Category: Church Leadership

  • An idea for your church

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    Looking for something new, fresh, and hot? How about doing something practical, instead? How about changing lives forever?

    This is worth looking into:

    METRO ATLANTA, Ga. — Last weekend an Atlanta pastor made a promise that stunned his congregation and most of the people who heard it.

    In a speech that discussed abortion, the President, and the sanctity of life, the most provocative statement from Pastor Vic Pentz of Peachtree Presbyterian Church came towards sermon’s end:

    “I make a promise to you now and I don’t want you to keep this a secret,” the pastor pronounced, “the Peachtree Presbyterian Church will care for any newborn baby you bring to this church.

    “We will be the family to find a home for that child, and there’s no limit on this. You can tell your friends, you can tell your family, you can tell the whole world …”

    Reflected Pentz a week later, “I seem to have touched a nerve by saying that to the congregation.”

    Honestly, this is what the church has always done. This is what the church in many parts of the world does today. Wouldn’t it be amazing if your church issued the same challenge?

    HT to Church Marketing Sucks

  • Podcasts for Preachers

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    Since April, I’ve been a regular commuter using San Diego’s excellent public transit system. Essentially, it takes me an hour to get to work and I use this as me time. While walking, riding my bike, standing on the platform, or riding the trolley I am typically listening to music or podcasts.

    My weekly repertoire includes exactly zero “Christian” podcasts. (Unless you count my own!) What I’ve found that I enjoy listening to most are shows that tell stories really, really well. The other day it hit me that some of the shows I listen to every week would actually be excellent to listen to for those who craft messages each week.

    So, here’s my list of shows I’d recommend preachers listen to in order to sharpen their delivery: (add you own in the comments)

    1. This American Life. I’ve joked around in saying that Ira Glass is the best preacher in America. Clearly, Ira is not a pastor– he’s Jewish. But TAL regularly tells the best stories out there. The pace, the clarity, the way that the commentators often get out of the way and allow the subject to speak. If you are serious about crafting an oral story… you need to list to this show.

    2. 60 Minutes: Listen to the audio version of this show. (Available on iTunes) This show is always good on TV, but there is something about listening to it as audio only that makes it better. I love the manner in which they track a story. Almost every story uses the same pattern but it never gets old. Also, I love how they tease the stories up front to keep the listening intruiged. The worst part of the show is Andy Rooney. But just hear him as the old man who grabs your hand every week and annoys you.

    3. The Moth: I love this show for two reasons. First, it’s first person stories. Second, it’s a single story per episode. These are stories told live on their mainstage in LA or New York. If you like to integrate testimony into your messages, this will help you.

    4. This I Believe: More stories told in the first person. This concept has been around for decades and has captured the core beliefs about famous people, everyday people, and people in-between for that entire time. Essentially, people write an essay about something they believe to be true and then perform it in their own voice.

    5. TEDtalks: If you had 18 minutes to present your life’s work, what would you say? This is the premise of TED.  This is like the Willow Creek Leadership Conference for everyone else. Each week you’ll see a well-known person make the presentation of their life.

    What would you add to this list?

    I think evangelicals are just coming back to the concept of story. For whatever reason we’ve gotten into a habit that preaching ought to be a lecture instead of a story. But with our cultures fascination of story, many leaders are seeing that in order to preach into people’s lives they have to be a better storyteller.

  • The Dark Side of Attractional Ministry

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    The dark side of attractional ministry is that it’s a short term strategy.

    True confession–

    I was a perveyor of an attractional ministry model. It never permeated any youth group that I’ve been a part of, but the structure of our last ministry was– at it’s very core– an attractional model within our two biggest demographics. (Children and adults 40+) Time and time again here on the blog I’ve made generalizations about attractional ministry, not just as an outside observer, but as someone who has participated and performed within the model. I critique because I know!

    Three quick reasons attractional ministry doesn’t work:

    1. A life with Christ isn’t entertaining. At the end of the day, a day-to-day walk with Jesus isn’t filled with flash pots, set design, video screens, and compelling skits, and crafted messages for the heart. So the premise itself presents a well-intentioned lie about Jesus.

    2. When the lights go out, people feel empty. Whether its an amazing kids program or a great event for adults. The reality is that people leave feeling empty and longing for more. Just like 2 hours of television doesn’t fill the soul quite like an intense conversation with a good friend, an amazing night of Jesus-y entertainment just leaves you tired and empty. The attractional model had the same effect as a visit to a casino. A huge build up and a huge let-down. (With free drinks along the way.)

