The Manna Garden Project is back in 2012!!

March 27, 2012

McHenry Churches Serve the Forgotten Victims of Crime

November 17, 2011

All too often, the forgotten victims of crime are the children of inmates who are left without a father or mother through no fault of their own. These forgotten victims are six times more likely to end up in prison. Prison Fellowship Ministries estimates that there are over 1.7 million children with parents incarcerated in the United States.

The Helping Hands Ministry, serving under the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Chaplaincy, is comprised of volunteers from various churches throughout McHenry County, is committed to share Christ's love with inmates. One important component of the Helping Hands program is the Angel Tree program.

The Angel Tree program reaches out to the children of inmates and their families. This unique program provides an opportunity to share God's love by helping to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the families of prisoners. It provides incarcerated parents an opportunity to give their children Christmas gifts. Each Christmas, churches help brighten the lives of countless children by purchasing, wrapping and delivering gifts on behalf of their incarcerated parent—not only delivering a message of love from parent to child, but also sharing the true meaning of Christmas—the good news of Jesus Christ.

In McHenry County, 1500 children over the past decade have been given a Christmas gift and attended the Angel Tree Celebration of Gift Giving and Love. Another 1500-2000 children in Illnois, other states and Mexico have received gifts in the mail.

Approximately 15 churches in McHenry County and the surrounding counties have been participating in the Angel Tree Ministry including Woodstock Assembly, Grace Lutheran of Richmond, Grace Fellowship of Woodstock, Lighthouse Church of McHenry, Immanuel Lutheran of Belvidere, Maranatha Assembly of Woodstock, Trinity Baptist Community Church and Cary United Methodist Church.

Trinity Baptist Community Church in Crystal Lake, IL hosts the annual Angel Tree Celebration of Gift Giving and Love.  On December 9, 2011 at 7:00 pm, the children and families of inmates of McHenry County Correctional Facility, the McHenry County Sherriff’s Department, volunteers, and churches from McHenry County will celebrate together.

Besides facilitating the Angel Tree program, Helping Hands continues their work throughout the year with Bible Study for the male and female inmates, Sunday Services, weekly counseling sessions and other programs. In addition, the ministry purchases more than 1200 Bibles and 500-600 pairs of reading glasses for the inmates each year. Helping Hands volunteers have witnessed inmates coming to and renewing their relationship with Christ as well as trusting God to handle their situations.

The ministry is founded on the belief that if lives are changed by the Word of God, the number of repeat offenders will decrease. The people involved in Helping Hands are committed to live out the words of Jesus in McHenry County: "I was in prison and you came to visit me" (Matthew 25:36).

Funding for this ministry comes through the generous donations of churches, businesses, and individuals. To donate to Helping Hands, to get involved or if you have questions, contact Chaplain Rev. Paula Franklin via email or by phone at 815-527-7127.

Got a story of God at work in McHenry County you'd like to share with the Christ Together community? Click here to contact Jynnifer Walker.

Catalyst McHenry joins the Christ Together network

October 12, 2011

In 2005, several new pastors and churches started in McHenry County, and a fresh spirit of unity began. In this atmosphere of change, several leaders came together to refocus and launch Catalyst McHenry County. The model of church led Kingdom collaboration drew it's mission from Catalyst Lake County (now Christ Together), but with the uniqueness needed to address the specific needs of McHenry.

The initial thrust for the group was to focus on prayer and fellowship, as we journeyed the road of friendship and cooperation. After months, we began the next step process of establishing our mission and goals. Our annual calendar of events became a useful tool in bringing congregations together in diverse acts of praise,worship,prayer, and service. Some of the events that remain annual are Feed McHenry County (Feb),  Concert For Hunger, Clarion Call ( Prayer and Praise/Worship event), Backpack & school supplies giveaway (County-wide). In addition Catalyst supports ministry events such as: Loaves and Fishes Food Truck, McHenry Co. Prayer Breakfast, Men of Vision Conference, Women Of Vision Conference, McHenry Co Correctional Center Angel Tree events etc.

Much has been accomplished in the name of Christ through Catalyst. Now, we sense the call to take our collaborative efforts to the next level. We have thus met with and agreed to become part of the Christ Together network around Chicagoland.  This union will strenthen our overall effort to impact Chicagoland for Christ. We believe the Christ Together framework will help us leverage all of God's resources and people thorughout the county in ways that we have never experienced before.

It is an exciting time to be a servant for Christ and a significant season for the big "C" Church to stand together in victory as we face all the challenges of the world. Christ is the answer, and the church is His bride and representative. Stand firm, and rejoice! God is on the move!
 
Blessings in Christ,

Dr. Michael J. & Karen Love

The Go! Project - Sharing God’s love with every household in Gurnee, IL

October 11, 2011

God is at work in Gurnee. He is giving us an opportunity to make Christ known in our village and beyond in a way we have never seen before.

Jesus promised He would build His church by sending His followers into the world to share the message of Christ. He commissioned not only individuals and individual churches but also the Church as a whole. If all of Christ’s followers in any community united in an effort to make Christ known, there would be an incredible possibility that no single church could ever experience on its own. If we partner together to make relevant, personal contact with every Gurnee household, we could share Christ and His love so many more people would believe in Him.

