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transforming the church

Growing the Church Among the Discontented

Have you ever noticed how the restaurant server has a knack of asking if everything is to your liking just as you’ve filled your mouth with a forkful of tough meat?

Similarly, the car dealer might call and ask how you are enjoying your new car a week into your purchase, not three months down the road, when you really know something about the car’s performance.

People want to hear kind words and good things about their work. Churches and church leaders are no different. They tend to identify happy souls and and engage them. The unhappy are neglected and eventually will not be in church at all.

There are more people not in church than in church!

Our faith and Christian relationships are precious. Once broken, repairing them is costly and difficult work.

Churches work hard at seeming to care. Leaders seek agreement and talk about their successful relationships, while the discontented are given labels that muffle their voices.

Church leaders talk about processes of “mutual discernment” — the hottest buzz words in the church at the moment.

Often, the process of mutual discernment has the regional body unanimous on one side of the fence and the congregation unanimous on the other side of the fence with neither side reaching to open the gate. Yet reports will tell of the process of mutual discernment that resulted in a one-sided decree.

Lay people may have to put up with this on the job. They will feel differently about it in church where they are the shareholders.

Dealing with discontent is a steady and ongoing process and involves sincere, dedicated communication. Discernment is a process of listening and responding. It is hard work. To claim a process of discernment, while neglecting the necessary work, is dishonest.

If congregants sense that their concerns don’t matter, they have a remedy. It’s a multistep process.

  • They complain publicly.
  • They complain bitterly in private.
  • They keep their billfolds in their pockets.
  • They stay home.
  • They continue to complain, but not in church.

The earlier the church intervenes and shows true concern, the easier the process of reconciliation becomes. Left unchecked, discontent will spin out of control and damage the whole people of God.

Discontented Christians have their grievances steadily on their minds. Their faith and way of life are under attack. They may no longer be attending church, but they are probably talking to their neighbors and friends at the bowling alley and grocery store. While pastors are feeling warm and cozy, surrounded by their closest supporters, the foundation of the community they are serving is eroding in forums they cannot control.

What is eluding many in the Church is that there have never been more forums for the discontented.

It was never more important for the Church to learn to deal with people who have a beef with them.

Wise church leaders spend time with the discontented. That’s where church growth will happen. That’s where the strength of the future Church lies.

Look for the rose in your crown of thorns. It’s what reconciliation is all about.

photo credit: somenametoforget via photopin cc

26 Mar 2012

Make Way for the Non-geographic Future Church

We are polishing our crystal ball again. This is what we see . . .

The Church of tomorrow will have only two sociological geographies — the local church and the worldwide church. Intermediary layers will be defined by local congregations as needed — not by hierarchies.

Denominations and regional authorities will become expensive drains on local churches with waning benefits.

They and national church offices — at least as we know them today — will become archaic, outliving their purpose and mission. Once the hub of thought leadership, educational/resource publishing, and social ministry implementation, they are already being phased out by economic realities. Any congregation can form alliances with a multitude of social causes locally, nationally and internationally. Any congregant can publish.

Congregations will become identified by their works which will make them more relevant and help them grow. If they are to survive they will find vitality — quickly!

Congregations will soon realize that the dollars they are sending to regional bodies are better spent in ways they can monitor and become involved with directly. Giving will improve when results are more visible.

This is all the result of the internet.

Every congregation has the same power at its fingertips. Soon churches will realize they will get more help and better advice if they bypass the systems of the past.

Part of this is driven by economics of scale. Business has a saying: “Go big or go home.”

The church will discover this, too.

In the past, each individual judicatory duplicated similar services supported by its own 100-200 congregations. Better services will be supplied by pooling resources of more churches than one regional body can support. Local churches will bypass judicatories and go directly to enterprising thought leaders who no longer need denominational affiliation to gain an ear.

The economic failure of judicatories will return talent now stagnating in management to work in congregations.

The best ideas will be too expensive for regional bodies to implement. They will, for a while, keep trying to do things the same way . . . and fail. Frustration will turn the tide.

