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February 2013

B to B or B to C? Or maybe churches are C to C?

Business people know marketing jargon, so when they meet up at a networking event, they know that when someone asks them if they are B to B or B to C, they are being asked if their business serves other businesses (B to B) or if their business serves consumers (B to C).

This language doesn’t apply much to the church world — or does it? The national church and the regional bodies are B to B. They are a church Body serving another church Body.

Congregations are more B to C. Their church Body serves individual Christians.

The concept is worth examining with fresh eyes and maybe a twist on this old business analogy.

The Church is actually C to C in two different ways.

Christian to Christian. That’s how evangelism works. It’s a play on the Frank Laubach missionary maxim, taught to all Lutheran children of the 60s. “Each one teach one.”

Or

Congregation to Congregation. Historically, the church has been very weak in congregations communicating, sharing and serving one another. There are token niceties exchanged at seminars and assemblies, but generally, it’s every congregation for itself. Pastoral turf and competition for members block the doorway for inter-church cooperation. They pull together to save money on church supplies, but that’s where cooperation often ends.

For the Evangelism Tools of the Future to Work this MUST Change

Social Media, the greatest evangelism tool the church has ever encountered, both creates and depends on connectedness. Congregations now need to work together. Without inter-church cooperation, which includes pastors cooperating, efforts at social media will quickly peter out.

Social Media thrives on content. Individual congregations are going to be challenged in feeding the content beast. But if they start working with other congregations, they will expand their possibilities.

How will this work? Here’s a possible scenario.

Lutheran youth in our area are planning a mission trip to an Indian Reservation. This common venture is supported by member churches and their individual youth groups.

An individual congregation might  put an article on their website or newsletter announcing the project. They might put a donate button as a call to action — and that would be that.

A more ambitious approach would be to learn as much about the project and the people they hope to serve and start TELLING THE STORY.

The content promoting this might include interviews with the youth as they prepare for the trip. They might be asked questions about their expectations, what they hope to accomplish. Church A might post two or three short videos with youth answers. Church B might do the same thing.

Then Church A links to Church B and vice versa.  (Add Churches C, D, E, etc.)

Why go to this trouble?

Because more gives a fuller picture, more is more interesting and more interaction attracts search engines—for everyone!

There will be a temptation to not do this, hoping that by telling just your congregation’s story, you’ll encourage anyone inclined to click a donate button and that contribution will come to your congregation.

That narrow view will cause you to miss out on the evangelism potential of the moment.

Here’s what could happen.

Members of Church A—beginning with the youth themselves—are loyal and check the web site to see their youth talk about the upcoming trip. They end up clicking the links to Church B and Church C. Connections have been made between the parishes. They are starting to know one another.

Members of Church A and Church B share the link to family and friends. Some of them send donations. They share the link, too.

Meanwhile, the local friends of the youth have checked up on them. They become interested and ask to come along. The youth group grows!

Meanwhile, the Indian youth in South Dakota see the videos. They comment and send a welcome message or make their own video and direct it to the youth they are looking forward to meeting in a few months. Dialog between the youth starts. When they eventually meet, they already know one another.

Meanwhile, a local church from a poorer neighborhood sees what the  youth in richer congregations are doing. They lament that their youth could never afford to go on a trip like that. They’d have to raise funds in a neighborhood with little to give. One enterprising mother decides their kids are not going to be left out. She contacts the churches that are having fundraisers and makes arrangements for several of the youth from their church to help with the fundraising efforts so they would have the experience of initiating a mission effort instead of being the recipients of mission efforts. This is life-changing for the young people in both congregations.

Also meanwhile, a youth group in Texas has happened upon the videos. They visited the Indian Reservation a few years ago and recognize some of the Indian youth who have commented. They invite people to come to Texas next summer to help with an outreach ministry in Hispanic neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, meanwhile, meanwhile — there’s no limit on parallel interactions.

This is the tip of the mission iceberg. Maybe no one clicked the donate button and your congregation lost $20. The value of the interconnectedness paid off in far greater ways.

How can your congregation become a C to C church?

07 Feb 2013

On the Fickle Nature of Internet Stats

Don’t Trust the Statistics!

Yesterday’s post was no sooner launched than it drew four “likes.”  An earlier post also drew a “like” in the same time frame, which was just few minutes. Thank you, readers.

But according to the site’s stats we had received only one visitor in that time frame. They couldn’t all be looking at the site on the same computer. The readers were in several time zones. Do the statistic elves hoard the numbers for delivery at one time? The fact that four of the “likes” were for a post that had just been published suggests not.

