Life-on-Life

JOHN KIMBALL, DIRECTOR OF CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

We emphasize the necessity of building and maintaining strong relationships iIn the CCCC. These relationships are the foundation of ministry, of disciple-making and of leader development. “Life on life” was the model of Jesus. It was the context of ministry in the New Testament. And it’s also one of our CCCC Guiding Values – “A Community That Lives Out A Shared Life and Shared Mission.”

The problem in a nation-wide organization like the CCCC is that it’s very hard to actually live out such a value among our national leadership. It can be done in local and even regional clusters; however, for those who are spread out and minister in very different parts of our country, it’s near-impossible to accomplish. Our CCCC Staff (now spread over Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida), our ministry teams for Conference Care, Church Multiplication and Church Development, and our Board of Directors, all have to be creative in making opportunities for sharing life together.

One such opportunity comes during our Winter Board Meeting, held each year in Orlando, Florida. Along with the the Annual Gathering in July, this is a time when the Board, Staff and Ministry Teams are all gathered together in one place.

For our part, Kathryn and I were privileged to host most of the Church Development Team in our home during that week. We were able to spend “down time” together as well as hold important team meetings. We have used our Florida room as Palmwood Church’s “Board Room” for the last several months – and this made a great venue for our team meetings as well.

Because of our proximity to the hotel where folks were staying, we were also able to host a fellowship night for the combined Church Multiplication and Church Development Teams, as well as some members of the staff. The Southern BBQ and fixin’s were great, but the fun and dialogue were even better. It’s good to gather and not have any agenda but to reconnect and laugh.
The CCCC leadership is trying hard to model this life-on-life priority as much as possible. It’s critical that it be lived not only on the local level, but on every level of our CCCC family. The week together here in Central Florida was a beautiful opportunity to do just that.