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Community Strategy Roundtables
In recent years, more than 1,500 Northwest churches have signed a Marriage & Family Agreement (MFA), making the Northwest region home to the nation's largest grassroots, community-led marriage movement. By participating in the MFA, these church leaders have declared their commitment to ensuring marital success and reducing divorce by investing in the relational health of their community.
But to maximize the MFA’s future impact, it is crucial for the church community to become pro-active rather than reactive, act to prevent unhealthy relationships while rebuilding hurting ones, and to think comprehensively about enhancing, supporting, and fostering a community of healthy relationships. The Community Strategy Roundtable helps them take this next critical step.
In the Roundtable, churches move beyond the walls of their individual congregations to work with other churches in forming a comprehensive strategy that includes the unique talents, passions, and capabilities each church offers to the broader community.
By embarking on such a united effort, relationship ministry becomes more effective, church efforts become more efficient, and the impact on marriages, families, singles and other relationships is overwhelmingly positive.
The Essential Elements of the Roundtable
Assess current conditions
Pastors will take a look at the most recent research and reliable data on marriage, divorce, and families in order to form an accurate assessment of the present condition of relationships, the needs that exist, and their impact on the community.
Determine future trends
After attaining a firm grasp on the current research on various relationships, pastors will look at future trends to gain foresight into the family dynamics facing tomorrow’s churches and communities. Learning and detecting future trends allows for productive planning today, and positive results tomorrow.
Initiate focused prayer
After establishing a firm grasp on the current conditions and the future trends of family dynamics, pastors will spend a considerable amount of time praying for marriages, families, relationships, hurting people, and for God-directed solutions by the church community.
Discover useful resources
Many resources exist to prepare, enrich and reconstruct most family relationships. Pastors will learn of the organizations, books, curriculums, web sites, and other services available to help churches in their desire to impact marriages and families.
Design a community strategy
This brainstorm session enables pastors to realistically consider the existing opportunities, dream up new possibilities, discuss the potential obstacles, and formulate a community-wide strategy that leverages the cooperative efforts of the extended church body.
Embark on a united effort
Once the strategy has been agreed upon, the pastors will determine how the strategy will be implemented, when it will begin, in what stages it will be deployed, where responsibilities will fall, how the strategy will be promoted, and other relevant factors. This will become the churches' blueprint for transforming the relational health of the community.
Upcoming Roundtable Discussions
May 25th - Clackamas County, OR (Part 1)
June 15th- Clackamas County, OR (Part 2)
Registration form
Roundtable brochure
Learn more
Call Community Strategies Associate Luke Nelson at 503-380-0441 or email him at luke.nelson@familiesnorthwest.org to learn more about these Roundtable events or to start planning one for your community.
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