Your Ministry, Only Better
Maple Trail President Dr. Shane Garrison will be leading two sessions at the annual Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Super Saturday. Garrison will be leading sessions at 3 of the 6 locations: Lexington – Aug. 22, Elizabethtown – Aug. 29, and Somerset – Sept 12.
He will be leading two sessions in Deacon Ministry entitled “Deacons Meetings that Rock” and “Deacons as Peace Makers.”
http://kybaptist.org/kbc/welcome.nsf/pages/supersaturday
Maple Trail President Dr. Shane Garrison will be speaking at the annual Central Baptist Association Youth Rally hosted at Bradfordsville Baptist Church in Lebanon, KY, Saturday, July 25.
Central Bapt. Association represents 19 Southern Baptist churches in Marion and Washington counties in central KY. Over 100 students and youth leaders are expected to come.
http://www.bradfordsvillebaptistchurch.org
http://www.centralassociation.net
Living Grace Church in Campbellsville, KY has asked for Maple Trail to begin working with the church in developing internal leadership structures. Living Grace is a 6-year old church led by Pastor Phillip Kelley, formerly of Metro Austin in Austin, TX.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison filled the pulpit of Living Grace for three months prior to Pastor Kelley’s arrival in February 2009. Since that time, Garrison has been working with Kelley as he makes the pastoral transition.
The consultation will be multi-faceted but will focus on developing sound financial procedures, lay leadership development, and other internal structural needs of the church.
Columbia Baptist Church has hired Maple Trail for a third time to aid their Constitution and Bylaws committee. The committee was commissioned to update and revise a 60 year old document which governs and guides the church.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison will be working with the committee over the next six months to present multiple revisions to the church for consideration and approval.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison began a 7-week preaching stint at Main Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, KY. Garrison will be filling in from May 24 to July 5.
Garrison was the associate pastor of Main Street from 2003 to 2008. Jennifer Garrison, Maple Trail Consultant, also served on the Main Street staff as the executive director of the CARE Ministry, a non-profit benevolence ministry. Phillip Brunner, Maple Trail Consultant, is currently the pastor of worship and administration at Main Street.
Main Street is a 600+ attender congregation in a northern KY suburb of Cincinnati. Main Street is 52 years old and in 2004 relocated to its current location, no longer on Main Street. The church now sits in the Parkside subdivision, 4 miles south from downtown Alexandria. Main Street is a contemporary church passionate about community and international missions and growing believers in Christ to their full maturity.
To read more about Main Street, go to www.sievechurch.com
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison will be leading two sessions at the annual KBC Youth Minister’s retreat May18-19. 30 youth ministers will be gathering at Georgetown College for 24 hours of training and encouragement.
Garrison will be presenting:
Maple Trail consultants Shane Garrison and Phillip Brunner are concluding a Personnel Development consultation with Columbia Baptist Church in Columbia, KY. In Feb-March 2009, Maple Trail led CBC through an extensive stewardship emphasis which has resulted in record giving for the church.
Church leaders then asked Maple Trail to come back a second time to help the church develop their personnel structure. During this consultation, seven job descriptions were created:
Additionally, Maple Trail conducted four compensation studies using the Southern Baptist Convention Compensation database. These studies will better inform key leaders on the ranges of salary and compensation for their church staff.
Finally, Maple Trail is working with the Constitution and By-Law Committee in editing their governing document to match the changes made during the consultation process.
The entire Personnel Development consultation was completed in just over a month.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison will be filling the pulpit at Main Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, KY, from May 24 to July 7. Garrison was the associate pastor of Main Street Church for 4.5 years. Garrison will be filling in for Senior Pastor Robert Franklin as he will be on a seven week sabbatical.
Garrison will be preaching a series entitled “He Gave It, I Give It” based in the book of Acts. Looking at the lives of various early church believers, the series will teach the biblical command of lordship. The theme will show how in Christ all things have been given to the believer from salvation, to possessions, to heritage, to opportunities, and as Christ followers, those things are to be returned to Him to be used for His glory.
The series will feature the lives of Stephen, Priscilla & Aquilla, Peter & Cornelius, Lydia, Dorcas, among others.
Go to www.sievechurch.org or http://sievechurch.wordpress.com to hear the messages starting May 25.
