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Social Media

Social Media: Will the Church EVER Catch On?

2×2 has been experimenting with Social Media as a ministry tool for nearly three years.
During this time, Social Media made significant strides in gaining stature in every walk of life. When we started our experiment, many in the business world and nonprofit worlds were still not sold on doing more than hosting a barebones website as their nod to the modern world.

It’s safe to say at this point that every business or service sector is now ready to admit that Social Media is here to stay and that smart operators are investing in their web presence beyond their static website. It’s all but universal. A major holdout is — you guessed it — the Church.

The Church remains outside looking in, unable to fit the new way of doing things into their outdated structure.

Here is the status of the congregations and social media in our experience.

2×2 is a project of Redeemer Lutheran Church in East Falls. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America claimed our land and decided four years ago that they are better stewards of our resources. While the property provided for mission by the Lutherans of East Falls remains idle and locked to all mission, the people of Redeemer have continued their innovative ministry with visits to other churches and experimentation with Social Media.

This is what we’ve seen in our 76 church visits to half the churches in our synod. (Some churches we visited house two ministries.)

About 90% of the Lutheran churches in our area have some sort of website. It is amazing that there are still ANY churches that have NO web presence. It gets easier every day and costs less than $50 per year.

In today’s world, a congregation’s failure to provide basic information online is advertising that they are not invested in evangelism. Failure to have a website is akin to a hospital staff “calling a code.”

Of the 90% that have websites, there are less than 5% using their site for more than a brochure about their church—the ALL ABOUT US approach to Evangelism. There is practically no inbound content—content that would attract seekers and is designed to be helpful to OTHERS as opposed to tooting the congregation’s horn. It is commendable that people in their neighborhoods can look up worship times and see who the pastor and staff are, but they are missing the true value of having a website—evangelism.

A few pastors have attempted blogs. Most quit after a few posts. The pastor at St. Andrew’s, Audubon, is one of the few pastors who seems to be ready to lead the church in using the web as an education and evangelism tool. One church, St. Michael’s in Unionville, invested in a modern web presence but opted to outsource the development of content—so it has a generic feel to it. It would probably be worth the investment of having a dedicated social media leader on staff to get full benefit of their investment. Trinity, Lansdale, hired a part-time communications director. That’s a step in the right direction.

A few churches actively use Facebook to create community. Most tend to use their Facebook page as a bulletin board.

Practically no churches use Twitter. Twitter has a great track record of “finding” people. This is a tool that is greatly misunderstood but which could very much benefit ministry.

SEPA Synod is trying to use Facebook but they haven’t been getting much traction. Interestingly they posted an article yesterday.

It starts:
Friday Food for Thought: What does an institution due [sic] faced with red ink and a dwindling, aging audience? Keep true to its core while driving innovation, embracing the possibilities of technology and reaching out to new audiences.

They pose this question and then point readers to a video clip from CBS’s 60 Minutes about the Metropolitan Opera’s solution to a similar challenge.

We know very well SEPA’s solution to their own question. They ignore congregation’s that innovate, sue their members and claim their land for their own enrichment.

It’s interesting, however, to see that they recognize innovation outside of their own sphere.

The challenge to virtually every congregation is in recognizing that Social Media has value requiring expertise that should be compensated. Frankly, Social Media will go farther to reviving ministry than even the best organists/music directors, education directors or even (dare we say it) clergy, in many cases.

Every month that goes by without any attempt to move all congregations in this direction is time spent talking about innovation and doing nothing to make it happen.

This is probably why innovation is so slow. In business, success depends on innovation and reaching people. Even CEO’s that are resistant to change can look at the numbers and make decisions that will keep their organizations viable.

In the Church, however, clergy play a leadership role that can go on for many years while the statistics of their ministry fail, without any pressure to change—until it is too late and the congregation can no longer pay clergy salaries. Then the congregations are seen as the failures. The clergy move on to somewhere they can continue doing things the same way until the money runs out again. When that gets too frustrating, they sign up for interim training.

Most clergy have no training in media. Failure to have these skills today is like not being able to read! Any church that calls a pastor who cannot use modern tools and is resistant to anyone else using this is doomed to status quo or failure.

Unfortunately, the role of Social Media director of communications director is likely to be seen as competitive with the role of clergy. So nothing will change.

Then there is Redeemer’s ministry—which SEPA was united in working for the last seven years to destroy. Redeemer stands alone in having made the investment in true innovation. Our work has positioned our congregation to truly lead in creating a platform and funding source for small congregational ministry.

We discovered that using Social Media IS transforming. It is not an optional “add on” but will shape your community and your potential. Church will be different. Ministry will be different. It is likely that the differences will be what the doctor ordered a long time ago!

