If you think technology will not affect religion, think again.
Back to School night at my son’s school was always an education. He is a college man now, but I remember the stark contrast to my own schooling I found when I entered his classroom every fall.
Today, very few classrooms are arranged with rows of desks and chairs facing a teacher’s desk and blackboard. In grade school the desks are clumped in little communities. Lessons are taught with the children sitting with their teachers on the floor. Furniture becomes more meaningful in older grades but is usually arranged in circles. A teacher’s desk is off in an obscure corner. Class discussions are more like an afternoon at Arthur’s Roundtable than a lecture hall. Assignments are often group projects with individuals responsible for the success of classmates.
Smartboards or laptops are the hub and spokes of the learning circle. The conversation can be broadened beyond the walls of the school with an effortless Skype or internet connection. Teachers are facilitators of learning more than relaters of factual information. This is the world our young people know five days a week.
Then, with decreasing frequency, they go to church on Sunday.
They encounter a service or liturgy with its roots in ancient times. If their family has brought them to church from their cradle days this is not a shock. To the uninitiated this is an aberration. Young people are asked to stand and sit and stand and sit and no one tells them why anymore. They settle back for a 20+-minute sermon when they’ve never before listened to any one person talk for more than five minutes.
The current coming-of-age generation (Generation Y) is not accustomed to the Church’s standard model for communicating the Gospel. They have not experienced it.
Faced with this as the only option for being part of religion, they find it easy — to use the term of the internet — to opt out.
How is the Church going to answer this new reality? We have some ideas. We are sure you do, too!
We will start exploring this topic this week. — Administrator, Judy Gotwald
As we noted in our latest Social Media post, finding the time for social media is the biggest hurdle for churches in acclimating to the digital world.
“Church” has been done the same way for centuries. People entering ministry have expectations for how they will spend their time when they are called to a parish. Something like this: Monday will be spent on office housekeeping and reflection in preparation for next week’s sermon. Parish calls are made on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday is bulletin day and Bible study, choir practice or some other group activity. A few hours of Thursday might be spent with colleagues over lunch. Meetings will be scattered throughout the week. Friday is for polishing the sermon. There are always emergencies. And one of these days is a day off.
Time must be found. Social Media is simply too powerful to ignore. If you are serving an aging congregation it is all the more vital. Your older members may be willing to forego it, but the current coming-of-age generation — Generation Y — lives with their cell phones epoxied to their palms. If you want your church to have a future, you MUST speak the language and use the tools of the future.
How do you make the time?
There is no doubt it will be hard to adjust the routine. It is an adjustment for everyone! We suggest a two-pronged approach:
Set aside 30 minutes a day for social media. Start your day with it. End your day with it or follow your lunch break with it. Make it a routine.
Let others help.
Carving out a half-hour may be the easiest of the two steps to take, especially after you begin to see results. In our experience that took six months of daily posting to grow readership to our current average of 50 readers a day and a thousand each month. Warning: A half hour is a start. You will find Social Media so compelling that it will become more vital to your church community.
The second part — letting others help — is a major shift in church structure but it is going to happen. Top-down church leadership is quickly becoming a thing of the past. If people do not have a voice in their churches they will fill their lives with things that engage them.
This adds a new church emphasis for which your social media can be a tool. Education. You want members engaging in online religious issues to be knowledgeable. Many churches have neglected education. Use Social Media to break that cycle. We’ll address this in our next Social Media post.
Bishop Claire Burkat of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (ELCA) recently wrote to professional leaders outraged that people (specifically members of Redeemer) have suggested she is following a plan to close SEPA congregations.
She denies this.
We present to you the following evidence which makes it clear SEPA weighs the benefits to SEPA when assessing the strength of member ministries. SEPA has relied on church closings to fund its budget.
1998
In 1998, Bishop Almquist had his eye on Redeemer, a small church with a large endowment. He created conditions that led to imposing “involuntary synodical administration” and raided our bank account. When at last he gave up on the “administration” ruse he took an additional year to return the confiscated money, keeping some for Synod expenses. He then issued a plea to congregations for help in restoring the depleted “Mission Fund.” The amount he was asking for was almost exactly the amount returned to Redeemer. Redeemer in effect had supplied SEPA with an involuntary, two-year, interest-free loan.
