News

"Don't Lose Your Flavor"; Church Must Seek Ways to Engage the Disconnected

The Rev. Ed Jones presents at the School for Congregational Development. Photo by Chris Heckert

(ORLANDO, Fla., August 3, 2008/GBOD) — "Don't lose your flavor. Be who God called you to be in that particular community. We must be soaked in Christ," the Rev. Ed Jones, founding pastor of the Living Water United Methodist Church in Pearland, Texas, told 400 clergy and lay leaders attending the United Methodist School for Congregational Development, meeting in Orlando, Fla., and Grand Rapids, Mich., July 31 through Aug. 5.

"You are the salt of the earth," Jones said, quoting Matthew 5:13, while holding up different kinds of salt seasonings.

"You have an opportunity to invite people to follow Jesus. Salt penetrates, preserves, cleanses, and saves; it is a change agent. Pastors, bishops, district superintendents, 'don't lose your flavor,'" Jones said.

Sponsored by the United Methodist General Boards of Discipleship and Global Ministries, the School for Congregational Development is being held for the first-time in two locations.

Participants at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Orlando could hear and see plenary leader Ed Jones via satellite, as he presented a session on "En-G.A.U.G.E. the Disconnected" at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids.

GAUGE, the highlight of Living Water's values, is an acronym for --
Grow Spiritually
Authentic Relationships
Use Gifts for Ministry
Give Cheerfully
Extend a hand.

Jones shared his experiences starting a new church, which began in his home as a Bible study, then moved to Muddy Waters Coffee Shop as it grew, and later to an elementary school with about 75 in attendance.

By Easter Sunday 2006, Jones had a 150 folks in worship. And later that year attendance rose to 250, but the numbers began a downward spiral to 50. Jones, who had been featured in the conference highlight tape, was now the district superintendent's shame.

"I was listening to everybody, but I was not listening to the one voice. I was not seeking the voice of God. You can't start or grow a church without hearing God's voice, daily. We must lead from the overflow of our devotional life," Jones said.

Capture the cultural events that are happening in your community.

After spending necessary time with God and concentrating on Matthew 5:13 and John 7:38, Living Waters laid its theological foundation, identified its core values, and realized that it needed to get clear about its vision, mission, and goals -- and have a clear path of discipleship.

Living Waters also realized a need to reach families and offer a children's ministry.

"The church had to let go of all the 'trendy values' and focus on an opportunity to serve in its context," said Jones.

Living Waters utilized existing cultural patterns to re-engage people with the love of God. The strategy empowered people to grow to a deeper place one step at a time through shoreline, getting your feet wet, wading and living deep.

"This became our pattern to move people from the shoreline to the deep," said Jones.

Capitalizing on movies to proclaim the message for people, Jones recently created a series on relationships called, "Giving You the Best That I Got," and rented a local movie theater to show films like "Why Did I Get Married?," "Meet the Browns," and "Sex and the City," as a means of drawing people to the shoreline to experience a fresh expression of God's love and Living Water Church.

The General Board of Discipleship's mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD (www.gbod.org) is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at 877-899-2780, ext. 7017.