We could help SEPA congregations join in our success to the benefit of all. But that would require that SEPA recognize Redeemer. Heaven forbid!

More’s the pity!

Related posts:

14 Reasons Congregations Should Avoid Social Media Ministry

9 Reasons Every Congregation Should Have A Social Media Committee

 

 

02 Nov 2013

Undercover Bishop: “Like Us”-3

UndercoverBishopSM260Bishop Kinisa was listening to the young pastoral candidate, but she was growing impatient.

The whole experience was bizarre—a recent seminarian coming to her with a proposal for a call. “If I listen to Bruce, how many other seminarians will line up at my door?” she wondered.

The time had come, she thought, to cut to the chase. She respected Gil and had enjoyed teaming with Bruce on the Undercover Bishop visits. But now she was not sure how to respond to Bruce’s appeal, especially since Gil was clearly in his corner before either had thought to approach her.

Young pastors were usually eager to be considered for any vacant church. Her usual role was to interview candidates, make recommendations to call committees and oversee the negotiations.

What was happening today was not the way things are supposed to be.

Bishop Kinisa decided to take charge.

“Bruce, correct me if I’m wrong, but you are not rostered in NEWS Synod.”

Bruce had anticipated the objection. “That’s right, I was sponsored in seminary by my home congregation which is in another synod. Frankly, I enjoyed working with you and the three Undercover Congregations. I have no real loyalties to any synod. It was only my home congregation sponsoring me. I have no financial obligations to my home synod. I thought it would be a good idea to explore possibilities. If my ideas have merit they may have wide-ranging benefits.”

“What hubris!” Ruby thought, but she maintained her calm.

“I confess I’m confused, Bruce. Are you here because you want to be considered for a call to a NEWS congregation? If so, I really don’t understand all the talk about Social Media.”

“I can see that what I’m trying to say might be confusing. I assure you it’s not my intention to cause difficulty. I keep thinking back to that conversation we had earlier this year, Bishop Kinisa. You asked me if I would consider serving in a small congregation. I’ve spent the best part of the year thinking about this. It seemed natural to return to the person who asked me the question in the first place.”

Ruby was encouraged with Bruce’s response. “And your answer is…?”

“I’d love to serve a congregation like Grace, Zion or Pleasantville. But I’m married with two boys about to enter college.”

“So your answer is no . . . just like so many other pastors.”

Gil interjected.

“Ruby that’s what Bruce is getting to. He has an idea that might make it possible for him to work with smaller congregations in a truly creative way.”

He turned to Bruce.

“Lay it out for the bishop, Bruce, just like you did for me at the conference last week.”

Bruce swallowed hard.

“Bishop Kinisa,  I’d like to serve a small parish part-time, perhaps even two yoked small congregations. I’m hoping that such a call might support my ministry with a base salary of about $2000 per month.”

“But we know you can’t live on that,” Gill prodded.

“No, I can’t support my family on that, But I’m hoping to interest NEWS Synod in funding an experimental Social Ministry Model. I’d like to pilot a program that would help all 200 NEWS churches learn from my work.”

Both Gil and Bruce paused for Ruby’s reaction. She hesitated to answer at all, but finally said. “Bruce, I just don’t know enough about internet ministry. My gut reaction is that no one will be willing to support this idea. If there was any interest, someone would already be doing it.” She paused and smiled. “That being said . . . I’d have no trouble turning down either one of you…but the two of you together!”

All three enjoyed a laugh. That broke the ice.

At last Ruby said, “Bruce, I’d have to seriously study your proposal. Of course, I’d have to run it past the Synod Council and perhaps even the Synod Assembly before we could get funding.”

Gil interjected. “I think we can make it work. It will take a few months of meetings. Bruce will have to make presentations—beat the bushes, so to speak. The Synod Council might need a meeting or two to make a decision. That will leave only a few months left in this fiscal year. We can find the money.”

“Who do you think will give up their budgets for this?” Ruby asked.

“Social Media is so new that it doesn’t fall under any one committee. That’s probably why we have done so little with it. No one sees it as their job!” Gil said.

Bruce interjected. That’s the beauty of Social Media. It fits under several committees. It can be used for Witness, Education, Evangelism, Communications, Social Ministry, Justice Ministry and some churchwide agencies might be willing to get involved.”

Ruby smiled “Oh, to be young again,” she said. “I’m warning you, it won’t be easy.”

Gil added, “Bruce, it’s going to be your job to convince the movers and shakers in each area that there is something in this for them.”

