Growing Vital Congregations
Workshop Weekend
At Hughesville Baptist Church

Complete Photo Album Of This Event

Rev. Tom Brokaw and the congregation at the Hughesville Baptist Church invited Southeast Area Minister, Rev. Dale Miller to do a Growing Vital Congregations workshop at their church.  The workshop started on Friday night, February 1st and ended Saturday afternoon.  Dale explained that the workshop was not designed to focus on church growth alone, but instead to look at the overall health of the congregation.  “Every church wants to grow!  But, how do we do that? No church says…Our problem is that we have too many people and too much money!  Growth is a by-product of vitality.  Healthy, vital congregations bear fruit!”  Using scripture as his foundation, Dale pointed out that both Jesus and Paul in their teachings often referred to the need to be healthy. 

On Friday night Dale reflected on a number of important Bible passages.  Jesus in Luke 6:43ff said that a good tree will produce good fruit.  Paul explains to the congregation in Corinth that the church is the body of Christ and needs to function as a healthy unit, working together.  Later, Dale also taught from Luke 6:47ff where Jesus describes in a parable the difference between the wise and foolish builder.  The wise builder is the person who hears Jesus words and does them.

On Saturday, Dale used the 8 Signs Of A Vital Congregation to explain various facets of a healthy church. (click here to learn more about the 8 Signs Of A Vital Congregation as developed by our Regional Commission on Growing Vital Congregations.)   The Hughesville congregation used an assessment tool to discover its strengthens and weaknesses in ministry and from that assessment began to develop a strategy to improve the health of their church family.

The event was both positive and energizing.  Throughout the two day workshop there was an abundance of group discussion and participation including morning devotions by Jared and a vision statement by the church's pastor, Rev. Tom Brokaw.  There was a sense of excitement and anticipation as to church family looked forward to using the information gathered during the workshop to plan for the future. 

A number Region staff also attended the event as well as participated in the preparation work, learning from Dale how to structure similar workshops.  If you this your church family would benefit from a Growing Vital Congregations (GVC) workshop please contact your Area Minister to learn more.  Your giving to the regional offering and America For Christ assists us in developing and providing these types of valuable resources to local congregations!

American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware
106 Revere Lane, Coatesville, PA  19320