Seeking to bring one person to faith - A Church growth model to be ...

Applauded?

                                          Sneered at? 

                                                                                Stunned by? 

                                                                                                                    Made your own?



Which response would you choose if I came to you and your church and told you that was what required in your church over the coming year was this; 'Just bring one person to faith'?

In conversation with a Methodist minister this week I was surprised by their claim that the 'man at the top' (their description) had called on each of the churches to bring one new person to faith over the next twelve months. Surprised because of the tone and the nuanced speech which accompanied the information.

As niggardly as this number might seem (just one person a year? Pah!) Revd Steve Wild, President of the Methodist Conference, made this call to this Church (as a member of, not the owner) with the desire for the church to 'take God seriously and put mission back onto the agenda and take God seriously'.

I was surprised at the almost sneeringly 'just one person a year' observation because when I pressed them it seemed that 'just one' would have been a major leap forward for the churches in their circuit as all they had to offer was many venues and declining members. So was the bump in the road that was troubling my companion caused by the paucity that 'one person' presented or by the mountain that they perceived it to be?

I am often troubled by the big mission campaigns with their big name speakers* because try as they might (and here we find a very variable feast) the transition between 'seeing that hand' and leading the person on the end of it though a meaningful 'sinner's prayer' and beyond is an immense journey requiring some sound administration and committed pastoral skills.


When Billy Graham came to London in 1989, apart from getting what I thought was a bogus call from his office because the church plant I was leading was the 1,000th church to sign up*, what amazed surprised me most was the way that people were processed after they had put their hand up, come to the front and prayed.

Their names and address were taken and, unless they had a church connection beforehand, they were pointed to their nearest church (from the list of those who had signed up and sent people to be part of the whole thing) and then prayed for and talked to and listened to (doesn't always happen) and off the went. The receiving church was then contacted and the details of the person was passed over for them to hook up and sickle.

Contrast this with my experiences where the people raised their hands, said THE prayer and were sent off - never to be seen again! This makes up the majority of my church mission experience and I saw hundreds apparently make a commitment never to return or become part of a church elsewhere. Talking to someone where I experienced this it appears that this continues as the practice to this day: The claim the scalp but never do the parenting and one day (make it soon Lord) the Boss will want a word in their ears over that I am sure.

Bring one person to faith and spend a year disciplining them and you have a convert. Steve Wild has pegged it just right I reckon. He does say that the Holy Spirit might just bring in more than one - always good to err on the cautious but give prior warning of revival just in case it frightens the faithful!

When I mentioned this to another minister (not Anglican) they muttered something about just seeing one person come to faith in their church would be akin to revival and started moaning about ageing congregations, poor attendance, lower giving and a host of other ills which were making church hard work. I was about to say that if we who were in leadership (in any form) made Church a bit more hard work then perhaps we'd be seeing less of the problems but, seeing they were already having a bad time, decided against it and instead lent them a book on renewing vision and an invitation to the Mission Shaped Introduction course which is being held here beginning Wednesday 23rd September (7:30pm) - All are, of course, welcome!

So let's pray for Steve Wild and his vision and for the churches he is working for, and trying to help 'get serious about God', and let's pray that they do.

And perhaps we could pray that for our own churches and the churches in our towns and even further? Couldn't do any harm, could it???

* Talking of the mega evangelists we have; am I the only one to notice how many use the same jokes, anecdotes and stuff that I was hearing thirty years ago. Where's the new material and the spontaneity, the fresh and contemporary 

Church Growth strategies: 'Be IT Savvy: get a website - part one!'

As always we start with a reminder of Hauerwas' comment: 

Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.  

Whilst social media is one of the quick and easy ways of getting your church, projects and/or special events noticed where you are (and even further afield), the pinnacle of being 'IT savvy' has to be found in websites. There are a number of ways of getting a 'web presence' (good to learn the language innit?) - but we'll look at three:

A 'traditional' website

Using Wordpress to create a website

A 'content management' website

The traditional model has pages that live on a computer somewhere and can be accessed by anyone who wishes to view them. Generally the site is managed by a 'web master' (who says us techies don't crave power?) and access to change things is very limited.

