My Brothers,
I want to thank you for being at the first meeting of Kingdom Together. It was an exciting first step to establishing partnerships. A special thanks to Pastor Roger Rodriguez for allowing us to meet at Segunda Iglesia Baptista. David Barrett, pastor of Faith Fellowship of Ft. Bend and Joe Arms, pastor of Believers Fellowship of Spring/Magnolia did a great job of facilitating discussion. Wayne Watkins took some bullet point highlights notes that I am giving to you to help you establish a mental reminder from the meeting. The participation in discussion was great and I am excited that there was a determined anticipation about setting the next meeting. We talked about meeting May 10th , but we realized that this would be the Monday before our May 12th INTERSECTION meeting. We want to encourage everyone to participate in the INTERSECTION meeting, with that we need to move the Kingdom Together meeting to May 17th, 5:00pm. We will secure a location and let you know.
Building THE Kingdom Together
Perry Eaton
Associate Director of Missions
San Felipe Baptist Association
Here are a few bullet points to ponder for our next meeting and I'm sharing a copy of an email from Joe Arms.
· Pray for those on your attendance sheet
· Think about what your church can bring to a partnership
· What are needs you church has
RE: Kingdom Together Meeting March 22, 2021
Perry,
just a few thoughts following last night’s gathering. What a blessing it was. Thanks to you, Sam and SFBA for hosting it. I was blessed to be a part of it. I was blessed to see all those pastors wanting to reach outside their own personal ministry arenas. I was blessed to see the broad cultural differences among the pastors but to see them all embrace that which we all hold in common, the Lord Jesus and our call to reach the world. I was blessed by the interaction of everyone who attended.
As shared in the meeting, Kingdom Together can cover a very wide spectrum of ministries and opportunities for churches to work hand in hand. The list of possible ideas can get real wide, real fast.
It might be good before the next meeting to have those in attendance to prayerfully consider what opportunities / ministries, they are looking to be involved in. Then it would be good for each pastor to list what type of opportunities / ministries that their church could offer to others to be involved in.
For instance:
Looking for the opportunity to:
-
I would love a prayer partnership with a church for a year. That could be defined with whatever church would choose to partner with us. We could share prayer needs, have a couple of joint fellowship prayer meetings, etc.
-
Also, I would not mind a counseling/mentoring role for younger or newer pastors.
Making the following opportunities available:
1 - Our church is also involved in missions in Belize and could offer some churches an opportunity to partner with some churches in that part of the world and many levels.
This is just my take away. I am certain that after a little more prayer and thoughtfulness, that God will bring other things to our hearts and minds. Hope it helps in some degree.
Joe Arms
Senior Pastor
Believers Fellowship Baptist
281-350-9673
W: bfchurch.com
E: PastorJoe@bfchurch.com |facebook.com/bfchurch.tx
Highlights from meeting: Notes from Wayne:
Kingdom Together
March 22, 2021
Segunda Baptist Church
Introductions:
Perry-welcome and thanks
This is just the beginning step in trying to help churches formulate partnerships.
SFBA goal is to try and help facilitate this process.
With the autonomy of the local church every partnership will be a little different.
But the goal is to build the kingdom.
Scriptures that speak to Kingdom work together
1 Corinthians 1:10
Philippians 2:2-4
John 12:24-25
John 17
3 John 5
The theology of churches helping churches
What ought to be – Same confession, same commission
Commission came before the church
What will be – Share the same future
What is-----
What can be-----
Sharing buildings
Shared ministries/Men’s retreat/Mission endeavors
Sharing wisdom/knowledge
Sharing people/resources/information
Joe Arms---
Involved with 5 churches for 2 to 3 years at a time
Mission efforts
Parameters are important
Determine what the Lord would have you do
Simple is always best – KISS principle
Doctrine compatibility is important-what areas are essential, what are flexible?
Unity is important
Don’t sacrifice truth on the altar of unity
Diversity vs conformity – everyone doesn’t have to be alike
Prayer/prayer partnerships
Clear definitions beyond doctrine
What we won’t do together
Proximity can be a challenge- churches too close can result in “sheep rustling”
Micro management never works
Fellowship and ministry together
Internal problems begin when the church is not focused on external ministry
Integrity is important
John 17 – walking as one
Warning---be clear
Discussion----
Use STARR network
Pray for other churches
Celebrate with the churches
Question- How has personality, temperament played into partnerships
You sense the peace that God puts it together
Have humility in the process
Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you
Pay attention to when the door is opening
Find out where God is at work and get in on it
Next Steps-
We know we should
We know we can
What’s next
Think about what you need in your church or ministry
David Barrett – Adult Ministry Intern
Norberto - Music leadership
Ken Collins – Children’s Ministry leadership
Skip - Young people
George - Children’s ministry leadership, Men’s ministry leader
Patrick Stewart – Need a cow, a place to meet for worship, plant a church called home
LaDavid - Alpha is about training churches to reach the community and develop their trust
Joe – Everyone needs prayer
Perry-
Pray
Meet together again, May 17th