It is unlikely that the stats record fewer views than your site receives, although there may be some generic pings from scam mills. In general, your site is likely to have more readers than you realize.

So always dress for company.

06 Feb 2013

Teaching the Transfiguration through Art

The Transfiguration is one of those church commemorations that never really resonates. It is hard for us earthbound mortals to envision and connect with the story.

Yet it remains a popular subject with artists. Reviewing some art of the transfiguration might be helpful.

TransfigurationArtHere are four renditions. Some artists attempt a realistic portrayal. Others stick with stylistic or representational. Titian tries to draw us in as if we are standing behind the disciples or perhaps hiding behind a rock! Notice in the stylistic representation how the shaft of light pierces each of the disciples.

The common elements are the six figures. Christ is central. Moses and Elijah flank Christ. Sometimes you will see a personification of God hovering over Christ’s head.

TransfigurationArt2

In this icon it is interesting that the artist depicts an elderly Elijah and a youthful Moses. Their heavenly form preserves them at their most memorable.

The three disciples are usually depicted in various states of awe. James and John are usually stunned speechless. Peter is trying to be part of the moment.

For teaching purpose, the painting below by Giovanni Battista Moroni is very forthright in representation. When it came to religious paintings, this 16th century portrait artist was considered a bit ordinary. But his ordinary depiction has the elements of the story.

Giovanni-Battista-Moroni-xx-The-Transfiguration-1

The disciples awake to find Jesus having a chat with Elijah and Moses. They are discussing heavenly plans. It’s a strategy session. Fortunately, Moses brought the Law with him and Elijah brought his prophecies. What is about to unfold must agree with the law and prophets! Everybody on the same page!

There are the clouds and the bright lights and white raiment. They are clearly on top of a mountain, feet on solid ground. Peter is bold enough to address Jesus and the patriarchs. “Lucky you brought us along. We can build you each a shelter.” The gesture says it all! James and John are overwhelmed. You can almost hear the voice of God coming from that break in the clouds.

Transfiguration2003-3But there is also something for our modern eyes to contemplate in this fifth, more modern depiction. The three earthly figures are dwarfed by the experience.

 

05 Feb 2013

Adult Object Lesson: The Transfiguration

transfigurationThe Magic of Prayer Is in the Listening

Luke 9:37-45

Today’s object is a magic wand.

You don’t have a magic wand? Use any kind of pointer, stick or even a straw. Remember, it’s magic!

Today’s gospel tells the story that has come to be known as the Transfiguration.

Four men (Jesus, Peter, James and John) climb a mountain to pray. Suddenly, there are six men!

It has all the trappings of a magic show. People appear from nowhere. People disappear. There are clouds obscuring their vision and brilliant lights to direct the eye.

Keep in mind that Peter, James and John climb the mountain with the knowledge of Moses and the stories told of his mountaintop encounters with God. When Moses and Elijah appear, it may be to them as if they are experiencing history. We might liken it to suddenly seeing Abraham Lincoln and George Washington on the podium on Inauguration Day.

Climbing a mountain to pray is nothing new. Moses had a habit of climbing a mountain when he wanted to talk to God, too.

The experience was a bit ho-hum at first.

While Jesus was praying the three disciples were fighting sleep. Seems like this is a recurring temptation for them. They sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Peter later falls asleep while praying on a rooftop.

That prayer is a challenge is nothing new. We want to talk to God. We hope to listen to God, but when given the opportunity, we feel inadequate. We fall asleep. An escape!

Talking to God is daunting.

But on this particular day, the three disciples were to experience the profound. What they were about to see was so like magic that they dared not talk about it until after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

(Wave your magic wand dramatically as you retell the story.)

They saw Jesus transform. Presto!

He became like light itself. They had heard about this. It had happened to Moses. The great and powerful Moses. The giver of the Law.

Speaking of Moses . .  . there he is. He appears with Elijah, the prophet, no stranger to  magical occurrences.

Abracadabra! They are here. Presto! They are gone.

The disciples are left listening to God. And what does God say?

“This is my Son. Listen to him.”

The Bible texts which follow this story reveal that Jesus is growing impatient with his disciples and their inability to make connections between what he teaches them and how they should apply his teachings.

The magical part of prayer isn’t so much in how we speak to God. It’s in listening to God speak to us. Elaborate on this.

Presto!

04 Feb 2013

To Dream the Impossible Dream

Today’s Alban Weekly Newsletter promotes a book, The Small Church, by Steve Willis.

