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People often ask questions like, "How can we get more young families to join our church?" or "How can we get more members so we can have more leaders, givers, or servers?" These are what I would call "magic bullet" questions. People are looking for a magic bullet to answer these questions or some magic formula that will make their church thrive. We know there is Miracle Grow for plants so why not for churches? The reality is church development is a long term process that requires focus and perseverance.

If I were going to re-develop an existing congregation here is a recipe I would introduce to the church.

1. Turn on the heat - Invite church leaders to pray and fast for 40 days to discern God's vision for our church.
2. Add demographics - Go to http://www.link2lead.com/ and download free demographic info for the church and surrounding community.
3. Stir in the community - Take a fifth Sunday off from worship and go serve in the community. This would help us to identify the needs of our surrounding community.
4. Add a dash of each - Invite leaders to read and discuss three books; "Comeback Churches" by Ed Stetzer, "Direct Hit" by Paul Borden, and "Church for the Unchurched" by George Hunter.
5. Prepare - Put aside resources for key leaders to attend one of the following conferences; School of congregational development (www.gbod.org/scd), Drive Conference (http://www.driveconference.com/), or Exponential (http://www.exponential.com/).
6. Prepare and Add- Attend a conference sponsored training event like Deepening Your Effectiveness (May 9, 2009) or Hitch Hikers Guide to Evangelism (May 15, 2009).
7. Blend - Bring in a guide or consultant to help facilitate discussions around discerning and creating a ministry action plan for our church that would help us reinvent the way we currently extend ministry.
8. Add and Mix in - Create and nurture a pool of emergent leaders within the church who have a passion for missional ministry.
9. Let Simmer and watch what God does.

The Rev. Matt Poole is a Guide in the Western Region of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

Cracking open growth for small member churches

Within the Baltimore-Washington Conference, there are 679 churches; 438 of them are small membership churches, with fewer than 100 people in worship each Sunday.

The conference's Small Membership Church Commission believes that ministry for growth and wholeness in these congregations can be a challenging and fulfilling task, but that one-size-fits-all resources are not always effective. They recommend the following resources for small membership churches:

1. The Web page www.gbod.org/smallchurch, on the General Board of Discipleship site, which includes many downloadable resources, including "Vital Ministry in the Small Church Booklets."

2. "Small Membership Church: Serving with Significance in Your Context" by Julia Kuhn Wallace (part of the "Guidelines" series). There is an excellent list of resources at the end of this book.

3. The web page on the General Board of Global Ministries web site (http://www.gbgd.org/) for Town and Country Ministries. There is a study series that can be adapted for congregations in all locations.

4. "Holy Places, Small Spaces: A Hopeful Future For The Small Membership Church" by Bill Kemp from Discipleship Resources, 2005.

5. The Rev. Lew Parks of Wesley Theological Seminary is an excellent resource on the small membership church. Some of his work can be found at http://www.churchleadership.com/.

The Rev. Stacy Nickerson ( ) chairs the Small Membership Church Commission.

Ingredients for strengthening the church

Strengthening the Black Church for the 21^st Century offers several resources to African-American congregations interested in growth. Among them:

• The Africana Worship Book series by Valerie Bridgeman Davis and Salujah Foscua;
• The United Methodist Volunteer in Mission manual;
• "God Delivers Me" by Jacqueline Thorp; and
• The new Strengthening the Black Church Web site at http://74.52.142.66/~sbc21or/ and the Black Methodist for Church Renewal site at http://www.bmcrumc.org/.

For more information, contact the Rev. Sandra Demby at .

Spicing up Hispanic ministries

5 steps for non-Hispanic Churches interested in reaching out to the Hispanic/Latino Community

The Baltimore-Washington region is one of the fastest growing areas for Hispanics. The Baltimore-Washington Conference is encouraging churches to begin to open their doors to intentionally minister to the Latinos in their communities.

1. CONSULT - When a local church feels the call to be in ministry with the Hispanic/Latino community, consultation is a must. Consult with the leaders of the congregation, with people that are either doing a similar ministry (pastors and lay persons already in ministry) or are involved in it through their appointment capacity (District Superintendent, Guide, Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry, members of the BWC Committee on Hispanic/Latino Ministry, National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry office, etc.)

2. KNOW THE COMMUNITY AND KNOW YOURSELF - Knowing the community includes an assessment of the community you are trying to reach. Where are they, who are they, how many countries to they represent, what is their stories, values, accomplishments and needs? Who are the other players in the community that work with this group? (Community agencies, schools, etc.)

Knowing yourself includes self-evaluation of yourself as a local church. What are your perceptions about the Hispanic/Latino community? Discover your stereotypes and prejudices. Learn your particular community's history and cultural values. Be fully aware that to be in ministry with the Hispanic/Latino community is to be a partner. It is a ministry with them and not to them. The aim is not to change "them" or make them behave "our own way" but is to be in partnership for ministry and discipleship.

3. GATHER A MINISTRY TEAM - Before beginning anything, gather and train a ministry team. Who are the people who will support this ministry, financially, emotionally, and actively?

Who will be lending their gifts to be part of the ministry in whatever capacity is needed: worship, teaching, community outreach, etc. What training do they have? What training will they need?

4. PLAN - Plan your ministry by steps. What is your vision? What are the long-range objectives and the short ones? What would the priorities be? Be realistic and establish a time-line.

5. COMMUNICATE - Communicate the vision and the plan to the congregation and the community. This includes bilingual signs, access to the building, directions, etc., etc.

3 excellent resources to start:

• "Partners in the mighty work of God: A Manual for non-Hispanic Churches in Ministry with Hispanics" by Jo Harris & Russ Harris.
• "Pentecost Journey" by Jeannie Treviño and David Maldonado.
• "Seven Steps toward a Hispanic Ministry: A Preview into Hispanic Ministries" by Conrado and Anna María Soltero.

The Rev. Juan David Rocha is the chair of the conference's Hispanic/Latino ministries. The Rev. Yolanda Pupo-Ortiz is the staff person for this ministry area. Contact them at or