Denominational lines will blur as the internet helps ideas cross traditional lines. Congregations will find their own sister congregations . . . and they could be anywhere.

In the past, denominations might have worried that doctrines and traditions would be compromised without layers of oversight. No longer! Everyone has access to the same technology. This will create its own checks and balances.

Turf wars are likely at first. They could be ugly. But the realization that hierarchies are no longer needed will begin to set in.

For a while, middle management judicatories will flex muscles, trying to rein in congregations as their power weakens. There will be casualties that will be an enduring shame…but a new church will emerge.

The local congregation will become more important than ever. It will be the local hands-on expression. They will display renewed vitality as they tap resources beyond the offering plate. They will identify mission and form alliances with like-minded organizations.

We’ve spent decades in interdenominational dialogue to achieve what the internet will achieve in just a few years!

The coming Church is going to be exciting!

photo credit: frompandora via photopin cc
17 Mar 2012

Laity Need to Learn to Speak the Clergy’s Language

Talking with clergy lately, we heard some terms we doubt many lay people have ever used or heard.

Some terms universally understood among clergy describe congregational health. These terms include “hospice,” “caretaker ministries,” and even “undertaker ministries.”

Ask a lay person, “Is your church on hospice?” and they will probably look puzzled. As it dawns on them that hospice is a service provided to dying people, they will start to realize that the clergy person is asking if their church is dying and unlikely to receive meaningful support from their denomination.

They will keep listening as they recover from shock and anger sets in.

“Who’s your pastor?” might be the next question. “Is he/she part time?”

If the answer is “Yes, that’s all we can afford right now,” the clergy might nod and mutter, “Ah, —sounds like you have a caretaker ministry.”

The lay person has probably never heard this term either. When it is explained that “caretaker ministers” are assigned to churches to hold members’ hands as their congregations die, the sense of shock and anger is rekindled.

With any sensitivity, the clergy person does not use another term used among clergy — “undertaker ministers.” This type of minister has NO intention of growing a congregation’s mission and the assignment, in all probability unknown to the congregation, is that this minister is there with the denomination’s understanding that the congregation’s ministry be brought to a close with as little muss and fuss possible.

This is a prescription for church conflict.

Laity NEVER consider their congregations as dying. They are usually aware that they face challenges, but when they call a pastor they are ALWAYS looking for help with their ministry. Lay people understand that the mission is to serve. They think every clergy person they talk to or call — even on a part-time basis — has congregational health and outreach as their goal.

Laity need to use a bit of “clergy talk” when calling their ministers. If they sense the candidate understands that the mission under consideration is to close the church—not grow the church—the congregation needs to move on and make sure their denomination understands that the congregation considers mission and ministry the goal.

It might help if we all spoke the same language!

photo credit: aldenjewell via photopin cc
17 Mar 2012

Here’s an idea for SEPA . . .

The laity need a voice.

The Synod is dominated by clergy. Their voices and interests outrank lay concerns simply because they are involved more with leadership on a daily basis and somewhat dependent on their standing with the Synod for career advancement and security.

Many lay representatives at Assembly are new to church governance and follow their pastors’ lead.

The Synod Assembly agenda is tightly scheduled, leaving little room for lay delegates to explore ideas, which might be old to clergy but are new to them.

Lay people who become involved at the synodical level must first pass through a nominating process that is reviewed largely by clergy or lay people who have already passed muster.

Redeemer, years ago, attempted to nominate a lay member and received a phone call from a clergy representative who said they’d consider our nomination only if we “felt strongly” about it. Puzzling! Why have a nomination process?!

Generally, there is little contact between church leadership and the people they serve. Contact is often orchestrated toward SEPA leadership’s objectives.

One dedicated lay person once shared that they went to an Evening with the Bishop excited to be part of dialog. He left, frustrated and disappointed, after an hour of listening to the bishop talk with no attempt at interaction with attendees.

Redeemer’s experience with the last two bishops was that they wanted congregational interaction on their own terms, subject to their own timing, agenda and control. Congregational leaders, who had attempted dialog for years with no response, were ignored — and eventually replaced by decree.

