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New Resources Offered for Small Church Congregations As the end of 2007 nears and planning is fully in place for 2008, the South Carolina Baptist Convention continues to seek ways to serve the largest of church constituencies in the state. With the majority of South Carolina churches in less populated areas, the Convention is providing new opportunities for smaller church congregations and their leaders. Learn more... LifeWay Research: Unchurched Americans Turned Off by Church, Open to Christians Written by Mark Kelly NASHVILLE—A majority of unchurched Americans are turned off by the institutional church and don’t have a biblical understanding about God and Jesus, yet they believe Jesus makes a positive difference in a person’s life and would enjoy an honest discussion with a friend about spiritual matters. Those are just a few of the findings from a new study of unchurched Americans conducted by LifeWay Research in partnership with the North American Mission Board’s Center for Missional Research. LifeWay Research, the research arm of LifeWay Christian Resources, and the North American Mission Board are both entities of the Southern Baptist Convention. The results of the study, which polled 1,402 adults who had not attended a religious service at a church, synagogue or mosque in the previous six months, are available at LifeWayResearch.com. The findings have important implications for Christian churches and individuals who want to effectively reach unchurched people with the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ, said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer. "A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" Stetzer said. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus ‘makes a positive difference in a person’s life’ and 78 percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity." Learn more...		Upcoming Events Across the YBA Pastors Fellowship Lunches Calendar Double Your Sunday School Training Event With Josh Hunt August 27,2008 At FBC Rock Hill 6:30-9:00 A Major Learning Opportunity for All Pastors, Sunday School Leaders and Workers $15.00 per person includes book and conference Dinner is available at 5:00, $4.00 adults,$2.00 children Child Care is available, ages birth-grade 5 Dinner and Child Care Registration Deadline is August 15 Conference Registration Through August 26 Call the YBA Office to Register 803-327-6144 Church Renewal Process With Dr. Jerry Lethco Presentation of the Customized Process that has proven successful across South Carolina For all Pastors, Staff and Church Leaders September 23, 2008 10:00- 11:30, Luch provided at 11:30 RSVP Lunch by September 22, 327-6144 Lifeway Research provides valuable information designed to assist churches as they seek to positively impact their world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Learn more... The Center for Missional Research exists to help Christian leaders make strategic missional decisions by researching North American cultures, analyzing ministry effectiveness of churches, understanding communities where churches minister, and building connections among churches. Learn more...
From Modern to Post Modern: From Mission Minded to Missional How will the Church push back the darkness in a Post Modern society? By coming to terms with the difference between being “Missional” as opposed to “Mission Minded?” We have done a good job teaching our church members to be concerned for and support missions. Most of our churches provide a significant percentage of their budget to the Cooperative Program and raise significant amounts for special missions offerings like Lottie Moon and Janie Chapman. Many of our churches have been doing a good job of promoting short term volunteer mission opportunities and sending teams to work alongside our missionaries at home and around the world. But what would happen if we took one more step and trained our church members to “be” missionaries rather than just “support” missions? Think about that for a second. What if every church member began to “think like a missionary”? What difference would that make in the effectiveness of your church? How would that impact the power of the Gospel in your church members’ neighborhood or work place? Wouldn’t it begin to push back the darkness that is growing in our society? OK, I realize that getting all church members to do anything is impossible! But what if only 10% of your church members really began to think like a missionary? I believe it would revolutionize our churches and turn our community upside down for Christ! In the weeks and months to come you will be hearing a lot about this from your YBA staff and leadership. At this time I am looking for people that have a desire to learn more about this. If you are interested in learning more about “Thinking like a Missionary”,please contact Mike O’Dell at 327-6144 or mikeo@yorkbaptists.org.

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LifeWay Research: Unchurched Americans Turned Off by Church, Open to Christians