"BRING THE SHIP TO LIFE"
by Rev. Joel A. Oliver, Inner City Ministries Executive Director
Several weeks ago I watched the commissioning of the George H.W. Bush Nemesis Class Aircraft Carrier. It was a tremendous ceremony. At the very end of the ceremony, the Captain came to the microphone and gave the first orders for the ship. He cleared his voice and said, "bring the ship to life". As soon as he said this, all of the crew raced aboard the ship. It was an awesome sight and I cried like a baby. As I sat reflecting on this, I heard the Lord speak to my heart. He said, "It is time to bring Inner City Ministries-St. Louis to LIFE".
I have been the Executive Director of Inner City Ministries for three years. In year one, we worked hard to get ICM back into the black financially. We had to make hard decisions, but we prevailed. In year two, we spent much time in prayer to hear God's plan to carry out the ICM Vision and to reestablish relationships with our Section and with our partners. In year three, we put God's plan down on paper and presented it to the General Presbytery of the Southern Missouri District for approval. The plan that we presented is the "District Urban Ministry Plan". I am pleased to tell you that it was unanimously approved by our General Presbytery on January 22, 2009. We are now in the position to "bring ICM to LIFE". In this newsletter, I will explain this new "URBAN MISSIONS PLAN" that will so greatly help us to EQUIP indigenous inner and outer urban people for ministry and then help then in a spiritual and logical way to ESTABLISH their Church in their community and EVANGELIZE that local community. Thank you for your help, prayers and financial support. We need you to stick with us more now than ever.
God is not finished with St. Louis!
J.A. Oliver
Page 2-3- A Look Back & Forward- New District Urban Ministry Plan
Page 4----Why You Should Help and How
A LOOK BACK AT 2008
· 2008 was a great year for Inner City Ministries- here is a capsule
o – Made monthly mortgage payments and Van insurance payments for Hope Community Worship Center
o – Paid monthly utilities for Gospel Truth Church and ICM Headquarters
o – Took care of all of City Bible Institute activities and expenses
o – CBI had 17 credential status students and 20 lay students in 2008
o – ICM gave Scholarships to all 17 of the Credential Status Students
o – Repairs, upkeep at Hope and ICM Building and help with emergency needs at Christ Embassy Church (Insurance, repairs, mortgage)
o – ICM was involved in bringing in five outside teams for evangelism and work projects plus helping in two evangelistic outreaches
o – The ICM Christmas Stocking give out 700 stockings to 9 inner city churches plus over 100 toys
o – Developed and presented the District Urban Ministry Plan
A LOOK FORWARD
(The NEW District URBAN MISSIONS PLAN)
· Note: -New ICM Website Coming Soon— www.icmstl.com
EQUIP:
· City Bible Institute will place CBI Extension Online/ DVD Bible Institutes in St. Louis Inner/Outer Urban Churches for free. These Extension Schools will help local Urban Pastors in St. Louis to do the following:
o Train their local leadership
o Prepare local people from their neighborhood to receive AOG Certification Credentials so they can plant AOG Churches in that area
· C.B.I. Six Month Internship Program will be up and running by September 2009 for C.B.I. students achieving AOG Certification Credentials and desiring to plant an Inner City Church. It will offer the following:
o 2 month Internship Preparation Program where Intern will:
o Undergo an Assessment Review
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o Attend a specifically designed "Inner City Boot Camp"
o Meet with Section and District Leaders
o Serve in the ICM Developmental Church—A FOUR month Internship experience in "City Assembly of God Developmental Church". The intern will preach, plan and hold one evangelistic event, write out their vision and action steps for planting their Urban Church and serve on the Pastoral staff of this specifically designed Inner City Developmental Church
o Intern will be given a "District Urban Account Number" so that they can begin to raise part of their budget for the planting of their Inner City Church
ESTABLISH:
· After the six month Internship the Urban Church Planter will:
o Be assigned THREE Local Pastors to be his/her Mentors
o Continue to raise 25% of their monthly budget support
o Start holding services for their "Urban Church Plant" with goal of raising 25% of monthly expenses by bi-vocational work and tithes and offerings
o When funds are available the SOMO District, St. Louis Section and Inner City Ministries will work together to fund 50% of the new Urban Church Plant Budget for one year
· If the "Urban Church Plant" is viable after one year of operation, the work will be recommended for "District Affiliated Church Status" with the Southern Missouri District
EVANGELIZE
· Inner City Ministries will come along side the "Urban Church Plant" and help them evangelize their neighborhood with the following:
o Help coordinate "Evangelistic Teams" from the Section and from outside of the Section to put on evangelistic events
o Help coordinate "Special Services" with the Sections help
o Bring in Construction Teams when needed to help the Urban Church Planter
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DO THIS VITAL WORK!
WHY YOU SHOULD HELP