What I'm doing these days

Let's see, there's a bunch of stuff to tell you about to get you caught up. Please forgive me for not blogging more as of late. Life has been frenetic! Here's what's cooking with Randall:

Intergenerational Supplement for the Community Life Series
I just finished a powerful intergenerational supplement for the Community Life Series published through TOUCH Outreach. Daphne Kirk took the content from the four main books in the series (Upward, Inward, Outward, and Forward) and created Kid's Slot guides for each session. This will allow churches to enjoy their children and help them become a vital part of group life! After all, children are not the church of the future, but the church of today! Look for this title to be released in just a few days through the TOUCH web site.

MissioRelate by M. Scott Boren
I'm now turning my attention to MissioRelate, a revised edition of The Relational Way by M. Scott Boren. Scott has learned a great deal since he released The Relational Way in 2007, so he's added a number of new chapters and rewritten or removed other chapters. Look for this title to be released by year's end.

Pastoral Coaching
Most every week, I visit with yet another pastor who wants to enroll in TOUCH's monthly coaching process. In a nutshell, for $300 a month a pastor receives two one-on-one telephone or Skype chats, additional discounts on resources beyond our quantity discounts, and a free day of teaching or consulting each year on site. An outside source of encouragement to move forward with group development makes all the difference in the world for the pastor who has fires to put out every day. Click here to learn more.

On the home front
Etna and I are in phase three of four in our home renovation process. Whew! This phase was a complete gut and remodel of our guest bedroom and hallway. Our plan is to turn this large bedroom into a home office next spring. Today the drywall contractor is finishing up with sanding, so we'll be dusting the house repeatedly for the next month or so.

Our cell-based house church network (or the vision for it anyway)
Etna and I are also doing something very different. We're combining the cell model with the house church model as an experimental church planting model. Right now, it's just the two of us meeting for "church on the deck" in our back yard, but we're praying daily for unchurched neighbors to join us, and spending as much time with them as possible doing fun things and connecting relationally. Please pray for us in this regard—as soon as folks show up for "church on the deck" we will start men's and women's cell groups with them. As they come to Christ and mature in their faith, we'll move "church on the deck" to their house and help them become house church planters. When they're ready and have a planting team of their own, we'll return to the house or another home and start it again. I'll keep you posted on our progress!
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