So here’s an idea. What if there was an annual LAITY ROUNDTABLE, say two months before the Annual Assembly, where ANY lay person could attend, discuss challenges and formulate ideas and proposals to bring to the Synod Assembly’s attention? The retreat could be one-day, on a Saturday perhaps, and should be entirely lay led. No clergy allowed. Trust your lay people!

The LAITY ROUNDTABLE would serve no purpose but to review ideas and proposals of individual congregations for inclusion on Synod Assembly’s agenda.

There would be added benefits:

  • Laity would understand common challenges and be inspired to find solutions.
  • The interests of the churches would be lifted up.
  • Lay involvement and leadership would grow.
  • Churches would feel more involved with the denomination which can only help SEPA.
  • Large churches and small churches would interact as equals.
  • Community would expand as laity come to know one another without pastors as gatekeepers.
  • Interchurch problem-solving would pump some fresh blood into our church . . . and we still consider it our church even though we have been kicked out — without a voice!
14 Mar 2012

When the Church Faces Demographic Change

jesus-and-disciplesImagine this meeting between Jesus and his disciples and the local church development consultant.

Jesus:
Good to meet you, Mr. Consultant. Thanks for your time. Let’s get right to work. I want this fine group of men to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel. We’re hoping you can give us some advice about the best way to do this.

Consultant:.
I’m so glad you came to me, Mr. Jesus. I am an expert at analyzing ministry potential in Galilee. I know my services come at a steep cost, but in the end, I’ll be able to save you time and money.

Jesus:
So, where should we start? We are raring to go!

Consultant:
I’ve finished my analysis. I reviewed the census reports and toured the neighborhood and interviewed a good number of locals. I hate to discourage you but your ministry dollars might be better spent elsewhere.

Jesus:
You’ll have to explain that. We’ve been walking around Galilee for months and we’ve already made progress. All we need from you is advice on how to best spend our time and resources. Money doesn’t grow on olive trees, you know!

Consultant:
Sorry, Mr. Jesus. I wish I had Good News for you. I know how important this is to you — this being your home and all. But the fact is the opportunities for ministry in your neighborhood are very few. The demographics just don’t support ministry — not here, not now.

A Disciple (you can guess which one!)
Jesus, listen to him. Why are we paying Mr. Consultant if we are not about to listen? The expert said we are wasting our time. Let’s call it quits, divide the money we’ve collected and call it a day. It’s been fun, guys, but I’m with Mr. Consultant. He says the demographics won’t support us. Good enough for me! (He walks away).

Remaining Disciples:
Come on! You have to do better than that. We’re from this neighborhood!

Jesus glances proudly at his disciples but quickly turns back to the local business authority. 

Jesus:
I’m prepared to start sending these men out in teams of two starting right now. They are well-trained. Just point us in the best direction!

Consultant:
Again, Mr. Jesus. You are wasting your time and money. First, everyone around here is Jewish.

Disciples snigger uncomfortably. Consultant notices and quickly jumps to his own defense.

Consultant:
All right, I understand . . you are Jewish, too, but you are the exceptions. How many more fisherman and tax collectors do you think you’ll find? The odds are just not in your favor, especially with the opposition of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Disciples:
What about all the people we’ve already met and helped?

Consultant:
Well, that’s true, but they’re not going to help you. They don’t have any money to support your efforts. They’re “takers.” If you want to succeed in your ministry you need to find “givers.”

Peter, angrily:
Are you calling me a “taker”?!

Consultant:
Whoa. I didn’t mean to rile you. I’m just saying . . . you can’t keep curing the lame and talking to widows and expect to have a viable ministry.

Jesus:
So, what do you suggest? I thought about limiting our ministry to my family and Jewish friends, but I have this idea. Lately, I’ve been thinking about preaching to the (hesitates)  …  the Gentiles.

