Church

Growing Christian Community with Conflict

Two Redeemer members relaxed for a moment after a particularly rough day. One member came within a day of losing both her home and her income to court actions that have resulted from the conflict with SEPA Synod.

She learned of the problem by accident with only a weekend and a day to do anything about it. Every effort was being made by a half-dozen Redeemer friends to stop the travesty and by noon we heard that there had been some success.

And so we paused over coffee and a donut.

One might expect hate and despair and finger-pointing to reign in such an atmosphere, but the opposite has been true in our faith community.

One member commented that one blessing of the conflict has been that we’ve really gotten to know each other — and some of us have known one another for a decade or more.

We started talking about what we had learned about the character of our members, how their very differing personalities that we once enjoyed as passing acquaintances on Sunday morning had become endearing and appreciated.

Conflict defines character.

After this conflict, we know whom we can count on. We know which preachers mean what they preach. We know to whom we can turn for action, for prayer, for ideas, for legal knowledge, and the list goes on. We gather for Sunday worship and brunch as an eclectic mix of people brought together by faith and a common cause. We leave on Sunday, each with our individual spiritual gifts, ready to serve.

After such a close call, it would be no surprise if the endangered member had thrown up her hands in despair and vowed to have nothing to do with us or religion ever again.

Instead, by the end of the day, she had presented a few new ideas for our ministry as the holidays approached. Amazing!

We know each other well. Too bad SEPA doesn’t know us at all.

01 Oct 2012

Seven Baptized in Pakistan

Our Friend in Ministry, New Life Fellowship with Pastor Sarwar, baptized seven recently. See their 2×2 page.

29 Sep 2012

Writing Your Congregation’s History: A Real Whodunit!

Continuing our look at the Book of Nehemiah with Pastor Jon Swanson, we note that large portions of this historical account are lists of names.

Nehemiah was a savvy leader. He was embarking upon a great work. He needed help. He rallied the support of a lot of people. He rewarded them by remembering their names and recording their contributions.

Contrast the Book of Nehemiah with the typical parish history. Our Ambassadors have had the opportunity to read many of these online. The typical parish report lists the terms of pastors and what building renovations were made during their tenure. In fact, there is an online archive of Lutheran churches which isn’t much more than that. It’s not unlike the account of Nehemiah but in Nehemiah, you can almost see the workers lugging the stones, felling the trees, sawing the wood, shouting out orders, guarding the progress, and organizing the people for mission.

Nehemiah noted the names of the lay leaders. He included their genealogy. He detailed exactly what each foreman accomplished in the overwhelming task of rebuilding the vast temple. He provided a detailed archeological survey of the site — the gates, the pools, the steps. We are standing there with him amidst the dust and rubble, watching greatness happen.

Don’t waste time. While it is still within living memory, write your parish history from the lay point of view. Who led the choir, who taught the children, who renovated the kitchen, who fixed the furnace? Who started the food pantry or visited the sick? Were they part of a long-standing family presence or were they new to your community and congregation?

It will build your congregation’s esteem. Members will feel like part of something bigger than themselves — part of a mission that should go on and on—long after not a soul remembers who was pastor when the work was done.

Soon the readers of your history will be like the readers of the book of Nehemiah. They will see your ministry growing action by action, sacrifice after sacrifice, offering upon offering.

It may help you see your congregation as part of a great plan and help you draft a plan to move forward in mission.

22 Sep 2012

Small Churches Have Great Advantages

One of the great things about being relatively small and unknown
is that the cost of failure is not that harmful. — Srinivas Rao

This business writer goes on to explain why innovation comes from small companies.

Small companies have the leverage to dare.

Small churches have the same leverage—the leverage to dare.

Would the big flagship church in the mammoth building on the corner of Broad and Main change the liturgy dramatically? No, too many people who like things just the way things are would leave with ruffled feathers.

Do bigger churches start innovative outreach ministries? Sometimes. But they are more likely to use their resources to add another pastor or tie into some established social ministry project supported by other big churches.

Small churches have the power to rock the world—the same power once placed in the hands of 12 disciples.

We small churches can change the worship time and survive the grumbling.
We can include non-English words in worship and not worry about losing 10% of the congregation.
We can do one-on-one ministry because we are more likely to personally know the life challenges of each person facing the altar.
We can fund a small foundation and charge it to do spread innovative ideas on the web without a pastor feeling his or her territory has been invaded.

Wow!

photo credit: Nina Matthews Photography via photo pin cc

20 Sep 2012

A Message from the Children of Kenya

Sent to 2×2 via email from the children of Kenya.

We love you and next we need to have you so that we can play together and to teach us new song. God bless our lovely Dad Silas to give us a new teacher from outside our country. We love you and Silas. we are hoping to hear more greetings from you and Dad Silas. Dad has promised we are going soon to have you and your team? Next we have requested to visit our fellow children. Call CHARITY HOME CHILDREN, Pray for our DAD SILAS, Bye Bye Bye

15 Sep 2012

Practicing Happiness Techniques in Worship: Part 3 of 5

Exercise for Happiness

The third suggestion from Shawn Achor’s Happiness Advantage is EXERCISE.

