Tis the season for fall festivals, Neewollah celebrations, and blatant, in-your-face efforts to Christianize a Halloween party. I like to party. I like going to fall festivals hosted by the different churches in my association. I like seeing the various costumes that parents can force their children to wear, even convincing some kids they really like what they are doing, regardless of how hot they get.
The question is are our churches just creating another opportunity for their members to escape the drudgery of their daily existence. If that is the case, then someone needs to do an evaluation of how much work is involved in pulling off a high quality fall festival. It takes a lot of work and time and often money. Is that what our churches are all about?
If we are using these festivals to reach out into our communities and say, "Hey, guys, Christians know how to have fun too, and we don't have to celebrate the demonic and all the bloodletting to do it either", then that might be a good reason. It should be a description, however, of how we Christians live our lives every day. I say we can still find a better reason.
If the reason we have fall festivals or whatever we call them is to create a context in which we can meet the unchurched of our communities in what is a safe environment for them, then we need to look at what we do and see if that is accomplishing our goal. Giving their kids a calorie rush and sending them on their way may not be the most effective way we can impact our community families. I suggest we examine how we intend to impact these families beyond encouraging them to visit the dentist on a regular basis.
Fall festivals and others such events can and should be safe places for the community to meet the church family. Physical and relational safety are paramount priorities. Feel-good environments are hard to find and creating one for the community is always appreciated especially when the focus is on children. The church with its emphasis upon love-based relationships is the ideal group to produce this sort of context.
The enduring impact, however, is where congregations too often miss their golden opportunity. By focusing upon the feel-good event, the chance to offer a meeting with the gospel of Jesus Christ is often skipped. By avoiding the appearance of being confrontational, we avoid a gospel conversation altogether. This need not be regardless of the physical set-up of the event.
As a minimum every church that hosts a fall festival style event needs to discover a way to register everyone who attends no matter what their current relationship with the church might be. Follow-up on non church members needs to be immediate and by people who will be visible when these guests decide to explore your church family. Greeters, Sunday School teachers, and other class workers are ideal people to be involved in this follow-up.
The church needs to make available information about its own ministry opportunities for anyone who might be unfamiliar with the work of this particular congregation. Offer free copies of the Bible, New Testament, or the Gospel of John, whatever is possible. Offer free issues of Christian life magazines and devotional guides especially if they have the plan of salvation laid out somewhere in their pages.
Open the door for community members to ask questions. Have church members wear a button that tells they are a local church member or may simply have the words "Ask Me!" They can carry around church brochures or the previous Sunday's order of service to hand out to guests who are not familiar with the ministries of the church. With our multicultural context, have information available in languages most common in the community other than English.
A high quality fall festival event requires a lot of work, planning, and people power. Don't let it pass with nothing more than a sigh of relief. Make it count for the Kingdom of God!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Associational Annual Meetings: Past-dwellers or Future-feeders?
It dawned on me that this was a lot like the many church homecomings I have attended. Special reports highlighted what had happened in the previous year. We counted the numbers that showed something had progressed or regressed. We heard multiple sermons. We visited with a lot of people we hadn't seen in a year. And we ate, a lot. After it was over, the question still remained. Was the effort worth it for what we accomplished for the Kingdom of God?
Sometimes it's hard to remember that the priority for our actions is to glorify God and strengthen the work of his Kingdom. We have our reports to make about what we have done. We talk a lot about what we need to do. We strengthen our relationships with other Christians both as individuals and as churches. And we eat, a lot.
Associational annual meetings have multiple purposes. They strengthen fellowship between sister churches at work for the Kingdom of God. They educate the various members about what has worked, what has not worked, what has been done, what has not been done, and who has done it or not done it. They inspire others to try what they have never tried before. They shed light on the unknown and so provide encouragement for churches to go where they have never gone before. They also provide another opportunity to eat, a lot.