Consultant gasps:
Surely, you are not thinking of converting Romans and Samaritans! That’s a losing proposition. Our studies show NO interest among those demographics. The chance of success with them is about as good as with the know-it-all Greeks. You might as well start knocking on doors in Gaul! You’ll lose any support you ever hoped of getting from the Pharisees. Sounds like a good way to get yourself killed!

Jesus:
But what about all the children? They seem to like following us.

Consultant:
Yeah, children are real cute, but you just aren’t getting it, Mr. Jesus. Children won’t pay the light bill.

Jesus:
Light bill!? Now you’ve lost me.
But I’m listening. You’re the expert. Where should we go with our message of love and salvation.

Consultant:
I’m sorry to be the bearer of Bad News, Mr. Jesus, but my best advice is to go back to the drawing board with your mission plan. Ministry to Jews, Greeks, Samaritans, Romans, children, widows, sinners, poor, sick, and lame, just isn’t the best use of your mission dollars. Much as it pains me to say, I think the time has come to close your doors. Give what’s left of your money to someone with better odds. It won’t be easy, but really, it is for the best. And as for you disciples, I’ll work up a report on where you can go to fit in. Your work was real good and all. Credit where credit’s due. Oh, before I forget . . . here’s my invoice. I take cash.

This little scenario is not as far-fetched as it may seem. It closely parallels a conversation our church had with a church consultant 20 years ago. It is the very rationale that is behind the epidemic of church closings.

It was carefully explained to us that ministry in our own neighborhood was “not good use of the Lord’s money.” The neighborhood had changed. There was no point in continuing.

Others face the same challenge. One pastor summed it up well.

Our old members are very generous. The problem is that the changing neighborhood is bringing poorer people to our worship who are not accustomed to supporting a church. It takes ten of them to equal the support of one of our older members.

The challenge facing the church is that it is these very people whom churches are pledged to serve. That’s the way it was in Jesus day and that’s the way it is today. When we start looking at every church visitor through our green-tinted fiscal glasses, the entire mission of the church is lost.

Church planners often look for memberships that can support the lifestyle and structure to which they have become accustomed. And that’s where Christian mission ends.

06 Mar 2012

Generation Y’s View of Religion

If you think technology will not affect religion, think again.

Back to School night at my son’s school was always an education. He is a college man now, but I remember the stark contrast to my own schooling I found when I entered his classroom every fall.

Today, very few classrooms are arranged with rows of desks and chairs facing a teacher’s desk and blackboard. In grade school the desks are clumped in little communities. Lessons are taught with the children sitting with their teachers on the floor. Furniture becomes more meaningful in older grades but is usually arranged in circles. A teacher’s desk is off in an obscure corner. Class discussions are more like an afternoon at Arthur’s Roundtable than a lecture hall. Assignments are often group projects with individuals responsible for the success of classmates.

Smartboards or laptops are the hub and spokes of the learning circle. The conversation can be broadened beyond the walls of the school with an effortless Skype or internet connection. Teachers are facilitators of learning more than relaters of factual information. This is the world our young people know five days a week.

Then, with decreasing frequency, they go to church on Sunday.

They encounter a service or liturgy with its roots in ancient times. If their family has brought them to church from their cradle days this is not a shock. To the uninitiated this is an aberration. Young people are asked to stand and sit and stand and sit and no one tells them why anymore. They settle back for a 20+-minute sermon when they’ve never before listened to any one person talk for more than five minutes.

The current coming-of-age generation (Generation Y) is not accustomed to the Church’s standard model for communicating the Gospel. They have not experienced it.

Faced with this as the only option for being part of religion, they find it easy — to use the term of the internet — to opt out.

How is the Church going to answer this new reality? We have some ideas. We are sure you do, too!

We will start exploring this topic this week. — Administrator, Judy Gotwald

photo credit: juicyrai via photopin cc

04 Mar 2012

How Do Church Leaders Find Time for Social Media?

As we noted in our latest Social Media post, finding the time for social media is the biggest hurdle for churches in acclimating to the digital world.

