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top 5 bad outreach ideas at the
refuge |
1.
"all you can eat boiled peanuts"
2.
"bring
a millionaire with you Sunday"
3.
"worlds
longest sermon Sunday "
4.
"smelly
sock contest"
5.
"pin
the Bible on the pagan"
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dates to mark on your calendar for
august |
8.5.07 -
outdoor service under the tent, ice cream sundaes
afterward
8.6.07
- 8.8.07 - refuge kids
bibleventures
8.9.07
- new house of refuge cafe y libras
8.23.07
- theology pub at cannon mine
8.25.07
- movie night & discussion
8.26.07
- creative arts showcase, 5:30pm
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refuge info |
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send donations & correspondence
to:
po box 6805
broomfield, co
80021 | |
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it's
hard to believe a month has already passed since we sent
out our first vertigo! are
you dizzy yet? it seems that a life of faith sometimes a
bit like trying to walk
through a revolving door with your skis on, not
impossible, but really
hard!
when we planted the refuge 15 months ago,
there were many people who thought (and secretly hoped)
we'd replicate the "attractional" church model that we
had been part of. it could have been so
simple--a few good messages, amazing, upbeat music, a
few light trees and fog machines, and we would have been
golden. good communicator, solid care pastor, it
was the formula for success. one problem--it
violated so many of our core beliefs about what "church"
is supposed to be. so
instead we have chosen this harder path in the wider
Christian community. at this point we aren't sure
if we're smart or stupid.
but we do know there are many church
leaders out there who are overwhelmed by the exponential
growth they've experienced in the past few years (they
definitely followed the manual we seem to have
misplaced). they don't quite know what
to do because their budgets and staff keep increasing,
they're running million dollar building campaigns,
and sunday programming continues to ramp up to
near-hollywood levels. we have
heard their cry and offer our heartfelt and
sympathetic advice. you see if there is anything we feel
competent at, it is managing rapid growth. in fact, we
are confident we can solve the problems of churches that
are too big. our answer? our area of expertise?
we call it "Church
Shrinkage"....
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| just apply these 8 easy principles and
we're 100% sure your church will shrink (but who knows,
maybe in the end you'll live out some of your dreams of
the way you've longed church could be)
1. shoot the
sheriff.
don't build what is called a faith
community on any superstar other than Jesus. remember,
He said He was the head of the thing, although people
usually want a more tangible and handsome
superstar, one hero who makes all of the
decisions. hmm, no telling where it all went
awry, but as far as we can tell the early church was
just a group of men & women who loved God and
each other and wanted others to know Him, too.
2. tell the
truth.
be more honest about where each dollar
goes, who gets the biggest salary (and the least),
what the real agenda is. do 25 million dollar
buildings really help poor Jesus out, or are they in
fact ways to proclaim power and comfort? what is
hidden is always bad news for the
poor.
3. embrace
brokenness.
sounds good when it is a program for
others, but is confession a way of life for leadership
or are the stories of brokenness someone else's and
the speakers seem to have more "victory" than the
average schmoe? what happens to people when they
aren't getting "healed" fast
enough?
4. demand
equality.
look around, do women have equal status
& power? enough said.
5. defer to the least of these.
are the folks in charge the ones Jesus
would notice, or do they seem more from wall
street? are poor, uneducated, but loving servants of
Jesus on the elder board? or does the board look more
like a fortune 500 company? is success measured in
dollars and numbers? whose phone calls get
returned? who is getting invited to play golf
with the pastors?
6. be generous.
where does most of the money go? what is
spent on "the show", programming, creating
comfort versus single moms, struggling families
or hungry
children?
7. let people
speak.
why are we so afraid of dialogue?
why do only the "professionals" get to speak?
8. value people above
strategy.
what happens when someone is passionate
about something but it doesn't align with the
personal preferences of church leadership? do
staff people seem to come and go on a regular basis?
someone is being sacrificed for a strategy, and that
strategy is about being bigger.
see, anyone can have a smaller church, if
you lay down power, control, and personal comfort. If
you are willing to be honest about what happens behind
closed doors, then your church can also have
the joy of shrinking. we'll be glad to
help.
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the refuge
blog |
| we use the blog
as a way to wrestle with our crazy thoughts about our
community, Jesus and life. check out some posts
from the last few weeks here.
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life. community.
we-think-you-might-want-to-know's: |
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 refuge kids
bibleventures
august
6-8th in the evening at miramonte lodge for kids ages 4
through 5th grade. fun, Bible stuff, crafts, and games.
feel free to invite friends!
 extreme makeover is basically done and now
it's time to
celebrate!
monica
and zoe moved in at the end of july. there are a few
loose ends to wrap up but now we begin the journey of
really coming alongside monica (and marna) so that she
can get on her feet practically. we will have a
celebration open house on sunday september 9th 1-4 pm,
we hope you can stop by. details coming.
 creative arts evening - august 26,
2007
we have a great lineup of amazing art,
photography, music, drama, multimedia, poetry, and
more. invite friends and neighbors to experience a
relaxed and diverse evening of creative arts. 5:30
pm at miramonte lodge.
 houses & places of
refuge
for
details on gatherings with others at the refuge in
smaller settings, click here. new house of
refuge book group--cafe y libras--starts thursday august
9th at amber's house. other summer
groups are meeting on monday, tuesday, and wednesday
evenings and wednesday
mornings.
 refuge
infusion
coming
up in september--a once a month gathering for all
interested in getting a little extra infusion of refuge
thoughts, challenges, vision, and a sense of deeper
community & purpose. we will experiment with
best date/time but the first one will be on tuesday
evening, september 18th at miramonte lodge.
details to come but mark your calendar. all are
welcome.
 off the map
conference in seattle
november 1-3rd
last
year we attended the off the map conference in
seattle, a gathering of people from emerging,
missional communities who are trying new ways of doing
"church". it was a great time for us to meet with
other people who really resonate with the
heartbeat of the refuge. we were challenged and
encouraged. we are going to roadtrip up this year
and want to invite any of you who would like
to come, too. cost is $250 which will cover
gas, conference, lodging & some food (but not
all). we leave on october 30th, back on
november 5th. if you are interested, contact mike at zoggdog@yahoo.com and then we'll
get you more details.
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coming to the refuge & denver september 14-16th
jim henderson & matt casper  |
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we are
really excited to be hosting jim henderson and matt
casper the weekend of september 14-16th for a series of
conversations in denver about their ongoing friendship
(matt's an atheist and jim's a christian). jim
hired matt to go with him across the country visiting
churches and sharing his frank and honest experience
what it felt like in each of these
communities. we believe their ability
to have frank and honest dialogue without
having to "convince the other of the truth" is a model
for the Kingdom--and something we highly value at the
refuge. mark your calendars now and spread the
word to others who might be interested. we will
have more details soon but they will definitely be
sharing at the refuge on sunday september 16th during
our regular gathering, c.u boulder on friday
evening september 14th, and at the temple event center
in denver in the morning of september 15th.
from the back jacket:
is this what Jesus told you guys to
do?" light shows, fog machines, worship bands,
offering plates--is this what Jesus intended.
atheist matt casper wants to know.
to see
more about the book click here
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enjoy this last month of summer!
love,
the refuge
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