“I’m up to the challenge, Bishop. Seriously, I really feel called in this direction. I hope I can count on your support.”

Ruby was not yet ready to commit one hundred percent, but she saw Gil’s enthusiasm and decided to leave the door open.

“I’m not yet on board, Bruce—at least not with both feet. A lot of work must be done before I approve this idea. But I am willing to put you in front of some people and see where you take us.”

Gil started humming, ”Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.” Bruce and Ruby joined in the last words. “Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.”

06 Oct 2013

Discussion Ideas for “Undercover Bishop Returns”

Chapter 1
The Team Reunites

What starts to take place in the first chapter of Undercover Bishop Returns may seem unlikely.

A seminary student, having never had a single call, having never served a single parish, comes to a bishop with an idea. Gutsy, for sure. But what about the bishop who takes the time to listen? How likely is that?!

This could be the kind of twist on reality that is the making of fiction—or it may be part of the new order of the social connection era.

Structurally, Lutherans place great weight on the congregation. We believe that clergy and laity serve in different but equal roles. We are not hierarchical. That’s the theory anyway. The customs of hierarchical churches attract those craving power. The ways of other denominations are always a temptation.

This structure may be challenged in the emerging church. We are already seeing the seeds of change in recent statements of the new Roman Catholic pope, who seems to recognize that the Church will not survive if every foot is planted in the traditions of the past.

Social Media-based evangelism and ministry will be key factors in coming changes. The structure of the Church will change.

Social Media is so prevalent in our society that it changes the way people think. Our expectations of government and the way we conduct business have changed dramatically in the last ten years — probably for the better.

Hierarchical thinking is not likely to disappear, but it will not play the same role in the emerging church. Our educational methods are undergoing total restructuring. There is far less need for layers of agencies and positions overseeing every aspect of church life. People are starting to grasp the reality that one person with an idea can make a difference.

Change is coming, ready or not.

Bishop Ruby Kinisa is skeptical at first. She might even be a little put off. We’ll see in the next chapter. But her trusty colleague, Gil Ableman, is hungry for change.

It helps that Bruce James is able to build on his previous experience with this bishop.

A question to ask is: How would the church have been shaped had the power of Social Media been available to the earliest Christians?

This question will lead to others:

  • Would the hierarchies of the Western and Eastern Christian Churches have gained power?
  • Would the role of women in the church have been suppressed?
  • Would the abuses of power — from the Inquisition to more recent scandals been tolerated?
  • Would there have been a need for a Protestant Reformation 500 years ago?

We’ll never know the answers, but it is something to think about! Thinking about how Social Media might have benefited our faith through the ages may help us understand why things are the way they are — and that may guide our future.

Let’s see what is in store for Ruby, Gil and Bruce!

02 Oct 2013

Why Churches Need a Church Social Web Site

19th century bank robbers

Why do people rob banks? That’s where the money is.
Why should churches use social media? That’s where the people are.

The web is the most powerful medium the Church does not use.

The web is no longer new. It’s been part of our lives for 20 years. With each passing year it is more integral to our society and lifestyle. And still a good number of churches have NO web site—not even a billboard presence.

The majority of churches WITH web sites don’t use them for anything but posting the most basic parish information. They are narcissistic. “We’re great! Come to us!”

It is not unusual to hear older people argue, “I don’t do computers. I’m not going to learn. I don’t want to spend the money.” It is often followed with, “Do you mind looking this up for me?”

Apologizing for not using computers is like explaining that you don’t brush your teeth.

There is no excuse.

Any arguments will fall on modern ears like this:

You don’t have a web site. That means you aren’t serious about your mission. Why should anyone take a second look at your ministry?

The web is how you reach people in today’s world. It may be the only hope for smaller congregations. Done correctly, it’s not a “Hail Mary” by any means. Done correctly it can be the catalyst of a whole new ministry. There are some basic questions to ask before you commit to a web presence or revise the site you now have.

  • Who do you hope to reach? If you are hoping to communicate only with members, you are wasting your time. You have the ability to reach thousands of people you never thought might find their way to your pages, but who do you see as your audience?
  • How are you going to announce your presence and spread the word? Turn to your members—especially your younger members. You will need them. (Knowing they are important to mission beyond their pocketbooks will boost morale.)
  • How are you going to respond to your online community?
  • What will appeal to your prospective readers visually and content-wise? Looks matter on the web. If your site is crafted in awkward HTML , it broadcasts that you are not serious or knowledgable. This does not mean you need tons of training or that you need to hire an intermediary. It is VERY possible to look very professional with only a day’s experience.
  • What do you expect visitors to get out of your site? Do you expect them to take any action? You have to ask them!
  • How do you want them to feel when they leave?

