Sunday, April 8, 2007

New Co-workers

For months it has been evident that Mission Alive had outgrown the ability of Becky and me to develop and coordinate the many tasks of God’s ministry through us. Even with help from multiple resource people working with us in areas of their particular expertise, we could not adequately accomplish the basis tasks of Mission Alive: equip church planters; provide training to mentors and coaches working with the partnering teams in our church plantings; and work with churches to plant churches. Mission Alive has been like a spreading vine needing a larger trellis to enable it to grow and mature. We asked God to give us wisdom and patience so that co-workers with the gifts to facilitate specific ministry areas of Mission Alive would surface.

We praise God that we can introduce three co-workers who have joined or will join Mission Alive in 2007.

Dr. John Cooke, Director of Planter Care

Few people have the interpersonal skills and wisdom to work collaboratively with other Christian leaders to assess church planting candidates and guide them in interpersonal relationships within developing teams and Christian communities. We are, therefore, thankful that God has brought Dr. John Cooke into our lives. John has both a M.A. in Christian Ministry and a PhD in Psychology. He serves as an elder at the Riverside Church of Christ in Coppell (just north of the DFW airport). For years he has directed his own counseling firm, appropriately called the Carpenter’s Shop (http://www.johndcookephd.com/). John has worked with us in assessing church planters in our Discovery Labs since 2004 and joined us half-time in January. His ministry tasks as Director of Planter Care include . . . .
  • facilitating the Mission Alive Discovery (assessment) Labs.
  • equipping spiritual mentors of church planting families.
  • working personally with church-planting families to help them develop cohesion.
  • phoning and visiting church planters to help them with interpersonal issues within the team and developing church.

God has given John the gentle wisdom and practical understandings to help church planters and their developing communities of faith.

Tod Vogt, Director of Planter Equipping

We believe that church planters and their partnering churches should not work alone but within a network of support, encouragement, and equipping. Mission Alive provides care for church planters through a Partnering Team made up of (1) a mentor, frequently an elder of a partnering church, who shepherds the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the church planting family, (2) a coach, who focuses on the practices of Christ-formed church planting and knows from experience what is needed to form and nurture an authentic Christian community, and (3) the Director of Planter Equipping, who equips coaches and coordinates the newly developing Partnering Teams in Mission Alive. This support network greatly enhances the likelihood of success.

We praise God for raising up Tod Vogt as the Director of Planter Equipping. Tod ministered as a church-planting missionary in Benin, West Africa; served as campus and executive minister of the Homewood Church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama; and is currently the preaching minister of the Tammany Oaks Church of Christ in Mandeville, Louisiana (just north of New Orleans). Tod holds a M.A. in both Human Communication and Missiology from Abilene Christian University. He has an instinct for people and an understanding of processes of spiritual formation, leadership equipping, and community formation.

Tod, as Director of Planter Equipping, will . . . .

  • equip coaches of church planters.
  • facilitate the Partnering Teams working with each new church planting.
  • work with churches in two urban contexts to facilitate area church planting movements (including Mission Alive’s ministry for the renewal of New Orleans through Christ-formed church planting).
  • work with John Cooke in the Discovery Labs.
  • work with us in organizing and facilitating the Strategy Labs.
  • work in areas of administration and fund-raising.

God has uniquely gifted Tod to train church planting leaders.

Candace Vogt, Director of Ministry Support Services

A big part of any ministry is organization and administration. Currently Becky and I spend much of our time organizing the various activities of Mission Alive, including workshops, retreats, and training labs.

We are thankful that God has raised up Candace Vogt to work with us in these and other ministries. Candace has a BS in Economics from Auburn University (a most important credential!!) and a JD from Vanderbilt University. Professionally, she practiced law for twelve years in the areas of estate planning and property law in Birmingham, AL, and served as Professor at the Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in Montgomery, AL, for three years.

Candace, as Director of Ministry Support Services, will . . .

  • work with us in areas of ministry organization and administration.
  • help in developing an endowment for church planting.
  • work with Becky in organizing and facilitating women’s care.
  • develop models of children’s ministry in church planting.
God has given Candace the gifts of organization and administration.
 
Tod and Candace have two children, Hanna, age 12; and Lucas, age 7.
 
Would you ask God’s blessings on these three new co-workers in Mission Alive? Pray that God might guide us all to be faithful to his mission.
Posted by Gailyn V. at 12:00 PM
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