“Church” has been done the same way for centuries. People entering ministry have expectations for how they will spend their time when they are called to a parish. Something like this: Monday will be spent on office housekeeping and reflection in preparation for next week’s sermon. Parish calls are made on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday is bulletin day and Bible study, choir practice or some other group activity. A few hours of Thursday might be spent with colleagues over lunch. Meetings will be scattered throughout the week. Friday is for polishing the sermon. There are always emergencies. And one of these days is a day off.

Time must be found. Social Media is simply too powerful to ignore. If you are serving an aging congregation it is all the more vital. Your older members may be willing to forego it, but the current coming-of-age generation — Generation Y — lives with their cell phones epoxied to their palms. If you want your church to have a future, you MUST speak the language and use the tools of the future.

How do you make the time?

There is no doubt it will be hard to adjust the routine. It is an adjustment for everyone! We suggest a two-pronged approach:

  1. Set aside 30 minutes a day for social media. Start your day with it. End your day with it or follow your lunch break with it. Make it a routine.
  2. Let others help.

Carving out a half-hour may be the easiest of the two steps to take, especially after you begin to see results. In our experience that took six months of daily posting to grow readership to our current average of 50 readers a day and a thousand each month. Warning: A half hour is a start. You will find Social Media so compelling that it will become more vital to your church community.

The second part — letting others help — is a major shift in church structure but it is going to happen. Top-down church leadership is quickly becoming a thing of the past. If people do not have a voice in their churches they will fill their lives with things that engage them.

This adds a new church emphasis for which your social media can be a tool. Education. You want members engaging in online religious issues to be knowledgeable. Many churches have neglected education. Use Social Media to break that cycle. We’ll address this in our next Social Media post.

photo credit: ebby via photopin cc
03 Mar 2012

Does Social Media Threaten the Future of the Organized Church?

A veteran parish pastor, now retired, loves to tell the story of a conversation he had many years ago with a young adult congregant who was drifting away from church after years of faithful attendance as a child.

“I don’t believe in organized religion,” the young woman said. The pastor quipped, “Do you prefer disorganized religion?”

Today, that pastor could safely quip, “Not to worry! There is no such thing as organized religion.”

The organized Church is unraveling.

The Roman Catholic Church, the paradigm of structure, is scrambling to bolster its traditional teachings against changing popular sentiment and practices. Its hierarchical structure is threatened by disinterest. There are fewer candidates for priesthood and religious orders. That means the power of the hierarchy is made available to fewer candidates, leaving weaker talent to rise to the top. It should be no surprise that scandal has followed. Without the traditional pool of workers to staff parishes, the foundations of parish traditions — the schools — are closing or merging. They may be more economic but will struggle to provide the parish identity which parishioners value as highly as the quality of education.

Protestants are not immune. They tend to get less media attention, but they, too, face challenges attracting professional leadership, dwindling support, and their share of scandal.

What does this mean to the average believer?

It means the laity will carry a greater burden in maintaining and administering parishes. They will do so with negligible support from any hierarchy. They will be asked to commit  time and resources that begin to outweigh the investment of professional leadership. They will have no support system when there is trouble—and there WILL BE trouble.

As a result, lay Christians will think twice before committing to supporting any congregation. The remaining hierarchy will reward the laity who are strong followers and penalize the laity who step into the leadership void. The faithful will have a tougher time meeting the expectations set for them in healthier days. Since lay involvement is, for the most part, volunteer, they, too, will become fewer in number.

As things deteriorate the blame game will begin. As the stakes get higher, the game will become nastier. The basic tenants of Christianity will be tested.

Much of this prediction is already happening.

If you don’t believe in organized religion, there was never a better time to sign up!

But 2×2 does not like to leave any reader feeling hopeless. While troubling, we view this as growing pains. 

The old structure is crumbling but a new Church is emerging. New life will take root in the ruins of the past.

The internet is rebuilding the foundation of the Church. The laity now have a voice. The hierarchy won’t like it and will try to control it. They will fail.

There are controls, however. The “joy stick” is not in any one person’s hand. We are entering a time when we will be held accountable by one another, not by a hierarchy.

