The religious response to the violence in Ferguson and its aftermath has prompted response from church leaders. In some cases it has met with resistance, which caught some church leaders off guard.

Church leaders hang signs. Black Lives Matter. In this day and age, who could disagree?

But in some cases, the signs sparked outrage. This surprised church leaders. Their seat on the ecclesial bandwagon seemed safe.

There are three problems with the Church leading dialog on race relations.

1. It is too little, too late.

2. They rarely recognize that the Church has been part of the problem.

3. The people eager to lead the discussion, have little experience dealing with the problems.

Discussion that might have prevented Ferguson didn’t happen.

Racial issues moderated by clergy who preach from pulpits in the affluent suburbs are suspect.

How do we get past this? Let’s hang that “Black Lives Matter” sign in front of a few different churches and imagine how the passersby in each case feel when they read it.

Let’s hang the sign in front of a church in a still segregated black neighborhood, one of thousands across the country similar to Ferguson. We’ll call this church NEW CANAAN GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP.

Then we’ll hang the sign in front of an 1000-member mainline church in an affluent suburb a good 15 miles away from NEW CANAAN. The members of these congregations are likely to make their livings in the urban centers, but the highways and trains they travel between work and home allow them to never set foot in the neighborhoods in between. We’ll call this church FIRST SUBURBAN.

Finally, we’ll hang the sign in the urban neighborhoods that were once segregated, but white. They have spent the last few decades dealing with the transitions. Let’s name this church CRUSADER.

NEW CANAAN GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP

The reaction to the sign hanging in front of NEW CANAAN GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP isn’t difficult to imagine. We saw it on the news for weeks following Ferguson— the demonstrations, the anger, the shouts, the rally signs, and more violence. They are tired of going unnoticed — or noticed but ignored. They are weary of the only educational option being substandard schools. They detest having to send their teenagers out the door to face finding adequate employment with poor education. They know full well that they will face temptations of drugs, crime and gangs. They need an army to help but they are often just a single mom or grandmother. In short, they are enraged at being written off.

It is one thing to feel expendable and another to know that you are passing that legacy on to your children and grandchildren. They look at the sign in front of the neighborhood church, shake a fist in the air, and shout an impassioned “Damn Straight. High Time.”

FIRST SUBURBAN

On to FIRST SUBURBAN. There the pastor hangs the sign to show that the people care about the current events. They don’t want to turn away from the crisis. But they may not recognize that their church probably credits its growth and prosperity to the history that created Ferguson. Many of today’s large suburban churches were small village churches prior to the White Flight sparked in the 1960s Civil Rights Era. Their strength came from large numbers of people escaping the societal change in the city. Job opportunities and educational opportunities are myriad because of proximity to the best the city has to offer. They are assured access to the best health care urban centers can provide. Suburbs are desirable because of their proximity to cities!

They have the 3 Esses—SPACE. SCHOOLS. SECURITY. Urban problems? No, thank you.

The ties to the city remained for a couple of generations. Grandma and Grandpa still lived in the city. They drove out to attend family baptisms, weddings and funerals. But those ties are now nearly gone. The problems they left behind are history.

The people reading the sign in suburban neighborhoods feel like the world they thought they had escaped is creeping up on them. Most were born post 1980 and don’t remember White Flight. To them, the sign challenges law enforcement, property values, way of life, quality schools—the very issues that created life as they know it. They remember the stories of why mom and dad left the city. For all they know, nothing has changed. They are likely to be thinking, “Of course, black lives matter. So do ours. So do the lives of our police. So do the lives of our storekeepers. So do our schools. Don’t hang this sign in our community. Don’t bring city problems to our doorsteps!”

CRUSADER

Finally, let’s walk by the sign hanging in front of CRUSADER church. CRUSADER was once a “white” congregation because it was in a “white” urban neighborhood. As the urban scene changed, they continued their ministry but were largely neglected by the mainline church which was amassing strength in the suburbs. CRUSADER has few leadership choices. They make do with part-timers—usually retired pastors with no interest and little energy for evangelism. Guiding social change? Not likely.

Mainline denominations with prime leadership well-positioned in the suburbs talk patronizingly to CRUSADER members about inclusion and diversity while providing little support. Truth be told, they have little experience leading the kind of change CRUSADER already experienced. The people forged the way.

Nothing happened overnight. Denominations watched as government housing projects surrounded urban neighborhoods. CRUSADER lived through decades of crime that resulted from isolating new populations near but culturally separate from the neighborhoods surrounding them. Now that things are better, denominations claim expertise in issues CRUSADER faced alone for 50 years.

