Fast Fire Update: Atlanta

Atlanta FFU

City: Atlanta

Chip and Bill

Part of leadership team of Unite.

Since we were last together…

What has been your greatest success?

More churches are becoming externally focused. Churches need to be transformed before the city.

Launching of a Good Samaritan health center.

What is working well?

Relationships among core churches are spreading.

Beginning to move from an annual event to an ongoing movement. For example the global day of prayer. Churches are serving throughout the yar.

Working with private and public sector to bless the city.

What is “stuck”?

Relationships are not strong with key Sr. Pastors.

Not growing numerically.

What has been your biggest surprise?

Great byproducts of relationships.

Eagerness of Laypeople to partner with other churches.

Openness of large serving organizations (Hands on Atlanta) to receive help from churches.

Bill: Koreans are internally focused people. Through involvement with Unite, as a pastor of a Korean American church they have become more externally focused. Bill could not think of one thing he was proud of that the church had done to impact in outward focus. That has changed. The church has become more open to blessing those outside of the church.

Model:

Pray, Serve and Celebrate are the components of the strategy. They are moving away from big arena celebrations to smaller park size celebrations.

Prayer is weakest link.

Partnering with private and public sector.

Non Profits, working with private and public sectors to see kingdom transformation in city.

What are common themes:

Prayer. Partnering among churches. Marriage and family strategies. Need for servant leadership.

No one has figured out how to do all of this. No two plans are alike.

5 years ago almost none of these city reaching ministries existed. 10 years ago no one was even talking about it.

Many churches are represented by this group.