If your web site is nothing more than a list of worship opportunities and a list of staff these are not concerns for you. But if this is the type of site you have today, you are squandering a valuable resource.

Here’s our experience. Keep in mind as you read this that our regional body considered our ministry dead. We had no professional support and dealt daily with hierarchical hostility. All our property and monetary assets had been seized. Any church reading this is going to be in a stronger position than we were in!

Redeemer’s Social Media Ongoing Adventure-2×2

2×2 started this experimental site in February 2011—about a year after our regional body took our property and locked our members out. The Holy Spirit knows its way around locks!

Our property had already been empty for 16 months. We had been meeting in members’ homes, which was frustrating because we felt isolated and unable to serve as we had been. (Isolating us was part of the power game.)

We had a pretty comprehensive mission plan before all this happened. We revised it.

We no longer had a physical site we could invite people to visit, so we made the web site as welcoming as possible.

We built on our strengths. Redeemer worship was very inclusive and somewhat innovative. We had minimal pastoral presence for decades and had learned to do many things as lay workers. We expanded on this experience, drafting ideas for small church worship.

  • We began offering the same types of resources we shared weekly in our worship. Art. Music. Poetry. Plays. Worship ideas.
  • Since we were exploring Social Media, we reported regularly on our Social Media experiment and sharing what we learned.
  • As a congregation of immigrants (both historically and recently) we explored multicultural ministry.

Redeemer was always a small neighborhood church. We had no illusions of ever being a large congregation. 2×2 has changed our vision. We now have about 1000 readers a week. We have formed mission partnerships all over the world. We have gained authority in the areas we addressed. We lead search engine traffic in many of them.

Embrace Serendipity

If you implement this type of ministry, it will take you to places you never expected. You cannot control who reads you, likes you, or friends you on the web. You can prompt them to share, but you can’t make them!

You can control how you react. It will reshape your ministry. You may find that you didn’t just add a new feature to your existing ministry. You may be changing the whole way you approach ministry, allocate funds, and how people work together.

Enjoy the ride. 

Why do people rob banks? Because that’s where the money is.
Why should churches use social media? Because that’s where the people are.

Click to tweet.

01 Aug 2013

Can the Church Afford to Give Anything Away?

What’s Keeping Us from Telling Our Story?

offeringI updated all the blogs I manage today. It was a simple click. Done.

When the installation was over a screen appeared detailing the benefits and features of the update.

There were three tabs at the top of the page: What’s New, Credits, and Freedoms.

I had already read What’s New. The Credits don’t interest me (although I’m grateful). I had to explore Freedoms.

The Freedoms tab explained the WordPress philosophy. The software is free. Anyone is free to modify and improve. In fact, they hope we do!

Several new business models revolve around the concept of “free.” Social Media is one of them. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. — all free to users. In the early days of this model, business people weren’t sure what to make of it.

Then FREE started to make billions. People chose to embrace the power of FREE.

Wikipedia has become an amazingly thorough and accurate encyclopedia with almost instantaneous updating. You hear on the news that a celebrity died. Check Wikipedia—it’s likely to already reflect the news.

Wikipedia opened its pages to contributors and editors — anyone. They rely on the idea that people want to share, appreciate accuracy and detail, and will correct what they discover is wrong.

You can find information on the most obscure subjects on Wikipedia. (We may start a Wikipedia page!) The editorial barriers that existed in a world of space limitations are gone.

What can the Church learn from this?

The Church is scared silly of FREE. They are protective of what they have. They want to give nothing away.

Control of assets is more important than use of assets.

That’s what is keeping the congregations from using Social Media.

Social Media costs practically nothing monetarily. The investment in Social Media is an investment of time and talent. It involves giving your message away.

Most churches have already dedicated a healthy third of their resources to proclamation. They hire a pastor to collate, interpret, teach and preach. Unfortunately most churches are investing that money on reaching very few people.

There is another way. With Social Media you can take the same message, already paid for, and reach millions.

But congregations, accustomed to old business models, ask, “What’s in it for us?”

Someone will be quick to say, “Let’s add a Donate button.”

This approach to Social Media is backward. Social Media works on the giveaway business model.

There may be a time and place for that Donate button, but first you have to establish voice and prove your dedication to your message and your readers.

But Church leaders are not leading the way. They’ve forgotten their roots! Our message should be free!

If there is any office of the hierarchy that should be subsidized, it is the church’s “house organ”—the voice of the denomination designed to reach every member. And potentially more.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a magazine, The Lutheran. It is subscription-based. That barrier limits its effectiveness from the start.