Are these good enough reasons to have these annual gatherings of a population that has more white hair, or less hair, each year? With time being our most valuable commodity, is this the best way to spend this asset? If we are to involve the younger generation on the associational level as the state convention is seeking to do on that level, are we focusing on the right purposes? These annual gatherings meant much to our parents in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's when they represented critical times of mutual support. It's doubtful those same reasons exist today.
If we asked the under 40 crowd today what would be the primary purpose for gathering in an annual associational meeting, what might they tell us? The first response might be, why meet? We have skype if we want to see each other. We have webinar conferencing if we need to get into a group discussion. We have live streaming if we want to hear a sermon or special music. We have fax and email if we need document transfer. We can even vote by hitting a button on our computers if that is necessary. Why meet?
Why meet indeed? This old 20th century guy missed at least half the methods of communication now available for use instead of coming together at a physical location. Yet there is that one form of communication that is missed in all the above that may be the most compelling reason for having annual meetings. We communicate through touch and visual cues when face to face. Few of our electronic means of communication allow these forms to take place. We are the poorer without them.
We are becoming a touch starved society. We may live in the 21st century, but we are creatures that need personal touch. We may have our personal space that no one should enter, but we need others who will approach that space and share their lives with us. We need people in proximity. Infants desperately need physical touch. Because we age does not mean that that need disappears for the continuing development of a healthy personality. Observe any elderly person when you put your arm around their shoulder in that gentle, supporting fashion!
Without a doubt we need to be in a constant process of evaluating why we meet. What do we hope to accomplish? Did we accomplish what we set out to do? If we didn't, what needs to change? How can we through the process tell everyone they are important and have a role to play in the future of the association? How do we pass the future of the church into the hands of the next generation? It will happen. We might as well plan how to do it.
My closing suggestions:
1. Minimize the organizational business.
2. Magnify worship, celebration, and inspiration.
3. Maximize intergenerational activities.
4. Multiply opportunities for involvement.
5. Mercifully avoid alliteration if at all possible.
We need associational annual meetings. We need short meetings. We need focused meetings We need the in-person connection. We need to worship together. We need to celebrate together as a family, a family of all ages. We need to eat together, just not as much.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that the priority for our actions is to glorify God and strengthen the work of his Kingdom. We have our reports to make about what we have done. We talk a lot about what we need to do. We strengthen our relationships with other Christians both as individuals and as churches. And we eat, a lot.
Associational annual meetings have multiple purposes. They strengthen fellowship between sister churches at work for the Kingdom of God. They educate the various members about what has worked, what has not worked, what has been done, what has not been done, and who has done it or not done it. They inspire others to try what they have never tried before. They shed light on the unknown and so provide encouragement for churches to go where they have never gone before. They also provide another opportunity to eat, a lot.
Are these good enough reasons to have these annual gatherings of a population that has more white hair, or less hair, each year? With time being our most valuable commodity, is this the best way to spend this asset? If we are to involve the younger generation on the associational level as the state convention is seeking to do on that level, are we focusing on the right purposes? These annual gatherings meant much to our parents in the 1940's, 50's, and 60's when they represented critical times of mutual support. It's doubtful those same reasons exist today.
If we asked the under 40 crowd today what would be the primary purpose for gathering in an annual associational meeting, what might they tell us? The first response might be, why meet? We have skype if we want to see each other. We have webinar conferencing if we need to get into a group discussion. We have live streaming if we want to hear a sermon or special music. We have fax and email if we need document transfer. We can even vote by hitting a button on our computers if that is necessary. Why meet?
Why meet indeed? This old 20th century guy missed at least half the methods of communication now available for use instead of coming together at a physical location. Yet there is that one form of communication that is missed in all the above that may be the most compelling reason for having annual meetings. We communicate through touch and visual cues when face to face. Few of our electronic means of communication allow these forms to take place. We are the poorer without them.
We are becoming a touch starved society. We may live in the 21st century, but we are creatures that need personal touch. We may have our personal space that no one should enter, but we need others who will approach that space and share their lives with us. We need people in proximity. Infants desperately need physical touch. Because we age does not mean that that need disappears for the continuing development of a healthy personality. Observe any elderly person when you put your arm around their shoulder in that gentle, supporting fashion!
