City Impact Leader Resources

What is a God Story?

Any time you're seeing God work, it's a God story! It's not necessarily a big, gigantic thing. It's not necessarily a story that's come full circle. It's just God at work. 

Why is it important to report them? 

Think about the story in Luke 5 where the men lowered their friend through the roof so that Jesus would heal him. Those men did not commit this act of vandalism (ahem, I mean love) so that others would see their own faith, but because their friend needed a touch from Jesus. They loved him so much that they did whatever it took to get him before Jesus. 

Our God stories are testimonies. Testimonies of the faithfulness of God. God can use those testimonies to embolden others to act. It can be used by God for others to relate to and give them eyes of faith into where God is working in their own situations. 

How can I share them?

We now have two ways to share! You can either:
1. Send your story through the City Story Submission Form. 
2. Record an audio story (or type one out!). It's as easy as leaving a voice mail.

Our goal is to work in a two-month planning cycle, so that we can anticipate needs and ensure the most complete and timely reimbursement of your City Impact-related expenses. 

Approvals

Prior to spending City Impact budgeted money, please ensure your convener and your impacted ministry director are aware of your desire to obligate funds. If you have any questions regarding which ministry would approve your expense, please contact Darryl Jackson

Reimbursements

Once the funds have been spent, please send in copies of receipts along with the Expense Reimbursement form filled out and returned to Tara Stack. Download a copy, fill it out, and attach it to the email with your receipts.

If you would like to reserve the Atrium Space for your city, please follow these steps:

1. Read through the guidelines.
2. Check the date in the calendar to ensure it's not already spoken for or blocked for a Perimeter-wide event
3. Submit your request.

The City Impact Team (CIT) Convener is a Perimeter member who is responsible for bringing other Perimeter leaders and members together to address the task of extending Perimeter Church’s reach and impact in the city or geographic area in which they live. This will be accomplished by Perimeter members living out Perimeter’s vision, mission, and values where they live, work and play. 

The CIT Convener’s primary responsibility is to serve as the organizer and lay leader of the CIT through its formation, organization, launch, and ongoing execution. In addition, the Convener will help the CIT develop an ongoing CIT mission strategy consistent with the vision, mission, and values of Perimeter Church and a long-term leadership rotation for lay leaders on the CIT. Along with the Perimeter department leads, the Convener is responsible for selecting lay leaders and ensuring that the CIT operates in a servant leader manner consistent with Perimeter’s biblical worldview and leads the operations of the CIT consistent with processes and operational procedures established with Perimeter Church. 

CIT Convener is responsible for their City Impact budget, and City Impact ministry planning, in partnership with the various ministry departments. 

Conveners are equipped and supported by the City Impact director for the following high-level responsibilities: 

• Developing and updating the City Ministry strategic targets consistent with the Perimeter Church biblical worldview and areas of focus
• Emphasizing prayer and God’s will as the kingdom flourishes in their city 
• Vetting and populating the City Impact Leadership team in collaboration with department leads and ensuring proper equipping is provided to the lay leaders by the department leads 
• Establishing a monthly meeting cadence with their leadership teams to ensure all ministries are being extended and supported in their city 
• Monitoring progress of city ministry goals against the yearly integrated plans 
• Sharing God stories, upcoming events, and best practices by ministry area and focus areas at quarterly Convener meetings so cities are learning from each other 
• Communication and support of infrastructure tools provided to lay leaders for adoption of standardized processes across the cities 
• Implementation and use of tableaus and trend reports to be developed and adopted in 2022-2023 to track engagement in City Impact 

The communication coordinator is the chief contact person with the Perimeter Communications department to ensure that regular communication of upcoming events and opportunities within the city are occurring on a regular basis within the official and organic channels. They are also responsible for ensuring these communications are consistent with the communication policies and procedures of Perimeter Church. The Communication coordinator is also responsible for and owns the content and communication of updates to city members through organic channels previously approved by Perimeter Church. 

Please see the above Communication Process for further information.  

Belong Ministry

Vision: We long to see everyone that walks through the doors of Perimeter Church experience a true sense of belonging and that they truly feel welcomed, wanted, noticed, and needed. 

