Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I am astonished beyond words (metaphorically speaking, of course) that no one has offered me a punch line on the How to Count Church Attendance Post. I figure everyone’s too busy traveling and cooking turkey.

Therefore, I’m going to suspend posts until after Thanksgiving and the Alabama-Auburn football game (1:30 CT on Friday CBS). I mean, who am I to tempt you away from family and football — not to mention turkey and dressing?

And when you’ve recovered, come back refreshed and fed, and give me some punchlines! And have a great Thanksgiving!

By the way, I’ve changed email services. Those of you who’ve subscribed by Feedburner are welcome to continue to do so (you need do nothing to preserve the status quo), but WordPress (who hosts the blog) is now offering their own service that’s a bit more flexible. The link on the upper right for email subscriptions now links to the new WordPress native service.

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Replanting a Church: Evangelism, Part 1

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We are working through an article by Scott Thomas on replanting an existing church, that is, renewing a church so that it grows and matures as a church plant does.

Following a consideration of worship in the replanted church, Scott urges us to —

b. Envision what the evangelism could be (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

  1. Who can you reach immediately?
  2. What attitudes toward evangelism need to change?
  3. Where or how could you boldly make an impact with the gospel?
  4. What steps of faith need to be taken to reach the unchurched and the unsaved?
  5. How could your youth evangelize?
  6. How could households evangelize together?
  7. What worldwide impact could you make as a body (i.e. foreign missions)?
  8. How are you going to be an eternal value to your community?

Evangelism is tough for everyone. We are all struggling with how to get our members to be more effective evangelists. What about a replant would change that? Continue reading →

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Replanting a Church: Worship

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We are working through an article by Scott Thomas on replanting an existing church, that is, renewing a church so that it grows and matures as a church plant does.

After pointing out the need for a new vision, he writes —

a. Envision what the worship gathering could be (Acts 2:42-47).

  1. Attitude of Body during worship
  2. Music
  3. Prayer
  4. Teaching
  5. Communion
  6. Children
  7. Exaltation of God
  8. Incorporation of arts

In Churches of Christ, worship is theologically important — very nearly central, although we’d never admit it. Having the worship right in terms of having the right elements and only the right elements is so important to us that many consider it a salvation issue (that’s very, very wrong, but that’s another discussion). However, we don’t place nearly the same emphasis on doing worship well. Continue reading →

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Pre-Thanksgiving Humor: How to Count Church Attendance

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We’re all familiar with the “preacher count” of attendance. At long last, Tall Skinny Kiwi has developed the means to adjust the figures to reality.

– 50% if its a Pentecostal worship service because they count the legs and forget to divide by two.

– 30% if its a Baptist church because they count members on the roll and not all of them are still living.

+ 10 if its a Vineyard service because those rugs on the floor were actually people!

+ 20% if it’s a fundamentalist church because they don’t count the people they didn’t want there.

– 30% if it’s an Anglican/Presbyterian/Methodist church because the number they gave you is from their huge Easter service.

+ 15% if it’s an ethnic/non-western service because all those people coming late missed the counting.

– 10% if its a megachurch because the worship team and welcome team got counted during all 5 services.

– 520% if its a Catholic church because they count the parish, not the church attendance.

+ 20% if it’s an emergent service because those having a smoke outside were not counted.

– 25 % if its a Reformed church service because they count the people who SHOULD have been there.

– 15% if it’s a house church because the neighborhood kids playing video games in the back room somehow managed to get counted with everyone else. So did the guy delivering pizza.

So … what’s the adjustment for a Church of Christ? (And surely there’s a punch line for Universalist/Unitarians)

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Replanting a Church: Vision

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We are working through an article by Scott Thomas on replanting an existing church, that is, renewing a church so that it grows and matures as a church plant does.

In the last post, I copied an outline from this article by Scott Thomas on how to replant an existing church. His outline begins —

1. Envision what the church could be if no pre-existing traditions existed. Dream big. Now add God to the equation. Dream again. Then dream short-term to see the immediate needs of the body.

Now, Thomas writes from within a denomination where churches are led by single pastors — and he’s writing to pastors. In a Church of Christ, he would be speaking to the senior leadership, typically the elders.

In a Church of Christ, a replanting cannot occur unless the eldership is squarely on board — and unanimously so. They can hire new ministers, but the ministers can’t hire new elders. The elders carry a virtual lifetime appointment, have the oversight of the congregation, and the vision must start with them. Continue reading →

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Jobs With More Stress Than the Pay Justifies: Preacher and Worship Minister

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

According to a survey by CNN Money, of the 10 jobs that carry the most stress for the pay received, 2 are found in the ministry professions —

5. Music Ministry Director

Median pay: $40,800
% who say their job is stressful: 67%

You may not think of people who plan, direct and conduct performances for religious services as being under a particularly high amount of stress. But they also choose the appropriate psalm or hymn for every wedding and funeral — only some of the most important events in a family’s life. And those stressful situations can create some demanding clients.

“Every now and then you’ll get a strange request,” said Dan Fenn, Music Ministry Director at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minn. “A couple of years ago I got a request to play the Beer Barrel Polka at a funeral. You have to ask yourself, is this appropriate for a worship service?”

And coming in at number 10 —

Minister

10. Minister

Median pay: $45,300
% who say their job is stressful: 71%

They may answer to a higher calling, but all that spirituality does not come stress free. It’s a lot of responsibility being an authority on morality. Leading religious worship every week and providing spiritual and moral guidance can be a heavy cross to bear for those in the ministry.

