All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
The task of the church is to reach out to people and receive them in the name of Jesus Christ, to relate them to God, to nurture and strengthen them in their journey of discipleship, and to send them into the world to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
What does this have to do with you? We accomplish the task of the church through effective ministries. Effective ministries are created by persons like you who are called to create a dynamic connection between vision and action. The Guidelines are handbooks to help you create this connection. If you are new to the task, the Guidelines will tell you how to
Not only will your leadership make a difference in your local church and beyond, you will also discover that practicing spiritual leadership -- modeling the means of grace through acts of mercy and works of piety -- will deeply enrich your own spiritual journey.
If you are an experienced leader, share the Guidelines with the members of your team. Most of the Guidelines begin with a simple job description (What's My Job?) and progress through "how to" section of helpful, practical ideas, tips, models, and schedules to help you channel information, encouragement, vision, and focus to your team and the congregation.
The twenty-six Guidelines cover church leadership areas including Church Council, Pastor, and Lay Leader/Lay Member; the administrative areas of Financeand Trustees; and ministry areas focused on nurture, outreach, and witness including worship, Evangelism, Stewardship, age level ministries, Communications, and more.