Leadership & Church Life Cycle

As a church planter I have had the opportunity to attend a variety of church planting conferences as a delegate and I have been a guest speaker at a half dozen seminars dealing with church planting. At all these conferences, the event coordinators make it very clear to future church planters that they need to have the right leadership team in place if they want their church plant to be successful. I believe the same is true for the church that is wanting to be rejuvenated. Leadership is the key to a successful turn around BUT it has to be the right leadership.

Just like the life cycle of the church can be plotted on a distribution graph, so to can the five types of people within any congregation. The graph to the right shows these groups and the percentage of people who generally make up each of these groups. Here is what each category means...

Innovators (2.5%): These are people that see a gap in mission and ministry and they think of ways to fill that gap. They can create solutions to problems others don't even see; they are interested in new ideas and are willing to experiment. Church planters are almost always in the "innovator" category, but in an established congregation the lead pastor may not be an innovator. If that is true of your congregation, then you have to look for the innovators and get them on your leadership team. Innovators are often seen as "the wackos" by the denomination because they think outside of the organization's box. (I'm proud to be an innovator wacko!)

Early Adaptors (13.5%): Early adaptors do not normally come up with new ideas but they are willing to try new things. These people like to see what the latest and greatest program is out there and then try to implement it into their church. If you can convince them that the new way of doing things is possible and beneficial, they will support the idea.

Early Majority (34%): These people have to see that the new way of doing things will work before they will participate. This group makes up a large portion of any congregation so it is important to get some "wins" under your belt before they will join and when they do join it will build momentum for the new idea to take hold.

Late Majority (34%): For this group to participate in any new venture they must clearly see that the new way is better than the old way. These people tend to like the status quo and leaving things the way they are.

Laggards (16%): These people will not be convinced that the new way is better. They remember the good old days, even if the old days were not that good! They never have fresh ideas on how to make things better.

I noticed that when the church growth cycle and the leadership distribution graph are overlapped that it gives a good representation of the type of leadership that is needed if a church wants to be revitalized. The innovators and early adaptors are important people in the dawning and development stages of any church. Since revitalization requires a church move from "decline" to "developing", these are important people to have on a leadership team leading a congregation in revitalization. The early majority are important during the late stages of development and the dependability stage because they like to see that things are done "right" within the church. The late adaptors are very good at making sure the church stays true to its beliefs and traditions while it seeks to reengage in mission to the community. Laggards are, well, laggards and will not really contribute to the process.

The important thing to remember is that God has put you where you are for a reason and he wants to use you, with the Holy Spirit's guidance and power, to help your church fulfill its mission.

If you are reading this and you would like more information of revitalization or if you would like my help leading a congregation through the process, please send a comment below.

Blessings.

The Growth Cycle and the Way Back

It is a sad reality that many churches are finding it increasingly difficult to keep their doors open because the church is no longer viable. The reasons why churches find themselves in this situation is as varied as the churches themselves. There many be problems with people, programs, finances, facilities, style of ministry or a cumulative combination of these factors. Or perhaps the fault lies with theological issues that have negatively affected the ministry of the church and thus contributed to its decline. However, there is a way back to ministry viability for any congregation willing to invest the time, effort and resources necessary.

All congregations can plot their current state of growth/decline on a simple distribution graph which has come to be known as a Church Life Cycle graph. There are a number of different categories that can be used to identify the growth stages, I use the following markers:

Dawning: This the birth of the church. At some point in the history of the congregation someone thought it was a good idea to plant a church that you now call your own.

Development: This is the process of the church discovering who they are by answering three questions - 1. Who are we? 2. What are we here for? 3. Who is our neighbour? Policies, procedures and programs are developed around the answers to these questions.

Dependability: Once the congregation has forged a clear faith identity and has organized its church life to express that faith effectively and persistently, we could say that the church is dependable. You know what to expect in any given situation.

Decline: If you have ever watched the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons you have seen the coyote run off a cliff and keep running for a while until he realizes that he is over the cliff and he begins to fall. At some point all churches in decline realize, like the coyote, that they are falling. They take note of the decrease in attendance, first time visitors, new members and financial giving. Often as a way to reverse the trend they are seeing, they will try to do the things they have always done, only better, while little to no energy is used to better understand their community or develop new ways to be involved in the mission they are called to as a church.

Death: If the church waits too long to reverse the decline the result is the death of the church. Death can take decades to become final and during that time the congregants often play the "blame game" as they blame the denomination or pastors or certain programs for their demise. Death does not have to be the final word for the church at this point in the life cycle. They can either die gracefully and bless another congregation with their resources (if any are left) or they can restart. More on this in a moment.

An honest evaluation by the church leaders and members can pin point exactly where the church is on the graph.

All churches that I have been involved with either as a pastor or as a consultant have wanted their churches to be growing and vibrant. For this to be a reality all the time, the congregation has to move from wherever they are on the life cycle to the "developing" stage.

