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Transform Your Church: Make Like a Preschooler


Where do we look for answers?Preschoolers may be your most valuable church members.

Preschoolers understand God. It comes naturally to them. A preschooler’s faith is pure. So much of religion involves the ability to embrace the imaginary, to befriend the unseen, to live day to day, trusting that all needs will be supplied.

All of this faith is wrapped up in the ability to ask questions. Simple questions. Obvious questions. Surprising questions. Questions for which adults are embarrassed to admit they don’t have sure answers.

By the time we drop out of Sunday School — and these days that’s at about age 10 — we like to think we have the answers. From that point on we avoid forums that might reveal our shortcomings. This has two results: we either become inactive or we begin to follow blindly. Who or what we follow can determine an entire congregation’s success or failure.

Some congregations look to their pastors for answers and accept decisions. This does not create healthy Christian community. Pastors change. Viewpoints change. Circumstances change. Today these changes shift with jackrabbit speed and unpredictability. Congregations must be able to ask and answer questions independently. This is a trait that must be nurtured.

How? Someone has to start — by asking questions!

Transformational change will not occur without fostering this congregational habit. Emulate your preschoolers.

There are six types of questions.

  1. Questions that clarify
    What are we asking? Why do we believe this?
    How does this relate to our faith or our lives?
  2. Questions that challenge assumptions
    Are we sure our church wants to grow? Are we ready for growth?
    What alternatives are there to the course we are about to take?
    Is this really what we want? Is this good for us?
  3. Questions that look for reasons and evidence
    Why are we considering this?
    What brought us to this discussion?
    Has this path been followed before? With what results?
  4. Questions that shift viewpoints
    Is this the only way to look at this issue?
    How would someone with a different background view this discussion?
    What would our foreparents think? What will our children think?
    Ask, why do we think this is a good idea? Is this even necessary?
    Play “devil’s advocate.”
  5. Questions that look for implications and consequences
    Let’s say we took the actions we are proposing.
    What good or bad will come of this?
    How will it affect us? How will it affect others? How will it affect the future?
    Are the potential outcomes in line with our beliefs and desires?
  6. Questions about the question
    What is the point of this discussion?
    Why are we asking these questions?
    What are the real issues behind the questions?
    Is this something we should be considering?
    Is this important? Is this necessary?
photo credit: HikingArtist.com via photo pin cc
11 May 2012

Faith Like a Pencil Stub

Dalton Ghetti carves great art from pencil stubsThere is a Brazilian-born sculptor who creates incredible art out of pencil stubs. Dalton Ghetti chisels the thin shafts of graphite into marvelous little statements. The image shown here doesn’t begin to do his portfolio justice. Take a look. We might have to add to the biblical analogy of faith and the mustard seed faith like a pencil stub!

11 May 2012

Object Lesson for May 13, 2012 — A New Commandment

Sunday’s texts are all about love. The gospel is John 15:9-17 and is the focus of much of John’s life teachings—The New Commandment.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  (v.15)

It is Jesus’ last but abiding message to the world before returning to heaven.

Such a simple commandment, but so easy for us to forget as we tend to live our lives in a world measured by justice, not love.

Try acting out this scenario.

Tell a few members in advance that they will be taking part in a play. But don’t tell them too much. Make sure they are members with a sense of humor and make them realize that they will be role-playing.

Create a mock court. You might want to put on a black robe or hold a gavel in you hand to indicate that you are changing roles. Use the pulpit as a judge’s bench or stand on the chancel steps, indicating that you are “in charge.”

Have someone declare “Order in the court” and “All rise” as you make your entrance in your new persona.

Introduce yourself as “judge” or add to the unreality with a more gloried made-up title.

Call your pre-selected members forward one by one. Charge them with an infraction. Make something up: nodding off during the sermon, singing off key, arriving late or skipping out before the offering. Nothing serious. Keep it light.

As each one is charged ask him or her to stand aside to await sentencing.

After all your “perpetrators” are properly charged, pose a question to the congregation. Ask them for sentencing ideas. You can do this for each one or generally, depending on how much time you want to devote.

In the end, call all the offenders back and give each one the same sentence: To love one another. You can do this one by one with an elaborate build up ending with “Love one another.” Use your imagination.