Hang in there, Christians. This is going to get exciting!

photo credit: Denise ~*~ via photopin cc
22 Feb 2012

Why Church Growth Is So Elusive

Most churches never set out to grow.

Churches talk about growth all the time — even when there is little or no growth evident across a denomination. Denominations can even adopt airs of successful growth in their convocations and publications, camouflaging double digit decline.

Why is growth desirable? Is it because of the Church’s burning need to save souls, or is it to meet the escalating costs of Christian community? There is surely some of both in the answer and other options. Nevertheless, it might be worthwhile to ponder what is really spurring the current demand for growth and change.

The problem is that we are measuring success by statistics that no one really set out to fulfill.

Imagine how big every church would be if for the last 100 years every congregation accepted 20 new members net (allowing for natural attrition). Twenty new members each year should be a modest goal for a church that is growth-oriented. It should get easier every year and explode exponentially!

It rarely happens!

Most churches and church communities are designed to fill the needs of the founding members. Growth to keep up with the economy was not in their crosshairs. Special ministries to changing communities were not what most members signed on for.

Most congregations and clergy are content when numbers provide a sense of stability.

Look at the average church building erected 100 or 200 years ago. Most were not built with growth in mind. Many were situated on donated land and built to fit the lots and house the existing worshiping community. The biggest number in mind was how many might show up on Easter morning and Christmas Eve.

When growth happened, older buildings were abandoned, new ones built or wings were added. In some cases the only option for growth was to add worship services. But these days services are often added for convenience or worship style options — not to accommodate growth.

If growth is so important, why isn’t it planned from the beginning?

When are extra pastors added? Answer: when growth has already happened and the congregation can afford an additional salary. Extra hands are rarely sought when the mission work justifies it but only when there are already more service needs and a foreseeable budget to sustain those existing needs.

If growth is truly a goal and more hands are needed to achieve growth, we have to start thinking outside the foresight of our founding matriarchs and patriarchs. We have to return to true mission, not economic salvation.

We have to provide help where it is most needed — neighborhood churches. Yes, even the small ones. That’s where true denominational growth will take root.

The temptation for denominational leaders is to look for easier success formulas and provide the strongest support to the congregations who can sustain their current budgets—for the time being, at least.

We have to take some chances.

Where do we start?

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15 Feb 2012

Google Insights Can Reveal Ministry Opportunity

As we explore and learn social media, we turned this weekend to a fairly new social media tool, Google Insights. This tool measures internet activity revolving around key words.

We plugged in key words of topics that interest us to see if they interest anyone else.

We searched for interest in “social media ministry.” The graph that pops up with amazing speed reflects our experience. We have long known that our readers are interested in this topic.

Goggle Insights Results for "Social Media Ministry"

We plugged in “children’s ministry” and “family ministry.” The results showed a decline in interest — not dramatic but decidedly so-so. We experienced the same results with our posts on ministry for children. We have also noted that ministry to children is neglected in many of the churches we visit.

Then we plugged in “multicultural ministry.” This is a topic that the our denomination has announced is a priority. The Google Insights graph revealed a flat line with sharp and short-lived spikes occurring about annually. There is only sporadic interest in this topic!

Google Insights Results for "Multicultural Ministry"

What does this tell us? There are a few possibilities.

  1. If multicultural ministry is a goal, groundwork must be laid. The Church is starting from scratch with this concept. Awareness of multicultural ministry challenges and opportunities must be promoted.
  2. Multicultural Ministry will be an uphill effort. Measurable success may be a long way off. Success might be fleeting.
  3. Other things concern congregations more. Any effort at Multicultural Ministry is likely to take a back seat.
  4. Leadership must be developed for this type of ministry.

The data fails to inform in some areas. It measures only interest — not need.

Why are there occasional, sharp spikes? Was there some event at that time that raised momentary interest?

The value of these “insights” is in what the Church does with the data.

  • Opportunities must be identified.
  • Churches and leaders must have some training and leadership.
  • Instant results should not be expected.
  • Since, there is so little interest, there is likely little experience. All ideas and efforts need to be given a chance.
12 Feb 2012