The Wordpress website is a cost effective and simple way of creating a website, it can have as many pages as you like and authority can be distributed so that people can edit and add information like news and images without having access to the whole (so limiting the ability to burn the thing down when they make a mistake).

A content management site looks like a normal site to those who visit but once the format is done then sections can be owned and edited by others. Some like to keep the main sections controlled by the web master whilst allowing church groups, wardens and  others to change their content as and when the need arises. This is an extremely powerful way of doing stuff when there are many who have sections that need keeping up to date as it pushes the work to those who have the local knowledge. One of the best products for this is Joomla.

So, all you need to do is find the URL (uniform resource locator - the www.name.whatever) you want to use, and you're sorted (the web hosting company will usually be more than happy to sort one for you once you know what you want).

GETTING YOURSELF A ''TRADITIONAL' WEBSITE

There are a number of ways of doing this and regardless of which you choose, here are some things you need to consider:

MANAGED PACKAGES - The easiest option because you find a layout that you like and have it tailored for so it becomes yours and then the same company 'host' it (this means that they keep all the techie bits on one of their computers (we call them servers) for you. This means that they do the backup (very important) and will forward mail to you (equally important because websites have to have ears to listen as well as mouths to proclaim). All you need to do is keep the content up to date.

This is the most expensive route but it is quick and simple and avoids some of the pitfalls that doing it yourself or finding an enthusiast in the church can sometimes present (more about that later).


WEB HOSTING - Here you have someone who designs the web site and then you upload it (put it onto the host company's server) so that it can be published on the internet. 

This is a simple method of getting in to the web business but because it splits design and hosting into two separate element, you will need to get involved with:


WEB DESIGN - A wonderful world of joy and fun when it works and a trip into the darkest places of existence when it all starts to unravel (makes sheol look like a holiday destination in fact). There are three options when it comes to web design:

i. Bring in an expert - someone who might cost you some money but will take the brief and produce something with a 'look and feel' that does what you want and makes you feel you have something to be proud of.

ii. Find an enthusiast in the church and get them to do the design with you. Now I have to say that this works well when it works well BUT there is often the problem with using someone 'in house' that they might take the brief but will often try to impose their own views or preferences and the like and so what if often found is an agreed design rather than a desired design. The second problem is that some of the sites I have had to go and rescue have been left locked when the member leaves or them and the dog collar, council or someone else in the church fall out with them! 

TOP TIP 1: Always get the username, password and any other relevant information that let's you access and control the site and store it behind a 'break glass in case of fire' panel. 

iii. Do it yourself - This is, for me, the most enjoyable bit of the whole thing but that's because I'm a techie type and enjoy 'hacking'* code but there's great pleasure to be found in getting a template and modifying it yourself using one of the proprietary software products out there and then uploading the finished item to your host. The problem here is that if you're the person who issues the brief, fulfils the brief and manages the site it can be something beautiful in your eyes and an abomination to those who come across it!

TOP TIP 2: Always get the opinion of others when it comes to the look and feel of a site, the content and the pages - you only need a few opinions (go for people you can trust) but you do need them!

So there you are, you have a web presence! But what are you going to put on it?

Deciding what you want to have will have an impact on the sort of hosting you require.

Sermons, audio files and other downloads

If you would like people to be able to access and listen too sermons then you will need to ensure that you have sufficient space on the server. If you have other download (like videos, docent and other stuff) this will take up space too. When contracting for a web hosting service it's always a great idea to go a little bigger than you need rather than to go for the smallest and find that you end up crashing because you've run out of space.

Bandwidth

If you think of the connection from the server to the people who want it as being like a road, the larger the road the more traffic can flow along it. If you're going to be a small site then a single track will accommodate those who travel along it, but as you get more visitors and the cars turn into lorries taking sermons and videos away with them, then you'll need more lanes until you need a motorway to allow people to travel at a decent speed/

TOP TIP 3: One of the surveys I read recently told me that people wait no more than three seconds before 'binning' a site. If your site runs on a dirt track then much of the traffic will look elsewhere for an A road or, better still, a motorway! Bandwidth is important.

