wfn.org | Grant helps Florida Conference reach people in inner cities

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 6, 2000 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-32-71B{264}

By Michael Wacht*
	
MIAMI (UMNS) -- For almost a year, members of the Florida Annual
Conference's Inner City Task Force have been developing a model for ministry
to unchurched people in the state's 10 urban centers. 

Last month, the conference received a $665,000 grant from the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries to fund that model for three years in
the Miami District.
	
"We hope that while they (the board) are funding Miami for the first year,
they will fund other sites in the second and third years," said Clarke
Campbell-Evans, Miami District superintendent and a task force member.
	
The money came from the board's Millennium Fund, which was established in
1997 to
help inner-city congregations in the United States that are trying to
revitalize, emerging churches in Eastern Europe and churches being rebuilt
in war-torn parts of Africa.
	
The Florida Conference New Church Development and Church Redevelopment
Committee and Miami District Board of Church Extension and Missions have
also agreed to give $250,000 to the project, called "the Florida Conference
City Ministries Plan."
	
The project is a combination of old and new strategies, said the Rev.
Charles Courtoy, executive director of the conference's Committee on New
Church Development and Church Redevelopment. 
	
The old strategy is to reach people through Wesleyan small group or house
church ministries. "People in most urban areas don't easily approach large
assemblies," he said. "People feel more comfortable with the support of the
house church."
	
Each house church will be led by a trained lay missioner. Though lay
leadership is not new to Methodism, organizing lay missioners under the
leadership of a district-wide coordinator of city ministries is a new
strategy, according to Courtoy.
	
"The lay missioners will be accountable to the coordinator of city
ministries, who will be responsible for training, advocacy and
accountability," he said. "He or she will be the person who keeps the vision
and sees the whole of the ministry."
	
The Miami District Board of Church Extension and Missions is working on the
coordinator's job description. "We're looking for someone who has a passion
for small groups and ... to make disciples in the inner city, someone who
has the gift to lead and support others in this process," Campbell-Evans
said.
	
Campbell-Evans hopes to find a coordinator who speaks English and either
Spanish or Creole. That person could be a lay or clergy member.
	
The goal during the next three years is to plant five new churches and
revitalize five existing ones, although Campbell-Evans said that may change
if leaders decide one of the strategies is bringing more success. "We are
aware of the importance of flexibility to do the best job possible," he
said.
	
Although the conference had requested funding for four locations in Florida,
the Board of Global Ministries funded Miami first to test the effectiveness
of the program. 
	
"If this works, the general board has said they will fund additional
locations," Courtoy said. The task force recommended funding for Ft.
Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa and studied the St. Petersburg, Jacksonville,
Gainesville and Tallahassee areas, he added.
	
"This whole thing is driven by the belief that people matter to God,"
Courtoy said. "If we can prove this strategy reaches unchurched people and
brings them into the love of Jesus Christ ... we can establish additional
faith communities. Faith communities are the primary means of letting people
know of God's love for them."

# # #

*Wacht is the assistant editor of the Florida Annual Conference's edition of
the United Methodist Review. This story first appeared in that publication.

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United Methodist News Service
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