There is a resurgence in conversation on a previous post that I had made. It deals with a church, with American Idol, and with cultural relevance.
See it here.
Furthermore, another blog has made a post referring to my original post. I’ve left a comment there as well.
Chime in…what do you think? Join the conversation. I would love to hear some other thoughts…
I think this story is weird. A church in Omaha is hosting former American Idol finalist Heather Cox for a concert. But that’s not all.
On the morning of the concert, the church is hosting an American Idol-like audition to earn the chance to sing on stage during Heather’s concert that evening.
Then, that afternoon, Heather is hosting a workshop where people can hear her perform, tell her story, and get details of her American Idol experience. She will share what the audition process was like, what she ate before, and other stuff.
No doubt, the event is designed to coincide with the American Idol auditions that are being held in Omaha on August 8th. It just seems strange to me. The church is trying to make an Idol. Ha.
You can get some details here.
Does anybody else think this is weird?
Today I read this quote via this blog:
Jesus never said, “I will build my social service agency.”
He never said, “I will build my parachurch ministry.”
He never said, “I will build my university or my Christian college or my Christian school.”He said, “I will build my church.”
One institution in all the universe is given this promise. ‘I will build my church.’ So, brothers, be encouraged that you are about something extraordinarily important.
This quote is credited to John Piper.
Now, this has gotten me to thinking. What is “the church?” Can the church not also be the “parachurch ministry” like CCH? Is the church confined only to those places that have a name to them like “First Christian Church of MyTown” or “The Gathering Place Church” or “The Refuge Church”? Cannot “Christian Campus House” be called part of the church?
Tough questions.
Let’s define, if we can, what the “church” (in the traditional definition) is:
Or, if you prescribe to Rick Warren’s philosophy, the church should evangelize, worship, serve, disciple, and fellowship.
The Christian Campus House does all these things. Could we not then be called a part of the church? Does Jesus’ promise to build his church not include us?
Is my definition of “the church” too broad?
Or is our definition of “the church” too narrow?
Please comment.
Here is a copy of my notes from the sermon I gave Easter Sunday. I entitled the sermon “Why Would We Miss the Resurrected Christ?”
Sorry for the bad formatting.
Brian Jones posted last week about 64 things that he wished someone had told him about ministry 10 years ago. You can read the entire post here.
I’d like to highlight my favorites for you.
#11 The secret to growing a church is three words: steal, steal, steal. M. Twain—“The secret to originality is to conceal your sources.”
#17 Never use negative illustrations about your family—you create the church’s impression of them.
#21 If you don’t have money to give raises, give raises in time off.
#30 My best outreach—coaching my kids’ sports teams.
#51 Kill your invitation hymn and have your Senior Pastor say, “We’re glad you’re here. If question, I’ll be down here. If new, I’d like to meet you. If prayer…”
#54 When you have no staff, identify your five most important departments, interview the most qualified volunteers in your church and “hire them” by giving them titles. Meet once a week for staff meeting in an evening. That’s how churches 200 and below grow fast.
#56 Pick up a vice like cigar smoking or playing poker. The normal people in your church will thank you for it.
#61 If forced to choose, choose to offend the Christian before you choose to offend the non-Christian (ex. we offered a cash bar at a Comedy night we recently hosted).
It’s true. Read the story here.
Why are some people so afraid of connection? Why are people afraid of community? Why are people afraid to be real with each other? Why are people afraid to let others into their lives?
Please post a comment and let me know your thoughts about these questions…I have my own ideas, but would love for you to start with yours.
We ended up having church today. All of the snow and blizzard-like conditions we were supposed to get did not come to fruition. We ended up with about 5″. This morning I woke up, shoveled the drive, scraped the car windshields, then loaded up the family and headed to the church. Usually I leave a lot earlier than the rest of the family and finish up some last minute duties early Sunday morning, but I felt better if Keri and the kids were with me driving.
We had 28 at our worship service. This time of year is tough…this is the 2nd time we have had only 28 at a service; the last time was another snow storm. I preached. I preached my heart out.