There are 4 ways to reenergize the church towards growth and mission effectiveness. If you notice on the diagram to the left, the lines from "decline" to "development" vary in length. This is because the further the church slips towards death the longer the process and the harder the journey back to mission effectiveness is. Often you will see a further slip towards death before you see an upswing in growth. So what are the 4 ways to get new life into the church?

1. Renewal: For the church that is just starting to see a decline or they have been dependable for a long time, all that is needed is a fresh look at the 3 questions asked in the development stage - 1. Who are we? 2. What are we here for? 3. Who is our neighbour? The answers to the questions should inspire a renewed interest in the missional quest of the church.

2. Revitalization: This can happen when there is still substantial vitality within the church and the members want to see new things happen. Again the three questions are asked to determine how far the church has wandered from its original mission.

3. Redevelopment: If the church has been on a steady decline for years, perhaps decades, it has little of the vitality needed to turn the church around. It takes a great deal of resources - spiritual, financial and political, to see an improvement in this congregation, but it can be done.

4. Restart: If there is no possibility to bring the church out of its death spiral, a restart may be in order.

The success or failure of churches wishing to reenergize their ministry and be fully engaged in mission has much to do with the leadership within the congregation, which is what I will talk about next time.

Blessings

Explore Faith

Have you ever questioned your faith? I know I have, many times. Those times when you are just not sure that what you have based your life on is true. Now lets make one thing clear, we all put our faith in something we believe will produce in us or for us the life we desire. For some people that faith is in fame, fortune, power, prestige, pleasure or self. For others their faith is in a transcendent God, like Christians whose faith is in Jesus Christ (Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6). Which ever is true for you, it required a "leap of faith" for you to fully trust in that which you believe will bring the most satisfaction to your life. And when that thing you put your faith in failed, you were left questioning your faith.

The true test of what you put your faith in is what did you put your faith in after the time of doubt. Did you put your faith in something new, or did the doubt and questions and exploration of faith strengthen and renew your beliefs.

The Gospel of Luke records a conversation Jesus had with a lawyer(Luke 10:25-37) which started by the lawyer asking, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" In other words, "What life should I live to possess what matters the most? What should I put my faith in?" So Jesus asks him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" or in other words, "What is your faith in now? What is the guiding principle of your life?" The lawyer responds with the guiding principle that he was taught ever since he was a little boy, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus says that is the answer, if you do that you will have what you are looking for. But the lawyer has one more question, "Who is my neighbour?" Jesus responds by telling the story of the Good Samaritan and ends by saying, "Go and do likewise."

Here is what I get from this encounter. The lawyer is there listening to Jesus and asks a question to test him. He wanted to understand if what Jesus believed was the same as what he believed. I think he might have been pleasantly surprised with Jesus' answer that loving God and your neighbour was the right answer. But I think he was not expecting Jesus to say, "Go do it." Faith, especially if we are taught a certain belief system from a young age, can sometimes become a "head knowledge" instead of an "action" experience. We "know" that this is how we should live but we may never see our faith in action. I can imagine the lawyer pondering this..."So my faith tells me I need to love God and love my neighbour; I know how to love God - go to temple, say prayers, read the Torah, but how do I love my neighbour? A better question is who is my neighbour?" After telling the lawyer the good Samaritan story Jesus again says, "Go and do this."

The lawyer, whether he knew it or not, was exploring his faith. There was a disconnection between what he believed and what he was doing and Jesus understood that. Jesus showed him, through the story, that he was just like the two "religious guys" in the story because those guys also believed that they should "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, love your neighbor as yourself." But they didn't live out their beliefs. At the end of his faith exploration, the lawyer would have been faced with decision of "What do I do now?" We don't know what he did in the end because the story stops there and we are left wondering what happened to the lawyer. Maybe we are supposed to ask, "What would I have done if I was in the lawyer's shoes?"

The lawyer's life goal was based on his desire to "have eternal life" and he followed a guiding set of principles that he thought would help him achieve that goal. At the end of his faith exploration he discovers that he is missing an important component in his faith to ultimately achieve his goal of eternal life - that missing piece was action.

If you find yourself exploring faith you need to ask, "Am I doing what I believe?" If you don't think the Christian faith is living up to your expectations, look and see if you are actually "living" your faith. The Christian faith is not only about hearing and knowing but DOING. When you read the Gospels, Jesus is always sending his disciples out to do something because Jesus knows that mission can not be done by always sitting behind closed doors.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. James 1:22-23 (The Message)

Blessings.

New and Maybe the Last?

The Salvation Army's new song book is due to be released later this year. The song book, in its various forms, has been a source of inspiration and a devotional resource for countless people over the years. Within its pages are songs that illicit praise and worship, teach theology, and give the framework for Salvation Army distinctives. But the question needs to be asked - "Do we need a new songbook?"

I am sure this is the same question that has been asked each time a new version has been released. Some people do not want to see some of their favourite songs not make the final cut. Then there is the cost of having to purchase a new set of books for the church and tune books for the musicians.

When I ask, "Why a new song book?" it is for the following reasons...