Images
If you have poor quality images then people will soon tire of your site and you'll find yourself reaching no one and paying (in time and money) for the privilege of not doing so! Try to use your own images wherever possible and where you can't then make sure you use images that are really 'royalty free' because otherwise you can find yourself with a big bill for breaching someone's copyright!

Being current
I went to a diocesan website this morning and found the article I'd been pointed to spoke of an event in 2011. So I snorted and closed the page (probably never to return). If you have a website and you want to put calendars and events on it - make sure someone keeps them current. It's a killer for those who come and a pain for those who maintain the site. Be warned!

There's much more I could write about here, but there is enough to get you thinking about church sites here and so I'll draw stumps and let you think a bit.

_______________________

I'm happy to answer questions and point you in the right direction with this because it's important that we are out there and more important that we are out there with good sites (and in a cost and time efficient manner).

Pax

____________________

* Hacking used to mean writing software using machine code - the term was later hijacked to mean illegally accessing sites and systems - being a 'hacker' meant something very different in the early days of computing (we were people who could hold a conversation, grunted as a form of communication and slept under our desks!).

Church Growth strategies: 'Bringing in the children!'

We are looking to Stanley Hauerwas' for our underlying thought (challenge) as he says that:

'Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.'

Continuing to move on we find that today the bus stops at that most challenging of church growth areas: children. It's especially challenging because I find that a number of the people I encounter these days have come to the conclusion that the way to grow the Church is to somehow or other drag the 'next generation' into the church building and then by whatever means are available somehow turn them into Christians -  and there is something true here that begets something, in my opinion, quite awful.

Children have become the Philosopher's stone by which dead and leaden church becomes something golden.

I hear a variety of challenging comments with regard to people's churches and the situation surrounding the average age in them. In fact one place I know has so high an average age that the upper age for Sunday School must now fast approaching thirty! (if only they had anyone that young in the place!) 

Recently whilst in conversation with a bunch of lovely ladies who are members of a church that is looking to recruit a new Vicar. One of them reassured me that all would be well once the new cleric had been appointed (they hadn't actually advertised but I always applaud proactivity). I asked why they held the belief that the new incumbent would lead them into the promised land where numbers grew and the average age was reduced. Another summed it up quite succinctly with these words:

'Our church numbers are falling and there's no children or young people but that will all change once we've got a new Vicar!' 

All of them nodded their agreement for they were convinced that the new cleric, once appointed would arrive (having run past speeding trains and leaping tall buildings on the way) and would 'bring children in to church:'

Seems all they needed was:

I didn't have the heart to burst their balloons and stamp on their dreams and hopes :-(

The problem is that getting children in to Church is important but the problem is that we become so fixated on the issue of children that we lose sight of the scenery that surrounds them. we become so bound up with children as the 'future church' that we forget that they are also, very much, today's Church.

Much of the problem here lies in the fact that children aren't coming because parents aren't bringing them and so the key to 'bringing children in' is to bring in the people who bring children in!

Another part of the problem is that when we do manage to bring children in to church we work hard at stopping them from being engaged and functioning members of the body for rather  than include them in our church services we remove them from them as soon as we can. I wonder how many who read this post are in a church where they lose the children after the first hymn and have them return just before or during the Communion?

We engage in that time honoured travesty of Church that is the 'All-Age' service (or as it's known here : 'All-Age torture'. That ghastly place where we talk down to the children and think we're communicating to everyone present. Worse still are the places where the service has both a 'grown up' sermon and 'something for the children' - two opportunities taken to avoid any meaningful communication with the people groups present!

We need to look at messy Church - but as this has it's own spot I'll merely flag it up here and move on.

The problem is summed up by a colleague who moaned that even though they were working hard at making Church 'relevant, authentic and entertaining' they weren't keeping and of the children and young people who came through the doors.' Of course they weren't because they had to work at being such! The problem is that we need to actually have churches that are relevant, authentic and fun to be in, after all you can try hard and stick a pig in a dress but it's never going to win a beauty prize is it?

