Resources

Faith to Faith | Strength to Strength | Glory to Glory
Transformation is the processes and methodologies of change for congregations and churches that lead to re-discovering what we are called to be as a church. Transformation is:

God-centered change that re-connects us to being what we are called by God to be as a church in mission, re-connecting to God’s will, changing first as people and in-turn, as congregations.
A spiritual journey that has an intentional beginning and no end — as we are always on the journey and never finished.
Systemic because transformation is about everything that a congregation is and does within the framework of God’s mission and presence in our world today.

Contact the Faith Community Formation Office to discuss a Journey for Transformation plan, designed to meet your churches unique needs using the tools and resources below.

A Fresh Expression is quite simply a fresh expression of church. Fresh Expressions is a movement that is cultivating new forms of church – the presentation of the gospel and church in context – alongside existing congregations in order to reach changing, diverse cultures and world.

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READINESS 360 is an online survey assessment tool that assesses four critical capacities for multiplying thriving ministries: Spiritual Intensity, Dynamic Relationships, Missional Alignment and Cultural Openness. The resulting report provides valuable information essential to knowing which areas are thriving and which areas need more attention.

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Churches today are at a crossroads as to how to fruitfully and effectively share the message and love of Jesus Christ to transform lives, the communities in which we live, and the world. Paragraph 213 in the 2016 Book of Discipline, describes a foundational process of discovering a congregation’s identity and mission field.

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Whether you want to start a new worship service, a new ministry or even to transform an existing faith community, you have to know where your starting point is in order to create a plan to get where you want to go. Journey to Transformation Encounter is a facilitated, consultative process designed to assist church leaders in understanding their current context so they may begin to discern possibilities for their future and determine needed resources so they may re-discover their mission, re-engage their community, and re-emerge as a healthy, thriving congregation.

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John Wesley wanted the members of his movement to work on personal holiness and acts of service to others. The 28 Day Church Challenge, designed around five challenge areas, will help the church and each individual member keep the Main Thing (Jesus) the main thing. The five challenge areas are: fasting, prayer, study, outreach and the Great Commission.

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Imagine leaders who Lead Like Jesus. Leaders who love those they influence so much that they help them get from where they are to where God would have them go. Leaders who hold people accountable, encourage them daily, confront challenges and bring authenticity, character, and integrity to every interaction. IMAGINE a world full of those leaders!

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Use MISSIONINSITE to unlock the secrets to your community! Execute a demographic analysis to determine best ministry opportunities, answer strategic questions, understand population trends before they happen and more. MissionInsite is an online demographic analysis tool available, free of charge, to all United Methodist Churches in Mississippi.

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One of the things that some of our churches are doing well is creating and having worship services online. Online services are making these worship services an indispensable option for our communities, to “reach people we are not already reaching.”

Click here to learn how to get started.

Learn how to create a community analysis using a full array of demographic tools, site visits, economic development office and other community interviews, the church’s 10-year metrics data and other available resources.

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TRAINING & COACHING
Instructional training is available to all local United Methodist churches on the above tools and resources. Contact the Faith Community Formation Office to schedule at online form.

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The vast majority of United Methodist churches (roughly 70%) are small membership churches with fewer than 200 members. Most can be and are vital places of ministry that matter. The size of the membership will determine how the church goes about its mission and ministry, not whether it will or not.

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UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ONLINE DIRECTORY & STATISTICS
The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) offers general statistical information about the church, formerly contained in the printed General Minutes, in a free, easy-to-use online directory and statistics website at www.umdata.org.

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CONSULTATIONS | STRATEGIC PLANNING | VISION CASTING
Creating a vision (and strategic plan) and learning how to effectively cast that vision to your church members and community is vital for leading the flock. Let us help you fulfill the dream God has given you!

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Churches come in all forms of health; some are healthy and growing, others are maintaining the status quo, and some are declining. However, they all have one thing in common - they want to be fruitful, healthy and growing. One way this can happen is through a Vital Merger.

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In response to the ‘Call to Action’ to focus on fostering and sustaining an increase in the number of vital congregations, the VitalSigns Dashboard tool was [and is] designed to help congregations follow their progress on the goals they set each year, allowing them to track their metrics.

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Need our assistance?

Please complete the FCF Assistance Request Form:

For clergy and lay persons, click here.
For Chief Missional Strategists only, click here.