Columbia Baptist Church and Maple Trail Ministry Consultants are partnering again. With only weeks away from the finish the Treasure Principle Stewardship Emphasis (see articles below), the leadership of Columbia Baptist asked Maple Trail consultants to come back and help with several other key elements in the church leadership structure.
This particular consultation will focus on formulating service descriptions for their pastoral, ministerial, and secretarial staff. Seven service descriptions will be created and presented to the church based on current ministry positions and responsibilities already held.
A secondary facet of the consultation will be training the CBC Personnel Committee in doing salary compensation studies, yearly evaluations, and how to present ministry objectives and goals to the church.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison and ministry consultant Phillip Brunner will be working on this particular consultation.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison has been contracted by the Taylor County Baptist Association to perform extensive research analysis for the vision, mission, and future direction of the association. An associational survey has been completed as part of the TCBA Vision strategy.
Garrison has been asked to take the surveys, process them, and formulate a report based on the information to be presented back to the associational leaders. This report will help formulate the ministry strategy for the coming years.
Garrison was involved in a similar endeavor for Campbellsville University’s FIRST CLASS Institute in 2008.
Maple Trail president, Shane Garrison, will be leading two sessions at the annual KBC Youth Ministers Spring Retreat in Georgetown, KY, later this spring.
Joe Ball, KBC Youth Ministry Director, organizes the yearly, two-day event so Kentucky Baptist youth ministers can be equipped, refreshed and encouraged in their ministry efforts. 30 to 40 youth ministers will gather.
Garrison will be teaching on 4 topics during two large group sessions.
1. Youth Ministry Models that are Failing and Promising
2. 4 Views of Youth Ministry and the Church (based on the book by Senter, Black, Clark and Nel)
3. The Seasons of the Youth Pastorate: 6 Stages of a Lifer
4. Growing Up Online – How the Internet has Changed Social Interaction
For more information, go to http://www.kybaptist.org/ymretreat
The Treasure Principle Stewardship emphasis led by Maple Trail Ministry Consultants and the Columbia Baptist Church is officially complete.
The 6-week emphasis was the first stewardship emphasis led by Maple Trail consultants and the first stewardship-only emphasis in the church since 1957.
During the emphasis, 7 different ministry strategies were conducted. Everything from a church-wide Sunday school emphasis to passionate weekly sermons on giving to interactive Sunday evening Bible studies to family to family financial counseling sessions to a 2-day personal finance and budgeting seminar to church and community analysis all of which focused on stewardship and eternal investing.
The final two ministry efforts were a Church & Community Analysis led by Maple Trail consultant Andrew Dyer and Family-to-Family Financial Counseling led by Shane and Jennifer Garrison.
Dyer presented a 2-hour session which invited various church leaders to consider the community’s demographic data, along with outreach efforts, all in order to see their community with a Great Commission vision. Dyer, who is a former missionary to Poland and presently a pastor, helped church leaders evaluate the culture their church is placed within.
The final strategy was family to family financial counseling. Garrison and Garrison counseled five different families from the church. These two-hour sessions strive to help the families get on the same page. These sessions are a mixture of marriage counseling and personal budgeting counseling, all in a safe, welcoming, conversational atmosphere.
This partnership has been outstanding. Maple Trail has been honored to be affiliated with such a fine church body.
Garrison Teaching at Columbia Bapt. Church
Jennifer Garrison, Maple Trail consultant and CFO, led over 20 people through a 2-day, 6 hour seminar on budgeting and personal finance.
As part of the Treasure Principle Stewardship emphasis at Columbia Baptist Church, Garrison taught biblical principles on money along with strategies for budgeting, building savings, getting out of debt, and giving more to the Lord’s work.
Garrison’s session topics were:
1. The Financial Facts
2. Earning, Giving, and Savings
3. Savings and Debt
4. Your Spending Plan
5. Balancing Your Spending Plan
6. Record Keeping & Commitment
Garrison has served in social work, case management and non-profit ministry leadership in Kentucky and Texas. She has a Master of Arts in Christian Education and a Masters of Church & Community Ministry.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison presented Worship: Infinite and Intimate at the 2009 Campbellsville University Worship Arts Conference.