1. Print media is a dying information delivery system. I recently read a blog titled, The End of Books, in which the author Seth Godin made this comment, "We're entering a new golden age for books, one with more books and ebooks written and read today than ever before. Books won't be completely eliminated, but please don't hold your breath for any element of the treasured ecosystem to return in force. I am not arguing that we push the ecosystem out of the door, but I am encouraging us not to spend too much time trying to save it."

I personally do not read the newspaper preferring instead to read the news each morning on my iPad. I like to read the latest book by my favourite author, but I would rather watch him or her teach about the contents of the book on You Tube or iTunesU. I seldom read novels instead I listen to audio books. Even in church, at least my church, all of the songs are projected on a screen. I agree with Seth Godin - printed and bound books will never disappear but they will never hold the place they once did in society.

2. A printed song book freezes time. Think of the worship wars that were fought in too many congregations; it was a fight between old and new - old song book versus new worship media. The song book, even as good as it is, keeps a congregation stuck in the past.

It is like buying a top of the line computer and the minute you take it home it is already obsolete. Oh sure the computer will work fine and serve you well for many years but there is always something new and often better available.

Any printed document is stuck in the age that it is printed. People do not go to a newsstand to purchase a paper from 1983 and expect to find current news stories, and they definitely wouldn't do it every day!

Closely related to #2 is...

3. A printed song book can close a congregation to new possibilities. I speak to this from experience. In the revitalization of churches that I have been involved with, the one thing that is taboo is the song book. Change whatever you want but don't mess with "The Book."

There are a lot of real good songs in the song book - and there are a lot of real stinkers! (God of concrete God of steel God of piston and the wheel. Look it up, its in there!) As good as the songs are in the song book, they are not the only songs available for worship. I read a tweet this week that stated that this Sunday over 30 million people in the USA will sing a Chris Tomlin song. THIRTY MILLION! That is like all of Canada singing "Here I am to Worship" this Sunday! (By the way, Here I am to Worship is over 10 years old now) Now if a Salvation Army congregation only uses the song book in their worship, they would never have the opportunity to hear the great worship songs being written every day.

Some congregations will print their own "chorus book" that has some of the "new" worship songs - as new as the printing of the book at least. I have even heard of some congregations trying to be more contemporary by having a time at the beginning of the Sunday morning service for singing worship songs before they get to the real meeting with the song book. I personally think that is wrong, but hey whatever floats your boat.

I understand that the new song book is going to include some "current" worship music, perhaps "Majesty" will make it into the chorus section, even though we haven't used it in a worship service for over 10 years.

So we are going to have a new song book and it very well may be the last one in printed form. When the next edition is prepared in 25 years or so, we will be able to use our digital interface devices to instantly access the contents.

I want to finish with my favorite line in the song book (not my favorite song - that is Holy, Holy Holy) because it is a truth I try to live by...

"Forward! Be our watchword." (SB 682)

Blessings!

Who is at the wheel?

I remember when I used to believe that the cruise control setting on a car meant that the vehicle could drive itself. I thought it was a great invention - you could get your car up to speed, set the cruise control and then have a nap until you reached your destination. Thankfully this error in my thinking was corrected before I had a chance try out cruise control for myself.

Still, cruise control is still a pretty cool option to have on a car, especially if you do any highway driving because it allows you to maintain a constant speed which improves gas milage and keeps you under the radar of police - literally. It is still up to the driver of the car to ensure that the vehicle stays in the designated lane and to navigate safely to the desired location.

I have found that a number of churches also have a cruise control option that they use all the time. These churches have discovered a comfortable speed that they like and they set their ministry on cruise control. Some churches set their cruise control in the 1950's and haven't shut it off since! Others have set their cruise control at a time that they felt was when they where at their peak and have tried to maintain the same "speed" since that time only to find that it is tough to maintain something over a number of years without something going wrong.

Setting the cruise control is the job of the person driving the vehicle, or in the case of the church, the cruise control is set by whoever or whatever drives the church. Some churches are driven by certain individuals, or pastors or boards or families that have been members of the church for a number of years. I don't think all of them are bad drivers, per se, but they tend to lead the church in a direction that is in their best interests and not always in a direction that is in the best interest of mission and the Kingdom of God. Other churches are driven not by individuals but by Mission and Vision statements that have a predetermined destination that the church wants to arrive at within a certain period of time. Still other churches are driven by theology and it is the beliefs of the church that determine the direction it must go. So who is driving your church?

Five books that changed my thinking...

I like books. So that means I have a lot of books. My wife would say I have too many books and that I don't need to keep buying more every time I walk into a book store. I thought I would share with you five books that have made an impact in my life in the last couple of years.

1. Community in Mission by Phil Needham

I read this book when I did my undergrad but it really spoke to me when I was working on my MA thesis. I now use this as a basic text for the revitalization process we are leading our church through right now.

2. Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf

I read everything Volf writes; he has become my theological hero! This book deals with reconciliation and forgiveness - the opening of yourself to others. It is a must read.

