Posts

Vicki Gatchell Feb 21, 2024

Disciplemaking in America’s Rural Churches

If you are a rural church pastor, you may be wonder, “Can my church successfully grow generations of disciplemakers?”  The question is understandable. Often, disciplemaking strategies are geared toward churches in urban settings where diversity and population density are significant factors in planning. While conversations regarding the urban church are vital, the rural church faces its own unique challenges (and some advantages) in making disciples.  The term “rural church” does not simply apply to properties hewn from the edges of Midwest corn fields. It refers to churches situated in any community with fewer than 2,500 persons. One in seven Americans…

Vicki Gatchell Sep 19, 2015

Link to Fruitfulsteps

For a number of reasons I have changed to this website bearing my name. I would like to do more  public speaking and writing, so I want to make my blog easier to find.  I have been writing for about 4 years under another web address, fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com.  If you are interested to read any of those posts, including finding exercise programs, gluten-free recipes, and my thoughts on life, you can follow this link:  https://fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com. Thank you for your interest!

Vicki Gatchell Aug 27, 2015

What is Spiritual Formation?

Until now, I have hesitated to use these words in the media: spiritual formation.  Why?  Oh…because I hate conflict.  It seems the term is on some sort of “watchdog” list that an organization has created to point out erring trends in Christianity.  A few people I know keep a close watch on the list, and perhaps they feel the term points to heresy. So let me tell you what spiritual formation for the Christian is and what it is not: First of all, everyone is spiritually formed by someone or something, just as we are physically formed.  Our physical formation…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

The Simple Gospel (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, March 18, 2015)

I have written recently of my love for the Scriptures and of growing out of the “baby stage” of following Christ.  With that said, I would like to say that the gospel itself, the “good news” about Jesus, is not difficult to understand.  In 1 Corinthians 15 we find a quick outline of that gospel: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (vv 3-4, NASB). All of us have stepped away from who God designed us to be. We, the created,…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

My Love for the Scriptures (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, March 13, 2015)

 In my last post I mentioned my love for the Scriptures. That seems to be an unpopular position these days. We live in a time when the authenticity and authority of the Scriptures is in constant question.  I think it’s easy for some people to question the Scriptures because we so often see them misunderstood and misused. I know people who claim to know God but who focus totally on the “dos and don’ts” of Scripture.  They rush to judgment, making it look as if all God wants is for us to follow His list. They attack people who don’t believe…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

It’s not what you know, but Who you know (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, February 23, 2015)

 It’s not what you know, but Who you know I’ve done more reading in the last two years than I’ve done in the past 25 years put together.  At least it seems that way.  I’ve never been an avid reader, never gotten hooked on romance or adventure novels, and always found my relaxation in active things such as hiking or gardening. But this reading has been different. Wonderful. The reading has been part of my Master’s program in Ministry Studies and Women’s Leadership. I’ve been learning theology and ministry skills. I’m not in it for the academics, or to win contests in Bible Trivia.  I’m certainly…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

Lift Each Other Up (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, February 17, 2015)

My last post was about building each other up. That topic and this one tug at my heart. As God’s children, we not only need to build each other up, we need to LIFT each other up.  Great leaders don’t rise to the top by stepping on the backs of others.  Great leaders are lifted to the top on the shoulders of those who follow them.   Jesus’ theory was that whoever wants to be great must be a servant of others rather than promoting himself (Mark 9:35).  Of course, any theory held by Jesus wasn’t exactly theory; it was (& is) the very Word of…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

Build Each Other Up (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, January 23, 2015)

 When I was a kid we used to drive by a beautiful red barn on our way to the city. I always looked for it because it was tall, stately, and brightly decorated. One set of barn doors was painted with big white diamonds like an argyle sweater. Another sported a large bulls eye. Great creativity had been used in designing the exterior. Over the years however, no one took care of the barn and its needed repairs. The paint began to fade and eventually it cracked and peeled. The shingles wore out, the roof sagged, and recently some of the…

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

Calling, part II (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, January 7, 2015)

    I have called you by your name and you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 I first felt God calling me into ministry a few years ago.  My mom had passed away suddenly, and I had been in shock and dealing with grief.  When a person grieves she asks a lot of questions of God, even if she knows the answers or knows her questions aren’t meant to be answered.  God can handle it.  He wants the big questions that no one can answer. So, there I was asking Him what good it was to look forward to anything in life….

Vicki Gatchell Aug 26, 2015

Calling, part I (republished from Fruitfulsteps.wordpress.com, December 28, 2014)

Following is a reflection I wrote for a website a few years ago when I was first hearing a call to ministry. I want to share this journey, which has been all by the grace of God, and all for the glory of God. Like newborn babies, we grow to maturity one milestone at a time. I was only 3 years old the first time I spoke to God. Having just lied to my mother about how many cookies I’d eaten, I knew I’d done something wrong.  I asked God to forgive me for all the naughty things I had ever…

Vicki Gatchell Jul 5, 2015

In Grace and Truth

What could I say that would possibly change my corner of the world? Perhaps that’s the one question that keeps me from writing more than any other. And yet my heart races and even overflows with thoughts of encouragement for those within my circle of influence. I am a Christ follower. I believe in the Scriptures, yet, daily I see them misunderstood, misrepresented, and yes, even loathed. The joy of my life is as a spectacle hung in front of the world to be mocked. Then I am reminded of Psalm 22:7. In a prophetic word about Jesus we read:…