November 2016 was the date that the Indiana Conference staff listed these two prayer concerns we had regarding the conference…
That the hearts of our people would ache for what God’s heart aches for; that they would long to make disciples
That more churches would embrace multiplication
About that same time our Conference set as its Wildly Important Goal (WIG) that our churches might become missional by 2020.
Well, after praying for these concerns for three years, our Church Development team is praising God for them being answered!
More and more churches are asking how their people can connect with and disciple those who are outside their walls. Scores are showing up for our Fresh Expressions Vision Days and Dinner Church training events. In fact, we’ve had nearly 700 participants since the beginning of 2018! And more Fresh Expressions training days are being scheduled for 2020–February 22 at Evansville Blue Grass UMC, March 7 in the East District, and September 26 in the North Central District.
We also are launching six Multiplication Cohort groups around the conference especially for pastors who have a desire to help their churches develop a deeper multiplication culture–developing leaders, making disciples, and starting new Fresh Expressions and faith communities. In fact nearly 50 pastors have expressed an interest in participating.
So, we haven’t fully accomplished our Conference’s WIG. There’s more to be done. But we praise God for the positive signs we’re seeing! We’ve come a long ways since 2016! I hope you’ll be a part of it!
— Ed Fenstermacher, Associate Director of Church Development