BACK TO WORK

To my faithful and patient subscribers:

Solomon once wisely wrote, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."

I certainly relate to that observation.  You have no doubt notice (if you're still visiting this blog) that I have had only 3 posts in two months.  This has been the season for practicing being an outward-focused church not writing about it. It's also been a season of focus, consolidation, maintaining, re-visiting and just plain doing ministry (what Dr. James Glasse called "paying the rent.")  If you want to see what that looks like, you can go to my in-house blog for the Church of God of Landiisville Being the Best Church for the Community.

As we enter the rhythm of summer, my focus is shifting back to this blog.  Planned upcoming posts will include these topics:

"Rethink-Questions to Embed a Culture Shift"
"Evangelism and the Outward-Focused Church"
"Disciples or Members"
"Building Bridges to Our Unchurched Neighbors"

I also am open to suggestions of blogs or web sites with which you are familiar that might be worth linking to and/or reposting on this blog. Or maybe you want to offer a guest post from your experience.  Feel free to send them to me at sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org.

Looking forward to renewing our conversation.

STEVE

INWARD FOCUSED KIDS OR OUTWARD

I was talking with a youth pastor who has an effective outreach to the unchurched children of his community.  Like all effective youth pastors, his first concern is to make disciples of children.  He wants them to have a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ while they are still young.

But as he spoke, I heard another motivation for a children’s ministry that is clearly outward-focused in its vision and strategy. It had to be do with the health and faithfulness of the church.  This is what he said, “THE CURSE of the internally focused church is that it develops internally focused children and internally focused teens. Without intervention the curse will be handed down from generation to generation.”

A typical youth group becomes a closed group, where the focus is on meeting the needs (and desires) of kids.  It is what Ed Stetzer has called “a holding tank with pizza.”  Given the tendency of kids to form and fossilize into cliques, outward focused youth leaders must instead teach kids to look beyond themselves.  To see themselves as disciples on mission with Jesus.  They need to learn what it is to be authentic disciples and they need to be given ministries that help out that discipleship into action.

They need to see that their friends need Jesus and be challenged and equipped to help them make disciples of their friends.  Not simply decisions, but functioning disciples.  But again, they need not to be kids who are just getting together to have fun or to be protected from the world’s idea of “fun.”  They need to learn to pray, read and understand God’s Word, discover their gifts and use them.  They need to love Jesus and all the people Jesus loves.

© 2011 by Stephen L Dunn

From the archives of Chris Hunter  EvangelismCoach.Org

Moving from Attractional to Missional

September 27, 2008

I’ve spent the last month talking with pastors around the US about church transformation.  A few pastors are in really difficult situations (read more at: Leaving Egypt and Not Liking it).
From those discussions, it seems that a common meaning of church transformation is

Church transformation is to move a church that is stuck or in serious decline,
and lead them into a new vision of what God has for them.

Thus launching a new life cycle of growth.
Ed Stetzer calls them Comeback Churches.  Ron Crandall calls them TurnAround Churches.
I’ve seen other various titles, like Boomerang church, Redevelopment, Revitalization.  Seems the common word now is Transformational.

Moving from Attractional to Missional

(See Comparing Missional vs. Attractional at Blind Beggar)

A common thread share by these pastors is their labor at moving congregations to shift

• from an exclusive focus on attractional methodology tweaks
• to becoming more missional and engaging their community.

They still seek to improve their attractional ministries (like hospitality and personal invitations to church) but now realize that churches have to be connected to the neighborhood.
It’s a journey in process, and some have moved further along than others.

What is attracional?

Attractional ministry focused on quality programs, excellent hospitality, and marketing to get people in the door.
This was sometimes called a “magnetic” church.  It still is very valuable as a model that supports the work of evangelism of the local church.
Attractional ministry is based on the idea that if you do enough marketing, you can get more foot traffic in your door.  Your hospitality will help the newcomers “stick” and your church will grow.
It’s a variant of “if you build it they will come.”
As I’ve looked at

• Evangelism Committee reports (What is the purpose of an Evangelism Cmmittee?),
• church information forms,
• and mission studies,

a lot of churches still think that making small process adjustments to their parking lot, greeting process, or welcoming will help them reach out to the neighborhood.

What is missional?

I’m not giving a full definition of missional.  In this context, a Missional focus however moves to help the church re-engage its neighborhood.
Some pastors are in island churches, meaning their church is mostly commuters who used to live in that neighborhood.
The culture around the church has changed (demographically, socio-economically), but the church has not adjusted accordingly, thus being a cultural island.
Missional helps the church get out of hoping people will visit them to actively engaging the needs and people of the community, and in the process both demonstrating and sharing the faith in Jesus as Lord.
Many of the pastors I spoke with this past month are trying to move congregations in this direction.