Willis points out that large churches are historically a new phenomenon—only 100 years old!

2×2 has made this point for a while. Most churches set out to serve their own communities with little thought of growth.

When churches grow, it is usually because of societal change, not a dedication to mission, fueled by a carefully drafted mission statement.

Willis points to the rise of mega church as a result of mobility in society made possible by mass transit and a reliable highway system.

The article quotes Tony Pappas, an American Baptist minister:

So for the first time in human history, thousands of people could get to a one- or two-hour event and get home for lunch! So large churches, big steeples, big pulpits, Old Firsts came into being. As we think of them today, large churches have only been around for a little over a century–only 5% of the history of our faith.

Before the concept of mega church, most congregations were pretty much the same in their needs and mission. Pastors were expected to do the same things and there was little mobility. There was no need. Pastors served the same church for decades.

Today, a pastor may, in following a call, carefully calculate how accepting the call will position him or her for a “better” or more lucrative call in three years.

Meanwhile, the congregations still think they are calling a pastor for the long haul.

The article makes a case for the mega church as an attractive business venture. Business entrepreneurs supported large congregations as an investment.

The early mega churches included congregations of just 1000 or 2000 members. Today, the mega church aims for five times that number. (Churches with 1000 or more members are called corporate churches. There aren’t many of them either.)

A model church budget today relies on the support of 1000 members. Most churches with 1000 members have only 10% worshiping on a typical Sunday morning.

In our 55 Ambassador visits, we have encountered only a handful of churches with worship attendance of more than 100. Most of those were on holiday Sundays. The average attendance of all the churches we have visited has been under 50. One congregation listed its average attendance as 400 in its Trend Report. Attendance at the 11 am service the day we visited was 27 (including us, the pastor and the organist).

In the last 100 years, we have created a model that the Church and its volunteer memberships never set out to support. And can’t.

So here we are in 2013, looking at the ruins of our church. And we are still thinking — if everyone can just change and be like the one or two percent of churches that manage to reach “mega” status, all would be wonderful.

Pastors are still trained to serve congregations as if they are neighborhood congregations. When expectations don’t match reality, the laity are blamed.

Most lay people just want to join a church to worship. They never set out to reinvent it.

But then there is 2×2.

04 Feb 2013

The Modern Church in a Tribal Culture

Today’s Church exists amid a new and perplexing dichotomy.

Our world views bigger as better. Bigger means more money, more resources, more power. Better goes along for the ride.

This seems to go with the fundamental view of corporate church. It certainly goes with the traditional structure of church since the Middle Ages

The Church is not going to give up on this idea easily!

Within this bigness is a new power of the individual. Individuals do not have to be part of a big organization to fulfill needs which were once met ONLY through association with large organizations.

The FBI with all its state-of-the-art technology and the funding of the leading nation in the free world can be hacked by an adventurous school kid with no particular ill will, as easily as it can be hacked by an enemy.

Big brands with solid positioning in our culture can be challenged by a single new marketing concept. What is Woolworth worth today?

The same thing is happening in the Church. Those accustomed to being big and powerful are finding their secure position in society threatened by the small church and even perhaps by individuals.

Where do television preachers get their start? They rarely rise through the ranks of the organized church. They may have started out there but their ambitions outgrow church structure.

There was a time when it was difficult to exist outside denominational structure if you felt called to serve God.

No problem today. Raise some money. Get on TV. (Or write a blog!) The media of the day can make all the difference.

Soon they have created what modern business calls a “tribe.”

Nothing new here. Israel had its tribes. Moses had a tribe. Jesus had a tribe. Paul had a tribe.

The members of a modern evangelist’s tribe probably had roots in the traditional church, too. The difference today is that individuals within the tribe have more power. They can and will come and go from the traditional church. Meanwhile, they can pick and choose between involvement with multiple tribes. One tribe might interest them socially. Another culturally. Still another might be addressing a cause dear to their heart.

The Church must recognize this as it nurtures its own tribe. Your most loyal members are probably sharing their loyalties, time, talent and money.

They may attend worship (or not). They may serve on a charitable board or two. They pick and choose between the charities that do the best job of soliciting their help — usually on Sunday mornings.

There is no longer brand loyalty among Christians. People want to make a difference. If the Church cannot provide the diversity of opportunities to serve, there are plenty of organizations that will.

There is also individual power. A person can abandon the whole tribe mentality and go it alone and still be effective stewards of God’s gifts.

Mainline denominational churches can cry about this, fight and scheme for positioning, and grasp at what’s left of the old order.

