John Ratz

John Ratz was born in Hong Kong in a pastor's home. He moved around a lot and states that sometimes it was hard to move around but he kind of feels bad for those that have to stay in one place all their life. A majority of his time was spent in Western Canada between teenage and Bible school years.

Fast forward to Brightmoor Christian Church

He was originally hired to work with the technology and married couples but eventually wanted to start small groups. After a year of planning, a meeting was held to see who was interested and trained. After modeling the groups and training them, 60 groups were started in host homes set up personally from the start. At one point 60% of the adults were in the groups.

He also lead a group that would call visitors and those that have no come to church in a while. He states that by Friday, if no one had called them, the chances of them coming back drop drastically to 2%. The sooner you call the more likely the will come.

CLC Bensalem, Pa

He was hired here specifically for small groups. The model here was different. The groups were already under way but were in a state of disarray. The groups here were multi-generational

He has no preference to models he says because there are thousands of different models.

His passion is to developing people. Three values drive him Spiritual formation:has to be about growth first, Authentic relationships: you don't get to help someone if you don't have a real relationship, and Missional living: living to help others and the church.

When the groups got bigger, more than 20, he set up coaches to help the leaders of the small groups. He found these by setting up "round table discussions" and observing to see if people would stick out or "bubble up". The skill set for a coach is different than the skill set of a leader he says.

His definition of a disciple is someone that loves God, loves others, is growing in and with God and is involved in missional living.

All in all, I really loved hearing him talk. So much so that I almost forgot to write what he was saying sometimes! He truly is a man of God and has a lot of good things to say abut God, small groups, and how churches can benefit from them. If you get a chance to hear him speak or a chance to talk to him, you truly will be blessed.

Pastor Bob Novak

Pastor Bob Novak is the pastor of a church, Life Christian Fellowship, in Springfield, Pa. Originally from Nebraska and ended up in Pa from a call of God and recalls God had to do some "mystical things" to get him to Pa. Prompted by dreams given by God. His direction was to go to a metropolitan area. After reading mail that he almost threw out, his wife and him felt a prompting to plant churches in and around Philadelphia. He planted a church in Springfield, Pa by raising funds and working with many other people. He says the real test is the implimentation of the church plant is what is tough. Everything about it is tough. The area they planted was a very religious area with strong Catholic ties. They brought no launch teams but used Bible Studies and children's programs to help grow. He quotes, "It's amazing what God will do when you don't quit."

"When you plant and have a small core to begin with it is all about building relationships." he says. They met in an elementary school and actually made headlines in the local papers because at first, it was not allow. They did not want to start a fight but met and talked with the school board and the lawyer. With more than half coming from Catholicism.

What are some things that helped to grow the church?

They tried a lot of things. Their greatest success was individuals that come and connect with Jesus in meaningful ways and became great evangelists. Also using servant evangelism or meeting the needs of people. An example, giving windshield washer fluid to people on snowy or rainy days. It is basically meeting the practical needs of the neighborhood. Building friendships and relationships with people is also a must.

Souperbowl of Caring. Which is going out an canvasing the neighborhood to collect canned goods for families in need.

They also have a preschool on site. Pastor Novak states that it is a lot of work but it has been a good place to help pray and meet the needs of others through it.

Many from Africa live in Philadelphia, especially from areas of civil war. Found that many African immigrants were coming to a church they started in Darby. It is an African church with many different nationalities and a vibrant youth. Their culture is different than ours, specifically church culture.

"It is amazing what God has put inside of you. The potential that is in you is amazing."- Pastor Bob Novak

Internships

In their internship, they pour into their life and require them complete a project that requires vision. They pour into them with leadership, personalities, and much more. The project is something that comes from the intern themselves. They try to expose them to the family life of the church. They are a paid internship: approximatally $300 a week and a roof over their head.

Discipleship

They use Chip Ingram's "R12" based on Romans 12. It is a DVD curriculum with discussion. Their needs to be dialogue and reaction but their needs to be relationships and engagement from those that have been believers for a while.

"Most exhilarating thing about planting churches is hearing the stories of whose lives were changed because of the plant."

Exist to serve the families of delaware county. Connect with God, connect with community and connect with families.

Pastor Bob is a very knowledgeable man. I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say about a bunch of topics. Most importantly I loved how he is very much into relating and forming relationships with people. Serving people is also a very important part, it seems, in his ministry. I also particularly love this because I feel the church today can sometimes look more at numbers as a show of success. Jesus was a very relational person and I feel we need to be relational as well. Jesus genuinely cares for people and He cares about their life. We need to care, genuinely, about what goes on in their life in order to have an impact.

Great man of God and great things to say!

How People [I] Grow

I figured I would at least blog something since I have some free time on my hands in between reading. The book I am reading, How People Grow by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend is a really good read. What the book talks about in how people grow in every aspect of their life is all spiritual growth as well. It has really hit home for me and many areas and I am taking my time in reading it so I can soak in as much as I can, even though I will probably re-read this book many more times. 

What this book talks about seems almost simple and very basic. However, I think we forget these basic things and get caught up in the more "advanced" ways of growth and living. In reality, if we forget the basic things then doing the advanced things just will not work. It is like playing guitar. You cannot learn how to play a solo or a riff if you can barely strum a chord. Everything you play is built off of a very basic skill you must learn and never forget in order to play correctly.

I am only a little ways into this book and there is a lot more to read. So it looks like the advanced things are covered as well as the basic... I hope.

About me.

 My name is Cody Gorel. I just turned 22 a few days ago and I'm a Christian Ministries major at Valley Forge Christian College. I am engaged and am planning with my future wife to get married in September. I am not really sure what I am going to be doing with the rest of my life or where it is going to be. I am passionate about music and helping people. At this point in my journey, I am soaking up (or trying to) everything that  I can because I truly have no idea where or what I need to be or do.
 Music is a big thing in my life so I listen to and play (on my guitar) large amounts of it and different genres as well, although my favorite thing to listen to (and play) is spirit-filled hardcore/heavy music. I have a lot of empathy for people in that scene probably because I grew up in it. There are not too many Christian groups or Christians for that matter that venture out to build relationships with kids that do listen to that music. However in the recent years more and more bands that are, in actuality a ministry, have sprung up and tour extensively all over the globe.
 I love to read. I love to learn about things and read about almost anything. With school it is hard to do because of the immense about of course work, but during breaks I try to read a book. I am actually really looking forward to reading more once I get out of school and by reading more I mean books that interest me and do not depend on a grade.
 I am really looking forward to this class. It is not like anything I have taken so far and that is a very welcome thing. I hope to learn as much as I can about whatever it is we talk or hear about in class because I never know where or what I am going to use it or need it.