Ministry News - Updated Friday, May 15th, 2009

 What's New?

The biggest news I have to share is the Cell Symposium coming up in June in Waco, Texas. This is not a conference where everyone sits and listens to a few people talk all day long. It's highly interactive and will be round-table discussion-based. Moreover, the people moving from table to table will be none other than Mario Vega (Elim Church, San Salvador), Dion Robert (EPBOM, Ivory Coast, Africa), Ralph Neighbour (Founder of this ministry) and many, many other key leaders in the cell movement. The event is in a small venue of just 300 participants and I fully expect it to sell out before the date arrives.

If there is any way you can get to Waco for this event, register right now by clicking on the link above and we will see you there!

 Upcoming Speaking & Training Events

May - I will address the cell leaders of a local church in Houston this Sunday evening and I'm pumped about the opportunity! Encouraging leaders is just about as much fun as a guy like me can have in ministry. These servants are doing a great job of supporting their groups as they reach up, reach in, and reach out to extend God's kingdom to a lost and hurting world.

June - Etna and I travel to Orlando, FL the first weekend in June where I will preach in a local church who is transitioning to cell-based ministry. This church's staff members and lead pastor participated in TOUCH's free Making Cell Groups Work seminar in October of last year and is now making cell groups work!

September 17-18 - There's still room for you at the last Making Cell Groups Work event for 2009. It's free, it's just a day and a half mid week, and there's no reason you should not sign up!

November - I found a nice cabin rental in North Carolina for vacation this fall and will be preaching and teaching at the Chatanooga Vineyard on the way home. I can't wait for a week off to watch the leaves change in cool weather and then hang out with other Vineyard folks, which are part of my tribe.

The other months of 2009 - I am typically booked solid for six to twelve months for training in churches across the country. However, this year is far more open with the recession in full swing, so take advantage of it! I would count it an honor to come to your church and encourage your coaches, train your leaders, or use our unique strategic planning day for your small groups or cell groups ... which has amazing results for burned out leaders and members who have yet to become active or take ownership in their group. Check out our training overview pages here. and contact our offices if you want some outside encouragement for your small group or cell group ministry!

 New Resources Now Available

(Click the links to download a free chapter and buy these books!)

Christ's Basic Bodies: Embracing God's Presence, power, and purposes in true biblical community - Dr. Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr., author of Where Do We Go From Here? (and 38 other titles) has released his newest book on the centrality of Christ for healthy small group life. It was released in mid-January and is now available at a healthy discount off retail from our secure web site's shopping cart. Christ's Basic Bodies

Small Group Leader's Toolkit: Ten power tools for personal leadership development -  If you've used Dave Earley's other books, then you'll love this all-new resource. It will help your leaders think through ten important lifestyle changes that make every leader a success. The worksheets are transformational. The Small Group Leader's Toolkit

God Is Powerful In You: Discovering and using your spiritual gifts - by Dr. Paul Ford. Have you noticed that all the gifts inventories or surveys available today are an instrument a person completes about themselves? This introspective look at one's spiritual gifts typically yeilds results that indicate where the person is comfortable serving God, not where they are powerfully used by Him. This new six-session guide for small groups and cell groups will help the members learn about spiritual gifts, distribute observation-based assessments to others in the group and believers they know and respect, and then process what they are learning in their small group. Groups who have used this new resource are enjoying amazing results! God is Powerful In You

Planting Churches That Reproduce: Starting a Network of Simple Churches - by Joel Comiskey. This book is the fruit of Joel's extensive research and recent personal experience with domestic church planting. More than anything else, this book provides practical solutions for those planting churches in America today. It's a must-read for all those who want to plant multiplying, Christ-honoring churches. It's on my reading list and it should be on yours too! Planting Churches That Reproduce

 Future Releases for 2009

The Naked Truth about Small Group Ministry: When it won't work and what to do about it -  I have now finished the manuscript and my editor is working hard on it. Expect it in late June or early July.

Encounter God - Small Group Guide -  This six week agenda book will help a small group prepare for an Encounter God Weekend in the first three week's of study and sharing. Then, it will be used for three weeks after the weekend to help group members process what happened and walk in freedom from ungodly strongholds. This agenda book will be released in the Summer of 2009.

The Pocket Guide to Burnout-Free Leadership: How to gather a core team and lead from the second chair. The latest addition to our pocket book series is written by Michael Mack, author of Leading From the Heart and Launching into Community Life. In this short read, your new leaders will learn how to launch their group with a core team and keep Christ at the center and in control. It's sure to be a big hit with your future leaders because it's a method that is comfortable for those who are not yet confident in their leadership skills. This pocket book will be released in September of 2009.

Life Basic Training (Bootcamp for sit-and-soak church members) -  This eight week personal workbook by Ralph Neighbour will take a "sit and soak" believer and move them into a new understanding of God's values vs. man's value system. Each week has daily growth guides like our discipleship resources. Also included is a weekly devotional and questions the believer can use in a small group environment at the end of each week to talk out what they are learning about themselves. It should be released in the late fall of 2009.

Coach's Journal -  This simple, yet powerful resource will contain a place to write down thoughts and feelings and prayers for one's leaders and groups, pages to assess a group and a group's leader, and probing questions for the coach to use when he or she meets with a leader or potential leader of a group. Look for this resource in first months of 2010.

Praise Reports, Prayer Requests and Ministry Needs

Prayer Request  - Churches have simply stopped buying discipleship and leader enrichment and training resources in the wake of the recession, which is how we produce the income that keeps us in ministry. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to TOUCH to help us cover rent, electricity, and other basic ministry expenses outside of salaries, which we have already cut to the bone.

Prayer Request  - One of our authors was forced to back out of a writing project last month. I am searching for a creative cell groups pastor who wants to collaborate with us to create tips and suggestions for other cell group pastors to bring innovation and excitement to their monthly leader's meetings. If you know of someone, give them our toll free number and tell them to speak with me. I'd love to visit with them.

Praise the Lord!  - Every day, I have the priviledge of visiting with pastors on the phone. Our long discussions about how to proceed with cell groups is a huge encouragement to me because it is what I love to do. If you or a pastor you know wants some free telephone consulting, do not hesitate to call. Your call is a priority in my day and frankly, I wonder why we have yet to speak!

That's all I've got to share right now. I'll give you a ministry update after the big symposium next month!

Randall Neighbour, President