Hit the pulpit with your gavel. Send everyone back to his or her seat.

End the mock court signaling your court crier to call “All rise” and declaring the session to be over.

Get rid of the gavel and black robe, return to your role as preacher and elaborate a bit on the message of the day.

10 May 2012

Is the Lutheran Church (ELCA) becoming a cult?

martin%20luther%20sealLutherans are an accepted mainline Christian denomination. They can’t possibly be considered a cult, can they?

There is debate about what constitutes a cult as opposed to a religion. Some authorities refuse to use the word “cult.” Others believe the word appropriately describes religious groups with certain common characteristics.

 

Interestingly, both extremes agree on one point. Cults include religious groups that exist outside the law — including their own governing laws.

 

This was part of the court ruling in the SEPA/Redeemer conflict. The Pennsylvania Court of Appeals ruled in a split decision that the case brought against the congregation by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (SEPA/ELCA) could not be heard because of First Amendment separation of church/state. However a strongly worded dissenting opinion found that if the law is applied, Redeemer’s position is well-grounded.

 

The question for lay church members and all Lutherans is serious. How are we to function when our constitutions cannot be interpreted by the law and when leaders are immune from the law but do not hesitate to use their protected status and the law to attack church members?

 

We predict this will be a continuing problem in the Lutheran church.

 

As this conflict unfolded over a period of about five years, several other cultlike characteristics came to define SEPA’s leadership.

 

cultThe ELCA describes itself, its congregations, synods and agencies as interdependent. There is no hierarchy. Each expression is to be supportive of the other. These characteristics are not necessarily descriptive of every synod or every congregation. However, each characteristic we cite can be documented in the SEPA/Redeemer conflict. The following posts record some of what went on.

Showdown on Midvale Avenue

Our Response to Bishop Burkat

Menu Page: SEPA/Redeemer

 