Photos by Andre Tomas
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison is spending the weekend discipling nearly 150 teenagers and youth leaders in Hancock Co. The ministry effort is part of the Blackford Breckenridge Associational Youth DiscipleNow Weekend held at Schafer Baptist Camp in Pellville. 15 churches have come together to disciple their students and equip their leaders for greater service.
Garrison will be preaching at both the evening worship services and leading 4 hours of youth leader training on Saturday. Six students from Campbellsville University are leading the student breakout sessions.
Garrison’s youth leader workshops include:
This is a homecoming for Garrison who grew in Hancock Co. and spent two summers on staff at Schafer Baptist Camp. On Sunday morning, Garrison will be preaching at his home church, Lewisport Baptist Church.
Brandon Carrier
Maple Trail ministry consultant Brandon Carrier is working with Hopewell Baptist Church in Harrodsburg, KY, on how to begin a youth ministry strategy in a sister church. Carrier leads the youth ministry at Pioneer Baptist Church in Harrodsburg, were he serves as the associate pastor.
Carrier was sought out by Hopewell pastor Brian Burkhead. Burkhead knew that he needed help in getting the youth ministry off the ground. The Hopewell youth ministry has been inactive for several years and leaders in the church are seeking to reach students for Christ.
Burkhead and Carrier are meeting regularly on how to launch this effort and how they can work together is seeing more teenagers in Mercer Country involved in the local church.
Maple Trail president Shane Garrison leading Sunday School at Columbia Baptist Church. CBC has partnered with Maple Trail in the Treasure Principle Stewardship Emphasis.
Multiple events are being hosted by Maple Trail consultants to aid the church in understanding the biblical command to be good stewards of God’s resources: our time, talents, gifts, and income.
Sunday school, worship services, interactive evening worship experiences, community analysis, church leadership development, financial counseling and a budgeting seminar are some of the ministry strategies.
Additionally included in the emphasis is a church-wide spiritual gift inventory and church DNA assessment session. The following picture shows church members learning how their spiritual gifts are uniquely designed for ministry in their community through their church body.
For more information, go to www.columbiabaptist.org.
Written by Todd Deaton
Editor, Western Recorder
Thursday, February 17, 2009
Full Story available at www.westernrecorder.org
Shane Garrison, assistant professor of educational ministries at Campbellsville University, led a poignant session on dealing with conflict. Since many churches will experience conflict at some point, it is essential that church leaders be equipped with effective tools to foster reconciliation and prevent the church’s growth from being stunted.
Church leaders should not be surprised when they encounter conflict, rather they should anticipate it because people may easily become upset when something they want or are accustom to is changed or taken away. In his book, “A Work of Heart,” leadership consultant Reggie McNeal explains, “If you are a spiritual leader, you will be embroiled in conflict occasionally or frequently precisely because you are leading. Leadership that is not encountering difficulty probably is not trying to accomplish much.”
Garrison, a doctoral candidate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and president of Maple Trail Ministry Consultants, cleverly suggested that pastors and deacons take a cue from Smokey Bear. As one would when putting out a fire, Garrison urged them to “stop, drop, and roll” whenever they find themselves engulfed in conflict.
“Forest fires can be started by a little spark. Put the flame out quickly or it will cause extensive damage,” he reminded the group. He offered this helpful advice: Stop the conflict appropriately, using Matthew 18 as a pattern for resolving disagreements; drop the faceless gossip, secret meetings and parking-lot discussions; and roll in seeking out help when needed.
Indeed, if more churches heeded this counsel, much of the ill feelings between members that lead to dissension, deep hurt and sometimes church splits might be avoided. Those in the midst of a conflict should seek out the sound, biblical counsel of a trusted former pastor, a pastor of another congregation, a trusted business person who possesses skills in negotiation, an associational director of missions, or the convention’s leadership department personnel.
- To read full story.
Shane Garrison, Maple Trail president, presented Worship: Infinite and Intimate at the 3rd Annual Campbellsville University Worship Arts Conference.
Keynote speaker Shane Claiborne, author of Jesus for President and The Irresistible Revolution, had a travel problem and could not make the opening session. Garrison was asked to fill in.