That’s a tough one to apply to congregational life, but let’s not dismiss it too quickly.

We Lutherans are known for standing up and sitting down. Many churches kneel and there is meaning in the physical acts. We stand to address God and honor the Gospel. We kneel in penitence and contrition. But this hardly qualifies as exercise!

At summer church camp we recognize the importance of exercise, sort of! We gather in the morning at the flagpole or cross, greet one another with a joke, read a short scripture and say a prayer. But included in the mix we do a bit of calisthenics. They are silly versions of standard exercises. My favorite is “doing squat.” As effortless at these “exercises” are, they serve a purpose. They help the camp wake up, laugh together and bond for the day’s activities. There is power in just having fun together. Exercise is a good option for making that happen.

So how can congregations exercise? In the olden days (within memory), most congregations had group exercise — bowling, baseball or basketball. Churches banded together to form leagues, creating interdenominational fellowship. This idea could be revived. Redeemer sponsored a community morning walk which catered to the less able. It was held at the community park which covers the area of two or three blocks. Those who have difficulty getting outdoor exercise on their own, met, enjoyed one another’s company and did a few laps around the park with safety and support of numbers. Playground playdates for young families are another exercise option. Yoga classes might be popular. Or teach liturgical dance! What if your liturgical dancers invited the congregation to join them!? Assign them some movements they could do in place to add to the praise of dance.

Think of what exercise options might be helpful to your congregation. Your worship experience might change if people gather having been energized during the week through social and physical benefits of exercise.

If nothing else, you can always invite the congregation to give you one or two stretches before worship!

photo credit: Kong SG via photo pin cc

21 Aug 2012

Be Doers of the Word and Not Hearers Only

Levels of Church Membership

There are in the Lutheran denomination three levels of church membership.

Baptized Members

Baptized members include all who have been baptized—adults and children.

Confirmed Members

Traditionally, child baptized members become full, confirmed members upon completion of study, usually around age 15. Once confirmed, youth have full membership privileges.

When adults join churches with little or no childhood experience in the Church, membership requirements are less clear. They can transfer membership from another Lutheran Church or a different denomination, with guidelines for acceptance consisting of little more than the recitation of a creed. Faith communities are often so starved for members that even that is not required.

Associate Members

Some congregations have a designation of associate membership. These adult members can hold full membership in another church while participating in congregational life as fully as they like— but they do not have voting privileges.

These are the constitutional membership guidelines. There are problems with these which might become more clear if we define church membership along biblical lines.

Hearers and Doers

There are Hearers of the Word and there are Doers of the Word.

All faith begins with hearing the Word. But hearing alone is not enough.

Most church governance centers on Hearers of the Word. There are far more of them and their individual votes count the same as that of people who may be far more committed.

Favoring Hearers and ignoring Doers dummies down the Church.

Hierarchical leadership does not like Doers of the Word —unless they DO exactly as they are told. The problem for Doers who have a strong foundation in faith is that they honor leadership only when leadership is scripturally based and act within constitutional guidelines. In their minds, they answer to a higher authority.

There are differences among Doers. Doers who do not have a strong faith foundation can create a cult-like following.

Doers commit far more than a weekly monetary offering. They commit time and passion. Doers look for opportunities to improve and change church community. Doers challenge their Faith Community. They motivate.

Doers will challenge status quo leadership.

The problem in the ELCA is that the status quo is revered. That makes Doers of the Word, whether they be clergy or lay members, people to be tolerated. If Doers are insistent upon change, they become unwelcome and are labeled as oddballs or trouble-makers. At worst they are targets of insecure leaders —the more insecure, the more ruthless.

The position of Hearers of the Word becomes glorified. They are less trouble.

The fact that there are far fewer Hearers in the ELCA doesn’t seem to faze leadership.

Doers, on the other hand, are an endangered species. This doesn’t faze our leaders either!

When a denomination is governed by Hearers of the Word and Doers are shut out, there are serious problems.

28 Jul 2012

2 Approaches to Preaching Online

2×2 has addressed the temptation for pastors to dismiss the web site as a place to post their Sunday sermon — which probably attracts zero readers. But we haven’t recommended any examples of good use of the web. Today we feature two.

Let’s start with the posting of sermons. While we advocate against this as a feature of congregational web sites, there is a pastor who has done this in a very helpful way.

Pastor Vincent Gerhardy of Australia offers his sermons online as a resource to other churches. Pastor Gerhardy has posted all of his sermons for the last eleven years.

His web site indexes his sermons by lectionary year and scripture. He makes them available to all and asks only that you ask permission to use them. His current sermon is usually posted the Friday prior to its “airing.” (Would he do this if he thought his congregation would rush to the web and read them in advance?)

This was a very helpful resource to our lay-led church. 2×2 (Redeemer) found this website about five years ago, when a pastor, engaged well in advance of Christmas Eve, called at the last minute with the message that he prayerfully could not go against the bishop and preach a Christmas message to the people of East Falls.

His decision changed Redeemer’s worship for the better, forever. We never again used a supply pastor.

