Dear Friends in Ministry,

The mission given to all disciples of Jesus Christ is to multiply themselves by inviting and nurturing others to join them on the lifelong discipleship journey. The focal point of this mission is in the life of local church faith communities. The Board of Congregational Life is partnering with Missional Marketing to make available a valuable resource for local church planning and visioning teams.

Each church has a fertile mission field just outside its doors. Two thirds of the people in the neighborhoods around our churches are not part of any faith community. Many are nominally religious but at the same time are spiritually hungry for a rich faith community life.

This resource tool will enable local church disciples to identify opportunities and develop ministries to effectively carry out the mission. focalPoint is designed to guide you and your church leaders through the steps of planning ministries, based upon solid information about your neighborhood. The power of focalPoint rests in the way it connects possible ministries and resources to the opportunities as the local church vision/launch team clarifies the specifics of the mission God is calling to be effectively carried out.

As you work through the focalPoint process, you will be connected to other churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, denomination and larger Christian community that have signed onto the focalPoint system. Therefore, as you plan ministries, you will know what is working - and not working - for other churches in our Conference serving similar neighborhoods.

If you have questions or comments as you use focalPoint, please let us know.


In Christ’s love and service, I am,
Sincerely,


Edwin C. DeLong
Office of Congregational Life