They still have no plans for helping neighborhood churches. CRUSADER cannot rely on its denominational leaders to provide leadership now when they have been largely absent for 50 years.

Denominations test the waters to “prayerfully discern” the right time for closure. Meanwhile, they slowly rewrite governing rules to make sure he assets of neighborhood churches go to them.

The people walking past the “Black Lives Matter” sign in these neighborhoods think, “NOW you want to talk. Where were you in the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the last 15 years?”

2×2 is a church like CRUSADER. 

Like so many other CRUSADER churches, we experienced neighborhood changes and kept up with them quietly. We watched as our children married and looked for homes in the suburbs. We drove to FIRST SUBURBAN to attend the baptisms of our grandchildren. Back home we tended to the children who came on Sunday morning from the government housing projects—never with parents. We worked with the public school across the street even as our families found it an unsafe environment for their own children. We dealt with a diminishing offering base as members aged and newer members had less means and greater needs. We worked with minimal pastoral leadership. Lay leaders who picked up the slack were criticized as being intimidating to pastors who wanted authority while committing to little more than worship leadership.

Our congregation challenged suburban-focused church leaders in the 1980s who claimed a major bequest left to our church. We challenged a bishop in the 1990s who placed us under Synodical Administration temporarily so he could access this same bequest. And in 2008, we challenged yet another bishop who decided to exert power once and for all. She not only claimed our land and every penny of our congregation’s bank accounts but she went after church members’ private funds to cover legal costs for both sides.

We continue to work in our neighborhood, networking with organizations of diverse backgrounds, only to face ongoing defamation from church leaders—who safely hang signs in the suburbs, reflecting how much they care about racism.

Racism went unrecognized when church leaders came to our majority black membership and encouraged them to take their memberships elsewhere to make the acquisition of our land easier. No one noticed racism when we were denied voice so that we could point out that parish reports used to justify a second imposition of synodical administration had been altered to reflect only our white membership—in effect removing 69 black members from our congregational roster without their knowledge.

All the while, church leaders keep the race card up their sleeve, ready to play whenever it works to their advantage, knowing that dialog that might expose racism will never happen.

Now, after Ferguson, church leaders want to talk. Are they ready to listen?

Why Pastors Should Blog

No other organization depends as much on volunteers as the church.
We’ll pay for a preacher, an organist, and a sexton. If there are resources, we’ll shell out for an additional pastor, a secretary, an education director and a choir director. Beyond that members are expected to volunteer — and pay for the privilege.

Back in the days of small-town America, we were the only act in town. We began to take members for granted. 

Today, for every church there are dozens of non-profits vying for the attention of your members—and their donations. Many of them are church agencies and institutions—already funded by church offerings! Churches are competing with organizations that take volunteers so seriously they create offices to nurture the giving of time and money. Congregations need to foster membership just to keep up.

Businesses are well aware of that it costs more to find new customers than it does to keep old customers. They regularly address and measure CUSTOMER RETENTION.

Similarly, churches need to address MEMBER RETENTION. Too often, churches act like if when people leave, it’s their problem. We are wrong. Remember that Bible story—the one about the lost sheep? Today’s churches willingly watch dozens leave without doing a thing to stop them.

Today, I read a post addressing VOLUNTEER RETENTION.

VOLUNTEER. Doesn’t that describe the church population facing the altar?

Start using data. Church life flows like a lazy river. People come and go. No one pays close attention. Start keeping track. Are your most loyal members drifting? Find out why!

There is a tendency in church life to let the disgruntled leave. We concentrate on keeping key people happy. Talk to those who feel disconnected before they leave entirely. Churches cannot fix problems they do not acknowledge. If the people who have been most loyal are upset, it is likely to affect your ability to reach others in your community.

Illustrate their impact. Charities are pretty good at telling the story of how monetary donations aid mission. Churches need to remember that every volunteer hour donated by members is worth more than $20. Regularly tell the story of your volunteers. Let them know they are making a difference.

Show them you appreciate them. Have a plan for engaging volunteers. Create a follow-up process that thanks and encourages them to volunteer again. Thank you cards, an annual banquet, and special events should become part of church life.

New Resources on the Way from 2×2!

2×2 is getting ready to add new resources for the new fall and new Church Year.

In preparation, I took the time to organize the resources added for the last four years. It was as daunting as cleaning the attic!