2001
The issue with Bishop Almquist resolved in 2001, but he failed to find leadership for our congregation, trying to force us into long-term relationships with pastors who were clearly minimally commited. From 2001 to 2006, little concern was shown for Redeemer. It was even stated that left alone for ten years we were likely to die a natural death. Further evidence that this is a leadership philosophy: In 2001, Bishop Burkat as a member of Almquist’s staff holding the title of Mission Director, co-authored a book for regional church leaders, recommending a triage system for small churches. Do not spend time and resources on churches that will die in ten years, the book advises leaders.
2005
In 2005, just prior to Bishop Burkat’s election, SEPA treasurer reported that the Synod was within $75,000 of depleting every resource available. That’s about one month’s payroll for a staff of 14. Synod was in financial crisis.
2006
Redeemer had been working with Epiphany for nearly two years to unite our congregations and thought we were making progress. In October 2006, Epiphany abruptly announced its intention to break our covenant and close. We learned this vote was taken after Bishop Burkat met with Pastor Muse and Epiphany’s president. Redeemer was not consulted.
Pastor Muse gave 10 days notice, leaving Redeemer with no professional leadership. For six months, Bishop Burkat “helped bring closure” to Epiphany’s ministry . . . while neglecting Redeemer who was still housing Epiphany’s congregation but now with no advantages to their ministry. Epiphany was never locked out of Redeemer during their six-month closure process.
2007
Redeemer was launching a new ministry outreach which was showing great promise. By 2007, the national Church had already made note of our innovative ministry. We were attempting to get the attention of SEPA’s Mission Director. Phone calls were unreturned. We were told at last: “It doesn’t matter what your congregation does, the Bishop intends to close your church.” So much for the process of “mutual discernment”!
2008
SEPA Synod Assembly voted for a hefty deficit budget several years in a row. In 2008, when Bishop Burkat officially announced its intentions for Redeemer, the approved deficit was shy of $300,000—about 10% of the total budget. It was well known at the time that offerings and membership were in steady decline. Even larger SEPA congregations were experiencing hardship. Was there a plan presented for how to come up with $300,000?
Yes. It was reported that budget shortfalls are made up from the “Mission Fund.” Only later was the Assembly told that the Mission Fund was the repository of assets from closed churches.
In February, Bishop Burkat brought a lawyer, a locksmith and a sizable posse with her to what she thought was to be her first meeting with Redeemer. “Mutual discernment” began with intimidation.
2009
Synod Attorney John Gordon, before Judge Lynn in its actions against Redeemer, argued that Redeemer was the first of six congregations SEPA intended to close, suggesting to the court that it was a normal and benevolent procedure. That in itself is admission that SEPA has a plan to close churches.
2010
In the fall of 2010, Redeemer Ambassadors encountered a member of Epiphany in one of our visits. She spoke of her outrage that it was only after Epiphany voted to close that the congregation was informed that all but 5% of its assets had to be turned over to the Synod. There are many published reports of Lutheran congregations closing and dividing assets to causes of their choosing. There is no rule that congregational assets automatically go to Synod.
Statistics show that 80% of members from churches forced into closure never find a new church home. The members of closed SEPA congregations we encounter are hurt and angry. Those impressively orchestrated closing ceremonies do little more than assuage the consciences of leaders. We suspect that the process of closing churches that Bishop Burkat describes as going smoothly is not satisfactory from the congregations’ view.
We invite congregations to tell of their experiences.
2011
It was not until the 2011 Synod Assembly that the Assembly insisted on a balanced budget, but still earmarked about 3% as coming from the Mission Fund—progress that came too late for about six SEPA congregations.
November 2011
We encountered a businessman on one of our visits who told us his company had attempted to help an urban church with a property problem. He received a phone call from Bishop Burkat ordering him to stop helping this church. Why? The plan, she explained, was to close the church and sell the property. This congregation is still open. Our Ambassadors have visited it twice. Members are fervent in their passion for their ministry.
