Introduction

[PT]

The DBA thought it would be a good idea for me to get acquainted with
some of the pastors via the internet prior to district conference.
Jeremy suggested using the district google group, so here we are!

You all have had access to my resume, so I won't bore you with any of
those details. After being in pastoral ministry for 31 years, some of
the passions I have developed are (not in any particular order):

1) Christ and His Church are the only hope that the world has. I am
absolutely convinced that the church can and should be a powerful
force.

2) Truth never changes, but methods have to. Churches get into
trouble when they try to change truth or refuse to change methods. We
have to adapt our methods to this culture because this is the culture
God has given us to reach.

3) I am passionate about mentoring leaders, especially young
leaders. The opportunity to invest in the lives for more leaders is
one of the primary reasons I am willing to leave pastoral ministry to
become a DS.

4) Starting new churches has to be top priority. Attracting young
leaders and developing a viable presence in new communities is a front-
burner issue.

Enough for now. If you would like to know a little more about my
philosophy of what the church should be, jump onto www.brookingswesleyan.org,
go to the "downloads" page and listen to two messges I did a few
months ago called, "Who Stole My Church?"

The ball is in your court. I will do my best to answer any and all
questions you have. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you at
district conference and I'm really looking forward to seeing what God
will do through us. It's going to be good!

PT

[Jeremy Geerdes]

Rev. Purcell-

Thank you so much for your introduction and your willingness to
participate in this conversation. We are grateful for your bold
vision, and we're praying for you, your family, Brookings Wesleyan
Church, and the IA-MN District through this entire period of transition.

One of the challenges I have found time and again over the last
several years is that a lot of the resources and ministries that we
see coming out of the denomination - and even the district - have been
geared toward large churches. As you are probably aware, the vast
majority of the churches in the IA-MN District are not even close to
"large." For some of these, even if they were entirely healthy and
ministering perfectly, it is simply unrealistic to expect them to ever
grow into truly large congregations. And to be honest, given the
primarily rural nature of our district, I would submit that we should
expect our district's composition to remain primarily of relatively
small congregations (e.g., there won't be many 5,000- or even 500-
member congregations in places like Charles City, IA). I am curious
how you will strive to help us in smaller congregations be effective
where we are.

Rev. Jeremy R. Geerdes, Pastor
Debra Heights Wesleyan Church
4025 Lower Beaver Rd.
Des Moines, IA 50310

p/f: (515) 279-5212
h: (515) 277-7491
jgee...@mchsi.com
jgeerdes.wordpress.com

[PT]

Great comments, Jeremy. I have shared your frustrations about making
resources work on a local level. And it's not just the "large church/
small church" dynamic, there is a cultural dynamic in play as well.
For example, several years ago our staff went through Rick Warren's
book, "The Purpose-Driven Church." It was a great exercise, but we
discovered that the prinicples had to be tweaked for our local
culture. It became obvious to us that "Brookings Bob" was an entirely
different kind of person than "Saddleback Sam."

On the other hand, fear of risk and failure can cause us to say, "That
won't ever work here". Whenever I read a book written by someone who
has been effective or attend a seminar by a creative leader, I assume
that there is something there to learn. I contextualize the
principle, but I try to guard against being to quick to say, "That
won't work here."

As far as the church size question, the church is not a "one size fits
all" institution and God needs churches of all sizes. I was pleased
when the church leadership gurus started talking in terms of church
health, rather than church growth several years back. When you make
growth your ultimate goal, it opens you up to all kinds of
temptations. (I know of one guy who added 10% to the Sunday morning
count to compensate for people who were in the restrooms when the
ushers counted--They must have had big restrooms and a lot of coffee
drinkers!). So, health is a better goal.

However, healthy churches grow. Unless everyone within driving
distance is saved, all churches should experience growth if they are
healthy. Not all churches have the potential to grow to 500 or 1000.
Contextual factors like community size, and so on will affect growth
potential. I understand all of that.

I could ramble on, but the bottom line is that I would hope to help
pastors and churches identify and deal with the issues that keep
churches from becoming and staying healthy and effective. Not an easy
or painless task. I had knee replacement surgery a couple of years
ago and I feel like I have my life back. I love having mobility and
quality of life again, but there was a price to pay and it was painful
for a while.

Sometimes becoming healthy as a leader or a church is painful too.
But it's always worth it!

PT

> jgeer...@mchsi.com

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