    3. It’s unsustainable. This goes in a few directions. It isn’t sustainable in that a single church cannot entertain all the demographics/age groups you will attract. Also, it isn’t sustainable among volunteer and paid staff. (People don’t volunteer to entertain, they volunteer to minister) Lastly, it isn’t sustainable as it doesn’t prepare people to leave your church and fulfill the Great Commision.

    You can’t sustain it as a church

    When we first began our attractional ministry to children it seemed so innocent. The idea was if we could make the kids program awesome, kids wouldn’t want to miss church. We’d target kids knowing that parents would follow and support something that was great for their kids. It wasn’t about attracting money, it was about attracting families. Our hearts were in the right place as less than 5% of our communities families were part of a church. It wasn’t a false Gospel, it wasn’t evil or about self, it was just a short-term strategy that worked very well at first.

    The dark side of that is that entertaining people is an ever-hungrier dragon. Our initial efforts were simple and fun. But expectations quickly swelled. It didn’t take long for us to rethink our plan… we needed bigger casts, more production money, more planning, and if we just upped our game a little bit we could attract more people. When we got to the next level, people were excited and wanted more. Within a very short time people were expecting an experience we couldn’t create. They’d watch television or go on vacation and their expectations increased as they wanted those experiences with a Jesus-twist. More money, more people, more production… this is not a model for sustainability. I don’t care if your congregation is 200 or 20,000. You simply cannot compete in a sustainable fashion with the entertainment industry.

    Your leadership can’t sustain it

    The same truism played out among the leadership. The folly of turning one area of the church into mini-Disney quickly caused unintended consequences. Within a few months I went from ministering to the hearts of people to the host of a three ring circus. I had a hard time getting into spiritual conversations. It always came around to “I loved what you guys did, what’s happening next?” It was such a time-sucker that in all reality… I was the host of a three ring circus who did the bare minimum relationally to be called a minister. The community recognition was useful, the day-to-day reality wasn’t useful.

    Among the leaders, people turned on one another when one attractional ministry got more attention or funding than another. Remember that dragon? He always needs to be fed and as he grows he gets hungrier and more demanding. And a church only has so much talent that is functional for entertainment. As expectations for better entertainment attracted new and more people– competition for resources began. Feelings were hurt. Rank pulled. Volunteers stolen. Guilt laid. Moral shrank. Frustration set in. We all wondered in our silence, “How can we spend the same amount of time and money and get a bigger and better product?” We had fed a dragon that now spit fire.

    That’s right… the church staff began thinking of worship services, kids ministries, and adult outreach as product to be perfected and sold to an audience. Before we could figure out what was happening, it all turned into one tragic game a bigger or better. The problem this model was created to solve really just made the original problem ten times worse.

    The whole time I knew we couldn’t sustain it forever. There wasn’t more money. There weren’t more people. The questions went from “what are we looking to do in the next 3-5 years?” To “what are we trying to do this year?” To “what are we doing this quarter?” To “what are we doing this month?” To “what are we doing this week?” In desperation you just get into a survival mode of… how can we get through this week? No one entered into this foreseeing this problem. But that’s how dragons go, I guess.

    Ever increasing expectations + lack of resources + staff frustrations = burnout. I wasn’t alone in feeling burnt out. All of our staff and volunteers felt it. But none of us would admit to it because we were all too busy feeding the dragon. He wanted more.

    You can’t sustain it as a model for walking with Jesus

    The model itself sounds so Christ-like when you start. We justified, “Hey, this is exactly what Jesus did. He drew a crowd, then invited them in to a relationship.” But our theology was short sighted. We forgot John 6, didn’t we? When Jesus confronts those following him with the reality that following him was going to mean they’d have to carry His burden and that in order to follow Him lont-term they’d have to eat his flesh and drink his blood… John writes... “From this time many disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

    Within a year, the most dedicated volunteers were still following us but the majority had pulled a John 6:66 and gone home. Who could blame them? The leaders were defeated, but still had people coming– expecting to be entertained. Pride set in as we doubled down to say, our plan MUST WORK! We couldn’t admit our mistake or tell those people that ultimately our vision failed. We knew a walk with Jesus wassn’t about fun skits, silly songs, games, and great music. Ultimately, our attractional-style of ministry worked in one way and had devastating effects in another. All the staff hated what we had created. All of the staff lied to themselves that it was worth it. All of the staff openly questioned themselves, “Is this what ministry is all about?”

