An Open Letter to the Men of FCC

My Brothers in Christ,

In lieu of a report from the pastor or a report from the elders which gives a personal and corporate run down of 2005 events, I have decided to issue a personal invitation to join with me in learning how to be a better shepherd leader in your home, in the community and in the church. I am inviting every man in our church to join me on this journey. Please count this letter as your personal invitation to be a part.

If FCC is to survive for the long haul, we must have leadership that is capable of shepherding the flock of God in a loving, Biblical and wise manner. This means that we need men who are able to study and teach the Bible; men who are able to pray; men who are filled with the Spirit; men who are able to lead their families; men who are able to show practical love and service for the body; and men who are able to fill in what is missing and fix what is broken in the church.

I have been thinking about a 'teacher's class' for some time. However, it is clear to me that we need more than a 'teacher's class'. The need is too great for something so narrowly defined. We need something stronger and weightier. We need something more along the line of a shepherd's fraternity than another class. I am proposing the following as a way to raise up strong, Godly shepherds at FCC:

An ordered, systematic, yet spontaneous, 26 week (and beyond) track designed to equip shepherds in prayer, the word and service.

1. Commitment from a group of men
This is open to any man at FCC who wants to learn how to be a better leader. Not every one who goes through this will end up an FCC Elder or leader. However, every one who goes through this will be a better leader in his home, church and community. This will require more than the standard 'Bible Study' commitment. There will be higher expectation and accountability in this group. While it is open to all, it may be a 'fit' to only a few.

2. The Weekly Meeting
We will meet once weekly, with a choice of two possible meeting times: Saturday morning's from 6:00 AM to 8:00 and Tuesday Evenings from 9:00 - 11:00. Saturday and Tuesday will run on a parallel tack. There will be definite 'start' and 'finish' time. This will be reasonably structured and might look something like this:

- Bible Study and Bible study methods
- Interaction of current ministry issues in the church
- Study and interaction over the following books:
a. Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch
b. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
c. If I am to Lead by D.E. Hoste
d. Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work by Eugene Peterson
- Prayer (at least 30 minutes each week


3. Daily Disciplines
In order to be prepared for the weekly meeting, each participant will need to have spent time during the week in Bible Study, reading material and prayer. This will not be optional. (Point: We have to figure out a way to budget our time and our lives in order to live walk and be in the spiritual realm. We will help each other to do this. Therefore the "outside of the meeting' 'stuff' will be just as important as the meeting itself.)

4. Ministry Practicum
Based on Jesus' rabbinical model of discipleship, I intend to take one or more individuals from this group of men with me in practical ministry whenever it is possible. i.e., I will very rarely ever go on a call or go through a counseling session or visit in the neighborhood or visit the hospital, etc. alone. I will make it a point to have someone from the Shepherd's group with me at all times during active person-to-person ministry. As we walk together, I will turn over ministry duties as appropriate.

The ministry practicum may also include other areas of service in the church. However, all ministry should be community driven; meaning that while ministry accountability will be to FCC leadership, there will be personal accountability in ministry within the shepherding group.

5. Other areas that will/may be considered
- Family shepherding
- How to articulate theological truth
- Time management
- Dealing with personal sin
- How to practically love people
- Listening skills
- Expression through speech and writing
- Living for one purpose, boasting one passion (The Gospel and the Cross)
- Prayer issues
- Church issues (membership, etc.)
- Spiritual warfare
- Being filled with the Spirit
- Handling sticky theological issues in the church

It is my hope and prayer that the men of our church will be prepared to serve on several levels after walking together through this time of class, mentoring and practical equipping.

I want to ask you to prayerfully consider being a part. I have read recently about an early group of Franciscan monks who called themselves "The Order of the Lesser Brothers". Reading about these strong, selfless, Kingdom-minded monks inspired my imagination and my hopes for our church. No worries, I don't expect results of chubby little friars in course-wool robes. However, God wants our hearts. Therefore, I pray this will affect your heart and my heart to this end: that we encourage and strengthen one another, in order to lead with grace and humility and strength in service.

Will you consider joining me? We will have preliminary meetings on January 8th (6:00-8:00 AM) and on January 10th (9:00-11:00 AM) and consider this a personal invitation to be come and take part.

Please feel free to connect with me if you have any questions.

For His Renown,

Bernie