3. The Open Secret by Leslie Newbigin

This was one of the first books I read when I was first looking into the Theology of Mission. Any Christian that is interested in what it means to be missional in society today should read Newbigin.

4. The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch

I had breakfast with Alan Hirsch about 5 years ago at a church planting conference. It was just him and me and another guy (I don't remember his name) and he was talking about this book he was working on. I got my hands on it when it came out and it really opened my eyes to what missional and incarnational ministry is really all about. Of particular interest to me was the concept of liminality and communitas that Hirsch touches on.

5. Exiles by Michael Frost

Frost and Hirsch wrote a book together called, The Shaping of Things to Come, which is a great book as well. In Exiles, Frost explores what it means to live missionally in a post-Christian culture. His work challenges the status quo so many Christians have settled into.

Here are the five books that are on my desk right now...

The book I just finished is The Ritual Process by Victor Turner. The reason I picked this book up is because Alan Hirsch quotes it in The Forgotten Ways; Turner is an anthropologist who studied liminality and communitas in African Tribes. I am fascinated with the concept of liminality and communitas and I think my doctoral thesis will focus on this cultural phenomenon as it relates to training individuals for ministry in The Salvation Army.

I know what you are thinking, I am a party waiting to happen. But it is important that we expand our thinking by reading more than just books written by mega church pastors or "easy reading" books by people like Max Lucado. There is nothing wrong with reading these types of books and they can be excellent for a personal devotional time, but every so often you should jump outside your comfort zone and really be challenged to understand something you didn't know before you picked up the book.

Happy Reading!

Lets Go Fishing...

Fishing has been a term associated with Christianity from the very beginning. A number of the first disciples were fishermen, Jesus used fishing boats to teach from, he told Peter that he would fish for men and so on. In the early church the fish symbol, like the one shown above, was used as a direction marker to show the way to the places where Christians met.

The ICHTHUS, that is the name of the fish symbol, derives its name from the Greek word for fish "ichthus" but there was a hidden meaning in the name. The ICHTHUS is an acrostic which means that each letter of the word represents another word and the acrostic of the fish was a creed of the church that we still use today. Here is the meaning of the ICHTHUS... I - Jesus (there is no "j" in Greek, only "i" but if it has a ' before the i it is pronounced as a j); CH - Christ; TH - God; U - son; S - Saviour. So when you see the fish symbol it is meant to be read as: "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour"

Over the years the ICHTHUS has morphed to become an identifying marker and today I can show I am a Christian by displaying the fish symbol on my car. BUT... what does it mean if I have a little fish symbol on my car? It should mean that the person who owns the car is a Christian and as such you can expect them to live a Christian lifestyle. It should mean that the person who owns that car has an answer for the hope that they have. (1 Peter 3:15) It should mean that you could follow that person to their fish bowl where they meet with the other fish people in your community and that you would be welcomed into that fish bowl. Of course we know that not all fish symbol people can say that this is true of them.

I have seen many Christians that display a "fish bowl mentality." What I mean by this is that they are quite content in the little bowl with their other fish bowl friends and they never see life beyond the fish bowl. They have the pastor feed them every week and then just swim within their little circle until the next Sunday when they are fed again. Unfortunately this is not the ultimate purpose of the church nor those who call themselves followers of Christ. There used to be an old Salvation Army practice called "fishing for souls" where members of the congregation would actively seek out the unbelievers attending Army meetings and lead them to a saving relationship with Christ. I am sure that is closer to what God is calling us to as his followers.

I like how Salvation Army theologian Phil Needham describes what it means to be a missional church. He states, "The missionary church, then, is nothing other than the church following its Lord, leading its sacramental life, travelling on its pilgrim way - and inviting others to do the same. Only as such is it an army of salvation commissioned for battle. Only as such is it engaged in warfare. For the church at war, there is no human enemy. In fact, persons are seen only as potential recruits. The enemy is sin in all its personal and social forms - all of which seek to destroy the God-given integrity of human life. As long as this battle for the human soul rages, the church will be commissioned for battle." (Community in Mission p. 64)

With the words of Needham ringing in my ears I have decided to adopt a new ICHTHUS symbol for myself that more clearly reflects my work in God's kingdom. Feel free to adopt it as well. No more passive, waiting for others to visit my fishbowl mentality for me!

Blessings!

Call Me 'Mikesy'...

I love Banksy. (If you don't know who Banksy is, Google it.) His art just seems to resonate with me and I am not really sure why. It is not particularly beautiful, its colours do not jump out at you and sometimes the subject matters are borderline offensive. But I like it.

The picture above is a Banksy and believe it or not it is a very controversial piece of art. Why is it controversial? It is because Banksy painted over the work of another street/graffiti artist named Robbo. Robbo was THE graffiti artist in London back in the day and the art Banksy covered up was one of the last original Robbo pieces from the 1980's. The art pictured above started a graffiti war between Banksy and "Team Robbo" that is still raging today on the streets of London.

Here is the Robbo art Banksy painted over.