Without a doubt we need to be in a constant process of evaluating why we meet. What do we hope to accomplish? Did we accomplish what we set out to do? If we didn't, what needs to change? How can we through the process tell everyone they are important and have a role to play in the future of the association? How do we pass the future of the church into the hands of the next generation? It will happen. We might as well plan how to do it.
My closing suggestions:
1. Minimize the organizational business.
2. Magnify worship, celebration, and inspiration.
3. Maximize intergenerational activities.
4. Multiply opportunities for involvement.
5. Mercifully avoid alliteration if at all possible.
We need associational annual meetings. We need short meetings. We need focused meetings We need the in-person connection. We need to worship together. We need to celebrate together as a family, a family of all ages. We need to eat together, just not as much.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Death's Impact Can Be Limited
The recent death of a cousin brought to mind once more the mortality of life here on earth. Since the church is often described as a living organism (and perhaps the association as well, manmade though it might be), I was once more reminded of the decision that is faced by those in both a local congregation and an association who must decide if it is time for that organism to cease to exist, to die, or if prayer and resources should be devoted to reviving it. The decision should never be easy for a congregation any more than it is for the family who decides if artificial life support must be removed from a loved one.
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne: The Tolling Bell - A Devotion
Commentary on the Rev. Donne's thoughts indicate that he was inspired to write this devotion by hearing the bells of a local church announce the death of a member of the community. He says in other parts of the essay that it is not important for him to know who it was that had died, only that a member of his community was gone. He did not have to know the individual to know that his community was lessened because of the loss.
So it is with a family, but it is not so with the Kingdom of God and its citizenry. For a congregation to pass from existence is not to remove its impact and value from the Kingdom of God. To a lesser extent the same can be said of an association. Since God does not measure time by human events, we cannot allow our decisions to be based upon our limited perspective of importance. God looks at eternity. Our sense of value and importance should also be based upon that. At the recent funeral our grief was tempered by the fact that our belief said this loved one's life was not over. It had only transitioned into a more glorious one that the rest of us would one day share with her.
An association or a convention is lessened by the death of a congregation. That does not mean that its impact is lost. While alive that congregation may have impacted hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. Through those individuals future generations would also be affected by the faith that was passed on. The life and value of a congregation can no more be measured by its earthly remains than that of a human being.
At Pentecost God created the Church, not a local congregation. God's Church will have an eternal existence as the Bride of Christ. The local congregation was established to fulfill a purpose in a local setting with worldwide influence. Its eternal life was never guaranteed by anyone. To hold on to it when all viable life is gone is as selfish and unproductive as to force a beloved family member to stay on artificial life support when all possibility of human interaction is gone. The decision is never easy, but love can provide the strength especially for the follower of Christ.
My family is diminished when a member dies. At the same time the family has been expanded as three weddings in one year have added new members. We rejoice as our relationships are increased. We grieve as we are forced to give up one who has been with us for so long. Even in our grief, however, we rejoice at the positives that will go on for generations as stories are told and memories recounted.
If the local congregation must cease to exist because its productive life has ended, then let us rejoice at the influence it has had, the lives that have been transformed through its ministry, and the example it leaves for others to follow. We will be diminished in our earthly numbers, but the Kingdom of God will have lost nothing. Let us rejoice that God is not diminished because our numbers have changed.
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne: The Tolling Bell - A Devotion
Commentary on the Rev. Donne's thoughts indicate that he was inspired to write this devotion by hearing the bells of a local church announce the death of a member of the community. He says in other parts of the essay that it is not important for him to know who it was that had died, only that a member of his community was gone. He did not have to know the individual to know that his community was lessened because of the loss.
