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“We all came over on different ships, but now we’re all in the same boat.” That’s what Chris McNairy, a leader on the North American Mission Board’s multiethnic mobilization team, told about 40 pastors and leaders at the 2011 Ethnic Leadership Summit at NAMB’s offices in Alpharetta, GA.
Seventy Minnesota United Methodist clergy members have signed a statement saying they would “offer the grace of the Church’s blessing to any prepared couple desiring Christian marriage,” including same-sex couples.
s if Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams haven’t faced enough challenges because of a spate of deadly tornadoes in the South and Midwest over the past month, June 1 marked the official start of the 2011 North Atlantic hurricane season.
The Great Commission requires that we enter
A little bit of intentionality goes a long way.
The June issue features an interview with Senior Pastor Leo Bigger, ICF-Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. Also included is a feature about protecting against sexual misconduct. This issue also highlights church mergers and provides a special section on sports ministries.
In the West Valley of Phoenix, Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria resides on a 100-acre campus, and was founded 28 years ago by 63-year-old senior pastor Don Wilson.
Our Mesa campus moved to its current 33-acre site in October 1986. We have three major buildings and five portable buildings totaling 144,000 square feet. The last permanent building was opened in 1996. We currently see about 3,500 people each weekend on our Mesa campus. Mesa is growing 3 to 5 percent rate per year [...]
As the spiritual advisor of a church, pastors are the ones most often turned to when a congregation member is in need of spiritual guidance and counseling. While this type of service is part of the job, it also is very important that certain guidelines and boundaries are established and maintained. Sadly, 20 percent of GuideOne’s sexual misconduct claims involve adult claimants, with the overwhelming majority of these incidents taking place in the counseling setting.
For example, a male associate pastor undertook counseling of a female 21-year-old church member. “Counseling” took place away from the church premises at various locations, such as a park, a restaurant and other places. One evening they met for counseling at a restaurant. They both ended up drinking and went from the restaurant to a hotel where sexual activity took place. As the spiritual advisor of a church, pastors are the ones most often turned to when a congregation member is in need of spiritual guidance and counseling. While this type of service is part of the job, it also is very important that certain guidelines and boundaries are established and maintained. Sadly, 20 percent of GuideOne’s sexual misconduct claims involve adult claimants, with the overwhelming majority of these incidents taking place in the counseling setting.
For example, a male associate pastor undertook counseling of a female 21-year-old church member. “Counseling” took place away from the church premises at various locations, such as a park, a restaurant and other places. One evening they met for counseling at a restaurant. They both ended up drinking and went from the restaurant to a hotel where sexual activity took place. As the spiritual advisor of a church, pastors are the ones most often turned to when a congregation member is in need of spiritual guidance and counseling. While this type of service is part of the job, it also is very important that certain guidelines and boundaries are established and maintained. Sadly, 20 percent of GuideOne’s sexual misconduct claims involve adult claimants, with the overwhelming majority of these incidents taking place in the counseling setting. For example, a male associate pastor undertook counseling of a female 21-year-old church member. “Counseling” took place away from the church premises at various locations, such as a park, a restaurant and other places. One evening they met for counseling at a restaurant. They both ended up drinking and went from the restaurant to a hotel where sexual activity took place.
In 2008, the leaders of Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie, TX, realized they had unintentionally left out an incredibly important component from their ministry — sports. A church that once had boasted a very active sports ministry for children, youth and adults now had very little to offer. As the leaders had aged and stopped participating in sports, programs related to sports began to disappear as well. So they decided to do something about it. An architect was hired and plans were made to build a complex that people from every age and stage of life could use. The result was the SportCenter — a 20-acre complex.