    A life with Jesus isn’t about making it from one event to the next. It isn’t about getting inspired by an event. Teaching people that by depending on entertainment to draw people is ultimately not the Gospel. It looks like Jesus. It smells like Jesus. But its just a shadow of the real thing. Luke documented this phenomenon in Acts 8.

    Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

    I share this story as a warning to my friends in ministry— tough times make us all look for easy solutions. It’s Fall. A lot of churches are in the same position we were in when we started our attractional ministry. They have vision, they have unreached people, but right now money is tight and you think… “If we could only attract 20 more families, we’d be OK. We wouldn’t have to lay off staff.” That’s right where we were when we brought the dragon into our church.

    That dragon may be cute and cudely today– but trust me, it will breathe fire soon enough. He will eat you up, spit you out, and leave you quoting Ecclesiastes.

  • The Youth Pastors House

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    Yesterday, I was riding my bike to the trolley when I spotted this beauty. While the saran wrapping of the cars is very well done, the TP job leaves a lot to be desired.

    My first thought? Hey, I wonder what church this person works at?

    Of all the church staff, the one thing that youth workers get right more often than anyone else… good  ministry happens in the home. I’d take that a step further to say, the best ministry happens in the home. It doesn’t have to be your house. But the best stuff typically happens in a house.

  • When the lowest common denominator matters

    number-oneI often live in a lofty world of ideals, philosophy, whimsy, and sweeping generalizations. Phrases like “vision drives decision” and “you need to find a place where your dreams, skills, and income converge” all sound well and good. People like those phrases. They share them on Facebook and Twitter. They quote them in blogs posts. They fit nicely into talk outlines. They send me emails letting me know how meaningful that was in their situation. But there are definitely times when the lowest common denominator matters.

    – When your ministry is out of money…

    – When the boss is deciding the budget…

    – When no one shows up…

    – When moral is at an all-time low…

    – When you’ve just been laid off…

    – When your start-up is almost bankrupt…

    – When your child gets sick…

    – When war breaks out in your backyard…

    What’s interesting about a recession, about crisis, about personal turmoil– is that you learn that at the end of the day that the lowest common denominator is more important than ideals, vision, and philosophy. You could have a great vision for your church. But, without cash that vision is just a dream, that philosophy is just an academic exercise, and your ideals are just snotty.

    A person swears up and down that they are a pacifist. But when war rages in their neighborhood and takes the life of a loved one, they will fight. People will say that numbers don’t matter in youth ministry. But when no one comes to their retreat, the boss is looking to cut their budget, and the board is looking to fire them… they will quote numbers like a Baptist after and altar call.

    A person will say, “I’d never work do that kind of work.” But, if you get hungry enough you will.

    When crisis hits people get tribal. They protect what is most core to them. And they lash out to defend. They make decisions that seem out of character. That’s when lowest common denominator becomes all that really matters.

  • The wedding celebration

    Looks just like them!
    Yesterday, I was happy to perform a wedding ceremony for some new friends. It was a perfect day. Everyone smiled from ear to ear.  I said the couple’s last name correctly after practicing it hundreds of times. Independently, all of the “staff” hired for the wedding said the same thing to me, “I love working with couples like them, their #1 goal is that they want to be married.” It was a complete pleasure to be a part of the day, everything went off without a hitch.

    Well, one slightly embarrassing moment for me that no one really noticed. The audio guy for the golf course handed me this cheap little wireless microphone and told me to stick it on my tie. When I took it to the bathroom to properly hide the wiring I could tell it was going to be a problem. (Really, why does a place that invests $500,000 in their wedding business buy a $300 microphone?) Then, when I did a quick sound check with him he told me that the trick was that I needed to turn the mic’s power on right when the bride comes down the aisle since it pops and has feedback on mute mode. Cute. I’m worried about pronouncing their last name correctly and now I have this to worry about? So, while everyone turns to look at the bride in her big moment, the fat pastor starts fishing for the power button and in the process the mic pops out of its cheap clip and dangles down to my groin. I quickly fish it back up and stick it back into the clip right as she gets to the front. No one notices, all eyes on the bride. Awesome. Well, 30 seconds into the ceremony I make a gesture to the groom to go retrieve his bride from his father-in law and the mic comes out of the clip again and plops on my open Bible. Thud. Thankfully, I’ve done enough stuff to just adjust my voice and project a tad and move on. It was one of those little things that happens that isn’t a big deal but you can make a little scene about if you keep fiddling with it. We moved past it, no one ever noticed, and I got to share a laugh with the audio guy… it’s all good. (If that’s the worst thing that happened it was an awesome wedding!)