  • Cults are control-oriented. Bishop Claire Burkat refused to work with Redeemer’s elected leaders, insisting on taking every issue directly to the congregation. This destroys constitutionally mandated congregational leadership structure. Redeemer insisted that she respect the elected leaders of the congregation as spokespeople for the congregation (which is why congregations elect leaders). Bishop Burkat replaced Redeemer’s leadership by decree — without meeting with either the leadership or the congregation to discuss this.
  • Isolation is used as a control tool. The pastor serving Redeemer in 2006 resigned with 10 days notice after a private meeting with the bishop. A year later, the pastor Redeemer hoped to call visited with the Bishop’s office and never returned to Redeemer. This gave Redeemer no clergy vote, voice or influence.
  • Cults make it difficult to leave. Redeemer passed a congregational resolution to withdraw from the ELCA, which is constitutionally allowed. According to the constitution, a request is supposed to activate a 90-day period of negotiation. SEPA responded by informing Redeemer it could not withdraw; it was officially “terminated.” The congregation would no longer have a vote or voice in any gathering of Lutherans.
  • Rights of members are not clearly defined.  Redeemer was told it had no right to appeal until a week before Synod Assembly in 2008. The cycle repeated in 2009. Throughout this process, Redeemer’s requests for appeal guidelines were ignored. The format for the appeal was provided just days before Synod Assembly. At the same time, Redeemer was told they could attend Synod Assembly ONLY for the purpose of the appeal—despite the fact that their delegate registrations had already been accepted.
  • Questioning leadership is discouraged. Redeemer’s attempts to communicate with the synod were ignored.
  • Cults treat the property of members as if it is their own. The whole purpose of the Redeemer conflict was to make Redeemer’s property synod’s property. Today, four years after the courts deeded our property to synod, Bishop Burkat can barely say  the name Redeemer. She calls us “former” Redeemer (although we never voted to close). She refers to our property as the land “once occupied” by “former Redeemer” as if we never purchased it, owned it, and built and cared for the buildings. In her mind our ownership of land seems to have been in trust — waiting for the day she wanted to claim it. Other SEPA congregations take note. If SEPA’s logic applies, you think you own your land. SEPA thinks you occupy THEIR land.
  • Cult leadership exploits vulnerable circumstances, even creating the illusion of crisis, with no attempt to address the problems. Although, SEPA refused to help the congregation find leadership, Redeemer was not in crisis. The church was growing and ready to call new leadership. Many congregations are under the false impression that Synod was financially supporting Redeemer. Other way around!
  • Cult leadership answers to no higher authority. Redeemer requested assistance from Bishop Hanson and the legal offices of the national church but were turned away. An attempt to talk to a Synod Council member (who are supposed to represent the congregations) was rebuffed.
  • Cult leadership employs deception. Synod-appointed trustees introduced themselves to Redeemer as “fact finders” not “trustees.” Redeemer was not informed it was under synodical administration for five months. Bishop Burkat came to a meeting announced for one purpose and had a locksmith hiding in a van behind the property.
  • Cult leaders use fear and intimidation. A Redeemer officer was warned to “get out while the getting is good.” The first resort of Bishop Burkat was a lawsuit naming individual church members personally. Add to this the pastors who “disappeared” after meetings in the bishop’s office. And then there was the Showdown on Midvale Avenue.
  • Cult leaders use character assassination. The story persists, first told by trustees in 2008, that Redeemer members tried to have the bishop arrested. This never happened. That was the beginning of the gossip against Redeemer leaders.
  • The lack of open debate is a sure sign of a cult. SEPA made all rules for the appeal forum. A mere 10 minutes was allotted for discussion, extended at the last minute by the bishop to 20 minutes. All of that 20 minutes was filled with pre-arranged speakers—more than doubling Synod’s presentation time. The first person to reach the microphones with a question was told “time is up.” Redeemer was not allowed to participate in the discussion. In three years, no active pastors have spoken publicly on these issues.
  • Events are controlled.  (See above)
  • The behavior of the leaders is excused no matter how harsh or harmful to members. Eleven volunteer lay members of Redeemer are threatened with the loss of their homes as the result of four years of litigation. No one in SEPA is asking if this harsh treatment of Redeemer church members is necessary or advisable.
  • Dependency on the group leader is encouraged. Analytical thought is discouraged. Redeemer was told in 2006 that they couldn’t do outreach ministry except through synod’s mission office, which would direct and control mission activity. There are no such rules in either the synod’s or the congregation’s constitutions. It is the mission of every congregation to do outreach ministry. Synod cannot possibly control them all! Or maybe they can! Our Ambassador visits reveal a high percentage of congregations have interim, bridge, or mission developer pastors, which report to Synod. There is a reason why Synods demand congregations work with a Synod Mission Office. It’s an underhanded abuse of the constitution. Once a congregation accepts help from a Mission office, they lose property rights. But congregations don’t know that until it’s too late.
  • Practical solutions are excluded in preference of a leader’s wishes. Redeemer has offered numerous compromises for peace and been ignored. There are many ways to resolve this conflict that would be in line with Christian teachings.
  • The use of loaded language. Bishop Burkat opened her only meeting with Redeemer representatives with a tirade using the word “adversarial” repeatedly. Most of the people present had never met the bishop before. The incessant and false re-telling of the “attempt to have the bishop arrested” is another example.
  • Cults promote the illusion of innovation. 2012 Synod Assembly rallying cry: “God is doing something new” without much evidence of any new thinking.
  • Excessive use of guilt. Members are never good enough. Their history is criticized. Their leaders are criticized. Their social connections are faulted. Redeemer knows all about this!
  • Leaders claim no responsibility. Members bear all the blame.
  • And finally . . . . Cults operate in defiance of the teachings of their scriptures. Lutherans should be practicing what we preach . . . love, compassion, reconciliation, forgiveness and atonement. Not in SEPA!

We’ve heard similar stories in at least three other ELCA synods, but we are not suggesting that all ELCA synods and congregations fit the above criteria. But some Lutheran entities have clearly lost their way.

There is cause for concern. We trust there is also hope.

_________________

Characteristics of cults were referenced from http://www.prem-rawat-talk.org/forum/uploads/CultCharacteristics.htm
09 May 2012

Qualitative Church Statistics vs Quantitative Church Statistics

2×2 has discussed this issue before, but yesterday we heard a social media expert say the same things we were saying from a marketing perspective.

Brian Solis, a leading market analyst, uses the terms qualitative measurement as compared to quantitative measurements.

He discussed how the quantitative statistics of the past mean less in the world that is evolving.