The physical magazine works the old way. Readers get their magazine in the mail. They can read and participate by writing letters to the editor. Few will get printed. No room. The editors will choose who can comment.

There are no space limitations online. So why do we set up the same barriers as if there were?

The Lutheran online teases readers and expects them to pay to read and comment. They may be able to measure how that is working for them. What they can’t measure is how it might work better for them in the long run to eliminate that barrier.

Church house organs should be free. (Advertisers should be demanding this!). You want people to know your story. You want to engage the Lutheran community and build that community. There should be no fear of the dialog that results. It should be refreshing. People like to know they have a voice. They expect it today.

The same is true at the denominational and congregational levels. Their online presence should be delivering valuable information to the region and community. The news and features should be outreach-oriented—not all about how great the regional office or congregation is. The proof of the pudding is in the reading—and serving.

There is practically no effort at these levels to embrace the media tools available.

It’s all because we still focus on the offering plate and the structure that dwindling offerings must support.

The Church today exists in a world where people expect something for free. It helps differentiate those dedicated to service from those dedicated to self-interest and self-preservation. When people see you walking your talk — then they want to be part of the mission. When they are sure of their investment, they are more likely to become supporters of mission.

By the way, the giveaway model was how the Church got its start and spread all over the world within a few centuries. Imagine what we could be doing today with a simple return to our roots.

photo credit: archer10 (Dennis) via photopin cc
26 Jun 2013

On blogging daily.

Why don’t more preachers blog? 

Seth Godin, one of the earliest and most prolific bloggers, celebrates his 5000th post today. Congratulations, Seth. You make a difference in many worlds!

2×2 is approaching 1000 posts. We have a way to go!

In Seth’s reflection on his exercise in sharing an observation with the world daily for more than ten years, Seth writes:

My biggest surprise? That more people aren’t doing this. Not just every college professor (particularly those in the humanities and business), but everyone hoping to shape opinions or spread ideas. Entrepreneurs. Senior VPs. People who work in non-profits. Frustrated poets and unknown musicians… Don’t do it because it’s your job, do it because you can.

Why don’t more preachers blog? Surely they see themselves as shaping opinions, values and spreading ideas.

Blogging is a gradual art. It’s like having coffee or tea with your neighbor every day. The bonds build slowly.

  • Once a day, you take the time to share.
  • Once a day, you take the time to think through issues and ideas that might benefit other people. Writing really pushes the thought process!
  • Once a day, you see something new in the ordinary.
  • As you search for ideas, you will start to connect with other thinkers and bloggers. Their thoughts will enrich your own. You will benefit personally.
  • Day by day, you will build your voice and influence.

Why don’t more preachers blog? It’s work. The rewards are not immediate. It’s not part of the job description.

Preachers still think the world is going to come to them.

I’ve noticed a few church websites that contain blog entries. They tend to be once a week for about six weeks before they drop off.  I remember one that I opened eagerly from the link on the home page. The announcement was so enthusiastic! It had just one blog entry that had been posted more than a year earlier.

2×2 challenges pastors to blog daily for a year. If that’s too hard, blog daily for three months. Any shorter and you won’t learn from the experience.

Do it first thing. Share with your community before 9 am. Or post at the end of the day—whatever rhythm works for you.

See if it doesn’t make a difference in your community. It may also make a difference in you!

As Seth notes:

I’ve never once met a successful blogger who questioned the personal value of what she did.

05 Jun 2013

How the web works for 2×2 and could be working for you!

2x2virtualchurch is the web project of Redeemer Lutheran Church in East Falls, Philadelphia, shunned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They view us as too small to fulfill any mission purpose and seized our property and locked out our members. 

2x2virtualchurch is now two years old. We started knowing very little about the web but it seemed to be a logical and viable mission opportunity for a congregation raped of its  heritage. 

It’s been a voyage of discovery.

We’ve documented our growth statistics before but in the last month we began to add new dimension to our ministry.

About a month ago, businessesgrow.com (Mark Shaefer’s marketing website) featured a 2×2 guest blog.  

That blog was picked up by five other major blogs including a couple of business web sites and two Christian Social Media web sites. (These are the ones we know about!)

business2community

socialmediatoday

businessesgrow.com

Yesterday, we received a request to participate in a podcast for a Christian Social Media site. At the same time we are about to launch our first multimedia video.

This is all within a few weeks!

So the progression has been:

  • 2011: Readership grows from 1 reader per month in February to a few hundred per month
  • 2012: Readership grows from an average of 20 readers per day to 50 readers per day
  • 2013 to date: Readership grows from 50 readers per day to an average of 90 per day and more than 4000 per month

This makes Redeemer and its 2×2 ministry the congregation with the widest reach in SEPA Synod—which declared us to be closed and unfit to manage our own ministry in 2010. (They wanted our property.)