At the heart of the war is "Should the 'new' artist Banksy cover over the art of the 'old' artist Robbo?" and both sides have their proponents. It is up to you to decide which appeals to you more, the new Banksy or the old Robbo.

There is a war raging in society between the new and the old and whether or not the new should "paint over" the old. Should new music paint over old music so that the old is gone forever? Should new architecture paint over the old so that communities loose their distinctiveness? And we could go on and on.

In the church a similar war rages when a congregation enters a revitalization process. Should the new way of doing church paint over the old way so that the old way is no longer visible? That is a tough question and you would be able to find people on both sides of the argument to fight for what they believe to be right.

For me the answer comes down to one word - MISSION. Is the church accomplishing the mission they have been called to by God? If the old church is involved in missional work within their community, then why change it? But if the old church is more concerned with the traditional work in the church rather than the missional work in the community, then it is time to get out the paint brushes! That being said, don't start changing the old with something new if the new will not help the church be involved in mission. Not all new things are missional.

Let me give you a very practical example that most churches have discussed at one time or another - music. The worship wars of traditional vs. contemporary music have been going on for 20 plus years. Some church leaders have argued that they need to change the music in the church to something the younger generation can relate to while others have held firm to the notion that the classic hymns of the church are the only proper expressions of music acceptable in the church. What they are arguing about is musical preference rather than missional objectives. It is possible to have traditional music within a missional church just as it is possible to have contemporary music in a non-missional church. If your church is involved in mission, you will discover the style of music that resonates with the people you are reaching. You have to be willing to change if it is not the style you are currently using.

Change is hard but all great things in the world have come about because change occurred. The difficulty is deciding what to change and what not to; what do we paint over and what do we keep? That is a decision that has to be made by each congregation but I would warn all of them to make sure if you are painting over the old, make sure that the new is concerned about mission. Don't paint over the old to just freshen it up a bit so it looks the same with a new coat of paint.

Blessings!

Not My Gift...

One of the most eye opening experiences I ever had during my faith journey was the discovery that God had supernaturally endowed me with spiritual gifts. The bible makes it very clear that at the moment of conversion we are given spiritual gifts that are to be used to help build God's kingdom. (1 Corinthians 12 for example) This revelation happened while I was working on my undergrad degree and I completed all the spiritual gift surveys I could get my hands on to try and discover the gifts God had given me.

As I completed the inventories, I secretly hoped that I had some gifts more than others (just like the Corinthian Christians)because I saw some as more important than others. I remember that I did not want the gift of "martyrdom" (which was on one survey I completed) because I figured it was a gift you could only use once and I was not anxious in using it! In the end I was happy with my gifts, although I can not remember them now.

When I went to The Salvation Army Officer Training College there was a lot of talk about using your spiritual gifts in ministry, so once more I filled out the survey to see what gifts I had. I scored high in apostleship, leadership and teaching and very low on the caring gifts (not too much of a surprise to my friends). With the understanding of what my gifts were I was now going out into the world to exercise those gifts in the churches I would pastor.

Then something incredible happened... I was appointed to a place where my gifts were not appreciated and really not used. In fact, my ministry was centered more on the caring gifts that I scored so low on. So I had to learn how to be more caring and how to listen and how to be hospitable. I really didn't like it, but I did it.

At my next church I thought for sure that I would get to use my gifts in ministry like they taught us in Training College, and I did. But although I was gifted in apostleship, leadership and teaching; I had never developed the gifts I had. So for the next three years I worked hard on being better. I also discovered that in the course of my ministry I had to do work that was not in my gift mix at all. I had to do administration, counseling, hospitality, evangelism and sometimes what seemed like martyrdom!

A move to Niagara Falls in 2001 allowed me to use my gifts on a continual basis for 11 years and to develop and hone them even more. I attended national conferences on church planting and taught at other events to train future church planters in a variety of denominations. And even while I was doing all that, I still had to do ministry that was not in my gift mix.

Today, I still have the gift of apostleship, leadership and teaching. It is these activities that get me excited to do ministry. But, I am also a pretty good at the caring ministries that I am not gifted in because of the ministry I have had to do.

I encourage everyone to find out what your spiritual gift is because it is the one thing that will bring you the most joy in life. I also want to encourage you to do things outside of your gift mix because God can use you there as well. Never say you can't do something because it is not your gift.

Revitalization...

The picture above can be seen two ways: 1. It is a person with a vision of what the landscape could be, or 2. It is a person looking at the current landscape through the picture of what it once was. How you see it depends on your perception of what is real.

Now if you are one of the people who falls into group 1, it is obvious to you that the current reality is a bleak landscape with little to no life present. You see the need for something to be done to transform the current reality into a perceived future that is green and growing. People in group one can not understand how people in group 2 can't see the desolate landscape they are in.

People in group 2 remember when the land was green and vibrant and since they only see the picture of the past, they have no reason to think that it is any different. Their only perspective is looking at a representation of the good old days and when people in group 1 try to convince them of the reality of the situation, they think the group 1 people are the ones without an understanding of the current reality. There is nothing that the people in group 1 can offer that is more beautiful than the view that they are staring at.

