DAWN Fridayfax 1996 #13

DAWN News from Bosnia, USA, Germany, Barbados, Pakistan, Bangladesh

Reconciliation and church growth in Mostar

The free evangelical movement "AGAPE - Evandeoske Krkve" began three years ago in the besieged city of Mostar. The church, which started with 40 members, consists of people from Serbian, Croatian and Moslem backgrounds, now united in Christ. The church has not only grown to over 300 members, but has also planted other churches in Tuzla, Sarajevo and Bihac. AGAPE is also an officially recognised charity which visits and supports 150 families and single people of all ethnic groups.

Source: Pastor Harald Deininger/Gunther Clays, Marktoberdorf, Tel (+49) 08342-40244

USA: the connection between strategic planning and church growth

20 percent of the US's 367,000 local churches are already actively involved in strategic planning. Many pastors, according to a report in the March issue of 'American Demographics', are becoming interested in information and insight from the marketing sector.

"We see increasingly that a greater consciousness of demographic data is one of the hallmarks of growing churches", says church growth expert John N. Vaughn of the Southwest Baptist University. "If you want to be effective as a church, you need a clear picture of your target group", according to the Methodist strategy advisor Jack Heacock.

The study also shows that in churches showing an interest in demographic data, there are very often small groups of people who claim that "this brings worldly influence into the House of God", but the report concludes soberly: "Churches without strategic plans for growth cannot avoid stagnation."

Source: American Demographics 3/1996

"Advancing together in one spirit": McKinsey investigates the Bavarian State Church

Dr. Peter Barrenstein of McKinsey, the management consultants famous for their drastic rationalisation concepts, has been investigating the Bavarian State Church in Munich for the last year. The Institute ascertained that 18.7% of the population belong to the category "Believers attending a particular church". 80% of those interviewed are looking for "ritual accompaniment in decisive situations such as birth, marriage and death."

McKinsey's advice to the church: "Your involvement is being lost in a diffuse togetherness instead of advancing together in one spirit. Churches do not coordinate their work enough. Particularly in a city, a single church is just one competitor in a diverse and colourful religious market. The church needs to address this competition." McKinsey encourages the church's management to lead with more courage and clarity in order to give a more unified profile.

Source: Dr. Peter Barrenstein, McKinsey, Munich

March for Jesus in Barbados: the Government takes part

The organisers of the worldwide March for Jesus are expecting around 10,000 participants at the march in the Caribbean island of Barbados on 25 May 1996.

The 'Jesus Marchers' will include not only local Christian leaders, but also members of the Government. The march will be transmitted live by local radio stations and the national TV. To date, the organisers expect a global attendance of over 4 million, but reports from 150 countries have not yet been received.

Source: Global March for Jesus, Fax (+44) 1932-789691 E-mail 100572.323@compuserve.com

Pakistan: police are pleased by the March for Jesus

The evangelical mission organisation OM reports that at Christmas 1995, there was an unusual 'Declaration for Jesus' in predominantly Islamic Pakistan. "The impossible became possible", according to the report: "Lahore's churches came together under a single banner, and the District Magistrate and Police Commission accepted the petition for a 'March for Jesus'."

A brightly-decorated lorry carrying a choir, two preachers and a platform on which prayers were said for the nation was followed by 400-500 Christians through the town centre. The lorry driver and his assistant, according to the report, were not Christians, but they were "very happy to have taken part in the march. They promised to take part the next time and to not charge anything." The police were happy that the marchers had prayed for peace in the country, and declared that the event "was a pleasant change from the normal political and religious marches."

Source: OM

Bangladesh: tailors plant new churches

"In Bangladesh, there is a steady flow of new converts to Christianity", according to OM. The predominantly Islamic country, with a population of 130 million, currently has only around 90,000 Christians. OM reports "In some areas with only a few Christians, the number of new converts has doubled."

Among others, the mission agency is assisting a group of seven 'associates', all of whom head small tailoring businesses. These tailors, who now also have Bible training, are part-time pastors of growing churches, and plant more churches in their free time, all of which are also growing, according to the report.

Source: OM

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