There is ample evidence that closing churches is part of Synod’s plan to fund their budget.
SEPA member churches and clergy MUST take responsibility for the leadership they elect.
Many innocent people sitting in pews across five counties rely on you. Lay servants may think twice when they see how Redeemer leaders have been treated. They provide offerings, energy, property, buildings, and passion to SEPA’s ministry. SEPA is taking advantage of them.
The measure of a Synod is in how it treats its smallest congregations.
Jason Stambaugh of Wevival wrote a blog post on the cost of social media which is worth a read.
He discusses the true costs of serious engagement in social media. He points out accurately that the real cost is time. We suspect that the time required to work in social media ministry is the biggest hurdle for pastors and congregations.
The fees to have a social media presence are negligible — less than $50 per year. The learning curve is shorter for each successive generation. Time is often the reason social media efforts either do not happen or die on the vine. We can’t tell you how many church web sites we’ve visited that were last updated in 2009!
Time is the investment. What are the benefits?
This article also points out five major benefits — all of which we have mentioned as well. They make it very clear that failure to find the time is failure in ministry.
Accountability. Social Media creates a discipline. You become accountable for your passion. Isn’t that what ministry is all about? Your readers will hold you accountable as well!
Thought Leadership. The Church is accustomed to a “top-down” dialog process. It will take a while for both pastors and congregants to become comfortable with the idea that this model will not work much longer in religion. It may have always been a bad idea. The Jewish faith, from which Christianity grew, fosters a questioning of their teachings as part of their faith discipline. The Medieval structure of the Christian Church, under which we still live, discourages this. The resulting lack of thought leadership is contributing to the decline of the Church. This is not to say that pastors are not great thinkers. They are just sharing their great thoughts with fewer and fewer people because they are relying on people coming to them on Sunday morning. With fewer and fewer people in Church, there is less thinking going on in the pew as well!
Help. In the past congregations took their ideas and questions to their pastors, who passed rigorous examination from those above him (and for centuries it was a “him”). It was cumbersome to follow any other path such as writing letters and waiting for a response. That has changed! Communities of interest spring up overnight. And they help one another! 2×2 can attest to the power of social media to find help. There are millions of people in the world engaged in social media. Some of them may have answers to your questions on your pastor’s day off.
Real life connections. Social Media starts with anonymous interaction but can and does grow to people meeting and working together. Again, 2×2 can attest to the effectiveness of internet connectedness.
Opportunity. Wow! What else can we say? There was never greater opportunity.
Consider your social media presence your Pool of Bethesda. That's where people go looking for help these days. If you aren't there you can't help!
So why aren’t more churches engaging in Social Media? They haven’t figured out how to find the time. They are busy doing things the way they’ve done them for centuries. Some of this is good—no one wants their leaders to stop visiting or spend less time on sermon preparation, etc., but to not find time which can bring the benefits listed above to your community is opportunity missed, potential voices silenced, help withheld because we weren’t paying attention to the place where people are going for help these days.
The conditions he cites are faced by all religious groups today.
organizations cannot exclusively control their messages
information is more accessible and less private than in the past
people energized by a vision will collaborate freely
mistakes made by any one member of a group can be corrected by others
success is tied to the ability to distribute knowledge and leadership
synagogues can become a “platform for organizing people with similar interests” rather than remain a “top-down” operation
synagogues are challenged to see “communities that do not yet exist”
synagogues “should recognize the importance of niche communities and foster linkages among them”
ongoing feedback mechanisms are vital
organizations need to focus on what they do best
2×2 has already discussed many of these points. We think every one creates a positive, new strength with truly exciting potential.
We also predict that the upper echelons of church leadership are going to resist embracing new societal realities. They will continue to think like hierarchical leaders. Some may stubbornly oppose the inevitable, using their last vestiges of power to create real harm and chaos.
Ironically, the American Church may have the most difficulty adjusting to new ways. Separation of Church and State, a precious American right, gives the Church powers other organizations cannot claim. Parishioners, equally protected by the Bill of Rights, will find their denominations lording their protected status over them. Courts will not be able to sort out the resulting feuds.