In the end each group is frustrated by the other because of their refusal to see the world as it truly is.

I am a group 1 type of person because I am always looking at what things could be rather than what they are. I am especially this way when it comes to churches. I see a lot of churches that could be so much more than they are right now if they would just put the picture of the "good old days" down and look at the situation they are currently in. There are many congregations that need to undergo a revitalization process to help restore some of their former glory and become part of the ongoing mission of God in their community.

Jesus talks about revitalization in Matthew 23. In this passage we see five characteristics that are present in churches that need to be revitalized.

Characteristic #1: The people in the church strive for honorary titles and the praise of people. In verses 5-7 Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for doing everything for show and looking for the praise of people rather than the praise of God. If the people in your church see certain positions in the church as something to strive for and if they place the people in those positions on a pedestal, then you have a problem because they are more interested in "my kingdom come" than "Thy kingdom come."

Characteristic 2: The people in the church substitute the love of God for rituals. Jesus warns about looking good on the outside but being dead inside (vss. 25-26). This happens in the church when we have a check list of things we need to do if we are to be a true church. We need to have certain music groups, certain bible studies, certain kid programs and when we worship on Sunday there is another list of items that must be in the program. Individuals check off the things they do in the church and they look at their activity as time with God, but it is just time at church. What tends to happen in churches that have this second characteristic is that there is no passion for God and when there is no passion for God then there is no passion for people, especially people outside of the church.

Characteristic #3: The people in the church elevate secondary traditions to a place of prominence. Jesus cannot believe that the church leaders are placing secondary items to be of greater importance than the primary sources of tradition. In vss. 25-26 we see that the Pharisees are placing things on the altar or in the Temple as being more important than the altar or the Temple. In our churches this is a problem when we put an emphasis on secondary things like what we wear or items in the church as being more important than a love for God. People love traditions and we tend to give traditions "godly" qualities so that it is difficult to eliminate them.

Characteristic #4: The people in the church are more concerned with ritual than the love of others. In verse 23 Jesus gives an example of how wrong the church leaders are when he says that they tithe their spices but forget about justice. You are way to concerned about rituals if you are going through your spice rack and giving 10% to the church! Now that is an absurd thing to do and very few people in the church today would do such a thing, but there may be other rituals that are emphasized in a similarly absurd manner. Let me give you a real life example. A visitor comes to church and before the service starts he goes outside to have a cigarette. The gentleman is about 20 feet from the front door when the head greeter pops his head out and tells the man he will have to leave the church property if he is going to smoke. The head greeter (oxymoron in this case) believed that since the church frowned on people smoking that it was his duty to make sure that people do not smoke on church property. That is ritual being more important than people.

Characteristic #5: The people in the church are more aware other people's sins but not their own. This is what Jesus says in Matthew 23:2-3 ...

"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach." (New Living Translation)

If people in your church are more concerned with the sins of the people outside the doors of the church than the sins of the people inside of the church, then you have a problem. You have a group of people who are looking at a picture and do not have a concept of what is real. The Gospel makes you aware of your own sin and allows you to see the plank in your own eye rather than the speck of dust in the eye of someone else.

Unfortunately, most congregations that are in need of revitalization will not see any of these characteristics in themselves because they always seem to think the criticism of Jesus is focused on others but not them.

Revitalization is about repentance and without it a new work can not start because it is through repentance that God allows us to see what is real.

Blessings.

Reaching Your Limit...

I saw this exact phrase on a church sign the other day, The Sky is the Limit, and it made me think "Well isn't that nice, its wrong, but it is nice." Too many people and their churches get caught up in this lie as they try and plan for the future. They believe that the sky is the limit when they are thinking of doing something great for God, but I say if that is your thinking then you are thinking way too small.

You see, the sky should not the limit of our thinking for anything in life, especially as it relates to the mission of the church. I can say this with all confidence because of a little secret I learned a long time ago... and this is the secret:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us,..." Ephesians 3:20

What this means is that God is able to do way more than our feeble minds could ever imagine, so why are we setting a limit to our thinking? You should be setting such big goals and plans that they are doomed to fail if God is not in them. The sky is not your limit!

Its just not another bad news story...

Perhaps you were like me and riveted to the events that unfolded on April 15, 2013 at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. As the news of the terrorist style attacks became known, major news agencies focused all their programing to cover the events in Boston. I found myself watching the news as if it were a TV crime drama or a made for TV movie and I fully expected that the bad guys would be caught before the end of the program.

It is only in the days since the attacks that we have seen the devastating affects of the bombings - lives lost, horrific injuries and individuals whose lives will never be the same. We also have had an ongoing commentary about the suspects and their lives - who they are, where they are from, did they have help and are there more bombings still to come. The number one question on everyone's mind is, "Why?" Why did these men do this?

On Thursday, April 18 the news was awash with the headline "Bombing Suspect Killed in Shootout" and my Facebook and Twitter feeds said "One down, one to go." TMZ tweeted, "Dead bombing suspect heavy into hip hop." I'm not sure if that is relevant news but it was reported on. Then on Friday we watched as the second suspect was caught after a day that saw all of Boston shut down. The end of another bad news story.