The lessons to be learned from our ministry:

  • Prepare to give a solid year of dedicated work before making any value assessments. 2×2 started to gain momentum when we started posting daily in the summer of 2011.
  • Post frequently at least three times a week.
  • Look for interests that aren’t being addressed. We discovered a demand for object lessons for adults that draws daily traffic to our site. Churches are also looking for easy dramas—plays that don’t require a lot of costumes and rehearsals. We are trying to figure out how to offer music!
  • Your audience is the world once you begin using the web. You can write for just the people who live near you but don’t close the doors on interesting opportunities. We have many stories to tell of how our ministry is impacting the lives of Christians thousands of miles away in surprising and exciting ways.
  • Be helpful to your readers. Our free resources geared to small congregations drives our traffic.
  • Cast a wider net when fishing for men. Most church web sites are all about them. They may succeed locally with this approach, but they will be missing mission opportunity.
  • Don’t look to professional leadership to have the skills needed to forge the way in this type of ministry. They have been busy learning other things. Turn it over to lay people.
  • Don’t rely on hierarchical support. They are not likely to understand the potential of the web. They were born of an era when church structure was locally focused with distant oversight. This is not likely to change without a major reformation.
  • Don’t expect accolades for your success from the greater church. Again, they frequently don’t understand the web and are still assessing congregational viability by 1950 standards. It will be five years at least before they realize what they are missing. By then things are likely to have changed still more.
  • Don’t expect regional bodies to admit their weaknesses.

Where to from here?

2×2 has gained credible blogging skills. We will now look to be adding more video and podcasting and more helpful resources for small church ministry and world mission.

We hope to cooperate with other local ministry efforts, offering our expertise to their causes.

We’ve grown a bit “like Topsy” but we will now become more intentional in creating our ministry plan—something Redeemer was always good at!

We have achieved this success on a $0 budget as our hierarchy claimed all our offerings at the same time it challenged us with legal expenses. We now have a readership base that can monetize our ministry. The economics of scale will allow us to do this at prices far lower than traditional publishing and we will remain dedicated to providing most resources for free as part of our mission.

There is a lot of hard work in learning all these new mission skills. We will be glad to share our experiences with any church interested in diving in!

01 May 2013

Small Church vs Large Church — Looks Are Deceiving!

trinity-redeemer

Comparing SEPA’s Largest Congregation
with the Church SEPA Says Doesn’t Exist

What do Trinity, Lansdale, and Redeemer, East Falls, have in common?

We both engage with more than 700 followers each week.

According to Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Trend reports, Trinity, Lansdale, stands alone among Southeastern Pennsylvania churches in numbers. It has nearly 5000 members and an average worship attendance of 725. Most other large churches in SEPA — and there are only a few — average around 400.

Most SEPA churches are much smaller with about 100 or fewer at worship (many much fewer). ELCA Trend  measures only membership, attendance, income and expenses (in various configurations).

There are new statistics that will mean more in the emerging church. Churches don’t have to worry about collecting the data. The internet tracks results for you. This is where Redeemer is breaking ground no other SEPA church seems to be seriously exploring.

Redeemer is no longer listed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Trend reports, although the congregation never voted to close. We’ll take that up with the ELCA later.

Redeemer was growing quickly although we were still among the SEPA churches with fewer than 50 in average weekly worship attendance—the only engagement most churches measure. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod seized Redeemer’s property and locked our doors in 2009—something about inability to fulfill mission. (They approved a $275,000 budget deficit at the same time they claimed our property.)

There was plenty to question at the time, but no one did. There is more to question now!

Redeemer has continued its ministry without our property. There is no rule that a congregation must own property.

Locked out of God’s House in East Falls, we took our ministry online with our blog, 2x2virtualchurch.com. We now have an average weekly following approaching 800 in new traffic and about 150 who subscribe to our site daily. We engage between 1000 and 2000 readers each week.

Redeemer may have the largest engagement of any SEPA congregation! The potential for effective mission is huge.

While the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA has tenaciously tried to destroy our ministry, we adapted — and grew!

2×2 is written with lay leaders in mind. Our experience as a small church is that lay leaders are the innovators in ministry. Most have part-time pastors. Growing churches is not part-time work. The passion of lay people (an undervalued resource) is keeping many churches going.

Small churches need resources that don’t rely on paid skills.

We had an additional challenge. Redeemer is multicultural and multilingual. No single age group dominates. That means we can’t just turn to a choir or a youth group or a Sunday School class to create interesting activities. We developed materials that could be adapted to any eclectic grouping.

