What is it? A process in partnership with the International Baptist Convention and Healthy Churches Global/The Malphurs Group. The process is Strategic Envisioning, simply stated as “Refresh.”
The Goal: to become a healthier church.
The time frame: typically one year.
1. NOVEMBER 2023: A broad base of IBC Madrid members and regular volunteers were given a church analysis survey. See the results of the survey: IBC Church Ministry Analysis Nov 2023.pdf
** Please keep in mind the survey was done having just come out of COVID-19. Churches worldwide were experiencing setbacks on many metrics, like attendance, giving, and effectiveness. IBC Madrid also was going through a long season of looking for a senior pastor. These two combined are a challenge for any church.
2. THE REFRESH TEAM: A task force of members from across the diversity of IBC Madrid was asked to facilitate this process. As a result of the Church Ministry Analysis, the following recommendations were presented to the Refresh Team:
First, re-establish your core identity. Churches often glance over things like mission and core values because they do not seem as urgent or important as strategy and programs. However, a clear identity drives good decisions and direction. Especially in international churches, where congregation and leadership changes constantly, getting everyone to focus in the same direction is key for kingdom work together as an international church family. IBC Madrid should evaluate their core foundations of mission and core values and leadership must spend inordinate time communicating this in order to unify the whole congregation around the core identity.
Second, clarify vision. Allow vision to drive innovation and intentional steps for engagement of everyone in the congregation, even for those who are in Madrid only for a limited time. It is important for international churches to provide opportunities to get involved, form meaningful friendships and make a difference also for those, who are only with your church for a limited time.
Third, develop a commitment to leadership development. The future of the church does not depend on financial resources but leadership capital. It seems like many of the leaders have been at IBC Madrid for a long time, and young leaders have not been intentionally cultivated. We are looking forward to helping you implement new ways of onboarding people in different areas of service and on different leadership levels in order to strengthen your church.
3. FEBRUARY 2024: The Refresh Team participated in a Planning Session with Andrea Hesterberg of the Malphurs Group. See the summary report of the workshop: 2024-02-21 Plan Session Summary.pdf
The Refresh Team worked on and reported to the church the proposed changes to the Church Mission and Vision Statements on April 21, 2024. The church voted to adopt these on Feb 01, 2025.
Previous mission statement:
IBC exists to connect, disciple, equip and send culturally diverse believers in worship, fellowship, Bible study, service, and witness.
New mission statement:
Knowing, Following, and Sharing Jesus Christ
Previous vision statement:
We are an English-speaking international community of believers in Jesus Christ seeking to glorify God as we know Him and make Him known through our spheres of influence in Madrid and around the world
New vision statement:
A Christ-centered international community where people are known, loved, and equipped to serve for Kingdom work globally.
4. MARCH 2024 – FEBRUARY 2025: The church ministries and activities were grouped into three areas, corresponding to the new mission statement: Knowing (first contact with the gospel and with the church), Following (discipleship), and Sharing (evangelism). As a result, the Refresh Team was divided into three groups, each focusing on one area.
The Refresh Team as a whole had monthly meetings, with each sub-team meeting separately as well. The Team Facilitator had monthly meetings with the contact person from Healthy Churches Global, Andrea Hesterberg. The main purpose was to identify how IBC Madrid can better accomplish its Mission and Vision. Four key ideas were:
- Ministries Evaluation (according to the core values drawn from Acts 2:41-47 that were summarized in the Planning Session of Feb 2024: Bible teaching/knowledge, Worship, Prayer, Fellowship, Service, Evangelism, and Cultural diversity)
- Systems Implementation
- Intentional Discipleship
- Leadership Development
5. FEBRUARY 2025: The Refresh Team presented to the Pastor and Deacons a summary of the process and the final recommendations.
THE REFRESH TEAM
Facilitator: Ellena Iskandar
KNOWING
Moisés Lee
Alicia Swanepoel
Bheng Belo
Eric Peters
Julia Tanabe
Joshua Rajan
Stanley George
FOLLOWING
Hillary Cernuda
Albert Calla
Damaris Kiniu
Emmanuel Sackey
Manuel Fernández
Melanie Contaoi
Rebecca Graves
Susie Dixon
SHARING
Rocío Alférez
Andrew Blamo
David Dixon
Ellice Aquino
Jon Orue
Sachi Nkanza
Shaira Gordon