Welcome back to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.

SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play

The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA. 

This week, we have a special sponsor in the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Hosts for this week’s episode are George Bullard, the Director of Missions, Strategic Leadership Coach and Lead Missiologist at Columbia Metro Baptist Association. And I’m Chris Reinolds, Lead Pastor a Killian Baptist Church.

Joining us this week is Tom Carringer demographic and psychographic researcher and Clay Smith, Lead Pastor, at Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter, SC.

Together they’ll share with us the importance of the 30,000-foot view of demographics, the 10,000-foot view of psychographic/lifestyle, and how to use that information as a catalyst to help your church connect with the households in your context.

Highlights:

• Demographic data shows you general information about a people group within specific parameters while psychographics reveals the individual interests, passions, and dreams that those people groups have.  
• Psychographic data helps you figure out who is going to be most receptive to your message by matching those people with the existing church body in your context.
• Understanding the lifestyle profile of your church helps you to comprehend how God has uniquely gifted the body of believers in your context to reach the community surrounding you.  
• When you understand who you are as a church, it affects how you do the work of the ministry.  It makes you more efficient at the unique work that God has called you to do.  
• Knowing the psychographic and demographic data helps us to know, not just who we’re good at reaching, but also who we are not good at reaching.  
• Before we received the data about our church, we had a “poor church” mentality.  After getting the psychographic and demographic data, we realized that we weren’t a “poor church,”  but we were financially blessed and could do more to minister to people in our context.
• Lifestyle profiles allow us to have a laser focus on a local level.  

Resources

Contact George Bullard with Columbia Metro Baptist Association

Contact Tom Carringer

Contact Clay Smith - AliceDrive.org or [email protected]

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.  Special support for this episode was given by the South Carolina Baptist Ministries of Aging.       Joining us this week is Nathan McCarthy, President, and CEO of the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina. Nathan, and his team, at the Baptist Foundation are passionate about seeing churches reach their communities with the gospel.  The Baptist Foundation seeks to support these gospel-centric ministries by promoting and encouraging legacy planning, helping with investment management services, and equipping churches with the tools necessary to promote wise financial stewardship from the top down. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights: We firmly believe that the church is going to be the vehicle that's going to change culture.   When the church begins to teach some basic things, not just about tithing but from a holistic point of view that generosity effects all things, time, talents and treasure, then people open their eyes and they begin to prayerfully look for ways to worship God through their money, through their generosity, through their giving and that changes everything for the church. One of the things that's most startling here in South Carolina is that seven out of ten people pass away with no formal planning at all. Ultimately it's going to come down to honestly that sheep, that follower of Christ that's sitting in the pew when God begins to pluck their heart and they begin to see their money in a bigger picture. That God owns it all. When [someone plans] properly [for their financial future], Uncle Sam doesn't get his cut. The money gets to go to God's kingdom, which furthers the ministries that we have here in South Carolina. What the church needs to stress and teach is, "Hey, you need to pray about this because this is God's money and it was given to you and you are a steward and where does God want it to go."  Resources: Website:  baptistfoundationsc.org Phone Number:  803-227-6193

 

SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.   Hosts for this week’s episode are George Bullard, the Director of Missions at Columbia Metro Baptist Association, Strategic Leadership Coach, Lead Missiologist, and Virtuoso of all things church-related. JayWill Wilson, Teaching Pastor at Generation Church, Urban Missionary, and Radio Host at Urban City Radio and I’m Chris Reinolds, Lead Pastor of Killian Baptist Church, Founder of ChrisReinolds.com.       This week’s episode features Antony “Ant” Frederick, Campus Pastor at Midtown Fellowship:  Two Notch.  Midtown Fellowship: Two Notch is a smaller membership church located near the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina.  They desire to move out beyond the walls of the church and engage the urban community surrounding them by building real and intentional relationships.   Highlights:   People are suffering without hope, and God began to grow a burden to reach people in the Two Notch area.   Urban ministry is about building relationships with the people who are there and building trust with them.   In tough neighborhoods, there is a lack of trust, and the church must be present than just a weekend, a month, or a year.  There must be an ongoing presence among the people in the community.   Sometimes it’s a barrier for people to come onto the church grounds.  Often the church has to go and show the love of Jesus on the turf of the people.   The phrase “How can I pray for you” has opened up tons of door for us to reach our community.   A food desert is when a people group don’t have fresh produce nearby.   We want our church to be a hub for the betterment of our community.  We want to connect our community to resources that’ll help them thrive.   Resources:   Facebook Twitter Midtown Two Notch Antony “Ant” Frederick, Campus Pastor at Midtown Fellowship:  Two Notch. 