Or they can fashion a ministry that attracts multiple “tribes.”

03 Feb 2013

Want ideas for Lent? Stop denying; start giving

In Favor of a Proactive Lent

Lent is traditionally a season of denial.

Devoted Christians choose something to deny themselves. It’s supposed to be something we miss and it’s supposed to be something done in secrecy.

The tradition is intended to create a sense of sacrifice in honor of the sacrifice of God’s Son. This started out much more grandly than it is typically practiced today. It was a season of serious fasting. But that was just too hard.

Fridays were once like that, too. Friday was a day of Christian fasting in a regular remembrance of Good Friday. When that became too difficult, the custom shifted, with the Church’s permission, to shunning meat. Fish didn’t count. Whew!

Lent has been similarly compromised from its original intent. The things most people sacrifice in secrecy are things we want to give up anyway—cigarettes, liquor, sweets.

We are not very good at this sacrificial stuff, are we?

Perhaps it would restore a sense of Lenten sacrifice to do something proactive for the 40 days of Lent. Perhaps our sacrifice should be our time and self-centered attention.

Instead of dwelling on ourselves and our suffering for atonement, perhaps it would be more helpful to sacrifice in ways that would benefit more than our personal state of grace. Instead of NOT doing something this Lent, think about what we CAN DO to help others.

  • Instead of not eating meat or ice cream or chocolate, feed someone.
  • Instead of spending time on our own entertainment, take an hour a day and do something with family.
  • Instead of shopping for a new Easter outfit, clean out the closets and give good clothes to the needy. If you want a real sense of sacrifice, give away a favorite outfit!
  • Instead of checking Facebook five times a day, send one greeting card a day to someone who needs to know they are loved.
  • If you’ve neglected your God-given talents, use them daily during Lent to write, paint, sing, sew or practice the piano.
  • Create a new faith discipline. Start a faith journal.

Doing something for others — and thereby sacrificing self-interest — just might make for a more meaningful Lent.

How might you sacrifice proactively?

02 Feb 2013

Happy Anniversary to 2×2!

Long Live Redeemer in Mission!

It may be Groundhog’s Day in Punxatawny but February 2, 2013, is 2×2’s second anniversary. Our experimental web site has been quite an adventure. Our ministry has gained influence and reach we never imagined and is poised to be an income asset for our host congregation, Redeemer.

In February of 2011, 2×2 had just one visitor for the whole month (and it may have been one of us). Last month we had more than 2100 first time visitors and that doesn’t include a growing number of subscribers and those who receive our posts via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our cyber statistics make us one of the largest congregations in the ELCA. And we’re just getting started!

Our primary mission is to help small congregations with ministry challenges. We hope to do this even more in 2013. The Easter Play we posted last year has had 1000 downloads this year. Our weekly Adult Object Lessons has a regular following. And several church organizations have contacted us for help with web sites.

Our secondary mission is to be the voice of Redeemer. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has done everything it can to try to silence us — even suggesting that one of our members, an ordained ELCA pastor, be censored for speaking out on issues everyone else veils in silence.

2×2 has been an effective voice.

A surprise along the way has been the number of international friendships we have made and the youthful readership who make up the majority of our followers. 2013 will also be a year for building/nurturing these relationships.

Through 2×2, Redeemer is poised to take ministry to new places. We’ve earned our place in the ELCA which refuses to recognize our ministry, preferring our physical assets to our membership. Where is St. Lawrence when we need him!? (Turn us over. We are done on this side.)

It is time for those who decided in 2009 that Redeemer couldn’t survive and therefore they should have the benefit of our assets to reconsider their actions.

The resulting law suits have depleted what reserves there were for them to enjoy. The building has been locked to all for three and a half year — serving no mission purpose whatsoever. Yet good can still be salvaged.

The church is not a building. It is the people. The people of Redeemer have continued our ministry despite every obstacle thrown our way.

Under Lutheran governance, any synodical administration is temporary in nature. It’s constitutional purpose is to help congregations. The Articles of Incorporation make it clear that property belongs to the congregation and cannot be taken without a congregation’s consent. Most of the people who voted to do this had never read the Articles of Incorporation.

There is no reason why Redeemer with its physical and cyber assets cannot fund a full ministry. With a little nurturing it could be quite lucrative.

It is time to for SEPA to reconsider its actions in East Falls, return our property as they should under their constitution and restore mission to this neighborhood.

If this was about money, problem solved. We can afford our own ministry. We always could.

…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.—Romans 5:3-5

02 Feb 2013