So here's the bottom line as I see it:

Stop pretending that your church is 'down with the kids' and stop thinking that we can only minister to the young if we use young people. All this tosh about only have a window of influence and efficacy with those ten years either side of our age is something we need to bin before we even start. Those most influential in my life were tens of years older than me and they were influential because they were truly kind, caring and interested. I wasn't a scalp but a developing friend who would one day, despite our age differences, become a peer (and in some cases their leader).

Stop using children in church as the hope for the Church and realise that it's Jesus, the Christ, who has that role (and label). Stop asking how many young people others have in church (and if you do, stop saying when you hear the answer, 'Oh, aren't you lucky!') and if you feel you really have to ask the question then find out how they came in and how the church relates to them and keeps them - be intelligent, not envious!

We need to realise that the young are smart and can see when you're putting on a show in order to 'win them for Christ' or lower your average age. They value honesty and can see through the faux friendship and the overrated welcome. Integrity and structure are the key factors here I reckons.

Recently I attended a service where there were about seven children in the congregation and the parents, being as bored as their young, were looking around and sighing and the thing progressed. The children were a little less refined and so played games, played up and fidgeted as time progressed. At last we were set free and one of the Wardens turned to me and, assuming the dog collar was a sign of being on the same side I guess, said, 'I hate it when people bring their kids into church, it really spoils the service for others!'

My response was, 'Not to worry, they probably won't come again.' And they Warden smiled and nodded and said, 'I hope not!' Later, whilst chatting to the cleric who had taken the service I looked sympathetically as they told me how they get families in but they rarely came back and moaned about increasing average ages of congregations and falling numbers. 'What we need to do is concentrate on getting children in,' they said, 'They're our only hope!

But the local kids were on the playing fields around the church, I saw them playing rugby and football and being taken out by their otherwise absent parent because it was 'their day for custody'. 

If we want to bring children into church we need to bring parents because they will bring them with them and when they do we need to make a place that's full on fun and full of integrity. A place where the children drag the parents back to rather than vice versa. It's great that grandparents bring their family's young, but that's timestamped and ephemeral - win the young parent who is starting out with the struggle that parenthood presents and be their friend and grow up, and into relationship, with them and their children and realise that Sunday has other challenges and attractions and look for the days and times when Church coming together becomes the main attraction and be it (honestly and openly).

It's not rocket science - it's not even clever! 

Church is the people who meet when they can in a place where they can because they want to meet - or we can tell them it has to be Sunday and our way!

Church Growth strategies: 'Bring on the Holy Spirit'

The key quote to reflect on comes from Stanley Hauerwas:

'Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way.'

We have considered, thus far,' the issues of worship' building  and the bus continues to move with us today considering the Holy Spirit. This is an area where I feel the need to be very honest and admit that I am what others describe as (so it must be true) an open evangelical, charismatic Christian (there, that's my problems aired and owned). I have, at some time in my Christian life, lived and worshipped in the pentecostal side of the Church.

The very first problem to be encountered is that those who think the  Holy Spirit is the general panacea to all the needs of the Church and totally correct and yet, as I will try to show, also very often wrong too! Let's do a quick bit of theology so we can clear this aspect out of the way with two quick points:

i. The Holy Spirit is not an 'it' but a 'He' (sorry if that offends anyone, but that the way the theology crumbles). 

That said, in John 14. 15-17 we do find the Holy Spirit described as an 'it' for one brief moment (this is done as I understand it to show that John knows his genders with regards to pneuma (spirit) being a neuter but having done this he then uses (the wrong) masculine to refer to the Holy Spirit. Generally our translators stick to 'he' to avoid confusion, but I think knowing this is helpful;

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper (Advocate, guide), to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him (it) nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

That the Holy Spirit is a person (as if 'He' wasn't enough) we also find reference made to 'grieving the Holy Spirit' (Ephesians 4.30) - you have to be a person to be grieved!

ii. The Holy Spirit, being one of the members of the Trinity is, by definition, God.  This means that He is one is who exactly the same of Jesus (homo ousios - 'One and the same substance) and He enables us to worship and to keep our walk (and talk) on the straight and narrow - and so much more, but I'm going to try and stay on track and return to the topic in hand for now). Suffice to say that whilst many seem to think prayer is about shopping lists ad telling God what to do, actually we serve Him because Jesus came and, serving us, reconciled us to God. 

