Natural Church Development

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NaturalChurch Development

• Ministry Team Night
• March 11, 2009

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CtKs Prayer forPassionate Spirituality

• O Lord, we stand in prayer for our preparation
  and that of your ministry teams to receive the
  call to growth that the Holy Spirit is issuing to
  us. 
• We pray that we will not hinder in any way, the
  flow of the "New Song". 
• Our Lenten discipline continues as we ask you
  Lord to remove any barriers and to cleanse us. 
• Tune our ears and spirits, Lord to be more open,
  more sensitive, more responsive to you. 
• Open our hearts and our minds to receive you. 
• Open our mouths and loose our tongues so we may
  speak of you- more freely, more fully, and more
  passionately. 
• Help each of us to call forth and deliberately
  encourage the Light to shine forth stronger in
  each of us- in each of the unique ways that you
  have fashioned. 
• Help us to be a gift to each other as we share
  who you really are in our midst and how you are
  active in the covenant love you so lavishly
  share. 
• Teach us Lord.  
• We love you Lord.

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CtKs NCD Journey Year 1
4/09 NCD Event
3/09 Ministry Night I
6/08 Food Talk I
9/08 Council Retreat
12/08 Advent
9/08 Food Talk II
Fall 08 Adult Forums
10/08 Barriers
04/08 Results
3/08 Survey
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Passionate Spirituality What Gets in Our Way?

• Confidence in our ability to speak the language
  of spirituality
• One recurring theme that came up in the
  discussions was people feeling unsure of how to
  express themselves and their spirituality.
  Whether it be leading people in prayer, sharing
  our thoughts and experiences about Christ, or
  inviting others to do so, at times we may just be
  at a loss for words. Perhaps one of the reasons
  we are not expressing our passion for The Spirit
  is because we dont know how to do so.
• Fear of judgment
• Another theme that came up we feel points
  to a fear that when we do find the words to
  express our faith, we may not be accepted.
  Perhaps this comes from being a part of a society
  where faith is considered a very private and
  separate thing. Perhaps its hard to let loose
  even within a loving and accepting congregation
  like CtK. Or perhaps we feel our perspective is
  different than what others may understand or
  accept. This may go back to the claim We are
  Lutherans and thats just not what we do. So if
  we do what will people think of us?
• Awareness of God in our lives
• Even as people of faith, we are often
  blind to the presence of God in our lives. Many
  of us live fast paced lives where time is scarce
  and our responsibilities compete for most of our
  attention. In our busy-ness we become
  distracted from God and may miss those holy
  moments where God is present and at work in our
  lives or in those around us. We often fail to
  seek out, or create time and opportunities for a
  fuller awareness of God and a deepened passion
  for our Spiritual well being.

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Passionate Spirituality Questions

• 1. How does your ministry team experience these 3
  barriers?
• 2. How does your ministry team help CtK overcome
  these barriers?
• 3. How does your ministry team help CtK connect
  more deeply with God?
• 4. How does prayer energize you and your ministry
  team?
• 5. How does your connection to God work for you
  and your ministry team?
• 6. Bonus question If you had to come up with a
  better phrase for Passionate Spirituality, what
  would it be?

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Saturday, April 18th

• Between now and April 18th, gather with your
  ministry committee(s).
• Begin with CtKs Prayer for Passionate
  Spirituality in this package.
• Discuss the Passionate Spirituality questions.
• Prepare several slides that summarize your teams
  thinking and learning.
• Share them with others at our next CtK Natural
  Church Development gathering on April 18th.

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• Q1 How does your ministry team experience these
  3 barriers?
• We relate to the Fear Factor barrier.
• Sometimes we are silent, even when offered the
  opportunity to connect.
• We rely too much on routines and calendars (be
  open to God moments).
• We exhale (task-driven) more than inhale (letting
  God in).
• It can sometimes be difficult to find a good
  blend of devotions and fun.
• We are not as wareness of opportunities of what
  other are doing.
• Sometimes we lack identification with certain
  topics, venues or groups.
• The comfort zone doesnt always exist.
• It can be challenging to get past our fears.
• We need to trust more.
• Q2 How does your ministry team help CtK overcome
  these barriers?
• We work to build trust Sharing, respecting,
  accepting.
• We realize quantity is not always the best
  indicator.
• We create an atmosphere where relationships can
  develop (lower barriers).
• Our team is open to different approaches,
  locations, contacts.
• Living out faith in everyday lives, not just
  Sundays Consumer advocacy.
• Youth are an example of modeling their faith
  (i.e., prayer) for adults.

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• Q3 How does your ministry team help CtK connect
  more deeply with God?
• 1. Similar to question 2
• Q4 How does prayer energize you and your
  ministry team?
• We offer prayers for a multitude of reasons
• Prayer clears our minds to be open to God and
  the Holy Spirit (removes distractions)
• There are many forms of prayer songs, words,
  praying, and teaching,
• It gives us focus.
• We use it to makes ourselves aware and to connect
  with the global community
• Q5 How does your connection to God work for you
  and your ministry team?
• Through openness to opportunities we may not
  have anticipated
• We believe God will provide
• It is the connection that makes my ministry
  team
• We trust that God will provide for all our
  ministrys needs
• NCD is an example of that connection
• We allow Him to work through us.
• Charter members serve as our examples of deep
  connections to God