How many members you have on your congregational roster means little compared to the engagement you can measure among both members and nonmembers. There are new possibilities for building relationships with the community that do not fit the old church model. The borders of your community are expanding. (2×2 is just a little church, but we get ministry questions from all over the world.)

This will affect church institutions as well. Supporting Lutheran Social Ministry agencies was a popular option for churches in decades past. Often a representative would attend a service to give a Temple Talk and report on their agency’s good work. Today many churches get involved in local humanitarian efforts through their associations in the community and work. They hear their frequent messages outside of church, are attracted to their causes, and sense they can help. The church’s social agencies (which do a great job!) will get short shrift —unless they too learn to engage with the community in new ways. Secular Social Service agencies are very good at this and will get church members’ attention.

Engagement is a new emphasis. It’s always been important to ministry. Before the advent of Social Media there was no way to measure it. You never know how many people read your fliers and newspaper ads. You can only guess how many people might have listened to your radio spot. Pastors had no idea if their sermons had any lasting effect whatsoever. We shaped our ministries on tradition and guesswork.

Engagement can now be measured. You know how many people visit your web site. You know what topics led them to you. You know which pages they visit and how long they spend on each page. You can engage your visitors with comments, polls and forms long before you meet them.

In some ways it is good that the Church tends to lag behind. We can be beneficiaries of other people’s trailblazing.

But the Church cannot afford to lag too far behind. All churches compete against an overwhelming amount of secular competition.

When our Ambassadors plan a visit, we visit a congregation’s web site first. You can bet that other potential visitors are doing the same thing. We are surprised at how many churches still have NO web site. Many who have web sites have not updated them in years. We clicked on a link for “latest newsletter” and read news from 2009. Even the best SEPA congregational web site we visited was just beginning to get on board with its web potential. They were paying a firm to curate secular feature-type news, a good thing, but still missing the interactive potential of Social Media.

We can’t say it too often or too loud. All congregations must get involved in Social Media if they are to be taken seriously in coming years.

A good denominational goal would be to help every congregation get started and learn to keep up with this vital but fast-changing communication/evangelism medium. You will have to hold a lot of hands in this venture, but it is necessary and worth it. This is concrete help that congregations need and denominations are best positioned to supply.

2×2 can help!

photo credit: slightly everything via photo pin cc
09 May 2012

The Third Most Important Religious Holiday in America. . .

. . . and it’s part of every faith.

Are you ready for Mother’s Day?

On this day, all mothers are elevated to sainthood.

The sacrifices they make are recalled in detail. Mothers tend to put family before self and career. It took most of recorded history to notice.

How did mothers attain this revered status?

Most people don’t give the theology of Mother’s Day worship much thought. A recognition of the role of a mother’s love in our faith formation makes sense to most. Mothers are a key part of God’s gift of family.

Love is the central message of Christianity. Mothers are the universal representation of love.

On Sunday morning, we can contemplate the love of Jesus, his sacrificial caring for all of God’s creation, his heart open and his arms outstretched to every child of God regardless of race, age, gender, status, intellect or infirmity.

What we know about love comes to us through that first bond with others in God’s creation — our mothers.

A mother’s love is tangible. It isn’t embedded in our stained glass windows or abstractly retold in scripture. For some of us our mother is still sitting next to us in the church pew. For others she is a cherished memory.

Some Christians reference frequently Christ’s mother, Mary. But the references to a mother’s love is obscure in much of Christianity. In centuries of hymnody, mentions of motherlove are rare outside of the Christmas carols.

It is indeed odd that in just the last century or so, the status of mothers became so elevated that, on this one day of the year, it is an unofficial part of the American religious calendar.

08 May 2012

Why Worship in America Is Only for the Rich

Most people who attend church never stop to think of what the average Sunday morning costs. Many put a dollar or two in the offering plate — satisfied they’ve done their part. If they thought about it at all, they would probably compare their offering to the cost of a movie ticket. It’s about the same amount of time invested, and there are no expensive movie stars, stunt men or cars to blow up!