Connect

Free E-course  |  Grab my Feed  |  Ask EvangelismCoach  |  Contact Us  |  Facebook Fan |  Buy My Welcome Church Visitors Book |  Follow Me on Twitter!

THOM RAINER ON LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE SOCIAL MEDIA

 One of the most helpful researchers today in the world on ministry, especially on mobilizing the church in a more outward-focused ministry is Thom Rainer.  I subscribe to his blog by RSS feed.  As a pastor seeking to stay on the front lines of ministry, especially in our technologically savvy culture, I found this post exceptionally helpful.  For more of Thom Rainer click.www.thomrainer.com

In a recent blog on Harvard Business Review, Jodi Glickman notes that young adults in the workplace are abandoning emails and moving toward social media as one of their primary modes of communication, Because social media is so, well, social, the lines are becoming increasingly blurred between business and personal matters.

As an older American of 55 years, I was a later adopter to the blogosphere and Facebook, but I was an earlier adopter to Twitter. I guess there was something appealing to me about communicating in 140 characters or less. Like Glickman notes in her blog, I have learned some key lessons from this relatively new social phenomenon.

The Lines Between Personal and Work Are Blurring
Because I tweet, blog, and post on Facebook, some aspects of my business life and personal life are known to thousands. I’ve seen the advantage of sharing comments about my life with others. Some enjoy my strange humor. Others pray for needs I share. And still others see a personal side to the ministry I lead that they would not see otherwise.

Negatively, I can’t take true getaway vacations or time off anymore. One critic found me on vacation recently via Twitter. My vacation, as a consequence, was not nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped. I know. I can disengage from all social media for a week or so and not be subject to its omnipresence. But it has become so much a part of my life that I find its absence to be disconcerting.

We really don’t get away from work when we leave our workplace. Likewise, because of social media, we typically bring our personal lives to work. Leaders can either bemoan this new reality or they can learn to lead within this context. But don’t expect the young adults in your organization to disengage from the social media when they come to work.

Relationships Are Always Important
If we leaders can learn one thing from the social media, it’s the importance of relationships. The leaders who try to operate from a non-relational grid are doomed to failure. Organizations that try to increase customers and clients without relational intentionality will not survive. Churches that seek to reach people with the gospel will struggle unless its members are developing relationships with others. On Twitter we have followers. On Facebook we have friends. In all aspects of social media, relationships are king.

By the way, the relational issue is important for the leader personally as well. Every leader needs a good and trusted friend. All leaders need someone with whom they can confide and vent. Lone Ranger leadership is fast becoming an oxymoron.

Collaboration is Critical
It is absolutely amazing how social media is literally changing the world. Every day we hear about governments toppling and dictators being deposed. The despotic leader can no longer control the flow of information, so his power is stripped and his position removed.

Great leaders today are learning that the solo voice no longer works. The power of the group is usurping the power of the individual. Social media is the collaboration of hearts and minds. Many have a voice. Many have been empowered. The wise leader knows that he or she does not have all the answers. Collaboration and teamwork are essential. Good listening skills have become a hallmark of great leadership.

Change or Die
I know someone who was told by his physician that he could change his lifestyle and live many more years. If he chose not to change, he probably would not survive any longer than two or three years. The choice was clear: change or die.

Many organizations and leaders are faced with the same choice: change or die. Sadly, many are choosing the latter. Rather than make needed changes, they would rather hang on just a little while longer and then die.
If the world of social media has taught us anything, it has taught us that change is coming at us with increasing frequency. We have the choice. We can complain and yearn for the mythical good old days. Or we can embrace the best of the change that is taking place. I, for one, am glad for the advent of social media. I choose to learn from it and make the best of it.

I have already learned some important lessons, but I know I have many to go. It will be fun and exciting to see what happens next.

THE YOUNGER UN-CHURCHED

From Ed Stetzer comes this insightful column: The Younger Un-churched: what do they really think?


Here is my latest column from the Spring 2011 issue of Facts and Trends magazine, focusing on the younger unchurched:

Adlai Stevenson stated, "That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another." He did not have a particularly high view of the next generation, but he does challenge us to consider the radical changes in thinking that are sometimes seen between generations.
The reality is that generations do think differently and different views emerge - and it is worth our time to consider them. As George Orwell said, "Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it and wiser than the one that comes after it."
This bothers some and challenges others. For me, my concern is not to rail against the next generation-- I want to reach them.

