Thursday, October 16, 2008

Open Proposal to CLMC - Part 2

Part 2....
  1. Sunday Service - Minor touch up could be done to the services. Some of the things we repeat weekly could be reduced to say once a month or once a fortnight. For example, reciting of the Apostle Creed, singing of the "Lord's Prayer", etc. If it's done weekly, it easily become a routine or habit that we don't know what we are reciting or singing about.
    Song worship leaders should get more exposure on how to better lead the singspiration. Funds could be allocated for them to attend proper training to increase the standard. Most importantly, the choosing of the song worship leaders must be made carefully. The person will be leading the whole congregation in worshiping God. If the only main advantage the person has is a nice voice, then I think it would be inappropriate to choose that person solely on that.
    The singing of Hymns can be more "lively" instead of so "dull". It actually depends on the attitude of the person leading it.
    Pulpit ministry can be better planned or structured to a series of talks for the benefits of the congregations. Random topics are not an ideal way for the long term. Minister in charge should preach more to educate the congregation of the church's vision and directions.
    Ushers need to understand their roles as well. They are not the "least" important servicemen on Sunday. Better courtesy and smile could be the key.
    More respect needed within the chapel. People are talking loudly, sometimes even cursing with bad words in the chapel, etc. This is not acceptable. Small group leaders should be an example for their members to follow.
    More services could be added to our schedules. Wednesday night, Thursday night, Sunday afternoon, etc. We need to provide more options for people to attend it. It doesn't have to be services of hundreds in size, but even 10-20 will do. More importantly we need to remember, it'll grow if we are doing the right thing.

  2. Small Groups - It's our intention that all who attends the Sunday service should also attend a small group at least. It should be made to a sense that, if you don't have a small group, you are left behind.
    Small group structure needs to be reorganized. How can you have 2 types of small groups within a small church, run by a small group coordinator (zone leader), meet together on Wednesday night to discuss about 2 different small group ministry. It doesn't work. Zone leader needs to decide whether they should go with the new way or revert all back to the old way. Alternatively, there're should be 2 small group coordinator looking after the "old" small group style and the "2C" small groups. Nonetheless, the difference between the old & 2C small groups must be obvious to avoid conflict of interests.
    Zone leader is an important role as well. The person needs to understand the small group concept inside out. Otherwise, small groups will not grow but collapse!
    Materials ideally should be prepared and set by the Minister in charge. The materials should allow our small groups to go in line with the church directions. Note that small group is NOT a bible study group (a lot of pastors couldn't even catch this concept in CMCA).
    Offerings collected in small groups should be combined together with the church. There should not be a church under a church scenario.
    Small groups need to mobilize their members to increase awareness into mission and gradually participate in mission works. Encouragement is a must.

  3. Prayer meeting - If we are singing more than praying, preaching more than praying, then there's a serious imbalance happening. In a prayer meeting, I would say about 3-5 songs in total is the max. There're not to be sung in one go.
    Short message as a motivation for the people are encouraged as well but please keep the sermon preaching on Sunday.
    Prayer shouldn't be limited to just our church only. We should involve ourselves more into the District Conference, Annual Conference, worldwide churches, and international issues. Let's not live under the coconut shell.
    Start more prayer meetings at various time and location to enable more people with different timetable to join. Daily prayer meetings are encouraged as well.

  4. Church "name" awareness - We need to be exposed to the "market" outside. We can't just rely on students of Methodist background to come from Sabah & Sarawak. Sure it has been providing us with numbers for all these years. Now the time has come to expand our "territory". We have influx of migrants from China, international students from China, workers from China, etc. Our doors should be open to welcome them. It's not just by mouth we claimed the door is open, but we need to be ready to tackle it. We need to understand their culture and behaviour to effectively minister to them. Maybe sending people to China for few months to learn their culture (like what the Mormons did)? :D
    To be known, we need to be worth knowing. To be accepted, we need to give it out. It's something advertising can't get. We need to give back to the community with no strings attached.
That's should be all for this part. More to come in part 3 (maybe).

Let's hope our new elect elite group will have eyes & ears. Let's not be mentally controlled by the narrow minded people! Look at where the Holy Spirit is guiding you!

Tradition & constitution (rules) are not always what God intended for us, it may be during its' days but not necessary in our days. We must be wise enough to identify & discern it. We must be brave enough to make changes to suit our current needs. Otherwise, we'll forever be slaves to it.

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