Here’s what a typical Sunday morning church experience costs (actual costs will vary):

  • First there is the cost of having a sanctuary. Let’s assume that an annual property budget includes at least $20,000 for keeping up the church building. That’s roughly $55 for the day.
  • Air-conditioning in summer and heat in the winter probably cost about $50 for the day. It all depends on the size of the sanctuary and type of heat.
  • Hospitality facilities must be included. Let’s add $50 per Sunday. That will cover the kitchen, coffee and paper supplies.
  • Then there’s the organ. Those organ maintenance contracts can knock the organist’s socks off— about $40 a week, whether or not you turn the power on.
  • We’ll assume the hymnals and choir music were purchased a long time ago and we never have to invest in new music.
  • The bulletins, probably cost $2 each with paper and toner and copier maintenance. If we have 100 at worship, that’s $200.
  • Now we come to the really expensive part—the minister. We won’t count the day spent planning the service and writing a sermon. A supply pastor costs roughly $150 for a one-hour service. A called pastor costs more. At a modest annual salary of $40,000, the Sunday part of the salary costs $109. But we have to pay for the whole week.
  • Office help to put the bulletin together might cost $30, but we are betting the office help wants to be paid for a few other days a week as well.
  • The organist, let’s say $150.
  • The choir director, another $150.
  • The janitor who keeps the place clean and the side-walk shoveled in winter — let’s say $25.
  • We’ll assume somebody donated the flowers for the altar, and the wine and bread for Communion.
  • Thank God for the volunteer choir, readers, ushers, nursery help. etc. We’d be out of business without them.
  • We won’t add the cost of using multimedia. We’ll just stay behind the times.

So let’s add that up.

Our barebones church service, handled the way most churches handle a service costs $900.

The worship service costs about the same whether we have 50 at worship or 500. Only the bulletins and hospitality costs slide with size.

If we have 100 people in church, every one of them — man, woman and that cute baby — must put $9 in the offering plate.

And they are paying only for Sunday morning.

We have to collect that every day to pay for the other six days of the week. How many of your church members are putting $63 in the offering plate every week? That’s $252 for a family of four every week! Let’s hope no one skips a week!

This is just the cost of Sunday morning worship. Our sample church hasn’t begun to reach out, educate, provide social services or support a hierarchy yet.

This is just something to think about as we plan ministry.

Praising God should not be prohibitively expensive for any size church. The cost is making worship the province of large churches. Large church worship is of a different nature than small church worship and doesn’t appeal to many. Most people belong to small churches. When it becomes too expensive they are not likely to start going to large churches. They are likely to become unchurched. Perhaps this is part of mainline church decline.

How can we make praising God something everyone can afford?

Any ideas?

07 May 2012

Planning Ahead for a Pentecost Object Lesson for Adults or Children.

Send your church a Pentecost Birthday Card. They’re hard to find so we made one for you.

Download the high res image for printing here.

If you have an imaging editing program, type the name of your church under the word “BIRTHDAY.”  We left room.

Notice the fiery background and the descending dove. You can talk about Pentecost imagery in your lesson.

Take the image on a CD or flash drive to your local quick printer and have one printed and scored for you. It shouldn’t cost more than a couple of bucks. Ask for a trim size of 7″ x 5″/ tent fold. Don’t forget, you’ll need an envelope, which your printer can provide.

Write a note in the card. It can be from you, scripture or a “note from God” about the importance of Pentecost.

Mail it to your church, but don’t open it until worship. When you or a congregation member opens it, read the message to your congregation. Pass it around and talk about the image of fire and the descending dove.

Here’s a second part of the object lesson. While the card is being passed around, wheel out a birthday cake (optional) and a special candle which you can order online.

Light this flowery candle and it unfolds in a fiery display of two-tiers of small candles which spin as Happy Birthday plays. It will leave a lasting impression. Stand back. It makes quite a show!

You can put the candle on top of a cake if you wish to celebrate after worship.

If you happen to belong to SendOutCards online card service you can upload this art and send a card using this customized card service. They even offer the candle which would arrive with your card in a nice gift package. For members the total cost is under $20 and as low as about $15. For added effect, this card service allows you to create over-sized cards (roughly 11 x 8.5). The big size would be very effective in the congregational setting.

We recommend churches become acquainted with this card service as it is a great evangelism tool. We’ll talk about this cards as an evangelism tool in a later post. If you look up the site and want to join, you can reference our membership number (85519).