The Worship Arts Conference is held annually at Campbellsville University. Over 200 participants are in attendance.
Garrison is also keeping a conference blog at: http://cuworshiparts.wordpress.com/
Maple Trail and Columbia Baptist Church launched the 5-week Treasure Principle Stewardship Emphasis this past Sunday. Nearly 200 adults and high school students gathered for a joint Sunday School session taught by Maple Trail President Shane Garrison. The first sermon of the series was entitled “The Treasure Principle of First Fruits” preached by Dr. Ted Taylor, CBC Interim Pastor.
During the evening session Garrison led over 80 adults and teens through a spiritual gift inventory. This inventory will be used to help the church become better stewards of the unique gifts and talents God has given to its members.
Columbia Baptist Church in Columbia, KY and Maple Trail will begin a 6-week partnership Sunday, February 15 through March 22. The key ministry strategy is to help the people of CBC grow in their understanding of biblical stewardship and help families with their personal finances.
This will be the largest Maple Trail consulting effort since the firm began in 2008. CBC is the first church to ask Maple Trail to come alongside the church for an extended period of time. Through out the six weeks, numerous ministry strategies will be undertaken.
This includes ministry leadership in Sunday School, AM & PM worship services, a 2-day financial workshop, financial counseling services, along with church giving and community analysis to aid church leadership in the future.
Four consultants will be used in this endeavor: Shane Garrison, Jennifer Garrison, Phillip Brunner, and Andrew Dyer.
For a complete schedule of events and worship service plan, see the documents below.
schedule-of-events-outline
worship-plans
Maple Trail hopes this partnership will be a blessing to the church and to God’s greater kingdom.
Maple Trail President Shane Garrison presented two breakout sessions at the annual Kentucky Baptist Convention Deacon-Pastor-Spouse Retreat with the theme “Equipping Servant Leaders.” Over 200 were in attendance at the Griffin Gate Marriott Hotel and Resort in Lexington, KY.
Garrison’s first session “For the Rookies” had 15 participants. New deacons from churches in Bardstown, Elizabethtown, and Clinton County among those present. The session spoke to the first year needs of newly ordained deacons and guided them in how to set a standard of service for their church.
Garrison’s second session “Stop, Drop, and Roll: Deacons Dealing with Conflict” was packed. The conference room was filled with nearly 60 participants. Taking the illustration of a spark in a forest, deacons were encouraged to STOP the conflict appropriately, DROP the chatter quickly, and ROLL to more help if needed.
Garrison was joined by conference leaders: Dr. Ken Hemphill, Dr. Roy Saint, Jim & Shelby Castlen, and worship leader Steve Gray.
Maple Trail President & Lead Consultant Shane Garrison will be presenting two breakout sessions this weekend at the annual KBC Deacon, Pastor, Spouse Retreat at the Griffin Gate Marriot Resort and Spa in Lexington, KY.
Over 200 pastors, deacons and spouses are coming to be equipped in how to serve their congregations better in the area of deacon ministry. The featured speaker is Dr. Ken Hemphill, SBC National Strategist for Empowering Kingdom Growth and former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.
Garrison’s two breakout session topics are entitled:
For more information, go to www.kybaptist.org.
This Sunday (2/8/09) officially begins a 6-week Maple Trail consulting with Columbia Baptist Church in Columbia, KY. Maple Trail will be focusing in the area of stewardship.
Maple Trail consultants will be leading in a Sunday School study of The Treasure Principle book by Randy Alcorn, along with hosting a two-day budgeting seminar, offering financial counseling to families and individuals, and working with church leadership in the areas of community outreach and financial giving trends.
We anticipate a great season of ministry together with the fine folks of Columbia Bapt. Church.
Nearly 50 Bible study teachers gathered Saturday for the Bethlehem Baptist Church Teacher Training Conference. From 8 am to nearly 3 pm, we worked through major issues of Bible teaching including The Discipler’s Model, How to Double Your Sunday School in Two Years or Less, and Teaching Youth Expositionally Through the Bible, among others.
Everyone seemed to be encouraged and more fully equipped in how to lead their small groups better for greater learning and discipleship. The conference was well attended and the discussion was lively.
Maple Trail was honored to be asked to come and help those called to teach God’s Word to God’s people.
