Event to raise funds for church planting
The weekend of April 30-May 1 has been designated Mission USA ONE Weekend by the USMB Leadership Board. Mission USA ONE Weekend was created for churches to individually and collectively organize and designate various fundraising activities for the benefit of Mission USA and church planting.
The Leadership Board also hopes Mission USA ONE Weekend will increase interest and passion for planting additional MB churches and for renewal efforts. “Hopefully this will get our MB churches thinking more about church planting and becoming active participants in helping to make it happen,” says board member Clyde Ferguson of Hudson, NC, and a member of the Mission USA subcommittee.
While some congregations may choose to raise funds by taking a special offering for Mission USA, organizers encourage groups to plan special fundraising events such as car washes, garage sales or sponsored walks.
Information about Mission USA ONE Weekend has been sent to all USMB churches. Questions about the event should be directed to Mission USA Director Don Morris at don@missionusa.net
The idea of Mission USA ONE Weekend was born at the October 2010 USMB Leadership Board meeting. Members of the Mission USA subcommittee discussed ways to help fund the church planting and church renewal mission of Mission USA. One idea that quickly caught on was to promote one weekend a year that would be used by all MB churches as an event to help raise funds for Mission USA.—MUSA
LEAD Seminar a success
More than 80 pastors and church leaders from Kansas and Oklahoma attended the first ever Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Seminar held Feb. 24 and hosted by Memorial Road MB Church of Edmond, Okla. Mission USA, the USMB church planting and renewal ministry, facilitated the seminar, designed to provide key leadership ideas for pastors and leaders.
This first LEAD Seminar incorporated various presenters: Don Morris, Mission USA director, Tim Sullivan, Southern District Conference Minister, and Derk Madden, pastor of Discovery Bible Fellowship, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Collinsville, Okla.
Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv pictured right, was the special guest presenter. Groeschel is well known in the Christian community as the founding pastor of one of the largest networks of churches in America. Groeschel spoke on “Mindset Shifts, ” identifying practical ideas that pastors and leaders should incorporate in their ministry given today’s challenging social climate.
LEAD seminars could become a regular feature of a new national church health and renewal program being formulated by Mission USA in consultation with district leaders, says Morris. Other aspects of the new program being discussed are a coaching network, church surveys, conflict resolution initiatives and a church health resource exchange.
“This new program will have a coaching focus rather than a consultant focus and I’m excited about what we’re putting together,” says Morris. “There is a huge need in our churches for a solid national church health program that incorporates leadership tools that will make a difference.”—MUSA
This article is part of the CL Archives. Articles published between August 2017 and July 2008 were posted on a previous website and are archived here for your convenience. We have also posted occasional articles published prior to 2008 as part of the archive. To report a problem with the archived article, please contact the CL editor at editor@usmb.org.
