Moving On

I've decided to consolidate all my blogs into one, so I won't be posting here anymore. Please visit the new blog at:


http://www.lainiepetersen.com/

Consultancy on New Religious Movements

My friend John Smulo is starting a consultancy on New Religious Movements. This is an exciting development, and if your church or group is interested in learning more about the religious landscape in the USA, please read on:

Dear Friends,


I'm writing to let you know that Phil Wyman and I are forming a consulting group called Missional Concepts Consulting. Our vision is to help leaders, non-profit organizations, businesses, churches, and community groups to navigate the difficult to follow and often misunderstood world of New Religious Movements (NRM's), and similarly to help give guidance toward becoming missional in the 21st century.

Missional Concepts Consulting has the following goals: Mapping popular trends in the occult and NRMs among youth and adults, allaying fears and misunderstandings surrounding unique religious expressions, giving sensitivity training toward religiously diverse individuals and groups, as well as identifying legitimate concerns attached to occult practices, understanding the worldview and the subculture of NRMs, and creating an effective evangelistic and apologetic model towards the occult and NRMs.

We will be making ourselves available to denominational groups, churches, schools, and any group or organization which has concerns about the rise of NRMs and desires to form a healthy response to those who are involved with them.

Although New Religious Movements are our specialty, we also will be working to help churches navigate the issues of defining what it means to be missional in the 21st century. Both of us are pastors with a passion for developing missional Jesus-followers. However, we also have a deep desire to help churches and other organizations do what we've focused on for years--develop strategies for Jesus-followers to connect with the spiritual marketplace that has enveloped them.

We are going to be releasing a post on our blogs with this announcement today. We are giving you a heads up hoping you might be willing to let others know about our consultancy group. If you have a blog, we would greatly appreciate it if you would post something about the launch of Missional Concepts Consulting. Feel free to copy any of the above information, or that which is on our blogs that you find helpful.

Our blogs can be found at www.squarenomore.blogspot.com and http://johnsmulo.com

If we can assist your church, organization, parachurch group, or educational institution, or if you know of any others who you think might be interested in our services, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the following addresses or to forward this email on:

John Smulo - jjsmulo@yahoo.com

Phil Wyman - pastorphil@salemgathering.com



Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement,

John Smulo
http://www.johnsmulo.com/missional-concepts-consulting.html

Bibles

If your church or ministry is in need of Bibles please make a point of checking out both the International Bible Society and the American Bible Society. Both organizations offer Bibles, New Testaments and scripture portions (i.e. Gospels of John) in numerous formats, translations and languages. More importantly, they offer these products at extremely reasonable prices (including bulk and close-out pricing). Their selection of Bible includes inexpensive paperback Bibles for outreach, harcover "pew" Bibles, study Bibles, large print Bibles. . .just about any kind of Bible that a ministry might need.

Church Insurance

If you are operating an independent ministry, you may want to consider insurance coverage. Church Mutual Insurance Company along with others, offers insurance for church property as well as for professional liability issues such as clergy sexual misconduct.

Not all ministries will want this sort of coverage, but it is an issue to be aware of.

Cornerstone Festival

For over twenty years, the Cornerstone Festival has brought the Christian community together in a celebration of the arts. This is an excellent opportunity to meet Christians from all over the world, as well as to hear and interact with celebrated teachers, artists, and musicians.

I have the dubious distinction of being the webmistress for the unofficial Cornerstone Festival survival guide. It is a mildly carping, but very informative site filled with tips for making the Cornerstone experience fun, safe, and rewarding. Please pay it a visit!


P.S. If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the Cornerstone Festival, you can do so by visiting here. Please use the following street team code of CF531 so that you can save 5% on your ticket and so that I might be able to earn a free one. Thanks!

Mobile Church

Does your church meet in a school, auditorium, or VFW hall? Does your ministry move around a lot? The folks at Church on Wheels specialize in putting together all the equipment that your church needs into a single trailer which is ready for you to unpack and pack as needed. And the cost is a lot less than you might think.

What I like about this company is that they seem to understand the reality faced by many buildingless churches. Instead of "making do", churches can effectively and efficiently convert the space that they rent into an attractive, functional worship environment.

For more information visit Church on Wheels at:

http://www.churchonwheels.com/

Feeding Ministry Resources

If your church or group is interested in starting a feeding ministry, the Vancouver Community Kitchen has a great website with tips and information. Recipes, food/kitchen safety, administration. . .you name it, this site has it.