But this is more than just another bad news story because it should cause us to think about the issues surrounding the story. Those who call themselves followers of Christ should examine their attitudes about terrorist acts and the people who perpetuate terrorism. How many Christians felt bad for the victims of the bombing and then wanted revenge on the perpetrators? Is wanting revenge right? How many Christians rejoiced when one of the attackers was killed in a shootout with police? Should we rejoice over the death of an individual, especially the death of someone Christ himself died for?

One author I read a lot of (and I would encourage you to do the same) is Miroslav Volf. Dr. Volf is a theology professor at Yale and in his recent book, A Public Faith, he has this to say about Christianity and violence,

"Thin" but zealous practice of the Christian faith is likely to foster violence; "thick" and committed practice will help generate and sustain a culture of peace.
(p. 40)

A thin faith, according to Volf, is a faith that serves primarily to energize, heal and give meaning to the business of life for the believer whereas a thick faith maps the way of life of the believer based on strong ties to the ongoing tradition of faith and clear cognitive and moral content. Thin faith is self centered while thick faith is other centered.

There are no irredeemable people in the world and no one has the right to close the path of redemption on another.

Blessings.

Game of Thrones...

(Spoiler Alert for Game of Thrones fans)



I recently have been caught up in the HBO TV series "Game of Thrones" which follows a complex and interweaving storyline of various royal household seeking to ascend to the iron throne and rule the seven kingdoms. One of the main characters is "King slayer" Jaime Lannister who is the eldest son of the richest man in all the seven kingdoms. Jaime Lannister is blond, good looking, rich and one of the best soldiers in all the kingdoms. From a very young age Jaime was taught how to fight and he understands that his mission in life is to fight for his family and for his kingdom (the two are closely linked). Since he is one, if not the best, swordsman in the land, he accomplishes his mission with relative ease and only the fool hardy dare to challenge him in open battle. Then he was captured by one of the competing ruling families and used as a ransom to secure the safe return of the sisters of his captor. While on their way to Kings Landing, Jaime's home, Jaime and his guard are apprehended and Jaime has his right hand, his sword hand, cut off. Now Game of Thrones fans (at least those who never read the books) have to wait and see how Jaime will fulfill his mission without being able to use the one thing that he was known for.

This is the same situation that faces churches today. How do we fulfill our mission for the Kingdom of God without being able to use the tactics that brought us success in the past? How do we accomplish our mission if what worked for us in 1882, 1982 and 2012 is taken from us? The answer: We learn new ways to accomplish what we are called to do.

Some believe that if we just keep doing the same things we used to do we will get the same results. That is not true if you are using methods that are outdated. Those ways of doing things have been cut off by the new age that we live in so don't think it is possible to just pick them up and they will work like they used to. We need to remember that God is a God of the new thing. Look at what God told Jeremiah to say to the Israelites,

“And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the Lord, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ All nations will come there to honor the Lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires. Jeremiah 3: 16-17 (New Living Translation)

I have no idea how Jaime Lannister is going to cope without his right hand. I do know that churches that fail to find new ways to accomplish their mission after their "right hand" is gone will eventually die. Sadly they will not have accomplished their kingdom objectives and ultimately disappointed the King who sits upon the throne.

Blessings.

Image Statement...

I was at a Church Planting Conference in Vancouver and I heard Len Sweet tell the delegates that what the church needs in this day and age is not mission statements but image statements. He commented that society today thinks in stories and narratives and that they relate best to metaphors and so the church must learn to speak the language of the times.

I left that gathering and returned to my church in Niagara Falls, an amalgamation of four congregations, wondering what metaphor we could use as an image statement for our new church. Believe it or not, it is not easy to do! After much pondering and "shower time" (I do my best thinking in the shower) the image that came to my mind for Niagara Orchard Community Church was the recycle bin.



The image of the recycle bin for our church explained to others about who we were. When we recycle we take items that we no longer have use for but we know that it is wrong to just discard them - they may be made into another item. NOCC was comprised of four congregations that at one time were lively churches but over time had become a shadow of their former glory. Rather than just closing the doors and sending these churches to the "landfill," The Salvation Army decided that these churches had the potential to be made into something new - to be recycled. The recycle metaphor is biblical as we read in Ephesians 4 where we are told put off our old self and be made new (Ephesians 4:22-24). It is the mission of the church to help people see that God can make them into something new - a new creation. A further extension of the image of the recycle bin came when NOCC purchased an Anglican Church building that was no longer wanted by that denomination and made it into their new place of worship - and old church building recycled to house a new congregation.

After eleven wonderful years in Niagara Falls, my wife Karen and I were asked if we would consider embarking on a revitalization project with a church in Thunder Bay, Ontario. So in July 2012, we started a new ministry adventure at Thunder Bay Community Church. As we started the work of revitalization, I again began to think about what a possible image statement for the church might be. An image statement has to be something that is easily recognizable and can be used to describe the mission of the church. So the image statement for TBCC is a dandelion - not a bright yellow dandelion that children give their moms as bouquets, but the fluffy white dandelion.



