Florida pastor to lead conference on church effectiveness

By Lauren Urtel
March 2, 2007

ORLANDO (FBC)—Discovering a need for “God-sized results,” Tim Passmore, pastor of Woodland Baptist Church in Bradenton, wrote “Outcome: A Blueprint for Becoming an Effective Church.”

The book comes from Passmore’s experiences and a need he saw for church leadership to develop a more effective and enduring congregation. The “Outcome Conference,” based on the book of the same name and led by Passmore, will be available to Florida Baptists April 16 at First Baptist Church of Orlando.

Rick Wheeler, director of the Florida Baptist Convention Office of Leadership Development, said the conference is the next step, following a conference held fall 2006 that advocated simplicity in the church model, in “exploring one church’s effort to implement an effective and simple process for disciple making.” 

“Our desire and intention is for church leaders to come away with a customized blueprint of an intentional process for their church,” said Wheeler. The conference is designed to “lead participants to prayerfully and thoughtfully reflect about a blueprint for life transformation that is appropriate for their church setting, style and strategy.”   

Passmore has served as senior pastor of Woodland Baptist for nine years. Under his leadership, the congregation has become one of the fastest growing in the state.

A few of the topics of interest Passmore will cover are: passion in every member of the church; communicating a clear message to those in the community; measuring the health of your church; and tracking people on their journey toward servanthood.

In his book, Passmore highlights three groups within the church who would most benefit from this ministry plan: staff members, volunteer leaders and servants within the church.

“The church staff must cast a vision that is centered on the purposes of the church and develop a plan of ministry to accomplish that vision,” writes Passmore. “Many staff members have a true passion to reach, develop and involve others in ministry but do not know how to do it. The Outcome blueprint will keep you on task so you can experience these results.”

“Leaders must be aware of the purposes of the church and the ministry plan used to fulfill these purposes. They must understand the role of their particular ministry in the process of leading a non-believer to the point of salvation and leading a new believer to become involved in ministry.”

A servant within the church, “participates as a functioning part of the body of Christ,” writes Passmore. “Each servant must grasp how personal ministry affects the body and how he can properly function within the body to bring about God-sized results.”

During the conference, church leaders and members will be given a “practical plan of ministry that encourages a seeker to experience salvation and influences new believers to grow in their faith to the point of fulfilling their unique pre-determined call of God,” said Passmore in a recent interview. “This goes beyond inspiration to include application.”

Passmore is no stranger to Florida Baptists. He has held denominational leadership positions with the Florida Baptist State Convention and has been a part of Florida churches most of his life. After a long-term pastorate at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, his father, Jerry, served as the Convention Evangelism Division director from 1989 to 2001.

The cost for the conference is $49 per person for individuals and $39 per person for groups of three or more. Everyone who registers will receive a copy of Passmore’s book. For more information or to register, go online to www.flbaptist.org and click the Leadership Development button or call 800-226-8584, ext. 3018.