“People who are deathly sick, people with substance abuse problems, things of that nature, that can be emotionally draining,” said Father Dan Skvir of Princeton, N.J. “I’ve had calls at 2 or 3 in the morning to come and attend to someone, people in imminent danger of death.”

Now, I’ve never been in either position, so I have no opinion (he says not wanting to give offense to current staff members). I just figure it has to be better in the Churches of Christ where the ministers get to wear regular clothes.

[PS — Bob, professional fundraiser comes in at 7! Marcus, college professor is number 3 on the paid-well-for-little-stress list.]

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Replanting a Church: Introduction

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I have what they call a brown thumb. Some people have green thumbs. Mine is brown. It’s brown because every houseplant I touch winds up dead. You see, I figure plants need water and sunlight, which is true. But houseplants are different. Houseplants grow in pots, and pots change everything.

A plant in a pot can only grow as large as the pot permits — and plants were designed to grow. When they get choked by a too-small pot, sometimes they die. And for an outdoor plant, well, it’s hard to overwater them. The water just flows to other places. But pots hold the water, and too much water will kill a plant.

The way we do church in this country is more like a houseplant than a garden plant. We put them in pots. Sometimes they build their own pots. But they all have pots. And sometimes the pot kills them. Other times, the pot just limits how big the church can get. A church in too small a pot will be unhealthy, rootbound, and wilted.

Plants were meant to grow, which means they need to be replanted into new pots on a regular basis — or else they stay small or even get sick and die. Growing plants need ever-bigger pots. Continue reading →

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Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: Seminar at the North Shelby Baptist Church

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Jay F Guin

I’ve just gotten back from a seminar taught by Ray Vander Laan in south Birmingham, Alabama, at the North Shelby Baptist Church. The seminar began at 6:00 on Friday night and ended about 5:00 today — and it was fabulous! RVL is a remarkably gifted teacher. I have 7,000 words worth of notes, and will shortly post some of the material from the seminar.

The North Shelby Baptist Church offered excellent hospitality and a great facility.

Let’s see …

I live about an hour west of the church where RVL spoke and the Friday night drive took 2 1/2 hours. Part of the 3-lane interstate had been narrowed to 2 lanes for some reason, people had to gawk, folks were leaving town for a long Thanksgiving break, and I59/20 turned into a parking lot.

Anyway, the driving and seminar kept me away from the blog for longer than in a very long time. I have a LOT of comments to read. Maybe I’ll get caught up tomorrow.

The seminar was extraordinary. There were people there from as far away as Tennessee. If you ever get the chance to see RVL live — make the time. He’s truly a great teacher. (Not a preacher. Not a professor. A teacher in the New Testament sense of the word.)

His video series has 7 volumes available. My church is about to finish the complete set in all the adult classes — and they’ve been excellent lessons and very popular (I had an older woman — much taller and bigger than me — threaten me with physical harm if we didn’t teach them all. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”). I’m delighted to know that RVL has just finished filming a couple more that will soon be available. We’ll certainly cover them in class whenever they come out.

Now, RVL teaches Bible, not denominational theology. He stays close to the text and provides rich and unexpected insights into the word of God — over and over. Do your congregations a favor and cover this material.

Sadly, I was speaking to a member of another Church of Christ in town, recommending this material. He asked whether RVL is a member of the Church (he said it with a capital “C”). I said no. He said there’s no way his elders would let that material be covered. It’s sad.

Meanwhile, earlier today a woman sought me out at the seminar, said she’s learned about the seminar from this blog, and wanted to encourage me to keep on blogging. She is anxious to see the Churches shed their legalism. Amen.

The seminar was held in a Baptist Church, sponsored by a Methodist Church (which had the seminar held at the Baptist Church because it has a bigger sanctuary), and about 20% of the audience was from the Churches of Christ — either my congregation or people invited by members of my congregation. RVL is part of the Reformed Church.

Welcome to the post-denominational world. It’s a good place to be. In fact, it’s what the Restoration Movement has been striving for since its beginning. Alexander Campbell would have been delighted by the seminar — both the content and the people there. It’s a shame so many of his spiritual heirs have so missed the point.

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Church Plants and Missions: Putting a Congregational Vision Together, Part 2

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Jay F Guin

5. Have the entire congregation support the missionary.

* Make sure his newsletter goes to everyone (electronically, of course).

* Be sure the entire church gets to spend time with him before he’s sent and each time he visits.

* Regularly include his work in congregational prayer.

* Use his experiences as sermon illustrations — he’s part of the family.

* Use an internet feed to celebrate a joint communion service with his church annually.

* If he’s in a third-world country, send donated clothes or other appropriate gifts that will help his ministry.

* Send short-term missions to help his work. Continue reading →

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Church Plants and Missions: Putting a Congregational Vision Together, Part 1

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Jay F Guin

We in the Churches of Christ aren’t very good at missions — foreign or domestic. The biggest problem isn’t in the mission field, though. It’s in our churches. We just don’t know what we’re doing.

I don’t pretend to have any real expertise. I just have that wonderful objectivity that total ignorance sometimes brings. That is, I’ve seen it done badly at a lot of places for a lot of years. I don’t know much about how to do it right, but I’m an expert in how to do it wrong. That’s worth something, isn’t it?

So we’ve been going through a visioning process for our missions program, and this is where I am in my thinking — largely based on how not to do it. Maybe the readers can improve on what little I know.

1. Start with humility. You probably don’t know what you’re doing either. It’s okay. None of us does. Continue reading →

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