The fluffy white dandelion is not alive and vibrant, rather it is at the end of its life as was the case with TBCC. The church has many faithful saints who have done an admirable job of keeping the church going, but despite their efforts the church was on the verge of having to close its doors if something drastic wasn't done. God is not done with TBCC just yet, and like the dying dandelion it still has a purpose. We all know what the purpose of the dying dandelion is - to spread its seeds so new dandelions will appear all over your yard. The purpose of TBCC is to be a transforming influence in the community, and from this dying little church I am confident that a new and exciting ministry will spring up.

Some will say that the dandelion is nothing but a weed and we do everything we can to keep them off our property - how is this a good image of the church? Well, we want to spread like a weed in all the areas Satan claims as his (Matthew 4:8-9). We want the wind of the Spirit to blow us into every nook and cranny so it is impossible to dislodge us from accomplishing God's mission in Thunder Bay.

This summer (if it ever arrives) when you are dealing with dandelions in your garden, say a prayer for Thunder Bay Community Church.

Blessings.

(Dandelion picture is from the art portfolio of Jessica Puddicombe. Check out www.paintingwithpurpose.org)

There is a reason why your church isn't growing...

A sad reality in Canada is that many Protestant churches find it increasingly difficult to keep their doors open and they face the unwanted choice of what to do when the church is no longer viable. The reasons why some of the churches find themselves in this predicament are as varied as the churches themselves; however there are a number of common reasons that contribute to the decline in the church that can be identified.

First, there is often a link between the life cycle of the church and its apparent decline. The typical life cycle of the church involves five stages: birth, development, plateau, decline and death. Those churches that are finding it difficult to remain open are either in the latter stages of decline or at the death stage of the life cycle. Second, there are often sustainability factors that are not being addressed that contribute to the church’s decline. These factors may be problems with people, programs, finances, facilities or style of ministry which can have a cumulative effect on church health and lead to the church’s demise. Third, the church may have theological issues that have negatively influenced the ministry of the church and thus contributed to its overall decline. The theological issues may involve a lack of understanding of the role of lay people within the congregation, or the place of women in ministry, to the congregation misunderstanding what their mission as a church should be.

Salvation Army theologian Philip Needham clearly states what he believes to be the church’s reason for existence when he writes, “The reason is mission. The church exists primarily for the sake of its mission in the world.”[1] Needham is not alone in this assertion. Leslie Newbigin believes that the church exists for mission and that mission is expressed in three ways, “in the proclamation of the kingdom, the presence of the kingdom, and the provenience of the kingdom. This threefold way of understanding the church’s mission is rooted in the triune nature of God himself.”[2] Mission that proclaims the kingdom is ‘faith in action’ that announces God’s kingdom, which has been present over all of human history and over the whole cosmos, has come to a particular place and time in history. As Newbigin explains, it is the “acting out of the central prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to use: ‘Father, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as in heaven.’”[3]

However, it is inadequate to simply proclaim the kingdom with words because such proclamations only speak of a future event that we are hoping for. Jesus embodied the arrival of the kingdom of God so that the kingdom was no longer a distant expectation but it was wrapped up in this man from Nazareth. It is for this reason that the early church leaders used a different language than the language Jesus used. “(Jesus) spoke about the kingdom, they spoke about Jesus.”[4] Mission expressed through the provenience of the kingdom is something that is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Newbigin states, “Mission is not just something that the church does; it is something that is done by the Spirit, who himself is the witness, who changes both the world and the church, who always goes before the church in its missionary journey.”[5]

As already stated, churches fail for any number of reasons but often the reason for the failure can be seen in what the church deems to be important and what it considers to be peripheral in regards to their local theology. Loren Mead sums this up well when he writes “...in congregation after congregation, person after person, agency after agency, the one clear paradigm of mission stopped being clear. Mission, which had once been both a central rallying cry and basic assumption, instead became a subject of disagreement.”[6]

The good news is that it is possible for the declining congregation to turn things around by refocusing on the mission of the church.

Blessings.

 

---

[1] Needham, Community in Mission, 52.

[2] Newbigin, The Open Secret, 64-5.

[3] Newbigin, The Open Secret, 39.

[4] Newbigin, The Open Secret, 40.

[5] Newbigin, The Open Secret, 56.

[6] Mead, The Once and Future Church, 4.

In the Beginning...

This is a first for me. I have never written a blog before but it is a practice that I want to incorporate into my weekly activities. I think the reason why I never blogged before is because I never thought I had anything terribly important to say, but after reading other blogs, it seems that having something important to say isn't a prerequisite.

The subjects of my blog will all have to do with the church and its mission in the world. I will also use this forum to keep people up to date on things happening within my tribe here in Thunder Bay.

Of course I encourage your thoughts on anything I post and I look forward to interacting with you.

Blessings!