So it is with a family, but it is not so with the Kingdom of God and its citizenry. For a congregation to pass from existence is not to remove its impact and value from the Kingdom of God. To a lesser extent the same can be said of an association. Since God does not measure time by human events, we cannot allow our decisions to be based upon our limited perspective of importance. God looks at eternity. Our sense of value and importance should also be based upon that. At the recent funeral our grief was tempered by the fact that our belief said this loved one's life was not over. It had only transitioned into a more glorious one that the rest of us would one day share with her.
An association or a convention is lessened by the death of a congregation. That does not mean that its impact is lost. While alive that congregation may have impacted hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. Through those individuals future generations would also be affected by the faith that was passed on. The life and value of a congregation can no more be measured by its earthly remains than that of a human being.
At Pentecost God created the Church, not a local congregation. God's Church will have an eternal existence as the Bride of Christ. The local congregation was established to fulfill a purpose in a local setting with worldwide influence. Its eternal life was never guaranteed by anyone. To hold on to it when all viable life is gone is as selfish and unproductive as to force a beloved family member to stay on artificial life support when all possibility of human interaction is gone. The decision is never easy, but love can provide the strength especially for the follower of Christ.
My family is diminished when a member dies. At the same time the family has been expanded as three weddings in one year have added new members. We rejoice as our relationships are increased. We grieve as we are forced to give up one who has been with us for so long. Even in our grief, however, we rejoice at the positives that will go on for generations as stories are told and memories recounted.
If the local congregation must cease to exist because its productive life has ended, then let us rejoice at the influence it has had, the lives that have been transformed through its ministry, and the example it leaves for others to follow. We will be diminished in our earthly numbers, but the Kingdom of God will have lost nothing. Let us rejoice that God is not diminished because our numbers have changed.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
When Deacons "Deac"
With every decade new books and studies are written on the role of deacons. Now that elders are becoming more acceptable for Baptists, the same may start to be true for that office as well. In this brief essay I do not intend to write a new book on the role of a deacon. What I do want to offer is a few suggestions about making the office of deacon more effective in the local church. With having encountered the power of deacons a few times in recent weeks, I felt this was an opportune time.
How much power should a deacon have to determine church climate, direction, and priorities? What decisions to deacons make for a church? For what areas of church life are they to be responsible? What should their qualifications be? How long should they be recognized as active in service? For what should a deacon be responsible if he retires from active ministry service? Is such retirement an option for a deacon?
Every church will arrive at its own answers to the above questions. As long as we operate as autonomous congregations with no hierarchy outside to dictate our actions, this will remain so. My prayer is that as they answer these questions, churches will allow the biblical text to guide their discussion more than tradition or some self-appointed church patriarch.
In Acts 6 the Apostles determined there was a problem within the Body. They asked the Body to choose seven men with specific character qualities to solve the problem. They were given one particular task by those they were intended to serve (diaconos = servant, table waiter). Beyond the task of making sure the hungry poor in their midst received proper care, the responsibilities of those deacon are not stated.
The character of a deacon receives much greater emphasis. Not only do we have the three qualities mentioned in Acts 6: good reputation (witness) in the community, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, but we also have the long list in I Timothy 3:8ff. Too often churches become so involved in determining if a woman can be a deacon, or if a divorced man can be a deacon, or if a single man can be a deacon, that they never get around to reading the rest of the qualifications that Paul enumerates. I might add that pastors should come under the same scrutiny.
Let me share my list of overlooked qualities at this point:
1. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be an upstanding member of the community held in high respect by believers and unbelievers alike. (Acts 6:3)
2. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be grounded in and guided by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 6:3)
3. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be guided by divine wisdom, not worldly common sense. (Acts 6:3, James 3:17)
4. Anyone who serves as a deacon should already have the reputation of seeing material possessions as belonging to God and are to be used for his service before personal comfort and position. (I Tim. 3:8)
5. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have the reputation of being truthful and trustworthy to the point of bringing on personal pain before hurting someone else. (Psalm 15:4)
6. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have shown both within and outside the Body of Christ that the qualifications already exist before taking on the office. (I Tim. 3:10)
7. Anyone who serves as a deacon must show that his household is following in the ways of Christ including the children while living as minors at home. (I Tim. 3:12)
8. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have a commitment to continued spiritual growth and understanding. (I Tim. 3:9)
If our deacons, male or female, had these heart-deep qualities, quite a few of our church controversies would disappear.
