Northern California District Church of the Nazarene

Final Draft

 

D.S. Report—2005

 

2005 D.S. Report 

 

It is my honor to present my fifth report to this 100^th Assembly of the Northern California District and to our General Superintendent, Dr. Jerry Porter whom we all esteem and respect.  It is a further honor to be in the presence of our former District Superintendent, Dr. and Mrs. Kinzler as well as our predecessors represented by their families—Dorothy Cantrell; Lane and Lois Zachary; Gary and Terri Coulter; Bob and Dodie Smee; Sheryl Smee and Gary and Gayla Smee. 

 

We are also happy to welcome Dr. and Mrs. Bob Brower from PLNU along with other guests representing various Nazarene institutions.   My colleagues Rev. Ron Greeno, District Superintendent of  Sacramento District and Dr. Mel Rich, District Superintendent of Central California District attended our Centennial Praise Service last night to commemorate our 100^th year as their districts were once part of Northern California District and we greet them and the people they serve.  To those of you who have come back for this event we also welcome you home.

 

Let us reflect on the past in order to learn from it.  The successes of these hundred years is not due to having had a beginning Grand Opening with great earthly resources.  Like the New Testament churches to whom Paul wrote, our beginnings are very humble and small.  There were many New Starts that have not survived and those that have know the meaning of perseverance and steadfastness.  All this testifies to the fact that it is not the container but what is in the container that makes the difference.  God has always used “jars of  clay” to prove His excellencies and we are no exception.  The founders of our district community were willing to sell out to God alone and believe that what He has promised He will also perform.  But it is noteworthy to mention what kind of people He had to work with here.

 

These people held an optimism and faith that allowed God to work through them unhindered by doubt and fear.  They abandoned themselves to everything but God and responded to His call to become a Holy People with a Holy Mission.  They lived and loved as Jesus did and made an environment that attracted the broken and lost of their world.  They also placed a high value on belonging to this district and acted in a way that showed love and respect to everyone, no matter the size of the church. 

 

I am confident of my claims on these people from many evidences.  One that I want to highlight is the connection we have with our founders through The Rev. Ed Bass.  He came to faith and into the church in Berkeley under pastor E. A. Girven, our first District Superintendent.  If you want to know the spirit of our forebears you can find it in Ed Bass.  May it be that we will be as full of the Holy Spirit as he.

 

This journey into the past is useful if we will find in it a way to be encouraged to be faithful to these same values in our time.  In that, we can believe that God will bless our labors in the same fashion.

 

Now let us go to the future.  Last year, I challenged you to a BHAG (Big Harry Audacious Goal.)  This goal is for the period of time of my future tenure, assuming you and God continue to want me here.  In these next few years, we want to see 50 new congregations, 15,000 members and an accumulation of 5000 baptisms.  We can reach these goals with an average net annual gain of 6.5%.

 

Before I share our slogan for this year let me say it compliments those of the past, which are still valid and worth mentioning again and keeping alive.  A brief review of them is in order:

            “Pray for 10”

            “Share the Vision—Multiply”

            “A Missional Church Invents New Ways to Love Others”

            “1+1=Many

                        Each Christian, a New Christian

                        Each Congregation (or teams), a New Congregation

                        Each Pastor, a New Pastor”

 

Add to those one that some of our churches are already using.  “Empowered Ordinary Practices.”  (Ordinary Practices concepts derive from the work of Jim Henderson, co-founder and Executive Director of Off-The-Map.)

 

These ordinary ways of relating to people can become empowered when bathed in regular prayer.

 

Attention giveaways

Prompted attention giveaways.

Showing special attention to someone:

Outcomes of Attention Giveaways

We’ll pleasantly surprise people.

We’ll create a real connection that we can come back to later – maybe even make a friend.

 

Prayer giveaways

Secret Prayer Giveaways.

Offered Prayer Giveaways

Outcome

            We’ll notice more “coincidences.”

Resource giveaways

Outcome

            We’ll discover the deeper issues in our friend’s life.

 

Become a spiritual friend.

Once they open the door for a few spiritual conversations, look for an opportunity to suggest a book in the Bible that you can both read and then meet later to discuss.

Offer to meet periodically to talk about life and how it intersects with scripture.

Outcomes

We’ll discover that it’s easy to have a spiritual conversation when we don’t have to steer it with curriculum.

 

Do life together. 

Log some time with our unchurched friends doing purely social things – things you both like to do. 

Outcomes

We’ll accumulate friends and as we pray for them we’ll discover lots of opportunities for ordinary practices – and sooner or later these will lead to spiritual conversations.

 

 

How are we now doing?

·        We organized Hayward Galilee Korean as our newest church.

·        Started ministries to 7 new people groups (congregations) 

·        Baptized 303 Adults and Infants (+19%)

·        Had a net membership gain of  34 (+.5%)

·        Averaged a net membership gain of 24% from 8 of our churches (one as high as 134%)

·        Paid 98% of the District Home Mission Budget

·        Paid 91% of World Evangelism Fund

 

I challenge you for the coming year to:

• 100% participation in financially supporting all our shared ministries.
• Meeting the minimum goal of a net increase of 6.5% in membership and baptisms.
• Live out the call to Produce Reproducers.
• Employ “Empowered Ordinary Practices”

 

 

The common denominator of the past, the present and the future is the Triune God.  Faithful is He who called who also will do it.  Let us create a new legacy for those that follow and continue to be faithful to our calling to follow Jesus and trust God to do a great thing among us.

 

Respectfully,

 

John Calhoun, D.S.