I have been familiar with Frank Tillapaugh and his work at Bear Valley Church in Southeast Denver for quite sometime. Though he has not been the pastor there for over 2 decades now, his legacy there is widely felt. I worked as the youth pastor at Centennial Community Church which was birthed out of Bear Valley as a reclamation project which he briefly mentions at the end of the book.
Frank's work has been profound in the Denver area. And yet his work is really a result of creating what he calls an "open system" which allows people in the church to pursue their God given calling. He truly believes that the Bible really means it when it says that, we are all ministers, that all have been given a gift by the Holy Spirit to use in ministry, and that all beleivers are a royal priesthood. He really believes a pastor is "to prepare God's people for works of service" (Ephesians 4:12).
This belief has caused Frank to take helping people live their callings seriously. As a result the ministries below have come into existence:
Denver Street School (check out the history page)
Mile High Ministries (check out the About Us page
Inner City Health Center
Whiz Kids Tutoring
Project Cure
Alternatives Pregnancy Center
...and many others.
Wow! Isn't it great to see the power of calling? Just think of the impact these ministries have had and continue to have on so many people in Denver! And few people relize that these ministries owe there existence to followers of Jesus being faithful to their calling...to the want-to that God placed inside their hearts.
If you want to get a taste for how this might be accomplished in your church (though it is not a how-to manual) read Calling. I highly recommend this book. If used copies of the book are not available from Amazon, the book is available from Frank's organization Dreamtime listed on this product page.
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