Where the Gospel is preached then 'sign and wonders'  (this is the stuff those who go on about the 'Holy Spirit' are often looking to see manifested in their dying, failing or even dead church and experiences) - and the Holy Spirit doesn't 'leave churches' but can step back from the stones that make up the church: So if you are one of those who complains that, 'The Spirit has left this church,' then I have to caution you to examine yourself first and then repent and restore the relationship by remedying whatever it was (or is) that caused the breach. (or to put it simply: Get on your knees and sort yourself out!).

It seems that many Christians, in pursuit of the blessing, engage in the singing of naff 'worship' songs and take up the 'calling down fire' path to church growth. Now whilst this does indeed have the potential to be very entertaining I have to say that, when it comes to building Church, that we need to check back in our Bibles and remind ourselves of the fact that 'signs and wonders' follow the preaching of the Word. If you've forgotten this then take a quick look at Mark 16.20:

Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

How I wish others would realise this and put off the methodologies and Sadly though, many of those who want to promenade along the charismaniac route often appear to give the most cursory, and often trite, attention to the word. That said it doesn't mean that if we give the monkey a peanut it will send down fire either: methodology and structure (or tongues and endless musical dross) are not the answer! 

We don't need to manufacture or fake it - there's more than enough on offer if you just put out your hands!

The answer is:

holiness (not a popular option for some it seems)

prayer (another apparently not too popular option)

preaching of the word (with integrity and belief perhaps?)

being lost in the love of God (now that can't be hard can it?)

worship (see the previous entry)

The Holy Spirit is not some amazing additive to Church but a vibrant and influential everyday member of it.  When we 'welcome Him' we are not bringing Him in but offering ourselves to be influenced by Him as He moves in and on us and sponsors us to lose the things that condemn Church to a mere ritual as being truly living stones. Mind you, I am certain that I'll encounter someone this week who will tell me that their church is dying and needs the Holy Spirit to reignite it :-)

Postscript: Just a quick niggle I need to leave somewhere before I bring my gift to the altar.

I really struggle with the attitude of some who make such a big deal about Pentecost! Each and every year they run around and spout about fire falling and gifts and tongues and other such stuff; the speak expectantly as if they expect it to happen because it is Pentecost. The reality is that Jesus having ascended (remember that?) meant that the Holy Spirit descended (again can I remind you of the 'If I don't go, I can't come passage?' and the 'I will not leave you as orphans, comfortless and alone,' bit?)

All those who are living today were born in the 'age of the Spirit' and the Spirit dwells in us and enables us giving gifts and manifestations of God's love so why do we act as if on that one day (Pentecost) we expect fire to fall and the dying embers before to burst into fire? The Spirit is in us and we are called upon to kindle the gift of faith that we have each and every day. We are called upon to pray and read and worship and be expectant and pray (yes, we pray a lot) every day - Pentecost is a marker of a new phase (the one after Jesus physically walked the earth and the one before His return) not the one day Black Friday-like affair some make it. We should be living in the reality of Pentecost every day and keep Pentecost as a celebration and a time for cake (although there's always time for cake isn't there?). Live in the power of the Spirit every day and people will be reconciled to the Father through Jesus, the Christ, and communities will be changed and Church will grow because of the manifestations of God's grace and love.

How hard can that be for goodness sakes?

Church Growth: A growing area?

One of the (many) challenges I have before me is to be found in the area of church growth. 

The problem is that the only substantial growth I'm generally coming across is in people who are looking to examine and produce academic papers on the subject. I have over the past few weeks met a handful for folk, all of whom were 'church growth experts'. This was a claim they substantiated by their post graduate qualifications in the subject and the academic papers they had presented!