In the book, "Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them," I shared some of the findings from a survey conducted of 1,000 unchurched young adults about the issues of church and spirituality. The study revealed that the younger generation is more open to issues of spirituality than our conventional wisdom allows us to admit.
This generation is open to God and spirituality. When asked if they considered themselves to be spiritual, 73 percent of respondents age 20-29 answered affirmatively. They are interested in learning more about God or a higher supreme being. Eighty-two percent believe a person's spirit continues to exist in some kind of afterlife. Seventy-seven percent believe in the idea of heaven and 60 percent believe in the idea of hell. Perhaps most surprising, 66 percent even believe that Jesus died and came back to life.

The Jesus that they believe in, however, is in some ways a Jesus of their own creation. Only 57 percent believe there is only one God, the God who exists in the Bible. Fifty-eight percent believe the God of the Bible is the same as the gods or spiritual beings of other religions. Though Hinduism ascribes to a million gods, Buddhism has no god, and Christianity has one God, a majority of young adults believe that all of these gods are the same.

While there are clearly negative implications to this pluralism, there are also great opportunities for the church. Sixty-three percent said they would attend a church that presented truth in an understandable way. We need to be proactive about sharing the gospel to this demographic in clear, understandable terms. Simultaneously, we should defy the "Chicken Little syndrome" that believes the church is about to crumble under the weight of pluralism.

It's easy to look at some of the viewpoints of the younger unchurched and write them off. Rather than throwing up our hands in disgust, we need to extend a hand, exemplifying Christ and His gospel now more than ever. We need to enter into authentic relationship with a generation filled with brilliance and potential. We need to begin honest conversations with those who have honest questions.

You can read more about our research on the millennials here, and you can subscribe to Facts and Trends by emailing factsandtrends@lifeway.com.

From Chris Walker, Evangelism Coach, comes this counsel ...

20 Blunders in Welcoming Church visitors

August 14, 2008

The last two posts (part I and part II) shared common practices on welcoming visitors to church.  Here I simply want to give 20 blunders I’ve seen churches make in greeting visitors to church.
Feel free to add your own in the mix (use the comments below).
1.  No One Said Hello.
2.  Bad breath.
3.  20 question doctrinal exam to make sure you are acceptable.
4.  Survey family history and marital status and background check.
5.  No follow-up contact.
6.  Stale snacks / donuts / cookies.
7.  Bad coffee.
8.  Too friendly – smothering and not respecting boundaries.
9.  Body odor.
10.  No eye contact.  Or eye contact and weak smile, but no hello.
11.  Apathy in making a greeting.  Whatever.
12.  Limp handshake and a weak hello.
13.  Too much enthusiasm.
14. “Is this your first time here?”
15.  Hugs to strangers.
16.  Swarming on visitors all at once, like flies on fresh meat.
17.  Unclean bathrooms.
18.  Unsafe Nursery.
19.  Thinking hospitality is evangelism.
20.  Rude staring at hairstyle, body piercings, or choice of clothes (See How Not to Welcome A Visitor about the Secret Dress Code).

STETZER OF TRANSITIONING TO AN OUTWARD FOCUS

 Ed Stetzer recently shared these ideas with the Missional Outreach Network

 Many churches are built around themselves. One simple way to find out--draw a line down the middle of a board or piece of paper and have people within the church honestly assess what functions and ministries of the church are being done for the church versus reaching out to the community. Most likely, the need to lead the church to engage outside of her four walls will be obvious. Then, seek to mobilize the congregation to move outwardly any way that all of you can think of to do it.

Since it is easy to lose momentum and drift back into old patterns, here are a few ideas to help keep the outward focus fresh: 

1. 
2. Plan some simple events to minister to people that involves a group of people from the church. Then have someone share brief testimonies of the outreach experience.
   
   
   
3. Develop a simple outreach plan for the church and then highlight one different part each week in the worship services.
   
   
   
4. Pray for God to change your heart and the heart of the church during public prayer times and pray Luke 10:2.
   
   
5.  Provide training for people to better share their faith, like "Share Jesus Without Fear" or "More to Life Training."
   
    
6. Make a big deal about baptisms by explaining what they represent and invite baptismal candidates to share their testimonies before the whole congregation.
   
7. Meet monthly with key leaders to update, recast a vision for outreach, and pray for God to move in the lives of the church family to act on the vision.
   
   
8. Develop a list of people who do not know Jesus and pray for them regularly with key leaders and before the congregation.