For example: If Pentecost is confirmation day in your church, you could take a photo of each confirmand and send the same card with the confirmands picture inside and a note from the pastor or congregation. A personalized card commemorating this faith milestone is sure to be a cherished keepsake.

PS: A video of this object lesson would be great video to add to your congregtion’s web site or blog or Facebook timeline.

photo credit (retouched): hapal via photo pin cc

06 May 2012

Creating an Online Bridge Between Church and Community

Church happens on Sunday, right? Sunday is only one seventh of the church week. But old habits are hard to break. Even the deepest theological thinkers tend to concentrate on Sunday church activities.

If your message goes out to only Sunday morning Christians,
you have a very narrow audience. 

Social Media hands church leaders all the tools needed to extend the church week.

In the past, communicating with people who are not in church on Sunday was a challenge.

  • Newsletters are cumbersome to put together and circulate. They are expensive, too.
  • Phone chains serve a purpose for critical news of death or serious misfortune requiring community prayer.
  • Knocking on doors — it’s just not done anymore!
  • Advertising is expensive and requires planning ahead.

Out of sight Monday through Saturday tends to be out of mind. This has influenced our expectations of ministry.

Social Media changes this. You can and should be communicating daily with church members in a conversation anyone can join.

There are many Social Media tools to consider. Let’s concentrate on three —Facebook, Blogging and Google+.

Facebook

Your members are likely to be spending more than an hour every day checking their Facebook accounts. Statistics show most people spend 20 minutes at a time on Facebook, but they check their account several times a day. The Facebook demographics are growing in every age category. Even the elderly are finding they can connect with distant children and grandchildren.

Develop a strategy that will be welcome to followers, not intrusive.

Churches can share their Sunday morning world in many ways. They can:

  • Post pictures
  • Post video
  • Highlight sermon summaries
  • Tell about activities
  • Pose thought-provoking questions
  • Excerpt a Bible study
  • Feature a meaningful quote
  • Post a teaser question from an upcoming sermon
  • Ask for help on a project
  • Promote an upcoming event

Remember to engage, engage, engage.

Blogs

Blogs are effective, too. Used properly, they will attract an audience of people you do not see on Sunday morning. They are not limited in length and can have a longer “shelf life.”

Blogs are most effective when they address topics of broad interest — not just parish news. Your focus must be outward. If you limit your topics to current church activities, you will burn out. Results will be poor.

We recommend using both a blog and Facebook.

Google+

This is the new kid on the Social Media block and it is up against a well-established giant (Facebook). Nevertheless, it is gaining ground and has definite potential advantages.

  • Google “owns” the search engine world! Activity on their Social Media platform will help you find traffic.
  • Google also owns YouTube, which is growing incredibly fast.
  • Google has pledged to keep their Social Media platform advertising free. (Facebook is all about advertising).

Google+ is beginning to gain acceptance.

photo credit: joyosity via photo pin cc
05 May 2012

Approving Failure—Par for the Church

2×2 has often commented on the Church’s ability to accept — even celebrate — failure. Ministries are allowed to exist in decline for decades, often with the same pastor, as things get worse and revenues dwindle until there is no more money to pay for failure or make long overdue changes.

It is inexplicable, but the Church follows the same pattern over and over. Year after year, budgets must be cut and services slashed, but we stick with the same leadership as if asking for better performance is a betrayal.

SEPA Synod just followed the familiar road. Six years of budget struggles. Six years of expensive law suits (all of which could have been avoided). Six years of decline. And SEPA Synod re-elected leadership on the FIRST ballot.

Were there no options? Was the mess too much for someone else to take on? Are people happy existing in failure? Do all the small churches in SEPA think that they are suddenly going to have more options and better accountability?

Or does everyone feel it’s hopeless—as some have expressed to us?

Redeemer has been denied a voice for four years (an issue we consider still open, since Synod Assembly never addressed our appeal on this issue). We have no voice in the Church by decree of the bishop SEPA reelected.

We will continue to watch from the outside as our ministry continues unrecognized by SEPA but effective all the same.

It doesn’t look like there’s much to celebrate for the next six years as ministry numbers will probably continue to decline across the board. We hope not! But . . . Lutherans have spoken. They like it this way!

04 May 2012