Now don't get me wrong, I love academic study, but in conversation this morning I have come to realise a few interesting, and quite challenging (well they were for me but I'm pretty thick!) things too. So let us stop and take stock of things for a moment (before you reach for the sticks, stones and house bricks):

If you were to read a certain book on church growth by some who was doing it you will find people reconciled to God through Jesus (the Christ) enjoying being the people of God and celebrating that reality in the company of those who were both 'near and far off'. It was just like looking at the Church that Acts describes; unity in the Church and enjoying the favour of those who were not followers of 'The Way'.

Interestingly the same person who was running this expression of Church has now moved up the ladder a bit and the same freedoms that saw them establish successful and authentic Church is now replaced by structures, strategies, administrative block(age)s and all the stuff that makes running a number of which bodies manageable. It makes sense that different levels of Church need differing parameters and areas of control - but formalising the informal is sometimes the way to impede or constrict it!

This is perhaps a problem with the planned management training of potential bishops and other senior church staff as found in the Green report. We might have a bunch of people who have all the management tools that the world uses but without that spark that gives life to the dust and makes it live, without the breath of God, the reach, which causes us to soar like an eagle.

Everywhere I look I find Church Growth strategies and yet as one of my heroes, Stanley Hauerwas, says:

Church growth strategies are the death rattle of a church that has lost its way!

But, of course, Church growth is big business and the dual truths that are to be found in the expressions that:

In the the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king!

AND

Hungry men will follow the least likely of people in the hope that bread is to be found in them!

I hear of missional communities and of groups of people who are doing church in a fresh and engaged manner and yet, when I get to meet the people billed as the leaders of these happenings find something small and sometimes very much less that the PR might suggest.

Again, please don't think I'm knocking these - because I am most definitely not - but understand that as wonderful as this glowing embers are, replicating them in every aspect is (I am beginning to think) sheer folly. I have recently read a great piece of academic writing and within it find something successful grasped at, dissected and placed under the rigours of academic investigation and then the component parts are listed. But sadly, just like a flower or animal we have dissected, examined, understood the physiology and then itemised - the reality is that when we come to replicate or re-assemble the blessed thing all we have is something that is dead. We might understand the component parts and the processes but regardless of whatever it is that we have found, the reconstructed entity is dead.

We can scan a living hand and make a 3-D print of it and even though we might work hard to make it look like it is alive, it will never have the life of the original!

We talk of 'Best Practice' and we grasp at 'effective models of Church' and yet in doing so rationalise and construct some sort of Frankenstein-like monster which has the attributes of life but is not only pretty scary but pretty ugly too - and I see the Bride of Christ as something beautiful.

It is underpinned by prayer and enabled and given life by the Holy Spirit.

It is a body who are of one heart and mind, united in their hunger for the word and the love of those around them (close, near and far off) and this makes the what we now call 'missional'.

It is a bunch of people who support each other spiritually and, when the need arises, financially too; a people who pick up the fallen; heal the broken; correct those in error.

Authentic Church contains all of the above (and I'm sure you can all add to the list which is why we are all doing so well). It draws on the opportunities to put tools in the box so that we can build church (Tools like Mission Shaped Introduction and Mission Shaped Ministry and LYCIG* and more besides).

Desperation calls for desperate measures - but we aren't desperate, were assured and rather than worrying about numbers we are concerned with reconciling people to God through the Cross of the Christ and the fulfilment of the calling we have as the people of God.

we are, aren't we?




*LYCIG     Leading Your Church into Growth

When are you too old for salvation?

I would assume that those reading the heading of this piece would have sucked their breath in through their teeth and said, 'You're never too old (or young) to find salvation and reconciliation with God through the cross of Christ.'

Recently I was challenged by someone who, having had the misfortune of hearing me preach, wanted to take me to task over my making the old and disabled feel criticised and abused when I said, 'Building church was not the responsibility of the paid clergy or those who take upon themselves the role of leadership but is something every member of the Church should be doing.'