We started a sermon series called “Looking at Jesus Again for the First Time.” I’ll post some notes later. I wasn’t sure what the response would be; what I was presenting was pretty challenging stuff. We have the ideas and images of what Christ looks like, what he sounds like, what he does, and how he does it. And many of these images and ideas have been with us since childhood. These create for us a “frame of reference.” And when an idea or teaching about Jesus stretches us to look at him outside of our frame of reference, it challenges us and can make us feel uncomfortable.
But we need this. It’s not bad to feel challenged and uncomfortable when it comes to Jesus. So, we kicked off this little journey today. I was excited about the message; but bummed that the weather didn’t cooperate and more couldn’t hear it.
One of the interesting places that I have found myself in this last year is the place of being a bi-vocational minister. This is my third located ministry, but the first time where I have found myself working two jobs: one at the church, and the other in the marketplace.
Why am I bi-vocational? Well, the short answer right now is “because I have to.” I pastor a small church. And often times in smaller churches, you have smaller salaries. In a large city, like Omaha, the cost of living is greater than the salary that the small church can offer.
Being bi-vocational brings about interesting challenges. I would like to spend some time over the next few weeks discussing what those challenges are.
But first, a couple of disclaimers:
So…without further ado…
Being Between the Proverbial Rock and Hard Place
Smaller churches often have smaller salaries to offer their ministers because they have a smaller amount of income through the tithes and offerings of the church. In order for a minister’s salary to increase, a lot of times what needs to happen is that the church grows numerically so that the tithes and offerings can grow proportionally, thus resulting in more income in which the church can give the minister a raise.
But I am caught, as are many bi-vocational ministers, between the rock and the hard place. I want our church to grow; I want the tithes and offerings to grow; and in those hopes, it would be neat to see my salary grow and I would be able to abandon the part-time job. The rock.
But the hard place is that I have devote one-half of my work week to that part-time job in order to get the bills paid. Do you see the Catch-22?
The church is small and offers a small salary. To get a great salary, it needs to grow. For it to grow, it needs a minister who can be present and focused all the time. To have a minister present and focused means he shouldn’t work two jobs. But he has to work two jobs so he can pay his bills. And because he has to work two jobs, he can’t be present and focused at the church. And because he can’t be present and focused at the church, it suffers slower growth. And because it suffers slower growth, so does the increase in his salary.
The rock and the hard place.
As I stated earlier, I don’t want these to be negative posts. I want them to be positive and constructive. So, a few thoughts…
My friend, Paul, has a great post on his blog about things he would be focusing on if he were the pastor of a small church. Go read it.
Paul mentions, in point #3, that he would blog and promote that blog shamelessly. That, coupled with a new book I just picked up today, entitled “The Blogging Church,” I am excited about some of the ideas I have in regards to this blog. I have just begun to scratch the surface of what kind of tool this blog can be; for family, for church, for ministry.
Watch out!
By the way, this blog had the more visitors today than any other day since it’s inception. Thanks for reading and sharing in the conversation.
We are having an interesting discussion in one of my other posts about the multi-generational aspect of churches. Or, the lack thereof. Only recently, as in the last 100 years or so, have churches began to really emphasize splitting the church family up into age-appropriate groups. There are pros and cons to doing this.
One of the pros is that people can learn from other people in their same situations. For example, a young couple who just got married but has no children yet can sit with others like them and talk about their lives and what they are going through. Those who are middle-aged and single can do the same with other middle-aged single people. Children who are 3 years old can learn with other children who are 3 years old from teachers who are prepared to teach 3 year olds.
But, we also lose something special when we split everybody up. Older couples can teach younger couples a lot of wisdom about life and marriage and sex and whatever. The 14 year old girl can learn a lot from the 44 year old lady who has experienced more life. The 4 year old boy can witness and participate in church with adults…and see how the experience God.
I heard of a church called Southwest Family Fellowship. They offer a service called “Buzz” which is an interactive service designed to be experienced by kids and adults together. Basically, from what I can see from their website and from this post on simplymissional.com, it’s a 30 minute worship service to be experienced by both kids and adults alike before the kids head off to “Junior Church” and the adults head off to “Grown-up Church.”
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