Now what would I like to see deacons doing?
1. Support their pastor 100%. If there is a problem, keep it between the pastor and the deacon in private conversation until it is obvious church life is being hurt. Disagreement is not the same as damage.
2. Know the families of the church well. Communicate regularly. Convey information to the pastor regularly.
3. Encourage members to grow spiritually, develop and use their spiritual gifts for the welfare of the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God, and show their love of neighbor through concrete action.
4. Be the first to be peacemakers in the congregation, encouraging members to find common ground, disagreeing in Christian manner, and showing honor to others above themselves.
5. Be servants to all, lords over none.
Deacons can and should be a blessing to a congregation. Following scriptural guidelines is a great place to begin in making sure the blessing is possible.
How much power should a deacon have to determine church climate, direction, and priorities? What decisions to deacons make for a church? For what areas of church life are they to be responsible? What should their qualifications be? How long should they be recognized as active in service? For what should a deacon be responsible if he retires from active ministry service? Is such retirement an option for a deacon?
Every church will arrive at its own answers to the above questions. As long as we operate as autonomous congregations with no hierarchy outside to dictate our actions, this will remain so. My prayer is that as they answer these questions, churches will allow the biblical text to guide their discussion more than tradition or some self-appointed church patriarch.
In Acts 6 the Apostles determined there was a problem within the Body. They asked the Body to choose seven men with specific character qualities to solve the problem. They were given one particular task by those they were intended to serve (diaconos = servant, table waiter). Beyond the task of making sure the hungry poor in their midst received proper care, the responsibilities of those deacon are not stated.
The character of a deacon receives much greater emphasis. Not only do we have the three qualities mentioned in Acts 6: good reputation (witness) in the community, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, but we also have the long list in I Timothy 3:8ff. Too often churches become so involved in determining if a woman can be a deacon, or if a divorced man can be a deacon, or if a single man can be a deacon, that they never get around to reading the rest of the qualifications that Paul enumerates. I might add that pastors should come under the same scrutiny.
Let me share my list of overlooked qualities at this point:
1. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be an upstanding member of the community held in high respect by believers and unbelievers alike. (Acts 6:3)
2. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be grounded in and guided by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 6:3)
3. Anyone who serves as a deacon should be guided by divine wisdom, not worldly common sense. (Acts 6:3, James 3:17)
4. Anyone who serves as a deacon should already have the reputation of seeing material possessions as belonging to God and are to be used for his service before personal comfort and position. (I Tim. 3:8)
5. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have the reputation of being truthful and trustworthy to the point of bringing on personal pain before hurting someone else. (Psalm 15:4)
6. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have shown both within and outside the Body of Christ that the qualifications already exist before taking on the office. (I Tim. 3:10)
7. Anyone who serves as a deacon must show that his household is following in the ways of Christ including the children while living as minors at home. (I Tim. 3:12)
8. Anyone who serves as a deacon must have a commitment to continued spiritual growth and understanding. (I Tim. 3:9)
If our deacons, male or female, had these heart-deep qualities, quite a few of our church controversies would disappear.
Now what would I like to see deacons doing?
1. Support their pastor 100%. If there is a problem, keep it between the pastor and the deacon in private conversation until it is obvious church life is being hurt. Disagreement is not the same as damage.
2. Know the families of the church well. Communicate regularly. Convey information to the pastor regularly.
3. Encourage members to grow spiritually, develop and use their spiritual gifts for the welfare of the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God, and show their love of neighbor through concrete action.
4. Be the first to be peacemakers in the congregation, encouraging members to find common ground, disagreeing in Christian manner, and showing honor to others above themselves.
5. Be servants to all, lords over none.
Deacons can and should be a blessing to a congregation. Following scriptural guidelines is a great place to begin in making sure the blessing is possible.
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