I was ordained July 10, 1987, when General Superintendent, Dr. Earle Wilson, laid hands on me, shook my hand, and declared, "Take Thou Authority to Preach the Word!" I was thinking about that recently, and began to wonder how far back I could go with the succession of my ordination. So, I did a little research. I was ordained by Earle Wilson Earle Wilson was ordained by Pilgrim Holiness General Superintendent, William Neff William Neff was ordained by the Pilgrim founder, Seth Rees Seth Rees was ordained by Nazarene founder, Phineas Bresee Phineas Bresee was ordained by Methodist Bishop, Levi Scott Levi Scott was ordained by Elijah Hedding. Elijah Hedding was ordained by Francis Asbury Francis Asbury was ordained by a renegade Anglican priest named John Wesley John Wesley was ordained by Anglican Bishop (of Oxford) John Potter. From Potter -- there's a trail all the way back to St. Peter!! You can see the chart here. (Potter is at the bottom of the page #90. Now, how abo...
Small aging congregations happen because...the Pastor and leaders like things just as they are. They are in total control, not God. They are not concerned with reaching the unchurched in their community. They only inreach among their own small group. Members either agree with leadership or are too afraid to say anything. A thriving, growing church is not trying to be a 'copy-cat' version of another large church, its congregation is following God's vision just for them. They have to be willing to go God's Way. A thriving church does not have a lazy leader. O'Dell started by doing most every job himself at first - not saying 'that is not my job'. The leader's attitude permeates the entire church.
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