Parishioners providing ideas and leadership that are welcomed in the secular arena, will be challenged by church leaders who are desperately hanging on to control mechanisms they enjoyed since the Reformation.
The emerging Digital Church Age with all its promise will spark a great power struggle. Much of what the Church teaches will be forgotten along the way, beginning with the Ten Commandments. Servant leaders were never more needed. If they prove to be in short supply, as we suspect they will, innocent lay people will be hurt, rank and file pastors will be silenced, and church leaders will meet in increasing seclusion as they come to distrust the people they lead. It could return us to the Middle Ages and the Inquisition.
We hope the coming revolution in the Church will be a short transition as young leaders, coming of age sometime since 1985 reach leadership positions. But meanwhile, it could be very ugly.
The sooner Rabbi Herring’s observations are embraced, the sooner the Church will enter the wonderful new world of the 21st century. It could take a decade or two . . . or three! Plenty of time to build a bunker!
That weak link — the one you wish you didn’t have to worry about — well, it turns out it could be your most valuable asset. Sociologists are learning that it is the weakest links which drive innovation.
Scientists have done studies to identify how new ideas take root and where the sources of great success stories lie. People think it is in fostering alliances and friendships with the like-minded or the movers and shakers — the powerful, the well-connected, the jet set.
The big churches — not the small churches.
Turns out they are wrong. In story after story the sparks of great ideas prove to come from the serendipitous—the people you barely know, from small groups of people struggling with ideas in a very hands-on way.
This is an interesting analysis of the value of networks. Let’s focus on one quote:
“The way networks have their effect is not by getting information from people, but rather by finding people who are interesting and who think differently from you,” —Ronald S. Burt, Neighbor Networks
What does this mean to the Church?
Most congregations are fairly homogenous in membership. Redeemer’s Ambassadors visited 40 in the last 18 months. Only about four had significant diversity — at least visually. We tend to gravitate toward people who are like us, dress like us, and act like us. The minute things start to change, we become defensive. Liturgical dance . . . no way! Tambourines . . . never! The barriers we put up are designed to protect our sense of identity and comfort.
We want to recognize ourselves in the person sitting beside us in church. It is proof to us that we are accepted.
The whole structure of Church is designed for sameness. We rally around one leader and conform our ministries to that leader’s interests and skills. When encouraged to invite others, we invite people like us.
When congregations attempt innovation it is likely to be the same sort of dabbling taking place 10 miles from us. Properly sanctioned innovation.
Redeemer struggled to grow until we began reaching out to people who were different from us.
Then new ideas began to spread. Of course, we were wary of change, but we quickly learned that we didn’t have to change all that much. Change did not have to mean abandoning who we are. We added to our heritage.
With this web site, we continue to find new spins on evangelism. Churches across the country and around the world are sharing with us and we respond. We have learned that Jesus’ commission for us to go out into the world is not so much to make the rest of the world transform to our ways but for US to learn NEW ways from them.
If the Church as a whole wants to change, it must foster relationships with our weakest acquaintances.
Redeemer, through our 2×2 site, has become pen pals with a church in Pakistan and another in Kenya. We’ve helped individuals with projects across our own continent. We’ve learned more in the last four years than in our congregation’s previous 120 years.
This sense of mission may not be for every church, but we encourage you to look at your own “weak links.” Who in your congregation is borderline involved, a bit uncomfortable? Engage them. You may find they have insights and skills to offer that you didn’t know you needed.
Use the power of the web to reach the neglected. One church close to us has studied the needs of families with autistic family members. Because we knew of their interest we were able to introduce them to another ministry designing worship opportunities for the autistic.
This is a golden age for the church. It was never more possible to fulfill the Great Commission. Will we meet the challenge? Or will we continue to reward and encourage the efforts of homogenous ministry?
UPDATE: June 2013. 2×2 now has a network of six churches internationally. They’ve gone out of their way to get to know each other. Our members are in contact with them regularly—often weekly. Locally we’ve visited 62 of our sister churches. They tend to avoid communicating with us but then they all found our property to be of more value to their leaders than our ministry was in our community or the world.