Purpose: Belong Ministries exists to facilitate environments where people feel welcome, wanted, noticed, and needed. 

Mission: Equipping God’s people to use God’s gifts for God’s glory. 

"Who We Are" Values: We are a people radically dependent on God to do what only He can do by prayer and appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit so that all feel welcomed, wanted, noticed, and needed. 

Welcome Hosts

You all are the front door of welcoming people into your city! You are the concierge—or first touch, or front door (however you might want to think of it)— to help people connect to the life of Perimeter through connect groups, discipleship groups, and even on-campus resources when needed. You are an extension of Belong Ministries. 

You also might have a role to lead (or support) welcome events in the cities, as your team decides. Your City Leadership team will help nuance what the needs are for your city, as well as your capacity to help. 

Want to know what a Connect Group should look like? Please see the Connect Groups Host guide attached below. The bottom line is: all Connect Groups should have a "spiritual edge" mission. The goal is for all Connect Groups to have the ultimate goal of bringing people into the body of Christ, with some intentional spiritual touchpoints. The social activity—whatever it is—is the means to the end, not the goal. 

→ CI Leadership team member, click here if you have a welcome event idea to work through. 

Your welcome host coach and lead coordinator is Sarah Taylor. Please contact her with any additional questions or resource needs.

Connect Groups

Interested in being a Connect Group host? Let us know here! (Leaders, consider adding this Host Interest form to your City website, as an opportunity to recruit!) 

→  CI Leadership team member, click here if you have a Connect Group idea to work through. 

The external facing Connect Groups page is accessible at perimeter.org/ConnectGroups. This page includes a separate form for church attenders and members who are interested in being in a group. These responses go directly to Sarah Taylor, and she replies to inquires and assists them in finding groups in their cities.

For more information or personal assistance in starting or becoming part of a Connect Group, contact Sarah Taylor, Belong Connections Coordinator, or call 678.405.2279. 

The Prayer Coordinator is responsible for the administration, planning, communication, and posting of an event associated with prayer events and opportunities in the city. The Prayer Coordinator also works to deploy prayer initiatives that may originate from Perimeter Church in keeping with the biblical messaging to our congregants from time to time. The Prayer Coordinator plays a vital role in maintaining and ensuring a prayer rhythm for all lay leaders and members in the cities, a foundation of radical dependence on God for the success of City Impact. 

CI leadership team member, contact us here if you have a new prayer opportunity to get on the books! If you need assistance making a change to an already-established prayer event, please contact Tara Stack.  

Food Drive

Would you like to host a food drive where you live? Yep, there’s a form for that! 

What is Community Outreach in the Cities?

Our highest priority for Community Outreach in the cities is creating points of relational connection through serving with one another and serving our neighbors. Meeting a tangible need is great, but it's a means to an end. God created us for relationship and relationship building is everything. The relationships are what will help turn hearts toward God. 

We want to be the tangible expression of Christ to our city. People want to see love expressed through action. 

No one can serve the people you know in the way you can. You are uniquely wonderfully made by God for a purpose! (Romans 8:28) Your personal journey, including those crises we wish were not a part of our story, was designed by God to be used for His glory. He can use those things to connect with the hearts of those divine appointments you have with other image-bearers! With all of us working together, doing the work of the Lord, it makes a difference. Look into the image bearer's eyes. Treat them with dignity and respect. It takes everybody. It takes each one of us. 

How can you jump in and make an immediate impact?

Become a regular where you already are. The world just needs kindness and love. This is the only way we're going to change the world. This is Jesus' model. He went from town to town. He invited Himself into others' homes. He sat down with them. Loved on them. 

Often we think, "We don't have needs in our community." A need may not be visible, but needs are everywhere. Needs cross socio-economic boundaries. Many in our cities need compassion, kindness, and community.

Have an idea? 

→  CI leadership team member, click here if you have a Community Outreach idea to work through. 

The Education ministry's big focus is on impacting graduation rates. There are a variety of ways to strive to meet that goal, some of which are book clubs, mentoring, and tutoring. The objective of education as it relates to City Impact is to get members engaged in their schools where they live. 

