Why ONA?
of helping you and your church reach your community for Christ! This includes recruiting, assessing, resourcing, training, and supporting church planters who have been called and placed in the field by their presbyteries; coaching, training, and equipping established churches to flourish in their communities; and training and equipping Christians to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ONA is currently without an executive director, however Rev. Wayne Frazier is doing a wonderful job as our church vitality coach. He offers the following different options for pastors, sessions and congregations.
O
Church Vitality Discovery This 2-hour seminar for elders and deacons discovers your church’s core values using the Embers to a Flame paradigm from Revelation 2:4-5.
A questionnaire is sent 10 days ahead of the seminar to enable people to participate. Every church has core values, but we often do not know what they are. Some are actual, existing at the present church culture. Values discovery is an early step toward church vitality and clear direction.
Loving Your Neighbors This 1-hour challenge encourages members to be faithful to the Two Great Commandments (Matthew 22:36-40). Specific strategies are given so
that your neighborhood can become your parish! A variety of ideas are discussed about how to intentionally connect with neighbors and grow friendships which are essential for gospel conversations today.
Secret Guest Survey Invite Wayne to come on a Sunday morning to worship as a “secret guest worshipper.” As he comes and participates in worship, he can tell
you what it is like to be a guest at your church. The survey begins with a visit to your website, arrival at your church property, and suggestions about your worship service. A summary is provided within the next week for the session. This often uncovers practices or even omissions that congregations and pastors miss.
Zoom Coaching Call Contact Wayne with a challenge you are facing or just the reality that your church seems stuck. He encourages pastors, sessions, and outreach committees. As we strategize together perhaps with fresh eyes, God will lead to understanding how we can better connect with the local com- munity. Every church and community is unique and in God’s providence we need to find what will be effective in our location!
Framing the Future of Your Church (FFCM) Update God is using church vitality in ARP churches. In September ONA began another cohort of pastors and churches for FFCM. Five pastors and
their wives participated in ASSESS at Holden Beach from September 9-12. This provided opportunity to be refreshed, challenged, and introduced to the FFCM process. Clarity is essential for a vital church to provide our community with access to the means of grace. Topics covered included: gospel identity, gospel encouragement, and the courage to lead. An overview of FFCM was given as well as suggestions about selecting a vision team of 9 to 12 members for session approval. The schedule also provided time for relaxing walks along the beach.
Churches participating were Pinecrest, Christ Community (FL), Living Waters, Peachtree Corners, and Oak Ridge (SC). Each month, pastors
had Zoom calls together (along with Wayne Frazier) preparing them to facilitate the Vision Frame in their churches. The friendships developed at Holden Beach provided a healthy context for pastors to express their personal or corporate challenges. In January, further training was livestreamed from the ARP Center. Every church was able to participate on site or from their remote location.
Monthly Zoom calls for pastors also continue from January through May. The training will conclude with more strategy, measures, vision proper and implementation.
ONA’s office staff is available to help too! Connor Hipps has been offering webinars and guidance during Covid social distancing to help
churches navigate virtual options. One of the resources ONA offers is MissionInsite. MissionInsite uniquely integrates information about your community through demographic and analytic tools. This is the most up-to-date information available and it is free for ARP Churches because ONA and presbyteries pay the fees! This data will enable your pastor and elders to learn the priorities and ways to strategically connect your neighbors with the gospel of Jesus.
May any of these be helpful for your congregation? Please let us know!
Wayne Frazier
wayne@arpsynod.org 704-641-1317
Helping You Reach Your Community 14 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
utreach North America (ONA) is the home missions agency of the ARPC. So what does ONA actually do? ONA has been tasked by Synod with 5 areas of responsibility. The one people are most familiar with is church planting. However, ONA is also tasked with church vitality, evangelism, multi-cultural ministry, national presence, and administration. ONA works through presbyteries with the mission
Outreach North America
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