Whose church is it?

20 07 2008

Just got a chance to listen to Andy’s session 3 talk from Drive recently. Yes, I was there the whole time, but on the staff side, it’s all-hands-on-deck in terms of set-up, tear down, hosting, etc., so we don’t often get to see a lot of the conference. Anywho, I remember being out in the hallway when that last session let out and all these pumped up people saying, “You gotta hear that talk!”

My favorite part was Andy talking about the tremendous amount of capital and assets the Church has locked up and stagnant because they’re too afraid to make the changes they know need to be made. And why? Because of money. Here’s two quotes that were takeaways for me:

“As long as the money’s coming in, churches rarely get serious enough to make the changes they need to make.”

“One of the reasons we fear making the change is because the money’s coming in and if we make the changes the money may leave or run out. What does that make us?“

Wow, is that telling or what!? Isn’t the Church God’s instrument to begin with? Who are we to not trust He will provide the resources needed to reach people, teach people, transform lives and celebrate like crazy.

Don’t ever, EVER, hold back from doing something at your church because you’re afraid some “check writers” may not like it. Remember, you are beholden to God and His desires, not theirs. If they leave because you make a change that helps reach people, I guarantee you you’re better off.


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If you think big churches water down the Gospel…

25 05 2008

go here and listen or watch this:

http://www.northpointministries.org/player/player.jsp?occurrenceID=297

Did you watch it? All of it? Okay, now that we have that little squabble that churches like to bicker over out of the way, let’s get down to bigger issues. Jesus was attractional. Even to those who didn’t know him or necessarily agree with all he said. What are we doing to make our churches that way? When people visit us on Sunday are we making them jump through hoops they don’t understand (i.e. with our language, dress, rituals, etc.)? And, what are we doing to get out of our buildings, programs, etc. to actually intersect with the lives of those He’s put around us?

Thanks for bringing it today Andy! One of my new all-time favorites.


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Don’t depend on feel alone. Measure how you’re doing.

13 05 2008

We can talk about ministry models all day, and I think a variety of models is healthy for the Church because each of us reaches people in the unique way they might have been searching for God or the way we were gifted to reach them. As long as it’s founded in the Truth, I say Sunday School - go for it! Emergent - go for it! Small groups - go for it!

We do a great, though sad, job of tearing each other down in the Church world, arguing over models, whether or not someone’s watered down the Gospel, megachurch and pastor as CEO is heretical, etc., but one thing you can’t argue with is fruit. (I mean really, have you ever tried to reason with a pear? There’s no swaying those things! :-) )

So, my thought for the day is how do you know you’re actually being effective? What can you point to? Do you have a system? What does it produce?

Certainly, there are moments in worship sets, in sermons, in community work, etc. where you absolutely feel the Spirit and know God is at work in hearts in your midst. But, how do you know that your contribution at your church is resulting in fruit?

One of my favorite things about being around here is that we’re very intentional about trying to set the table through environments (Foyer, Living Room, Kitchen) where God can do what only God can do, and then we measure like heck whether or not those environments are producing results. Not to manipulate anyone, or pat ourselves on the back or to report big numbers (we’re non-denominational so we don’t even have anyone to report those numbers to anyway!). But, we want to know, “Are we being effective with the resources God’s entrusted to us and are we seeing life change because of our environments?” We could depend on feel, especially on Sundays which are always a high moment, but we pressed on past the feel of things to measure whatever we could measure. As they say, “what gets measured gets managed”. Meaning you’re intentional and people are responsible about it.

We’ve centered on 3 key measurables:

  1. Baptisms - Cool to see 10-15 per month at each campus getting baptized. That’s just adult baptisms too. The number of people making decisions for Christ is even higher.
  2. Starting Point Orientation Attendance - We have a 10-week small group environment for what we describe as “seekers, starters and returners”. It’s one of the few things that we regularly include in announcements, and we have orientations after services at least twice a month. This is a brief 30-minute intro/Q & A. We measure how many people attend. If we see a declining trend, it means we’re not reaching enough new people and/or we’re not casting enough vision for it.
  3. Percent of Attendance in Small Groups - Our threshold is at least 60% in groups. If we fall below that number, we know we have something to talk about. Rather than focus on the number in rows on Sunday, our main measure is how many people are in circles during the week. We consistently see life change fostered and cemented by doing life together in small groups. And I love that we’ve set big, audacious goals that can’t be met without God. We are driving towards 5,000 Groups with 50,000 people in them by 2010 across all our campuses and partners. We’re nearing 30,000 currently. Who knows if we’ll make it, but wow! to think what God can do in the process.

I know this can sound mechanical to some, but I swear we’re only concerned with people moving towards God and ultimately living lives that reflect an understanding of what He’s done for them. It’s not the numbers. It’s the process and intentionality to measure it and be accountable. What’s going on in your church?


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Be Courageous!

12 05 2008

I just had a conversation in the hallway with a guy who’s been trying to help a church change from a traditional Sunday School model. Their elders had approached him about trying to help them get more “North Point-like”, but at the end of the day, they really couldn’t commit to small groups and small groups only - it would anger too many of their Sunday School folks.

Again, you probably know from the tone of this blog, I’m not condemning traditional methods (I grew up and was saved in a Southern Baptist church), but I wonder how grieved, or maybe even peeved, God must be by how many of His people run church:

  1. Like it’s theirs. Little clue: it’s not. It’s His.
  2. Out of fear, i.e. “What if we lose people?”

Traditional does not equal bad. I’d argue just be excellent about whatever model you run. I just hate hearing it over and over again about church leaders who know their churches need to change, but on the brink of those needed changes, they shrink back at the last minute for fear of instituting too much change. North Point is not THE way, but it definitely is A way of reaching the demographic that has left and is leaving the Church the fastest, 18-34 yr olds. Our median age at North Point is 33. At our Buckhead campus it’s 31.