The ultimate goal is for Education Coaches and teams to establish relationships within the education community. Recognizing we can't meet every need, the prayer is that a city will start by targeting one or two schools where you have a natural, established connection already, and find out how we can help them be successful. 

The goal is primarily to establish ongoing relationships and nurture them, using tangible and servicing expressions as a vehicle to: 

1. Create opportunities for other believers to be salt and light within our schools 
2. Enhance the relationships that have been established 
3. Bless students and families in the community 

So, as people ask how they can get involved in education in their cities, bring them along! Encourage the connections with school faculty and staff. Be dedicated to praying for them, and your students. 

→  CI leadership team member, click here if you have an education idea to work through. 

What does Faith and Work mean as it relates to City Impact? 

Every one of us has a job to do. We all have a “contribution” to make to society. God has given us a unique set of skills, passions, histories, and opportunities that He wants us to use to show the watching world His glory. 

Where do we spend the largest chunk of our time? Whether it’s in an office, on a series of virtual meetings, on the construction site, working to care for littles, or one of a thousand other job sites, God has placed us in our “work” to be HIS ambassadors to those around us. Our workplaces are spaces for God to develop our character. 

Faith and Work is a focus on bridging the gap between the worship we do corporately on the weekends, and the worship we do as we step through our days, modeling for others what it means to live as Christ-followers and interacting with those God has placed in our path. God has designed every breath we breathe as an act of worship. 

→  CI leadership team member, click here if you have a Faith and Work idea to work through. 

City Shepherds! As you are shepherding your CIT, there are resources at your disposal! You are the eyes and ears in your city for shepherding needs! When a Perimeter member needs shepherding, you can look up their Shepherding Elder in the Shepherding App. Your city shepherd has access to this web-based application and can assist. If the Shepherding Elder is not available, connect them to their Area Pastor. 

Though your primary responsibility is to Shepherd the other members of your City Impact Teams, you may learn of individuals with shepherding needs within your community, and if those needs are beyond what your city team can speak into, please refer to the Shepherding webpage for the pastor on call, and the perimeter-sponsored support groups that are currently available for possible next steps. 

→  CI Leadership team member, click here if you have a Shepherding idea to work through. 

Shepherdesses! The City Shepherdess serves the role of representing the Shepherdess Ministry on the City Impact Team. Understanding that the majority of shepherdess relationships are highly confidential, the City Shepherdess will share appropriate information she receives from the shepherding department regarding situations that might benefit from community involvement and update the City Team on ministry events and opportunities. The City Shepherdess will be available to communicate needs brought to her attention by the City Team with the Shepherding Staff for care assignments by the church. The City Shepherdess will communicate information regarding support group opportunities, widows’ events, and statistics shared by the Shepherding team to the City Team. The City Shepherdess will commit to praying for the city and City Team Leadership and encourage the team as they labor together for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. 

→  CI Leadership team member, click here if you have a Shepherdess idea to work through.

Men's discipleship lay leader coaches are connecting points for people in the city that are interested in discipleship. They build relationships with those that want to get connected into discipleship. They expose them to the discipleship webpage for information on how Perimeter does discipleship. They encourage them to fill out the Discipleship Interest Form connected below. They help set expectations that discipleship yearly cycle starts in September. They point them toward Bible study connect groups, while they are waiting for the discipleship yearly registrations to begin, by working with the city welcome host. 

The best way to know more about discipleship is to visit the discipleship webpage, and fill out the Discipleship Interest Form if you have people that would like to express interest in joining 2023-2024 men's discipleship groups. 

Click here if you would like to engage the men's discipleship team. 

→  City lay leaders for men's discipleship can assist, or you can direct them to Caleb Martin. 

The best way to know more about discipleship is to visit the Discipleship webpage, and fill out the Discipleship Interest Form if you have people that would like to express interest in joining 2023-2024 women's discipleship groups. 

City Lay Leaders for Women's Discipleship can assist or direct them to Kelli Means.

Click here if you would like to engage the women's discipleship team. 