When we still had our building we posted these resources on generic ministry websites.

Two years ago we began posting them on 2×2.

We posted an Easter play Redeemer performed for all East Falls churches in 2009. It was downloaded 300 times last year and 3000 times this year.

This tells us how we can further serve the large audience of small churches. Search engine analysis shows us that people are beginning to find our content by specifically plugging in terms specific to our site (“2×2 Easter play” — not just “Easter play).” Our content is gaining a following.

We post at least two features a week which congregations can adapt. Early in the week we post an object lesson intended for adults based on the week’s lectionary. Mid-week we post an analysis of art that complements the week’s theme. These can be adapted to multimedia presentations that some churches now show before worship (just as Redeemer did). We will continue to build on this foundation.

In addition, we offer our experience in using social media with dozens of how-to posts.

One large church recently wrote to us: “A lot is written about social media and the church, but you are the only church actually doing it.”

In all likelihood, Redeemer has the widest reach of any church in SEPA Synod with followers all over the world. We engage with them one-on-one. We share ministry problems and successes and rely on one another for prayer.

What does this mean for ministry in East Falls? It means our worldwide reach can now benefit our local ministry. We have a new potential source of funding for ministry.

Redeemer always was viable despite SEPA’s self-interested reports. Our day school, locked since SEPA interfered, would be generating upwards of $6000 per month. (That’s nearly $300,000 of squandered potential over the last four years.) The web site could begin to generate several thousand a month within a year of nurturing—plenty of resources to fund a neighborhood ministry without a single coin in an offering plate.

Redeemer has never had more potential.

If mission is the goal in East Falls (and it is definitely our goal) the best potential for ministry is to make peace with the Lutherans who have steadfastly maintained and grown mission during the last six years of conflict. The property should be returned to Redeemer. This would be in keeping with Lutheran polity.

Our journey has been a leap into the future of the church. We could still be a small neighborhood church serving a few, focused on survival and paying a pastor—as is the case of so many small churches.

We’ve learned that it is possible for a small church to grow. We are very aware that 2×2 can grow beyond our own vision.

Meanwhile, the largest church in SEPA and Redeemer, the largest online church, are both fulfilling their mission with impressive results.

God is doing something new at Redeemer, East Falls.

Can you perceive it?

10 Mar 2013

February 24 — A Day of Infamy

Today Bishop Claire Burkat of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will gather her little chicks under her wing at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in NE Philadelphia and celebrate its closure. They’ve been moving toward this date for the last year, since they sold the property to the United Church of Christ—and probably still longer.

This is also the fifth anniversary of Bishop Claire Burkat’s attempt to stealthily seize Redeemer’s property in East Falls. It was on February 24, 2008, that Bishop Burkat invited herself to our church supposedly to plan a closing service for a congregation that had never even discussed closing much less been given an opportunity to vote on it as is constitutionally necessary. She brought about nine or ten people with her with no notice, despite the fact that the congregation had warned her that the date she had chosen with no consultation with church leaders was already booked and that the congregation did not wish to meet at that time. The two members of Redeemer who met her that day were soon to discover that her plans had nothing to do with planning a worship service. Among her posse was SEPA’s lawyer who was waiting behind the building and out of sight in a locksmith’s van. When their strategy called for the lawyer and locksmith to make their presence known we don’t know. We had been forewarned by someone in Chicago that she was intending such a move and so when we saw the locksmith van go by, we were prepared.

The bishop’s embarrassment that day, which sparked five years of vindictive law suits, has cost mission and ministry in our neighborhood dearly.

There was never an attempt to work with us — we were not valued enough to be part of the discussion of our future. The names of our lay leaders were dragged through the mud—an attempt to validate Synod’s actions. The work of the laity was treated with total disregard. The people of Redeemer deserved the opportunity to work with and be in discussion with SEPA just as the people of Holy Spirit have been.

SEPA’s Articles of Incorporation forbid the Synod from confiscating congregational property without the consent of the congregation.

The more SEPA congregations allow this very important foundation of Lutheran polity to be ignored, the more endangered each congregation is.

Redeemer’s Ambassadors have now visited 56 SEPA congregations. We know that many of them are no stronger and more than a few are weaker than Redeemer. If Redeemer’s statistics were the reason for closing, about ten to twenty percent of the remaining 160 congregations should also be closed with more suffering the same fate within a decade or two if innovative steps aren’t taken.

