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Writer's picturePhil Underwood

reFocusing


More than training… reFocusing seeks to create safe-place learning communities that develop authentic missional leaders with the capacity and spiritual authority to lead their churches through change and into the harvest.

What is reFocusing?

reFocusing is a two-phase revitalization process that integrates the personal renewal of leaders with the revitalization of their churches. The backbone of the process is the pastors’ network: a learning community led by a trained facilitator that typically meets for 18-24 months.

i am beginning a new phase of life in which i lead others in this process as leaders. here is what i will be doing.

reFocusing networks develop missional leaders with the

* Character * Calling * Competency, and * Courage

to lead their ministries through change and into the harvest.

Because personal renewal precedes corporate renewal and because change happens best in the context of relationships.

Why do we do it?

The challenges facing the church and her mission:

* 80-85% of churches in North America are in plateau or decline. * The unchurched population of the USA, would in itself comprise the 5th largest country on the planet. * Every year in America, three times as many churches close as open. * In America, it takes 85 Christians one full year to reach one person for Christ. * Roughly half of all churches in America did not add one single person through conversion last year. * And, this decline has been going on for fifty years!

[for more information, we recommend Lost in America, by Tom Clegg and Warren Bird]

The challenges facing pastors:

* 70% say they have no close friends. * 80% say the church has had a negative impact on their families. * 33% of pastor’s spouses say ministry has been outright hazardous to their families. * 90% felt inadequately trained to cope with the demands of ministry. [source: Archibald Hart’s research]

In a post-Christian era where the church is perceived as irrelevant and out of touch aligning our lives and our ministries with the missional heart of God requires change:

* Churches must become mission outposts; * Pastors must be missionary-leaders; and * Believers must be missionaries.

“The day of the churched culture is over; the day of the mission field has come.”

(from Effective Church Leadership, Kennon Callahan)

What do we do?

reFocusing Networks for Pastors

Networks are safe-place learning communities where peer mentoring and coaching takes place. Six to eight pastors meet regularly (typically every month) and focus on strategic issues of ministry leadership, character formation, and skill development. The holistic integration of these components in a discovery-based, facilitator-led environment sets reFocusing Networks apart from other training venues or leadership clusters.

Phase One Networks: Focusing Leaders

In phase one, participants clarify how God has uniquely shaped them and how they can align themselves with his purposes as they surrender afresh to His rule in their lives. In so doing, they gain “leadership development eyes:” discovering how to spot and support what God is doing to develop other leaders in their ministry.

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