Mission Field - Mission Shaped Church

How to Use MissionInsite: Ethical Principles for Lifestyle Research

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Mission Field, MissionInsite, Outreach and Mission March 15, 2024March 15, 2024Comments are Disabled

By Tom Bandy The internet has been valuable in so many ways. But the combination of digitalization and miniaturisation has raised ethical concerns especially for lifestyle research. Many churches and denominations also use lifestyle research (as we do), but there is always a risk that institutional priorities and hidden biases might unconsciously lead us to …

Outcome Versus Impact

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Discipleship, Mission Field, Mission Shaped Church February 9, 2024February 8, 2024Comments are Disabled

This week I received terrible news that a young man I mentored from the time he was 8 until he graduated from high school was killed in a senseless act of gun violence. I met Tyejuan in 2007 at my first job out of seminary. I was the program manager at The Southeast White House, …

How to Use MissionInsite: Customizing Christmas

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Church Planting, Mission Field, MissionInsite December 8, 2023December 8, 2023Comments are Disabled

By Tom Bandy You can use MissionInsite to make this Christmas especially meaningful for distinct lifestyle mosaics that live in your reach. This is particularly useful for urban churches experiencing growing lifestyle diversity that is transforming their surrounding neighborhoods. Centralization is what happens as urbanization moves along major transportation corridors, isolating rural areas, and forcing …

How to Use Opportunity Scan Part 2

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Church Planting, Diversity and Inclusion, Mission Field, MissionInsite, Outreach and Mission October 9, 2023October 9, 2023Comments are Disabled

By Tom Bandy Congregational Planning Method Most congregational users prefer to skip the initial “What Do You Want to Do” screen to explore a smaller, designated area. You can find the Opportunity Scan tool by clicking the “Demographics” tab on the bottom toolbar of the screen. Then find the Opportunity Scan tool at the bottom …

How to Use Opportunity Scan Part 1

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Church Planting, Mission Field, MissionInsite September 29, 2023September 29, 2023Comments are Disabled

By Tom Bandy Every congregation has free access to MissionInsite. The amount of data may seem overwhelming, and research tools may seem challenging, but with regular practice it soon becomes easy for any staff, board, or committee to gather information pertinent to their area of ministry. Opportunity Scan is a tool that helps you focus …

What Do We Need to Unlearn?

by BillChurch Growth and Impact, Discipleship, Mission Field, Mission Shaped Church, Outreach and Mission August 18, 2023August 18, 2023One Comment

I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and a meme jumped off the screen at me. It posed the following question: “What does the Church need to unlearn?” I shared this in one of my clergy colleague Facebook groups and here are some of the responses: Wow…I’m sure this list could go on and …

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Making Good Use of PeoplePlot: Start-up Events for September

by LaurenChurch Growth and Impact, Church Planting, Evangelism, Mission Field, MissionInsite August 2, 2023August 2, 2023Comments are Disabled

We are excited to have the Rev. Dr. Tom Bandy share monthly with us on how we can best use MissionInsite to support outreach and evangelism and the development of new faith expressions in local churches. This is his first post on how we can use MissionInsite when planning for September ministry events. Many of …

Journey or Destination?

by BillChurch Growth and Impact, Mission Field, Mission Shaped Church July 10, 2023July 10, 2023Comments are Disabled

As the song lyrics remind us, it’s “summertime and the livin is easy.” There is something about the rhythm of summer; schools are on break, for some work schedules are slower and people pile onto planes, trains and automobiles (and don’t forget cruise ships) to venture to familiar and new destinations throughout the summer months. …

Who Will Do This With Me? The Importance of Building a Team

by BillChurch Growth and Impact, Mission Field, Mission Shaped Church, Outreach and Mission May 29, 2023May 26, 2023Comments are Disabled

One of my least favorite classes in elementary school was Physical Education, particularly during the sessions dealing with team sports. While I LOVED playing organized sports, mostly football, it was during the P.E. sessions that we would pick teams. I was not the most athletic child, and I have vivid memories of standing there, hoping …

Launch Out Into the Deep: Preaching During a Pandemic

by LaurenMission Field, Pandemic Church, Preaching and Teaching October 11, 2022October 11, 2022Comments are Disabled

A few years before Covid-19 stopped the world, a preacher named Lon Solomon did a sermon series called “So What?” Now, I don’t know much about his ministry or about his theological and political leanings, but I thought his question and how he presented the series by answering questions of faith were powerful. So what? …