2×2 has many readers who know little about the long conflict within SEPA Synod, and we do not wish to burden them. We want 2×2 to be a lively forum for ideas.
Therefore we created a special page to discuss the recent letter Bishop Claire Burkat wrote to SEPA clergy to prepare them for a possible article in the Philadelphia papers. If you are interested, here’s the link.
Last Sunday four Redeemer Ambassadors visited the suburban congregation Christ’s Lutheran Church in Oreland, Pa. This was our 40th congregational visit.
We arrived to find a nearly full parking lot. The front door was hard to find from where we parked. We followed signs for the church office and ended up entering the busy sanctuary from the front of the church. This may have been the largest congregation we’ve encountered and was particularly impressive that it was the first Sunday in Lent, not a popular holiday. The other large congregations we visited on Reformation Sunday and Palm Sunday.
We were interested in Christ’s because one of our former pastors had come to us from this congregation back in the 1980s. We were happy to see that the service was very well attended with a healthy mix of ages. The organist was away but the substitute pianist did a great job with a beautiful prelude rendition of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Her hymn choices during communion were also very nice.
A children’s choir sang. This was only about the third children’s choir we have encountered. The adult choir nearly filled the chancel area. It was the largest choir we have encountered so far and had a well-balanced blend.
Rev. Kay Braun led a lovely service. She is listed as senior pastor but apparently she is the only pastor.
We left the service through the same door we arrived and did not talk to anyone. The side door opened to an area surrounded on three sides by brick walls and the sound reverberated, reminding us of Redeemer’s plans to someday build an outside worship area using the hill and church wall to amplify sound.
The bulletin announced a number of fun ideas, including a “Guess Who Is Coming to Dinner” event where participants sign up to either host or attend dinner in someone’s home . . . only who will go to which host’s home is not announced until just before the appointed time. Sounds like a fun mixer!
A long announcement period before the service talked of many mission projects.
Among the most frequently asked questions among new bloggers/social media practitioners is “How do we get people to “like” us or “comment.”
This is particularly difficult in the church setting because Social Media breaks a 2000-year-old tradition. Preachers preach. Congregants listen. Traditional communication is one way.
If pastors are encouraging parishioners to voice theological thoughts in public, they are asking people to make a major change in their spiritual relationships with God, the Church, and with other people. They may feel awkward, vulnerable or unqualified. This will take time.
Encouraging religious dialog among the laity is a worthwhile goal and long, long overdue. Trust must be established. Confidence must be built. Faith must be prepared for inevitable challenges. It’s a tall order and not to be rushed.
Here are some ideas.
Start with younger members. They are closer to their confirmation years and much more comfortable with social media, although many do not see it as a place for serious thought. Still, they are a most likely to consider it. The challenge will be to build their confidence to speak outside their circle of peers.
Prime the pump. Ask three people to write a blog or start a conversation on Facebook. Help them. Teach them. Guide them.
Engage the congregation or forum group in conversation about the online dialog and specifically ask some of them to share their insights on line. You can lead the way with your own “like” or comment.
Create an online poll asking questions that the posts raised. This is an easy first online engagement for people. It’s anonymous but people can see how it works.
Repeat this cycle monthly or quarterly or as topics arise in your community or congregation.
One more idea:
Blogging Roundtable
Have a blog roundtable. Sometimes these are called blog carnivals. It’s a new idea so you can choose any name you like. Make it fun. Blogging rodeo? Blogging round-up? Blogfest?
Ask several or many people to write on a given topic and submit a 500-word or less post in email, text or document format. Post an introductory blog to present the topic and explain the roundtable concept. Set a deadline about 10 days away. Do some behind the scenes nudging to make sure you have at least a few responses. Run a few tickler posts on the topic to get mental juices flowing. On the appointed day, publish ALL the posts at once and encourage participants and readers to mix, match and compare. You might even run a “like” contest or poll to see which ideas resonate best.
This could help rally people and engage them in a fun way.
