Welcome to the Associational Missions Blog!
Who do we seek to serve? Our intention is to serve church leaders as they lead their respective churches to discover and fulfill the Mission that God intends for them. My immediate concern is for the churches of the association that I serve (CTBA), but others are certainly invited to "read over our shoulders" and participate if they should find this blog to be helpful.What are the purposes of the blog?
1. Help readers easily and quickly find the information they need when they need it. We live in a time characterized by an avalanche of information in general -- but with a shortage of the specific information we need at a specific time. So one purpose is to help readers bypass much of the irrelevant information and to find the information they need more quickly and easily.
2. Help readers become aware of resources available to them through Internet links and other referrals. Resources are so extensive that the only feasible way of sharing them is through the Internet.
3. Help build a sense of community among the churches. The interactive nature of a blog makes community-building an attractive option. My immediate concern is for the development of community in the CTBA -- but we wish in every way to emphasize the unity of all of God's People.
4. Provide a "finding system" for valuable information through the archives. A problem with information on paper -- regardless how valuable it is -- that once you get it, you must decide where to file it -- and the even harder task of quickly finding it again when you want it! I hope that, through the archives, your finding efforts will be more productive.
5. Receive your assistance in continually making the blog increasingly more valuable to you and other church leaders. The beauty of a blog is that it allows for and encourages an ongoing dialog and mutual assistance among those who read. I welcome your assistance in meeting the purposes I've outlined. You might do this in any of several ways -- including questions you ask, innovations you share, problems you encounter, books you've found to be especially helpful, etc. The basic criterion for comments to be posted is that they advance the purposes of this blog.