What, apparently, I should have said is, 'Well done you good and faithful servants, you are now too old to witness and we thank you for the part you have played and now respect the fact that you are no longer able to witness or share your faith in any way - enjoy your retirement !'

Now what happened next was quite a change in method for me, for instead of my usual, 'Oooh, that's an interesting take on it, let me go away and think about it,' I told the person challenging me that as I understood it neither age or disability provided an exeat for those in possession of a baptismal calling and so thought my comments were correct - a viewpoint that didn't appear to go down too well I'm afraid.

But let's take a look at the background to this situation, which is the words of Acts 4 as found in last week's Sunday readings:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

As I have pointed out on many occasions, the cheery verses from Acts 2 and 4 make for great reading for those who like to think of unity and fellowship (koinonia) and church growth and the needy being dealt with and everything is wonderful at St Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Fellowship. Well it is fine until I point out that the model of Church shown in Acts requires people to:

+ Meet the needs of others whenever a need arises

+ To share in the duty of pastoral care - ministering to those who are in need, contacting    
   those who are noticed as being absent from church meetings and all that stuff

+ Taking the time to meet with others to share Bible study and to pray together

+ Being reading to give an answer for the hope that they have in Jesus, the Christ, to 
   anyone who might ask (1 Peter 3. 15), and I quote:
   'Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have.
    Be ready to give the reason for it. But do it gently and with respect.'

+ To be willing to share their faith, in and out of season, in whatever way they feel is most  
    accessible to them. It might require words, it could be actions, it could be something as 
    simple and being hospitable - find your means and engage with others

Now I have checked my Bible again and can find no place where it says there is an upper age limit when it comes to salvation, or witnessing, or leading people into relationship with God through the Gospel of Jesus, or even ministering before the Lord (we leave that to the apparently ageist attitudes found in the Church these days!). Such findings lead me to consider my views, however unpopular, to be correct and so the issuing of what we call in the Army, a 'Biff Chit*' on grounds of age of medical problem is just not going to happen - end of!

The problem with Church growth is that all too often there isn't any and the all too often reason for this is that of finding an excuse for us not to get out there and do what we are called to do, which is:

Witness the love of God as shown through the servanthood and sacrifice of the Christ

Share  in the care and support of those around us

Live - in such a manner that others realise that you are, and have, something different from 
          that which the world has and offers

Learn - Everything you can about God and His dealings with the world and the solution for 
             the problems that is Jesus - read your Bible (and do it with others)

Pray - and do it regularly (and 'No' - praying for the bus doesn't count as prayer time) and 
           intelligently and with others and check what needs there are and what your prayer 
           might be doing - and keep doing it!

None of this is rocket science - but the lack of it is the reason Church Growth isn't

Now - anyone else want an apology - because the person who took me to task has just had one**

* A light duties permission issued by the medicos to those excused boots, running and much, much, more.

** apologia: an answer or defence of who we are and what we believe.

Listen - stop - sit - recline

If we were to look at Psalm one we would find the path to sin in that when it comes to engaging with the wicked:

First you LISTEN to those who are sinful and ACT on what they say

Then you STOP and become part of the gathering of the sinful sitting around with them and giving them your ear and your time - time that should be spent listening to God and using your time wisely

And then, as one of them, having thrown caution and that which is right to the wind, you RECLINE in their company.

This 'Rake's Progress' is the path to becoming a sinful person.

But it also works for those who would bring others into relationship with God for first we speak SOUND and efficacious WORDS and the wisdom of what we say and the balance that is to be found in our words (and our lifestyle) resonates with those who are far off from God and causes them to STOP and engage and soon they are to be found as part of our company, RECLINING, with believers and in a place whereby they can be introduced to someone who can tell them everything they ever did and lead them into healing and holiness despite who we have been.


Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
        or stand around with sinners,
              or join in with mockers.

It is a good thing for us to be able to engage with 'the world' in such a way as to be found acceptable to those who are distant from God but there are some pitfalls in that whilst it is good to find favour with those outside of the Church, it is wrong to become like the world to do so.