We have always known that Redeemer’s property and endowment were the real attractions. In April of 2008, we discovered that Bishop Burkat had offered our property for sale to a Lutheran Agency without a word to our congregation. We learned this from a letter from the agency, dated in early April (only about 40 days after the February 24 showdown), informing us that they had done an extensive site evaluation and were denying the offer of sale. The timing suggests that the property, owned by the congregation, had been offered for sale even before Bishop Burkat came to the congregation—all without the knowledge of the congregation. Clearly NOT Luthean polity.

SEPA needed our money—quick and easy. This devious situation fueled the character assassination, personal attacks and refusal to work with Redeemer that has characterized the court battles. But SEPA seems to be unable to check and balance their leadership — as their constitutions call for.

In September 2009, Bishop Burkat at last achieved her goal. She locked out the members of Redeemer.

Undaunted, Redeemer continues its mission, achieving its greatest success with our online ministry. We have broken new ground in mission which is being recognized by other denominations if not our own!

While some members of SEPA Synod are celebrating the closure of a church, others are meeting on this date in Lansdale and on Monday in Burholme to talk about communications. Redeemer and its website, 2x2virtualchurch.com, could contribute a great deal to a discussion with church communicators. We have a ton of experience!

But we’ve been banished—ex“communicated.”

23 Feb 2013

Overcoming the fear of Social Media

horseGet ready for the Horseless Carriage

Get ready for Social Media

Many congregations are interested in adding Social Media to their ministries. And so they dabble. They find someone to start a Facebook page. They lean back and relax. That’s done. Innovation isn’t so hard, after all!

Here’s the thing about Social Media.

Social Media is more than Facebook. Much more!

If your congregation embraces Social Media it will mean everything changes.

Social Media, fully embraced, is not a simple add-on — like adding an extra worship service.

It is transforming.

Transforming? Isn’t that what our church leaders have been demanding of congregations for the last decade with little definition of exactly what they mean?

Social Media—fully embraced—will affect every aspect of your ministry in positive and profound ways.

People need to be prepared. The only way to prepare people is to involve them and encourage flexibility. It helps to actually get started!

My family had lunch today in a historic inn along the famous Lincoln Highway. We got to talking about the history of the highway. It seems the opening of this newfangled cross-continental roadway that followed the introduction of the automobile came with no small amount of angst.

The big fear was that the horses of the early 20th century would not be happy.

Unhappy horses meant unhappy drivers.

A plan was developed.

Step 1: Prepare the horses. Warn them. Something new is coming.

Early drivers of horseless carriages were encouraged to carry flares with them. Upon approaching a horse-drawn carriage, they were to shoot up a warning flare. (Bet that went over big!)

Step 2: Protect the horses’ sense of security.

If horses were not reassured by flares (and why would they be?), then drivers were encouraged to carry camouflage. At the sight of a distressed horse, they should be prepared to pull to the side of the road and drape their automobile with a sheet designed to make the car disappear into the surroundings. What the horse doesn’t see will not be scary.

Step 3: Dismantle the horseless carriage.

If a horse is still disturbed by its new competition, drivers should be prepared to dismantle their automobile and hide the pieces along the side of the road until the horse passes as if nothing has changed.

All of this is, of course, absurd — especially to us Pennsylvanians who share the roads with our Amish neighbors. The horses seem to have adapted!

But this is a typical agenda for those who fear change.

  • Warn people of innovation.
  • Protect them from innovation.
  • Be prepared to dismantle all the progress and benefits possible from innovation at the first sign of distress (real or imaginary).

Churches intent on incorporating social media must be prepared to meet the same sorts of resistance.

It will mean doing things very differently — across the board. The very structure of church will change.

Expect something like this:

  • Social Media is clearly too much work for one pastor. But pastors are used to controlling communication in the church. Lay people cannot be expected to handle so much responsibility. Best to wait. And wait. And wait.
  • What do we do if Social Media actually works and lots of new people join a church? (This was a problem Redeemer was dealing with as 49 people joined in one year.) What if those 49 people become a voting block with the potential to ruin any plans made before they joined. Our congregation was dealing with this issue head-on and making progress. But our denomination, intent on Redeemer failing so they could claim our property, couldn’t deal with change they hadn’t orchestrated. They skipped right to Step 3: Dismantle everything! They kicked out the 49 new members along with the 25 or so older members and locked the church doors. 

These are real problems but they are good problems that need solutions. Dismantling everything because things aren’t like they used to be is just plain silly—and it is counter to Christian mission.

Fortunately, there are real solutions waiting to be discovered.

The automobile is now the norm.

The new church that arises from the use of Social Media will soon be the norm, too — and it all may happen just in time to save the mainline church.

photo credit: NCReedplayer via photopin cc
09 Feb 2013