 

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.  Special support for this episode was given by the Columbia International University.       Joining us this week is Kenny Mills, founder, and CEO of ruins Rebuilt. Kenny and his team are passionate about seeing churches have a more significant impact on the communities where God has placed them.  They long to see the leaders of these organizations encouraged and on track to achieve the dreams and goals they once had. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights: A rebrand is a change of the logo.  But a relaunch is a change in identity.   In order to relaunch a church three things must happen:  Posture for change, define vision, and define values.   A clear vision provides direction and clear values provide protection.   It didn’t take three months to create an organizational issue therefore it can’t be fixed in a three month process.   A brand is simply what people say about you when they see you.   A common language is a big deal because when we’re united in our speech we can accomplish incredible things together.   When people in the world start to speak the language of the church then we know we have influenced the culture.   The gospel changes lives, and when our lives are changed then we share the gospel with others.   The best marketing for any church is word of mouth.   We have to trust the Lord for the results but we have to get out of our seat and do the work. Resources: www.ruinsrebuilt.org [email protected]

 

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.       This week’s episode features Pastor Jimmy Hanf.  Pastor Jimmy is a part of Concord Baptist Church in Lugoff, SC.  Pastor Jimmy and a team of volunteers make a difference on the first and third Wednesday of each month to help the hungry and the hurting through the ministry of the Concord Baptist Church food pantry. This Kershaw County church that has 65-70 on a Sunday morning is helping over 100 families, which represent over 500 people each month. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• JayWill Wilson of Generation Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights: If you set your mind to allow the Lord to lead you, you can do a lot of great things for the Kingdom!   Smaller membership church doesn’t mean small mission.   One of the first steps for a church to get involved at a school is to go and talk to the principle and found out what their needs are.   80% of the sicknesses in Peru are caused by the people not having adequate resources for clean drinking water.   After providing the people in those villages with a simple six inch water filter from Sawyer Water Filtration the illnesses are cut down dramatically.   Our prayer is that people would have a spiritual awakening and this time we baptized seven in the piranha invested water and a total of thirteen made professions of faith. Contact:

Concord Baptist Church

Agua Es Vida

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.  Special support for this episode was given by the Connie Maxwell Children's Home.       Joining us this week is Matthew Quinton with Southern Mutual Church Insurance Company. Southern Mutual Church Insurance Company has been working with churches in a variety of ways for a number of years. In their continual pursuit to meet the needs of the local church, they've been working diligently to educate churches on the importance of up to date safety and security procedures. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights: If you have a fire hydrant in your home, then you care about taking steps to prepare for unforeseen events.  The same principle applies to church security and safety. The first step to a more secure facility is having the conversation about the importance of security.  The second would be getting a facility assessment from local law enforcement. The church security program is built on three pillars:  Equipment, Protocols, and Training. It’s not enough to have armed people in your church.  There are rings of security that exist around every church.  It’s important to leverage those rings to prevent incidents from occurring. We either react or respond.  A reaction is what our instincts do, and most people react poorly.  A response is when our training kicks in to handle certain situations. Churches need more than aspirin and band-aids to treat people in the event of a mass casualty event. Limiting access and entry points after a service has begun is key to protecting your people. Don’t underestimate the power of the five-word statement, “How may I help you?” Concealed Weapon Permit (CWP) training is not enough to qualify someone to work on a church security team.

 

Resources:

Southern Mutual Church Insurance Company

Matthew Quinton

Safety and Security Video

Safety and Security Resources

The Draco Group

 

 

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.       This week’s episode features Pastor Dee Vaughan, author of Seeing in the Dark (Amazon), and Senior Pastor at St. Andrews Baptist Church in Columbia, SC.  Dee’s book, Seeing in the Dark, was birthed out of his own personal time of depression and a desire to share with others that the Bible does, in fact, speak to those who are experiencing similar times of darkness. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• JayWill Wilson of Generation Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights:

The key to recognizing something has changed in you, is to listen to those who are close to you.  

 

My process of healing began with me admitting, "I’m just not doing well.”  

 

I grew up in a culture where there were two categories of mental health:  You’re ok, and You’re crazy.  

 

I think we’ve made God way too small in the healing process when we say there is only one way to heal depression.  

 

The best way to eliminate stigmas about depression in the church is for pastors to lead the way.  

 

We can’t repair this road while the traffic continues to flow on it.  Sometimes you need to take a break.  

 

Jesus named demons before he threw them out, and I think we need to name the issues before we can adequately deal with them.  

 

Close to forty percent of people are dealing with the issue of depression.  

 

As pastors, we have to address the issues that are affecting our people.  

 

This is a paperback book, not a silver bullet to cure depression.  This book is a source of help meant to flow into a larger river of help.  

 

The worst enemy of emotional health is isolation and withdrawal.  The best thing you can do is talk with someone about it.  

 

If someone you love is dealing with depression, the most important thing you can do is reassure that individual that your love for them hasn’t changed.  

Contact:

St. Andrews Baptist Church

[email protected]

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.       This week’s episode features Dave and Andrea, with Apartment Life. Apartment Life is a faith-based, non-profit organization that has been serving the apartment industry since 2000. They believe every individual is created for community and that we are all called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Their goal is to live this out while providing strong business value to apartment owners. They help apartment owners care for residents by connecting them in relationships. This, in turn, helps improve the community's financial performance through online reputation, resident satisfaction, and resident retention.  At Apartment Life, they are changing how the apartment business is done and changing the lives of those who live there.   Hosts for this week’s Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights:

• Sometimes taking the Gospel next door can be just as difficult, if not more so, as taking the gospel across the ocean.