The work was long overdue and will make adding resources all the easier.

I started with our library of SlideShows and organized them on one catalog page. Here’s the link. Creating this catalog took the best part of two days. That included testing formats, collecting links, capturing images and sizing them uniformly.

Some interesting statistics surfaced.

• 2×2’s SlideShare site (now owned by LinkedIn) ranks in the top 5% of all SlideShare sites in the Spiritual Category.
• Each of the 20 SlideShows listed has been downloaded at least 250 times from SlideShare, some more than 1000.
• Typically the number of downloads directly from our website outnumbers SlideShare downloads three to one.
• So the total downloads for each are somewhere between 750 and 3200.
• The most popular slideshows are the Good Shepherd SlideShow and the Calling the First Disciples SlideShow.

ANNOUNCING THE SLIDESHOW CLUB

The use of projected imagery in worship is becoming more popular. Small churches can join the trend. These resources are designed to make this easy and to provide flexibility. The slides can also be used in bulletins, newsletters, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Join the 2×2 SlideShow Club to receive timely notice when new resources are added. We’ll be posting resources for All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, and Advent starting later in October.

Here’s where you can sign up.
It’s FREE!

The need for change has been preached to church members of most Protestant denominations for the last few decades.  It didn’t fall on empty ears. Church followers really worked at change. Really!

Change, despite great effort, has been an uphill struggle. We are Sisyphus incarnate.

Leaders have a tendency to crave change from others—while their worlds stay the same.

The local parish might institute change but it could rarely sustain change from one pastorate to another. One step forward. Two steps back.

Change led by laity is suspect. Change led by clergy rarely outlasts the tenure of individual innovators. No surprise — the Church has few successful change agents. Change agents are rarely elected!

Finally, there is a sense that progress might be possible. The leader of the denomination that historically ignored all other denominations, titling itself “the one true Church,” is showing us all the ropes of change.

We, the children of the Reformation, can look on with awe and maybe a little embarrassment. We were once so good at this — centuries ago to be sure — but still, this is the Church. Centuries count!

Change cannot happen throughout an organization without the top buying in — wholeheartedly — not ceremoniously.

Pope Francis takes the Gospel seriously. He is not proof-texting long-standing doctrine. He is a fundamentalist. Love one another means love one another. The whole Church can throw its shoulders back and breathe in the fresh air. The Gospel really is for us, the living.

Pope Francis started his reform personally. “Pray for me.”

He leads by example. He could have rested on generous laurels, but from the opening hours of being pope, he showed the way—almost as if he had been waiting for the day. He walked to his pre-pope hotel and paid his bill. It will be hard for any future pope to do anything but the same!

He then took a good look at church leadership. During his first year, he called out the leaders who were taking advantage of their positions to create comfortable lives for themselves. He sent those in charge of church finances back to school. He surely was influential in releasing the American sisters from a punitive five-year oversight—imposed because they dared to address needs others couldn’t see. He makes no excuses for clergy that have abused power.

Pope Francis is leading change. He is not collecting hefty consulting fees. He is doing what needed to be done long ago.

Protestant leaders are proud of their ancient roots as reformers—as if the sacrifices of leaders in the 15th and 16th centuries forever exempted them from exercising the courage of reform. That was then. This is now.

Protestant leaders, are you watching the New Reformation? Can we create our own?

Another Church blogger, a United Methodist pastor, introduced the topic of church bullying in a recent post.

He leads off bemoaning that schools are dealing with bullying but churches barely broach the topic.

I read his post with interest as our congregation has a great deal of experience with church bullying.

Just as I feared. His examples of church bullying overlook a key problem.

What did he miss?

Every example of bullying he cites is a lay person. It is comprehensive in a sense. It spans a bullying teen to a bullying businessman, a bullying mother, a bullying staff member—even  a bullying old lady. But he totally overlooked the possibility that the church bully might be the pastor—or even a shepherd of pastors.

His commenters picked up on this serious omission—shortly before comments were cut off!

Church leaders cannot effectively address church bullying until they spend time in front of a mirror.

Pastors are ideal candidates for temptation in this area.

• They typically operate in a top-down power structure.
• The structure of their power is protected by the First Amendment.
• They can exercise significant social control as they have access to every member and the ability to court support at will.
• They also have direct access to and familiarity with authorities over them.
• Their job description includes creating a following.
• They work in relative isolation. Abuses can go undetected for a long time.
• They can control most forums within the church—even voting forums.
• They have the power to manipulate for personal advantage in venues created by them and with a following that instinctively trusts them.