When we just hang on to our way of doing church because it’s the one we grew up in or the way the elder, financial heavy hitters want it to stay, we miss out on REACHING that key demographic. And guess what, we’re all going to die off and where is the Church going to be?

I’m just imploring all of you at whatever level of influence God has given you in the Church to remember how God pursued you. Our churches have to reflect that heart and so reaching people has to be more than an evangelistic series or high-attendance Sunday.

Be courageous! If you’re afraid the people with resources will leave your church, remember whose it is to begin with - God’s and boy, can He provide! And, you were not given a spirit of fear, remember! Now, go out and push the envelope. Have a nice day! :-)


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Want to make your church more effective?

28 04 2008

Give young people real responsibility in your leadership.

I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) to track down the article I read a few months ago, but it mentioned that one of the reasons the 18-30 demographic is the segment most rapidly leaving the church is because they don’t ever have the opportunity to see themselves leading and shaping it. They are so vastly under-represented in church leadership, and I think the Church misses out big-time on some unique characteristics this life-stage can bring. Such as:

1. Chronologically, people in this demographic are often the closest to their own life-shaping decisions for Christ. As we frequently see in Scripture, those who recently had life-changing encounters with Christ, can’t help but go and tell others. They are passionate and compelled to talk about their real, tangible life change. Now, this is just my personal experience, but when I got serious about re-ordering my life with God as the top priority in my late 20’s, I was going through so much life change there was no way I could keep it bottled in. And I didn’t even have to try. The people who were around me noticed a marked change and wanted to know why. When they asked, I told them, or when they confided in me over their own lives, they welcomed me explaining what I had discovered about the relevance of God for me in this day and age.

My world is a little smaller today. Now, I’m on staff at a church. Most of the people I know are already Christians. I’ve gotten married and started a family, so my circle of relationships outside the church is smaller than it used to be. After 10+ years now of lending to the effort, my opportunities to actually witness to non-Christians with whom I have deep relationships is less now than it was when I came to all of this. Previously, I was in the business world and had all manner of influence with co-workers, bosses, people in the industry, etc. It didn’t take me 10 years to share what Christ had done. Some were intrigued by what I experienced and have taken their own paths to Christ, while others just moved on. My point is that the Church is often missing out on the influence of a younger generation who has recently made life-altering decisions about who Christ is going to be in their lives and the power and the passion that comes along with that is too often absent or not allowed greater influence.

2. Good ol’ idealism - Remember how black and white things were when you were younger, and how your mind was made up that as soon as you finished school and could begin to affect some change in the world, you were going to do it? Well, the further we get along in life, the more words like manage, cope, and compromise enter our vernacular. I don’t think that’s accidental. We learn that to get along, you often have to learn to play along. Plus, you throw in family responsibilities and the amount of time invested in our careers, and it’s clear to see that we become increasingly risk-averse in the choices our idealism likely requires. Again, this isn’t in all cases, but importantly, most of you with families of your own and mortgages get what I’m saying. Man, I think the Church benefits greatly when there’s a contingent of idealistic people who believe “this should and must be done”, and we’re the ones missing out when the demographic most likely to produce that idealism isn’t welcomed and allowed voice in the Church.

3. Hunger to learn and explore - This is not a rampant condemnation of older generations in the Church. Heck, I’m 37 now, so I don’t even get to be “cool” and jump with this key 18-30 generation. I’m just observing that some of the coolest things going on in the Church today are being empowered by a younger generation that is so hungry to learn and explore what it means to follow Christ, and rather than simply having only older generations who’ve been at this “God-stuff” longer, as the sole voice of leadership in the Church, it is vital that church leaders be intentional in seeking out young staff and inviting young volunteers into the discussion so that this generation can see they have a place and voice that’s welcome.


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Great word picture & challenge from Mark Batterson

15 04 2008

Read a great article the other day by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in D.C., that really had me cheering. It was one of the Fermi Words issues - www.fermiproject.com - and Mark was talking about the Church as a “third place”, using the analogy of the town wells where Jesus frequently met with people. (UPDATE - they just posted an excerpt the Catalyst website too - go here.) Now, as a guy who went to grad school for city planning, I was thrilled to see him quoting Ray Oldenburg’s book “The Great Good Place”, which coined the sociological term “third place” - meaning “a generic designation for a great variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gathering of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.”

Do you think church is frequently thought of by the general public as a place for “the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gathering of individuals…” Heck no! If anything, it’s the irregular (Christmas & Easter), involuntary (Alright Mom and Dad, I’ll go because you’re making me, but when I can decide on my own, I’m outta here), formal (Let’s put on our Sunday best now and execute all our traditions well today, because if God really cares about anything, it’s the externals!), and begrudgingly tolerated (Lord, if you’re there, this is so lame and I’m praying that you’ll help me make it through this hour) gathering of individuals for 1 unique hour on Sunday that is often so irrelevant to the other 167 hours in our weeks that it’s no shocker that much of our society has either already left it or has it comfortably pigeonholed.

I love what National Community Church has done by meeting at the theater at Union Station in D.C., and am a big fan of what they’ve done with Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse (I’ve got to get there for a visit someday soon). Both are efforts to simply intersect with people’s daily lives. Hmm, how interesting? Truth meeting people where they are, instead of insisting they come to it at a certain hour on a certain day.

Mark, thanks for your article, your heart for people to meet this great God we know, and the leadership you’re providing to transform the Church out of rigid rituals into a Truth influence that can meet people wherever they are. Mark’s blog is evotional.com if you want to read more about what he has to say.


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