    Back to more serious stuff.

    Here’s my new revelation about marriage that I weaved into the fabric of the ceremony. It’s not a private act between a man and a woman, it’s a public act of community recognition of a private decision. The couple has rights and responsibilities, in taking a public vow they affirm certain things about what will happen in the privacy of their home. And the witnesses who participate in the ceremony have rights and responsibilities to the couple as they act on behalf of the community at-large. If you buy into the idea that God institutes who lives where and that the Gospel breathes life to spiritually dead places, this makes sense as we all join together in community under common laws, practices, mores, and other social rules… then this makes total sense.

    To affirm this relationship between the witnesses and the couple I added this paragraph into the closing of the ceremony:

    It’s our responsibility, as witnesses to this marriage, to do two things. First, I ask that you join me in loving and supporting this couple as they join together as husband and wife. Second, you have a responsibility to celebrate with this couple today! Please join us for the party and join them in making today a wonderful celebration of their new life together.

    What do you think? Is this better off stated or implied as part of a wedding? Is it implied by witnessing, participating in the celebration, and giving gifts to the couple that you are publicly affirming their private decision and contract? Or am I just making too much of this?

  • Why I Stand Up to Bullies

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    “What if you found out that the principal had denied access to the gay/straight alliance because of some technicality… a rule the Christian club broke all the time? Would you take a stand for the gay/straight alliance? They have the right to meet at the school under the same rules that give the Christian group rights to meet.“ I asked this question to a senior pastor friend of mine over a cup of coffee. The conversation got to this point when he asked me why I was always standing up for the little guy. I told him that our role as Christian leaders was to help others seek justice to which he replied, “Well, some things deserve justice and equality while others don’t.”

    And Christians wonder why some people hate them?

    Let me share a few reasons why I think more Christian leaders don’t stand up to bullies:

    1. They are wimps. Somewhere in all of our education we are taught to never fight the system, just to submit to the ruling authority, and smile at old ladies on Sunday mornings. I’ve met far too many church leaders whose only leadership skill is diplomacy. Diplomacy is great. But the desire to negotiate is worthless if no one takes you seriously. Just because you are a church leader doesn’t mean you have to be a pansy.

    2. They have horrible theology. In the above discussion you see it played out. That church leader was only interested in standing up for the Christian group. No one else in the community matters to him because they don’t directly benefit him. (Directly, meaning he doesn’t see the connection between justice and church growth!) You know, Jesus and his disciples only ever stood up for the religious folks, right? Just ask the woman at the well and that woman about to be stoned when caught having sex.

    3. They are afraid of their churches. Good Lord, imagine what would happen if the senior pastor actually stood up against injustice in his community! I mean, what would the board say? I mean… if I don’t do what they say I could lose my job! (See #1 & #2)

    4. Their worldview is jacked up. I could ask the pastor above if he was an absolutist or a graded-absolutist and he’d swear oaths to Josh McDowell that he was walking the absolutist straight and narrow. But based on how he answered the question above you’d see that he’s really a relativist. (gasp) He’d stand up for the Christian groups right to meet at a local high school because he agrees with them. But because he doesn’t agree with gay/straight alliance, he wouldn’t. Relativism in action. So what’s good for one group isn’t good for another, right pastor?

    5. Their priorities are out-of-order. The last cop-out I hear all the time is, “I’m so busy running the church.” Too many who work in churches are so worried about running the programs of the church that they forget their place in society. Think about it… most pastors make horrible neighbors. They are too busy to be a part of the community, they use their house as a meeting location, and they are preaching all the time that you should love your neighbor despite the fact that they don’t know their own neighbors names or love them one bit. It shocks me that the way evangelical churches operate that they are so out-of-balance with the community’s need.

    I know these are generalizations. And I know that people think that if they can dismiss one single point with a specific example they can dismiss all that I’m saying. Please don’t lose the point of the post by disagreeing with a single generalization. The point is that if you want to be a Christian leader in your community, you don’t need the title of pastor. What you need to do is look deeply at what’s going on, expose injustices, speak out for the weak and poor among you, and stand up to bullies. Whether that’s a school board, a government official, a nasty neighbor, a gang, the big donor at church pulling the strings, or even some bullies picking on kids as they walk to school.

    Jesus is a big fan of justice, are you?