Pastors who seek advancement—bigger salaries, positions in larger churches, greater influence—can be tempted to use bullying—especially if things aren’t going their way. Perhaps that is why the Bible stresses humility.

Pastors are more likely to use bullying tactics when they feel threatened. Other clergy blog posts (even the comments to the referenced blog post) reveal that many pastors do feel threatened. Commenters here turn to a favorite stand-by—a one-sided documentary about “Clergy-Killers.”

Make no mistake. Church leaders can be bullies. Like all bullies, they are supported by fearful enablers who look the other way. This can include both members and colleagues.

He is right. The Church needs to address bullying. But it must take a wider view. There will be little progress until it does.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

I wrote a letter to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, a couple of years ago when she was elected. No response.

Our congregation wrote to our regional bishop, the Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Synod’s Claire Burkat, every month for almost a year back in 2007-2008. No response.

One of our members contacted the ELCA legal offices repeatedly and finally got an answer: We feel no obligation to respond. That’s the way of lawyers. Litigation shuts down dialog.

If we believe the Church should live by biblical principles of love, forgiveness and reconciliation, dialog is necessary.

Keep in mind—Each of these non-responders collects a salary paid with congregational dollars—some of it in offerings, some in seized property.

Our congregation’s experience in the ELCA, mirrored by other congregations in several other synods, merits the time and attention of the whole Church. There is no reason to believe any congregation is exempt from the misuse of unenforceable Church laws. Unfortunately, the response of most member churches is to look the other way and accept the financial benefits—less burden on them, less risk when dealing with predatory leaders.

So, I wrote to the presiding bishop again in August, one month ago.

This time, my concern is sparked by SEPA’s interference in 2×2’s mission work in our community this summer.

SEPA abandoned our neighborhood six years ago, claimed our land, and set about selling it. Still SEPA found time to come back to orchestrate a defamation campaign when our congregation attempted to offer summer programming for neighborhood children. They used familiar tactics—gossip, bribes, and threats—not entirely against us but also against people who worked with us. SEPA prefers no mission to our mission.

We are still Christians. We still live in our neighborhood. We are still mission-minded. We always were. We have a right to pursue mission ventures in our own neighborhood without SEPA and the ELCA.

SEPA excluded us by decree five years ago. They bypassed all church procedures for working with congregations in mission. As a result, we are no longer subject to their authority in any way. They voted us closed without our knowledge. They seized our land and bank accounts. We, as Redeemer, no longer exist as far as the ELCA is concerned.

We reincorporated as 2×2 Foundation. Now, when SEPA leaders interfere with our mission, they are interfering with the work of a separate entity.  The First Amendment, their defense for all actions, may no longer serve their cause.

It would seem that the mission strategy of Lutheran leaders is to ignore its constituency. Hierarchy controls all forums in the Church. They can use these forums to label targeted congregations to make any actions against them sound reasonable.

In this cloistered world of Church, there is no reason to respond. Regional bodies can claim rights to congregational assets, regardless of Church rules. Under the interpretation of “Lutheran Interdependence,” each bishop is an unstoppable entity, subject to no reasonable authority, free to break and write the rules of interdependent engagement at will. They simply defend their actions by claiming Separation of Church and State. In other words, no one can stop them.

There is little incentive to listen to congregations. This may seem safe—for now. Bury your head in the sand deep enough and you’ll soon be gasping for air.

So, this will be our policy. When 30 days pass with no acknowledgement, 2×2 will publish letters.

Here is our recent letter. In it we make a few recommendations for restructuring what might keep the ELCA from ending up on life support within a few decades. Some of them are ideas that worked in previous Lutheran entities. Others may not have been possible back in 1988 when the ELCA was formed but are very possible today.

Here is the excerpt that lists these recommendations.