 

• 50% of people living in a metro area, like Columbia, live in an apartment.  Only 5% of those are living out some sort of faith.

 

• Churches can’t claim to reach the city for Christ, if their not reaching those living in apartments.

 

• People want to know you care about them as a person before they hear about how your Savior cares for them.

 

• Apartment life provides intentionality and structure to what the scriptures call us to do in the book of Acts.

 

• We have closed mission fields in the United States.  They’re protected by gates and key fobs.

 

• Each Cares Team wants to point people they’ve connected with to a local church.

 

• The more churches come together and collaborate the more people we can reach for Christ.

 

• Key Characteristics of a great church to work with an apartment Cares Team:  Recruiting Church, Praying Church, Supporting Church, Present Church, a Community-Focused Church.

Resources Mentioned

• Cares Team Program

Connect with Andrea Morris:

• Phone - 843-226-3785
• Email - [email protected]

 

Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.        This podcast features Pastor Andre Melvin.  Pastor Andre is the pastor at Temple Zion Baptist Church and Executive Director of the Columbia International University Prison Initiative.  The prison initiative's mission is to train inmates to live in accordance with Biblical principles and to equip them for the unique ministry opportunities afforded by their incarceration. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• JayWill Wilson of Generation Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights:

• The goal of the prison program is to train the inmates to receive an associates degree in order to reach their fellow prisoners with the gospel.

 

• Trainees, upon graduation, are sent to another institution to work under a chaplain to minister to the needs of the people in that institution

 

• To date, we have graduated 145 students and they're stationed in twenty-two institutions throughout the state and two opted to go to Alabama and start a program there.

 

• The goal of the prison initiative is missiological: train the locals to reach their peers.

 

• Graduates have been spat on and "things" thrown at them as they are seeking to minister to tough yards.

 

• Prison ministry helps us understand to not forget about those who are incarcerated.

 

• Many inmates admit that when they were free (out of jail) they were really imprisoned (in their souls). But that through the physical incarnation they’ve found Jesus and are freer than they’ve ever been.

 

• We’re called to live incarnationally among [the lost] in order to reach them.

 

• God’s love is always attached to an action.

 

• Prison is just another mission field.

Connect with Pastor Andre Melvin

• Email:  The Prison Initiative

 

     

 

       Welcome to the Columbia Metro Connection, a podcast where you can go to get valuable, relevant, and quality resources for you and your congregation.   SUBSCRIBE:  iTunes| RSS | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | Google Play        The Columbia Metro Connection is sponsored and supported by the Columbia Metro Baptist Association and the almost 100 partner churches that support the ministry of the CMBA.  For this week’s episode, we’ve received special support from The Baptist Foundation of South Carolina.  Let’s take a minute to hear a word from Jacque with The Baptist Foundation:        This podcast features Greg Atkinson.  Greg is the Founder of Worship Impressions and the First Impressions Conference. He serves as the Executive Director of ExPastors.com, and is on the Advisory Board of Full Strength Network – a national non-profit dedicated to helping pastors and church leaders stay healthy and avoid burnout. Greg is a published author, leadership coach, consultant, and member of Forbes Coaching Council. Greg has worked with churches of all stages and sizes, including some of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the country, as well as with businesses, non-profits, and organizations such as Josh McDowell Ministries.  In 2016, Greg published Secrets of A Secret Shopper, and it has been wildly successful and provided church leaders with clear and definitive steps to improve the worship experience of those who enter the church. Hosts for this week's Podcast:

• Chris Reinolds of Killian Baptist Church (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
• George Bullard the CMBA Director (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)

Highlights: Sometimes what people see online discourages them from ever coming in person. People check you out online seven to ten times before making the decision to attend your church. 4 Things People Must See Online: Service Times, Directions, Staff Page, I’m New Page The number one most read page on a church’s website is the staff page because people want to get to know the people before they commit to coming to your church A church must determine who the client is for the web page Your website is the true first impression Always point people to the website Ken Meyer - If everything is important, then nothing is. Empower lay leaders to run social media Two things to share on social media: Information & Inspiration Social media is supposed to be social.  Make sure you're generating content that encourages people to interact. Dave Addison - We try to use more question marks than periods Excellence transcends when it comes to a worship service People can smell fake, be authentic. Life comes down to relationships and there are people in your congregations that have not had human contact in seven days.  There is power in human touch. If we are to be welcome and hospitable to all, then that includes those who have special needs. Resources Mentioned

• Greg Atkinson's Book - Secrets of a Secret Shopper
  • Other Books:
    • Strange Leadership:  40 Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization
    • Church Leadership Essentials:  What Every Pastor Needs to Know
• George Bullard's Congregational Champions Retreat
• Alejandro Reyes - Church Marketing Summit
• Mark Batterson - Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity
• Dr. Chester Goad - Huffington Post

Connect with Greg Atkinson

• GregAtkinson.com
• WorshipImpressions.com
• FirstImpressionsConference.com
• GuestServices.Church
• [email protected]