  • Football, Church, and polls

    bowdenAugust 1st arrives and I find myself drawn to coverage of football. I’m not really into baseball. With 164 regular season games I struggle to care between April and September. The NBA playoffs last almost as long as the regular season so that has never interested me. March Madness is fantastic, but it only lasts a month. And I can’t get into watching hockey on TV so that is out. College football is, by far, my favorite sport to get into.

    The Pre-Season polls are starting to come out. This is the one thing that truly irks me about college football. So much is determined about the outcome of the football season before the ball is kicked off in September. It simply makes no sense to me that you pre-rank teams before they’ve played a game knowing that the polls will eventually determine who gets ot play in the national championship game. The same 25 teams are in the top 25 each fall. It’s as though the script for college football has already been written. Tim Tebow, back for his senior season, will play either Texas or Oklahoma for a national championship… depending on who wins the conference championship game. A playoff is the only thing that will fix this. And even that will be effected by pre-season polls.

    church-rankingsA few years back I was hanging out with some friends and we were discussing setting up a fantasy church league. You know, put out church rankings based on attendence, power of sermon, quality of worship service. Add to the mix some Church Center replays and postgame talk… we could probably get enough interest to put out weekly rankings. “Late in the sermon it looked like Craig Groeschell was losing his audience. Heads dipped and the internet interaction started to slow. But then he threw in an unexpected hail mary altar call and brought it down! What a pro finish!” or “John Piper’s delivery was flawless on Sunday. His precision in slicing and dicing that passage, tying in the joy application, that was a thing of beauty. Church Center play of the week nominee, for sure.” But then we thought it’d make the whole thing just weird if it blew up and pastors started spiking Bibles and dudes started getting endorsement deals. Can you imagine a postgame interview from Perry Noble? “First off, I need to give all the glory to Jesus Christ. Second of all, I couldn’t have done it without my Pepsi Worship Team and the Tommy Nelson Gospel Choir. Without them, we wouldn’t have won today.”

    Thankfully, we came to our senses on that one. The last thing anyone wants is for megachurches to start lobbying supporters for all-star votes!

    Football wouldn’t be the same without rankings. Church wouldn’t either.

  • When life crushes you

    Awesome video. When I saw it I laughed and went “hmm” at the same time. Isn’t it ironic that the thing that cleans and refreshes us… in massive quantities crushes and destroys?

    As an introvert stuck in an extroverts world I often feel relationally crushed by human interaction.     For example, one of my biggest struggles in serving in ministry was the always on nature of events, retreats, and mission trips. I would ache for alone time to reflect on what was happening, but feel crushed by the urgent needs of my students. I’m ashamed that there were moments of imbalance where I would snap at an adult volunteer or student… not because of what they did or said but because they inhabited the space my introverted mind wanted to protect.

    What are the types of things that crush you with their goodness?

    What are some centering activities you do when you feel crushed by things that are meant to refresh and cleanse?

  • Gran Torino Discussion Questions

    Basic CMYKWalt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can’t get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao’s family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood. link

    Discussion Questions:

    – Why do you think Kowalski stayed in his neighborhood when all of his neighbors had moved to the suburbs?

    – Perhaps the hardest part to stomach of Gran Torino is the repeated use of racial slurs. Do you think Kowalski was a racist?

    – The miscommunication between Kowalski and his sons was epic. Based on what is presented in the movie, what would be some steps the son could have taken to re-open the lines of communication?

    – What changed Kowalski’s opinion of his Hmong neighbors?

    – When confronted with the priest, Kowalski closed the door on his because he was too young to comprehend what Kowalski was going through. Should the priest have honored his parishner’s wishes, tried harder, or done the same as was presented in the movie?

    – Kowalski fathered Thao in a way that he didn’t his own children. Why?

    – The Hmong people celebrated Kowalski as a hero. Was he a hero, a vigilante, or a nutcase?

    – Which character was more righteous, Kowalski or the priest?

    – When Kowalski finally goes to confession, he confesses that he kissed a woman at a cocktail party and that he wasn’t a good father. Do you think there were other burdens that he needed to confess?

    – Kowalski’s actions helped one family in a tough neighborhood. What action could you take to make a change in your nieghborhood?

    – Ultimately, Kowalski embraced his Hmong neighbors, mentored the boy next store, and helped them seek justice where justice could not be found. What does that teach us about our individual responsibilities in the hood we live in?

    – Which character represented the person you’d like to be. Why?

    – Which character exhibited the type of faith you’d like to exhibit in your life?

    – What do you think happened in the neighborhood after the story ends?