Chapter 1 - Evaluation

How do you think St. Timothy’s is doing in the 7 areas mentioned by Ogden? Refer to pages 24-37 to review the different marks of discipleship.

Dara:

Rate your ministry on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low (negative) and 5 being high (positive).
Discipleship Symptom	Rating	Notes
Passive Recipients…Proactive Ministers	2	I think we have a unique makeup. Most of our church list is involved. The problem is we do not have enough people therefore, some people are actively doing several different duties to contribute to the body. ie 80% are doing at least one thing while 20% are contributing two or more duties/responsibilities. The problem is that if some people are doing just one thing they feel they do not need to do any more.
Spiritually Disciplined…Spiritually undisciplined	1	There is a real concern that as we learn from the small groups, retreats , sermons and conferences that we still refuse to fill the gap between our spiritual life and who we present outside the Church. As a Church we have taken a great leap even to try any of the above!!(we were a “0” before!!)
Private Faith…Holistic Discipleship	2	Difficult balancing act – trying to be a light in the world (what does this look like anyway!?) and not of the world, yet fully committed to a functional Body of Christ!
Blending in…Countercultural Force	3	In a world that is buying into “shopping” around for church for example, great music, sermons that are over the top appealing to everyone but avoiding the true answers to real questions. This are the same people that believe they do not even have to attend Church to be “spiritual”. I would like to think that at St. Timothy’s we provide more answers to real questions and that we are able to equip and provide support to grow each of us into mature Christains in this world.
Church is optional…Church is essential	2	Very much the belief is that “people do not need to go to Church to be Spiritual” – I have heard this many times in and out of the Church.
Biblical illiterate…Biblically informed	2	I think that as a Church out belief/faith has come first before biblical knowledge and now we are catching up! We were led astray by being belief based only and Not knowing our Bibles!
Shrinking from personal witness…Sharing our faith	1	We could do this a whole lot more – people in our congregation have so many amazing stories to share. I think that it is difficult to do and takes skill, confidence and much prayer.

Ron & Carolyn:

Rate your ministry on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low (negative) and 5 being high (positive).
Discipleship Symptom	Rating	Notes
Passive Recipients…Proactive Ministers	3	Virtually every member of St. T’s is involved in some form of Ministry (set-up, sidesmen, coffee, alter guild, counters, SS, servers & administrators, choir, etc). It is only the newcomers who haven’t yet been asked who are not involved.
Spiritually Disciplined…Spiritually undisciplined	2	Although we receive instruction and are encouraged each Sunday at worship services to do read the Bible daily a large number of us have not established that habit.
Private Faith…Holistic Discipleship	3	Not all of us park our faith when we go on the job, but rather consistently make decisions based upon our moral code and beliefs. We belief that most of us behave in a consistent manner whether inside or outside of the church.
Blending in…Countercultural Force	3	Our Society and its laws were heavily influenced by Christianity and Biblical Truths in the past. That is our Society’s heritage. As a result the vast majority of Canadians act in a manner similar to Christians, only they call it the “Canadian way”. Accordingly we are seen as blending in. However there are issues where we are a countercultural force (e.g. “same sex marriage) and other Christians (Catholics and Evangelicals) that are a force against other cultural issues (e.g. abortion)
Church is optional…Church is essential	4	Since we left the ACC and started our own church upon a biblical truth issue and were willing to each sign a covenant, we believe that we at St. T’s are very committed and that church attendance is essential.
Biblical illiterate…Biblically informed	3	The approx. ¼ of our membership that is involved in small groups we give a 3-4. For everyone else we give a 1-2. To be biblically informed requires continuous in depth study. Individual reading and Sunday sermons are not enough to be really informed.
Shrinking from personal witness…Sharing our faith	1	Most of us are still too reserved, introverted and lacking in self-confidence to feel comfortable sharing our faith in public.

Sarah:

Rate your ministry on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low (negative) and 5 being high (positive).
Discipleship Symptom	Rating	Notes
Passive Recipients…Proactive Ministers	2	Still some who do not participate in any of the ministries
Spiritually Disciplined…Spiritually undisciplined	3	I believe that most of our members are disciplined in prayer and Bible reading, and about 25% is involved in small group discussion.
Private Faith…Holistic Discipleship	1	Many of us have relegated our faith to our private life and are reluctant (or afraid) of taking it into our social and work environments.
Blending in…Countercultural Force	1	Based on the above response, most of us choose to “blend in” too frequently.
Church is optional…Church is essential	1	St. Timothy’s members seem to value their church membership – we have had to work together and have been willing to fight for our existence.
Biblical illiterate…Biblically informed	3	We have had excellent instruction from sermons, even on the more obscure books, are given weekly recommended reading and many attend small group discussion.
Shrinking from personal witness…Sharing our faith	1	Most are prepared to share their faith with each other, but shrink from openly speaking of it with strangers. We have a long way to go.

Patricia:

Rate your ministry on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low (negative) and 5 being high (positive).
Discipleship Symptom	Rating	Notes
Passive Recipients…Proactive Ministers	2	I think that there are too many of us who are not prepared to take “risks” and use our gifts.
Spiritually Disciplined…Spiritually undisciplined	1	We are quite committed to Sunday attendance, but not committed to daily disciplines.
Private Faith…Holistic Discipleship	1	Not sure exactly what is meant by this… I think many of us prefer to keep our faith private, and not express our hopes, failures, and concerns and receive support from other believers.
Blending in…Countercultural Force	1	I don’t think the majority of us look/act any different than others in society.
Church is optional…Church is essential	3	I think since we almost “lost” our church we highly value our church life.
Biblical illiterate…Biblically informed	3	I think with our weekly sermon and small group attendance this is improving
Shrinking from personal witness…Sharing our faith	1	Not even close! I think we need, dare I say, a “project” where we can demonstrate Christ’s love to the community. I think we could be good at this, but with our small numbers we would need to refocus on others rather than ourselves.

Florence:

Rate your ministry on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being low (negative) and 5 being high (positive).
Discipleship Symptom	Rating	Notes
Passive Recipients…Proactive Ministers	2	Probably the 80/20 rule applies.
Spiritually Disciplined…Spiritually undisciplined	2	I feel that efforts are being made, but there is a very long struggle ahead to become more spiritually disciplined.
Private Faith…Holistic Discipleship	1	I think most find it very difficult to bring Jesus Christ to the workplace or neighborhood.
Blending in…Countercultural Force	1	I feel that most do not have the strength to avoid blending in.
Church is optional…Church is essential	3	Because St. Timothy folk went through the choice of leaving the Diocese of New Westminster, I think we value our church more.
Biblical illiterate…Biblically informed	2	Because of the liberal Anglican attack on the bible, over the last six years we have valued it more and more seek to further their study of it.
Shrinking from personal witness…Sharing our faith	1	Most of us seem to have difficulty in this area – possibly a fear of being rebuffed or an uncertainty of being able to convince if we are challenged.