Women’s Discipleship Coach 
This person will work alongside women’s discipleship coordinator to envision and implement a multiplying discipleship movement for her city. She should embrace our philosophy of thinking big, starting small, and going deep. She must understand the pathway of unbelief -> belief -> maturity -> leadership, and how each City Impact ministry facilitates people along this pathway. Practically, this leader must understand Jesus’ discipleship philosophy and corresponding training and experience.

The qualifications and responsibilities are listed below.

*If you have not met these qualifications then it’s a great next step to work toward attending the trainings you have not completed. 

Qualifications:

• Two years discipleship leading experience 

• Have completed workshops one and two, and/or have attended the Pursing the Heart and Discipleship Foundations workshops 

• Strongly encouraged: experience the Ignition group which is a five-week study of biblical discipleship offered in the summer. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Attend monthly City Impact meeting

  • Focus–work to partner with other members to create a context for more holistic life-on-life missional discipleship experience 

• Gather the names of the discipleship leaders in your city

  • The women’s discipleship coordinator will provide this to you 
  • It will need to be updated in the spring and fall 

• Pray monthly for the discipleship leaders in your city 

• Lead a discipleship group selected within the city that models the vision 

  • If your current group is not women in your city, next time you add or select women for your group prayerfully move towards women in your city

• Ideas to consider: 

  • Host a time to get to know the leaders in your city 

  • Reach out to your leaders through email. Ask if they need any support or prayer 

  • Dream of what it would look like for your city 

  • Reach out to Kelli for support and resources or find out how she can come alongside what you dream or envision for your city. 

  • Come to roundtables for training/ exposure to hopefully be equipped to host in the future 

Future Dreaming for this Role:  

• Work with Women's Discipleship Coordinator

  • To make a discipleship ministry plan for the city 
  • To network those interested in discipleship and interested in leading in the city 
  • To lead leadership equipping and training by city (September–April) 
    • Examples: Roundtables, Discipleship Foundations workshop, etc. 

  • Connect monthly with women’s discipleship coordinator 

  • Create a once/year connecting event for leaders and interested parties  

Average responsibility: 2 hours a month (not including personal discipleship group) Note: 2-5 hours in the future

If you would like to engage the Women's Ministry team, contact them here.

Women’s Ministry City Impact Team Liaison

• You will work along with the other members of the Impact Team to engage the community, which will involve a monthly City Impact team meeting. 

• You will act as a Women’s Ministry liaison in your community which will include being part of the City Impact Leadership team and working with the City Communications Coordinator to push out information involving churchwide Women’s Ministry offerings as well as supporting/encouraging women in the team who are interested in hosting a women’s social event, Bible study, or service project in their neighborhood or the community at large. 

• Gail Hatcher will support you with resources for women’s small events and studies as well as resources from other church staff for those in need or those looking outside Women’s Ministry for connection. 

• There will also be a women’s discipleship City Impact Team member. 

• You will also help pinpoint and give feedback to the Impact team as well as to Women’s Ministry about what is working well and what isn’t so we can work to improve how we support women as they grow spiritually as part of Kingdom Flourishing in our cities. 

We're super excited for the strategic vision Jimmy Kim is forming for Family Transformation. He recorded a video with Jeff Norris to talk about where we are headed directionally. You can view that video here. In this video, he mentions a Storybook Bible they recommend. You can purchase that Bible here. 

PROCESS

The process is in development for Family Ministries. For now, Family Ministry CI leadership team members, please email Jamie Smith, and she will facilitate the requests. Thank you for your patience! 

The Members-at-Large Coordinator for a city is an important function, as they are the person on the team that speaks for opportunities that don't tie directly back to one of the other specific ministry functions represented on the team. With the uniqueness of the cities, that means each Member-at-Large Coordinator will be focused on different needs, always tying back to the enhancement of kingdom flourishing, ministry extension, and in alignment with the city's ministry plan. The City Convener recommends this position and works with the Director of City Impact as the departmental direct contact to ensure the opportunity is consistent with Perimeter Church's policies and worldview. 

CI leadership team member, click here if you have a Members-at-Large idea to work through.