Ripe for Harvest

190 • R IPE FOR H ARVEST

Prepare: Be the Church Exercise Instructions

I. Open in prayer, committing your time to the Lord and seeking his wisdom.

II. Talk through your views on each of the PREPARE questions. A. In order to enhance your dialogue and prepare for your reflection together, please read the following documents, located at the end of this section, and discuss their implications for your church planting effort: 1. On World Impact’s “Empowering the Urban Poor” 2. Responding to God’s Call to the Poor 3. As You Form Your Plan, Keep Your Overall Purpose in Mind 4. Key Roles of a Church Planting Team B. Think only in terms of the next 6 months. C. Some questions will take a minute or two to discuss while others will take longer than 30 minutes. D. Discuss the ideas for no longer than 15 minutes. Anything taking longer than 15 minutes should be tabled and brought up later. Keep it moving. III. From your discussion questions, develop goals (make sure they are measurable, with due dates, and the people responsible to see that it gets done) to support your decisions (30 min.). It is okay to postpone decisions on the questions until after the School as long as you establish a goal to complete the question, e.g., “decide on pastoral credentials by June 30.”

IV. Commit at least 30 minutes to prayer, focusing on this phase of the church plant effort.

V. Presentations

Context Values/Vision Prepare Launch Assemble Nurture Transition Schedule/Charter

Main Points for PREPARE 1. Form a church plant team to be the church 2. Select a target area and population 3. Select models, practices, and potential affiliations for the church