We admit to feeling a bit frantic that Christmas Eve. We googled Christmas sermons and found Pastor Gerhardy. A match made in heaven? Perhaps.

We learned there was no reason to go to the considerable expense and trouble of engaging a supply pastor. After years of supply pastors, we had heard most of their stock sermons several times!

Centered around Pastor Gerhardy’s sermons, we developed lay leadership in leading our own worship. We discovered many talents within our congregation which had been fettered by the presence of a pastor. Soon almost any member of Redeemer could stand up and lead worship with a moment’s notice.

We rarely use his sermons totally word for word. We change the Australian colloquialisms and occasionally update an illustration, but his foundation of solid preaching—made available to the world—has been a God-send.

We have used Pastor Gerhardy’s biblically based sermons (carefully referenced) with a consistent message of love since 2008. Although we have never met, we look forward to his “voice” and often have discussion of his sermons during worship. We look forward to them when we meet together in East Falls once a month. We correspond with Pastor Gerhardy a few times a year to show our appreciation.

Pastor Jon Swanson uses the web in keeping with the ways 2×2 has recommended. He presents daily insights in short, 300-word, parable-like analyses of scripture. He has several expressions — his blog and by subscription what he calls 7×7. Seven minutes of scripture study, seven times a week.

If you are developing an online ministry, study this site. Note the interaction he is receiving from readers, some of whom start out — “I’m not a Christian, but . . .

. . .but people will read a short, well thought out message presented to them in the world they live in a way that resonates with them. Modern preaching!

25 Jul 2012

Reverse Evangelism: How to Shrink Your Numbers

2×2 has written before about math in the church. Often when church leaders with a flair for management put pencil to paper they end up recommending the merger or consolidation of faith communities.

Looks good on paper. It might make sense on the map. But the equation is faulty.

We’ve experienced the failure to understand Church math before in East Falls. We’re seeing it again. This time our Roman Catholic neighbors are the victims of Church managers wanting what is best for the bottom line —their bottom line— rather than the congregational mission.

It is textbook church math, where 1 + 1 can equal 0.

The proud neighborhood school of St. Bridget’s had fairly steady enrollment for the last six years, dipping slightly to 198, a loss of only 26 students in the midst of a terrible recession. Not bad!

Two or three miles away, Manayunk’s Regional School—already the product of several closed churches or church schools—had experienced a much sharper decline during the same period (about 50%) — 213 down from 419.

So the Roman Catholic Blue Ribbon Commission looked at the map and the numbers. Here’s what they came up with. Pick a new name for the Manayunk school (where consolidation is already failing) so that there is no heritage or loyalty. (Where has Redeemer encountered that logic?).

Which direction should the schools merge? Real estate is hot in East Falls. There are likely more lucrative options with that property in a collegiate neighborhood. Decision: Send the East Falls kids to the crowded streets of Manayunk.

The magic number to make the new St. Blaise viable was 255. Manayunk already had 213. They needed — a mere 42 willing Fallser children.

Except it doesn’t work like that with families and their passion for their children’s education, their faith and their loyalty to their neighborhoods and traditions.

Despite desperate pleas from parish priests in Manayunk and East Falls, the math wasn’t working. In this case, 213 + 198 = 155. Neither school community liked the idea. They fell short of the minimum by 100 children. Nearly all the families in both neighborhoods decided that some unknown solution was superior than the one dictated to them by the Church. There will be no St. Blaise. No Holy Child. No St. Bridget. No Saint Lucy, Saint Mary the Assumption, Saint John the Baptist or St. Josaphat. The last four disappeared in previous downsizing.

Down. Down. Down. More damage is likely as the churches suffer from the loss of community and tradition which the schools created and fostered.

And still church leaders turn first to closing churches and merging churches — as if fiscal sense makes evangelical sense.

It doesn’t.

25 Jun 2012

Defining Change in the Church

Congregations are often criticized by others in the Church as being “unwilling to change.”

The need for change is universal. It applies to small congregations, medium congregations, large congregations, clergy and hierarchy. It applies to groups and individuals.

It is a criticism that is hard to refute. After all, it applies to EVERYONE. Change of some sort is always desirable, so it becomes a card to play to achieve ulterior motives.

The ability to embrace change is going to become the saving quality of every congregation–even those that seem to be ministering comfortably. Unrelenting change is going to be the norm.

When confronted with the need to change, congregations must take steps to make sure that their interests and ministries are respected.

Ask for change to be defined.

What are the desired goals? (It is easy to say you need more members and more income. It is always true.) Demand clear goals.
Ask what help is available? Change is not likely to happen without something added to the ministry mix.
Do the congregation and pastor need training? Is a necessary skill missing? If your neighborhood is changing, you may need help with culture and language differences. If you want to serve youth, you may need to find help with youth ministry skills.
Does the demand for change have a timetable that is realistic?
Is there a plan? Was the plan created by the congregation or mandated?
Is the congregation on board with the plan?

Creating an environment for change is a group effort. It will not happen by edict, nor will it happen in an atmosphere characterized by superiority expressed in criticism.

Change takes time, patience, tolerance and most of all love.

23 May 2012

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