Learn more at thegoproject.org for our story, our strategy, and our mission.

Doing Ministry as a Team

April 6, 2011

by Dr. Don R. Simmons

Doing ministry as a team is often easier said than done, primarily because we develop teams of individuals who often value individual accomplishment more than teamwork.  In Teams that Click (Harvard Business Review publication), we are reminded that being a member of a team is not natural for most people, yet, some people exhibit behaviors in groups that can cause the team to be successful, and then others seem to be bent on team destruction, or oblivious to the fact that their behaviors have a negative impact on the entire team.

 Some of the most common team behaviors that usually spell trouble, but we all have experienced them, are:

• Dominating:takes much of the team time expressing self views and opinions.  They try to take control by use of power and team time.
• Rushing:This person encourages the group to move on before the task is complete.  They get tired of listening to others and working as a group.  This person has little regard for team building activities.
• Withdrawing:This person removes self from discussions or decision-making and refuses to participate.  At times, this is also a play for control, and a shield for responsibility. This behavior is characterized by the statement, “don’t blame me, I didn’t make that decision…”
• Discounting:Disregards or minimizes group or individual ideas or suggestions.  Severe discounting behavior can include insults, which are often in the form of jokes and sarcasm. 
• Digressing:Rambles, tells stories and takes the team away from the primary purpose. They can often lose credibility with the team because of the time that they expend in chasing proverbial rabbits. 
• Blocking:Impedes the team’s progress by obstructing all ideas and suggestions.  This person always has a reason that “it will never work that way.” 
• Spiritualizing:This person blocks movement of the team by questioning the spirituality and theological correctness of each team action and activity. They rarely offer appropriate alternatives, but see themselves as assisting God in monitoring team behavior. 

The previous list of behaviors can actually be overcome and diverted by the following constructive team behaviors.

• Cooperating:  This person is interested in the views and opinions of other group members and is willing to adapt for the good of the team.
• Clarifying:This person makes issues clear for the group by listening, summarizing and maintaining the focus of the discussions. 
• Inspiring:This person enlivens the group and encourages full participation and progress.  They can be a cheerleader and team player. 
• Harmonizing:This person is valuable because they encourage group cohesion and collaboration.  Often, they use humor as a relief after a particularly difficult discussion. 
• Risk Taking:This team member is willing to risk possible personal loss or embarrassment for the group or for project success. 
• Process Checking:Questions the team on process issues such as agenda, time frames, discussion topics, decision methods and use of timely information. 
• Prayer Warrior:This person supports the team activities and individual team members by praying for them consistently, specifically and honestly.  They gather prayer requests, and possess gifts of service and intercession. 

One way to address the destructive behaviors and to affirm the constructive actions is to introduce this list to the team as a part of team training, and to include the list in ministry team descriptions.  Often, when a person is aware of the response to their actions, they can work to change or enhance that behavior.  As the team leader, frequently affirm and identify team behaviors that are helpful to the team, and that progress the team toward success.  As a training activity, encourage team members to wear a placard describing these behaviors, and role play the use of the behavior in a meeting or activity.  As much as possible, have fun with communicating the behaviors, understanding that these behaviors are hard-wired into each person, and are more likely to be evident when a person is tired, hungry, distracted by other activities (in the case of the destructive behaviors.)  The constructive behaviors may be more natural for some individuals than with others.  A person’s birth order, family size, education level and spiritual maturity all impact every person’s team behaviors.  Helping people to be aware of their “team style” is useful for every person in the settings where they live, work, worship and play. 

Another method of addressing these team behaviors is through the development of a team covenant.  The covenant is not the ministry description for the team, but describes how the team will work together to achieve the common goals.  Communication, team behavior, scheduling, tracking and evaluating should all be addressed in the covenant and the team should develop the covenant together close to the time that the team is formed.  A team leader is not responsible for developing a covenant and providing it for the team, rather, the team leader should provide team time, a format and a limited number of suggestions for inclusion in the covenant.  Without a covenant, the team has no real recourse to correct destructive behaviors, and relies more on self-monitoring.  One of the great benefits of being a member of a ministry team is that we have the opportunity to “practice” the use of our gifts, and to frequently activate the fruits of the Spirit such as humility, patience, joy and love. 

Recognizing these team behaviors is also useful when developing a new ministry team.  A team leader may want to build a team based on a variety of identifiable team behavior traits.  A budget team, for example, may have a strong need for a person who is known to be strong in clarifying.  Some more mundane task teams may need a strong inspiring team member, while other ministries may need to stay on track with process checking and cooperating.  Understanding a potential team members group behavior style can be a vital part of the discovery process and interviews, and can eliminate many problems for the team down the road.  It is unlikely that a person will radically change team behaviors from team to team, but all of us are likely to perform similarly with each team. 

So, can you identify YOUR team behavior?

Don R. Simmons

Fresno, CA  

(Team behaviors adapted from Brunt (1993). Facilitation Skills for Quality Improvement. Quality Enhancement  Strategies. 1008 Fish Hatchery Road. Madison, WI  53715)