Encouragement For Burned-Out Pastors

Road trip to a forgotten place

The primary purpose of the Catalyst movement is to reproduce and plant churches. Having been in the Lower Anthracite Coal Region for 11 years, I have become aware of a spiritual vacuum in the area between Shamokin and Hazleton.This area is filled with many small coal villages that have been deteriorating for decades. Places like Ringtown, Sheppton, Ashland, Frackville, Shenandoah, Mahanoy City, Hometown and Gilberton. They constitute a forgotten region, but are still populated with tens of thousands of souls. My research indicates that the Pentecostal witness in these towns in almost non-existent, and the church as a whole there is desperately ineffective in presenting the Gospel. The darkness and misery are almost palpable. Our hearts should ache with missionary zeal for these folks.
I recently received a call from a Christian man in one of these towns (Macedonia?) on an unrelated matter. When he realized I was a Pentecostal pastor he began to share his frustration in being unable to find a healthy spirit-filled church anywhere near his home. I knew of some good churches, but they were at least a half hour away. He and his wife are disabled.
Our Catalyst group will be taking a road trip through this region in May. We'll be piling into our church van to chase a dream that God would send someone to break some new and difficult ground. The purpose of the trip is to birth vision and hear from God as we pray and take in the view. We will see abandoned coal structures, blighted cities, and we may even see a place that is literally burning underground (Centralia). We will engage the people and begin a conversation to get a sense of the cost involved to break the stronghold there. Darkness retreats when faced with the light.
Resources, human and otherwise, are hard to come by in these parts. The brain drain that Pennsylvania has experienced for the past decade or two began here in the 1960's. The outlook is bleak and a church planter looking for obviously fertile ground will not find it here. Breaking through will involve toil, commitment, sacrifice and wisdom.
We tend to see white harvest fields where the population trends are moving up. I wonder is that what God sees? I am of the opinion that God delights to show Himself in such places. Where is the light more appreciated than in a desperately dark place.
I am pleased that Rodney Murphy in Hazleton shares this burden and will be joining us on this trip. He attends another Catalyst group and his church is located on the other side of this forgotten region. We seek a partnership and are asking God to send a team to discover and break the missional code for this part of the coal region. I will update this blog when we return from the trip.

Now Accepting Applications

The MCM Ministry School has just kicked off its season for receiving applicants for the 2009-10 school year. We have launched a new website with information about courses, classes, teachers, etc.

What is UNIQUE about MCM Ministry School?

The MCM Ministry School is designed to provide a prospective student not only with classroom training but with real life experiences in ministry.

• Every day we involve students in our PRAYER SCHOOL.
  
• Once a week, we engage in PRACTICAL COMMUNITY OUTREACH in connection with one of eight churches that have been planted in Pittsburgh.
  
• Once a year, the students participate in an INTERNATIONAL TRIP to work in partnership with Mission SOS in a Signs and Wonders Festival among UNREACHED PEOPLE'S GROUPS.

Right now our current students are in Thailand doing ministry...dance teams, drama teams, preaching the gospel on the streets, praying for the sick, and participating with hundreds of people experiencing the reality of Jesus for the first time.

The passion of the MCM Ministry School is to raise up faith-filled adventurers who are committed to living out the supernatural lifestyle of the book of Acts. The practical experiences come in the context of a growing church that is actively planting churches and sending teams to reach unreached people groups.

Next year's class will be able to get hands on experience with church planting through Element Church in Millvale, a new church to be planted in the South Side, as well as with the many other churches in the MCM Network.

Who is the MCM Ministry School For?

It is for anyone interested in preparing for a life of aggressively following Jesus.

• Some of our students are right out of High School, and attend the MCM School prior to launching into college.
• Some of our students are college grads and are looking for a year of practical experience prior to stepping into a career or into full-time ministry.
• Some of our students are currently working in a career and are able to arrange their work schedule to accommodate the classes.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED...There are couple of things for you to do. Visit the MCM Ministry School website. Send in an application. Or attend a day of classes. Coming up on Friday, May 8th, we will have an OPEN CLASS day (from 9am until noon). Come check it out.

The cold Northeast

By now I'm sure many of you noticed the Newsweek article this week (check it here) called The End of Christian America. Interesting and sad stuff.

On my watch (I've been in ministry for about 25 years), Christianity in America has dropped precipitously, dropping an additional 10 points since 1990. Newsweek is declaring the triumph of post-christian culture, and how wonderful it is that we are more open politically because of it.

One of the pieces of information that grabbed my attention quickly, was that the Northeast now leads the country in religiously unaffiliated people. This of course, is our area and our challenge.

As I pray about this, however, I tend to see one possible light at the end of this dismal tunnel. This could be what Seth Godin calls "the dip", that spot where developmental progress hits an all-time low just before it explodes into the greatest growth season of all time.

God help us turn this slide into a growth curve. God helps us somehow see Christianity grow in 'market share' in our lifetime. God help me not need to face retirement having spent my whole ministry working hard, but not seeing the turn-a-round that rescues my nation from hopeless and helpless decline.

It's interesting and sad that I don't know of anyone who has a definitive plan or idea that is likely to turn this nation around. We need leaders with such a passion, such a plan, and such a likely outcome!

"Give me souls or I die"