyterians… although I think it would be helpful to retain a pressy flavour in terms of presenters etc….
It might work well to have it in October away from Metro and towards the end of the year. I agree Paul recruiting gospel workers but retain pressy flavour of presenters.
I wonder if I need to SHOUT cause I’m so far away here in Rockhampton?
I think a Pressy Club 5 is great idea Wayne, and while Paul makes a great point about it happening at a local level first – its a bit of a chicken an egg argument. One will feed and drive the other. The conference isn’t just for trainees at that point but for Pastors and local churches too – the benefits are enormous. I can only see positives in doing it. You’ve certainly listed enough talent and experience across our denomination (and there’s a few others missing). If we pitched it at Kingdom growth rather than just maintaining our boat then it could have wider appeal.
I say go for it. How can I help?
Mike
I’m with you Mike…. I didn’t mean that it should happen locally “first” but that any conference should aim at fostering this sort of stuff in local churches to ensure an ongoing cultural change…
THe beauty of a conference is that its a great spur to that sort of thing…
I remember chatting with Steve Cree a couple of years ago about having something similar to this but widening it to anyone interested in Pressy Ministry. So that it is a place that gets people we have in our churches thinking about full time ministry but also is a place where people who may be thinking about full time ministry in the Pressy system, who currently aren’t, could come along and be part of it and also investigate how they may be able to move into the Pressy church. I know this maybe widening the brief but unless we look outside ourselves to get good guys into ministry then we will be struggling to fill positions coming up in the future. Not sure how this fits but worth putting into the mix and if anyone was in on what Steve and I think, others were thinking, more than I was would be good to hear from you as too what you think. If this is a completely separate issue or tied to what you have been thinking Wayne.
Paul
I wasn’t thinking narrow at all. Basically anyone we are in contact with and who might be interested in FT ministry, including moving into (or out of) the pressy system.
Great idea Wayne… and good discussion fellas!
Perhaps part of the thinking about WHO is not so much recruiting people for Pressy ministry, but also creating a ‘spur-on’ opportunity for people in Pressy churches to move towards Kingdom ministry. This was the great strength of Club 5 (as Wayne has identified). I’m sure it would be a conference/movement with a strong Pressy flavour and the Pressy ministry pathway would be the most well-trodden… but like Club 5 focus is on particular people being raised up/encouraged towards all kinds of ministry.
Could this be a weekend-before add-on to METRO conference (ie. Fri night – Sunday afternoon: ‘Club 5’; Mon-Wed: METRO). METRO trainees, trainers and coaches would probably be at the ‘Club 5’ part too bringing along those who are further back down the path. What I like about this approach is METRO-trainees are engaged in recruiting, inviting and equipping too.
Hi Gents (and any ladies looking in)
Good stuff. I reckon having an event such as option 2 could really prove to be a great catalyst/support for local-church-based recruitment and training if done well.
Picking up on Russell’s comment, I wonder whether we really need more guys in “full-time” gospel ministry or simply more guys, and girls, in gospel ministry, “full stop”. Seeing as this is an “early pathway” initiative would it be best to keep the definition quite broad in order to accommodate a range of ministry options, including bi-vocational and unpaid roles.
Paul, could you please expand on your reply to Dave Powell’s comment. What would be the pros and cons of having this event/movement under the oversight of METRO?
The Con would definitely be more work for me!!! 🙂
It fits within the METRO umbrella… but I wonder if it might be easier free of the constraints of any denominational committee. I think I came away from the assembly more convinced than ever that denominationally there’s little on offer in terms of gospel strategy etc.
I can se that METRO ought to be an important partner in it…
I’m not sure actually! (if you haven’t worked that out yet!) and I’m trying to finish my Bible talk on Hebrews 10!
I’d email you my Hebrews 10 sermon but I preached on 10-12 as one talk 🙂
Hi Chaps,
I’m one of those women who pop their head in from time to time to see what you guys are up to & was pleased to find such an interesting conversation. I hope you don’t mind but I thought I’d throw some of my thoughts out there……
1) I think something like this to challenge & stimulate people for gospel ministry is needed, I agree with Pete that perhaps the more driving issue is getting more people (male & female) interested/exposed to opportunities in all forms of gospel ministries (Chaplaincy/part-time positions esp. for women/Missionary work/unpaid) in local Churches.
2) Could there potential for this to also be tied in with the Timothy Partnership……both in recruiting for the course but also in tapping into those already in it & not quite knowing what/how else they can be involved in Kingdom work. Coaching aspect here is strong.
3) @ Paul Mckendrick -” could come along and be part of it and also investigate how they may be able to move into the Pressy church” I trained at an Interdenominational Bible College & being interested in networking & stats & people know that there are consistently (over a study of 6 years at least) that there are 10-15 Pressie women training at anyone time who are getting snapped up quick smart by other Denominations or parachurch & around 6-8in the last 4-5 years guys who move into Pressie ministry from this College, how many more could be tapped? Maybe no moew The only access as a Denom we have to them is via their local Church or a once a year Denominational day @ College. Something like this, with the right inside advertising could do a better job then a 30 min talk, competing against others.
3) @ Paul Sheely – I wonder if rather then the workload falling to you whether the METRO Committee could commission 2 working parties – 1 for METRO conference if you thought that would help you & 1 for the toe-dipping/checking it out ministry…..you could just oversee things :>)
It would be ideal to work it into METRO & perhaps use 2nd years to talk about some of the realities of ministry as well, but yes most people would need it to be a weekend & METRO needs to be at the start of the year……..and taking a Sunday off whilst a worthy investment, can be a challenge…..could you trial it by having an evening session/s in 2012 that was advertised in Bible Colleges & Sydney Churches to see if there’s interest & then think logistically for out of Sydney people for 2013?
That’s all I’ve got now…..cheers all
Hey guys,
A bit late I realise however, I was thinking that I’d find it helpful if maybe the first conference we ran was aimed at the hunters and gatherers of these new gospel workers. Paint the vision, equip, encourage and challenge. I guess it would mean that we would be a year ‘behind’ but maybe it would pay off in the future with more motivated, enabled ‘talent scouts.’
Sensible suggestion Hamish!
A great idea, even though it seems obvious when you suggest it! And it sounds like there is lots of support.
I also benefited a lot from Club 5. It would be good to talk with Club 5 organisers about why they stopped. We can learn from difficulties they faced or avoid the same mistakes.
I think the METRO committee of the Presbyterian Church is running with this. Any updates Paul?
Hi Wayne – and others who happen to be reading
I’ve just stumbled across this insightful read. Thought I’d just let you all know that SPUR for 2012 has gone back to a residential conference, and is the weekend before the October long weekend (21st – 23rd September). Hopefully this year will have a similar vibe to the old Club 5 conferences!
We’ve heard other people say similar things about the benefits of a residential conference that challenges people into full time ministry. I’m not sure if you’ve gone ahead and made other recruiting conference plans, but hopefully this also helps you in making decisions.
There’s more info about SPUR here: http://www.mts.com.au/events/nsw-act-spur-2012-tangled-residential
Hope to see you there!
Thanks Tara – looks great!
(We can’t go as there’s an SU Cricket camp on here in Dubbo with our MTS trainee running it but maybe next year.)
I hope it becomes an annual thing again. Any reason why not the long weekend?
Hi
We avoided the long weekend this year as we wanted to prevent a clash with Mission Minded conference. At this stage it looks like it will be an annual thing, we’ll have to see how this one goes!
Tara