•  Protect congregational polity. Predecessor bodies of the LCA and ELCA expressly forbade regional bodies from owning property. They were not to be in the real estate business. Synods are tempted to covet what does not belong to them. Mission ceases to be a consideration.
• Establish an independent ombudsman’s office. (also part of predecessor bodies) There are two sides in every conflict. But bishops control the voice and venues for resolution. Bishops need to know they can be challenged in a forum they do not control. Lay leaders need enforceable constitutional protection. This would help create an atmosphere where clergy and laity can innovate with less fear of reprisal. Recognize Synod Assembly is not capable of dealing thoroughly and fairly with problems between a bishop and congregation.
• Get rid of Involuntary Synodical Administration. It violates founding Articles of Incorporation and is a euphemism for theft. At the very least, review how bishops use this concept.
• Define “interdependent.” It should strengthen ties not absolve responsibility and numb conscience.
• Provide congregations equal access to the expertise of legal offices funded with their offerings.
• Discourage the use of courts by church leaders. Bullying threats of litigation side-step scriptural alternatives and cripple mission.
• Consider a non-geographical synod that congregations can opt to join. (Yes, it is possible. There is already one nongeographic synod organized for ethnic reasons.) Bishops might be more inclined to work with congregations if congregations had options. Congregations need an environment where they can innovate without designs on their property. Alternatives might preserve mission outposts that geographical synods are content to abandon for short-term monetary gain.
• Respect lay leadership. If our congregation’s lay initiatives had been inspired by clergy, they would be praised.

Denominational structure is something like this. Imagine the congregational offering plate as a big juicy pie. That pie feeds the entire church.

The congregation keeps a large percentage of the offerings. There is usually little more than what it costs to pay a pastor and maintain a property. (These costs are similar for every church with a moderate size building regardless of size.) If a congregation wants to expand programs or build, they typically have fundraisers. During economic downturns, costs remain the same, but offerings dip. That means trouble for everyone.

A sizable slice of pie is sent to a regional body.

The regional body pays its salary and office expenses with this money and allocates a portion to agencies working within its geographic borders. They also send a portion of the congregation’s offerings to a national entity. Lutherans call it churchwide. Grander sounding.

From this smaller piece of pie, the national entity pays its salary and office expenses and also sends money to denominational agencies serving nationally or worldwide. Their small piece of pie is enough because thousands of congregations are sending pieces of pie. These slices of pie, though small, pay hundreds of salaries, office expenses, seminaries, local charitable agencies and worldwide relief organizations.

All of these entities are hungry for more.

So what do the hungry national and regional offices, seminaries and church agencies do?

They go back for seconds.

But there is only ONE pie!

They sweep past the wait staff—the congregations. They head for the kitchen—looking for members with the deepest pockets. Someone has to bake another pie!

Contributions of the local churches are used to create development offices. Hundreds of church entities, starting with regional bodies, but including, retirement homes, seminaries, special services, relief agencies, colleges, camps, etc. hire an expert in fund-raising, who hires a staff.

All of these entities compete with one another, hoping to find bakers of additional pies.

The pie-bakers, so to speak, are the same people giving to the local neighborhood churches.

Organizations with development offices have some advantages. They can appeal to members with poignant stories of how their dollars benefit needy causes. They can afford sleek, professional communication. (Development and Communication Offices work together so closely that they are often the same thing!) They can maintain a growing database and contact members directly.

Congregations have spent spare dollars that they might use for development and their own mission to others.

The appeals are enticing! They make the congregations feel that paying for a pastor and a building is enough. Send the rest their way.

The ultimate target? Estate gifts! Pie in the sky!

The wining and dining begins. How can these agencies gain the support of church members outside of congregational giving?

Assistance in estate planning is a favorite offering. Lifetime status in some sort of giving “club” is another. (I gave to one once. A few years later, they discontinued the “club”—well before the end of my lifetime!) A room or wing of a new building dedicated in the donor’s name is yet another. Names listed in the annual report carefully stratified is yet another. Are you a silver, gold, or platinum angel?

And there is also the lure of popular and very well managed secular mission efforts such a Habitat for Humanity. These totally bypass the ecclesial support funnel but they nibble at the same pie.

Innocent tactics, for sure. But are they wise?

They erode the financial foundation of the neighborhood church. They are probably hurting the regional and national offices, too. The denomination support funnel implodes. This may be why denominational leaders are so eager to grab small church properties.  They need to get to congregational wealth before all the development officers do!

This affects mission. Churches have little voice as it is. Now, they dare not vote with their pocket. 

Seminaries face the greatest need, perhaps, because they have little direct contact with the people who fund the offering plates. They exist in a clergy-dominated world.

Religious charitable agencies may be in better shape than the regional and national bodies. They forsook church-related mission for the Almighty Tax Dollar long ago. They still get Church funding, but they are not dependent on it. Ken-Crest, a Lutheran agency serving the developmentally delayed rented space from our congregation. They turned our mural-sized painting of Jesus and the children to the wall.

Why consider this? After all, these entities are doing good work. Kudos if they can find ways to fund more.

