When Jesus visited the home of Martha, Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet while he shared the word with the other guests. Martha was left to prepare the meal without any help. I imagine the longer she worked, the angrier and more upset she became.
I wonder if we forget that Jesus' love and grace are for all. When we reach out to those in physical or spiritual need, we reach out to Jesus. When we build walls keeping people out and are unwilling to help those in physical and emotional need, we turn Jesus away.
The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries has designed “Foundations for a Thriving Church” to help congregations thrive. The program is designed so that church members and their pastor work together with small membership church coaches and develop a working vision and mission that leads to a thriving church.
If you feel God calling you to be an answer to helping churches thrive and are ready to step forward, even if you feel unqualified, I invite you to explore your call and take The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries Certified Lay Ministry training.
Numerous people have asked me why I created The Academy's Certified Lay Ministry training to prepare lay persons to serve the church and the Foundations for a Thriving Church program for laypersons and churches.
Because in my life and the lives of millions of others, a thriving church has made a difference, and we want the church to thrive everywhere.
If we want our small membership churches to thrive, we need to retool. The definition of "retool" is "adapt or alter (someone or something) to make them more useful or suitable."
The Academy for Small Membership Church Ministries (TASMCM) has received a $30,000 grant from the Guy and Ruby Casebourn Murphy Charitable Trust to continue their training of lay pastors and develop innovative programs which support small membership churches.