But so are the local churches. We directly represent the Word in the communities. We do it with less and less every year. All the development expertise our offerings pay for competes with (rather than complements) mission. Developing the neighborhood congregations might be a way of baking a bigger pie! That takes time. Everyone is hungry now!

It is almost guaranteed—neighborhood churches eventually will be devoured with the last crumb of the last piece of pie.

Feel that? The Church is biting the hand that feeds it.

As for us little churches—Stick a fork in us!

Maybe it is time to reevaluate church structure in relation to mission!

“They [faith communities] must also recognize that their job

is not simply to maintain institutions,

but instead to lead and strengthen communities

with shared mission and purpose.

This will require reinterpreting the models

we have inherited from the past,

building new professional skills,

and experimenting with new approaches.”

—Lianna Levine Reisner and Lisa Colton

It’s happened again in the business world.

Another celebrity spokesperson’s fall from grace has shaken the foundations of the company he represented.

It’s happened before. It will happen again.

I predict these companies will  survive. Hertz survived OJ Simpson. Nike survived Michael Vick. Subway will survive Jared Fogle.

Will the role of celebrity spokespeople continue to thrive? Probably. The power to ride one charismatic individual’s success is tempting.

What does this have to do with Church?

Congregational culture traditionally relies on one major influencer—the pastor. If the pastor is charismatic and stays out of trouble, the chemistry can help the congregation. In fact, many congregations rely on this. The name of the pastor becomes better known than the name of the congregation. Some are  forever tied to a charismatic long-deceased. Marble Collegiate Church is rarely mentioned without mentioning Norman Vincent Peale. Unfortunately, there are many more congregations than there are charismatic preachers.

There is a “trickle up factor”—a sort of ecclesiastic Peter Principle—that takes advantage of the Christian desire to follow. Charismatic leaders can use charm to deflect criticism. Until it is too late. Scandal results and the whole congregation (and perhaps the whole denomination) suffer.

Pastoral scandals—even minor ones—can cripple a congregation for a decades. They can even bring ruin—sometimes immediate, but more likely after years of trying to overcome damage.

Every church of every size places its reputation in the hands of its pastor.  This can be particularly perilous to small congregations.

The power structure of the Church typically leaves the members shouldering the blame. The pastor has the voice and visibility. Some control and a direct pipeline to church authority in his or her favor. Members who discern potential problems are easily cast as malcontents. As evidenced in recent clergy sex scandals, fear of retribution is not unreasonable. When issues finally hit the fan, pastors in hot water are reassigned. Congregations stay in place, dealing with the problems for a very long time.

What are today’s business learning from their experiences relying on one celebrity spokesperson?

Micro-Influencers

Companies are exploring other avenues. Instead of banking on one name, they start working with many.

Some companies nurture a stable of “ambassadors.” Apple may have led the way with their “evangelists.” That’s actually what they called them. They were key enthusiasts with only one claim to fame—they loved Apple. Guy Kawasaki made his name helping Apple make its name.

Other companies approach their existing clients and entice them with perks that keep them favoring the use of their products, trusting their consumer clients will notice.

The big names are hard to ignore for other companies, but they don’t rely on just one. They spread the work among several big names so that one influencer’s misstep doesn’t bring their company down with it.

Micro-Influencers and the Church

Micro-Influencers were always part of Jesus’ mission plan. He counted on each of the 12 disciples and each of their social connections to spread the Word.

What if today’s Church paid more attention to its micro-influencers—members who can navigate the social climate of your neighborhood? What if they gave them more voice in the Church and provided tools to help them share?

This was never more possible than today. Are we confident as community to motivate mini-infuencers. Or  do we keep our micro-influencers in the shadow of our pastors?

2×2 Virtual Church has been open for four and a half years. I noticed in reviewing our analytics and statistics that there is alway someone visiting our site—even on slow days. Most days see visitors from all over the world. Sometimes we have hundreds, sometimes just a few, but someone is always in our church.

I noticed this image (below) from a post from a marketing blog I follow. (You can learn a lot about evangelism by studying marketing!)

These statistics should shock every Church and spur them to action. Your posts, pins, and tweets can be part of the millions of “likes.” Your images can be part of the “shares.” Your videos could be one of those downloaded.

You aren’t still waiting for people to come to you, are you?

Study these statistics and never lock your church doors again.

Become “The Church that Never Sleeps.”

Meanwhile, we’ll leave the light on for you!