Yet this is something I am consistently being challenged with by some that I meet as in their quest for popularity they put off holiness -  a great danger for us all.

I see the same in some who would have us revise (and even remove) some of the things contained within the Bible because (and I quote them accurately here): 'It's no longer relevant in this day and age -it just isn't popular!'

Being Christian has never been a path that would win many popularity contests for it contains a good many DON'Ts (usually relating to the things we like to do) and even more DO's (which urge us on to do things we don't really want to do!

It's all well and good being someone who can, by looking like the world, find favour with those who are outside the Church BUT the thing is that however hard we try, we come to a place where regardless of the words we utter - the fruit of our lips and the seeds that we sow speak of the enemy rather than the Christ.

We must work at keeping our walk straight and our talk edifying - something that appears to be a struggle for all of us - because if we do not possess that 'otherness' that being a follower of Jesus, the Christ, commands, then how can we lead others into that place?

I am reminded of the words of the Godspell song 'Alas for you' which go thus:

'After you've got your converts you make them twice as fit for hell!

As you are yourselves!

So today the choice is ours - who are we going to serve?

Loyal customers are not the same as faithful disciples!

Today's content has been written by a guest who brings some challenging words to us regarding the challenges of consumerism in the Church:


Church growth experts [and ministers] in all forms of church are aware of the effect of consumerism on church attendance. We live in a society that is used to choice and being able to get ‘what I want, when I want, where I want’. Sundays are no longer a holy or special day, but instead are as busy with as many options as any other day: shopping, leisure, sports, family activities etc. Modern church has woken up to this and, more and more, is providing alternatives to the traditional Sunday service in order to try to be accessible. Styles of service have also benefitted from this need for variety with café’ style church, Messy (craft-based) church, and specially targets Fresh Expressions of church. All are designed to be available when and where the target group are most likely to respond to their invitation. Within this effort to remain ‘relevant’ and accessible, new forms of church stand alongside the traditional: the mixed economy of old and new, where more established forms of church continue to provide for those for whom conventional works.

However, I have recently become aware of another consequence of the consumer mind-set that prevails even within more the traditional church. It concerns the attitude of those who consider themselves to be members of a particular church or fellowship. Let’s consider church to be like a local restaurant, with a core of loyal patrons. They have chosen to frequent this restaurant because they find it enjoyable; the food, the atmosphere, the prices, everything is pleasing and encourages return visits. It becomes a regular haunt; their dining experience of choice. They become known to the proprietor and to other regular customers. The maitre d’ will ensure that a table is always available for them and that their favourite dishes are on the menu; occasionally he might suggest something new for them to try, broadening their horizons within a very safe framework of the familiar.

Suppose the restaurant experiences some financial difficulties, perhaps the chef leaves, or other trusted members of staff. Some of the regular clientele will fall away; others might stay loyal, but only as long as their dining experience is satisfying. Although they would be sad should the restaurant close, ultimately, the customers feel no obligation to ensure the continuation of the restaurant; that is the sole responsibility of the owner and staff. After all, there are plenty more restaurants that could become their new favourite.

So it often seems to be with church. Regular attendees have exercised their right of choice to select this particular church or fellowship. They come because they find the experience pleasant: the music, prayers, and length of service etc. appeal. They get to know the minister and others regulars and start to become comfortable. Any changes in the accepted style or method will be greeted with some concern. Perhaps the church comes under financial pressure from the Diocese to pay Parish Share. Quietly, some of the members drift away. The church isn’t what it used to be; it is no longer a satisfying experience. There are other churches that offer a more enjoyable alternative. Those who stay look on with dismay at the falling numbers, but feel little or no obligation to engage with the difficulty; that is the sole responsibility of the minister – after all, this is his enterprise, They are just consumers; they are happy to support him but have no accountability for the health or continuation of the church. Should it close, they can always find another one. The consumer culture in which we live today has created an indolence that has robbed the church of any sense of dependability:

loyal customers are not the same as faithful disciples.

How different is the model of church we find in the New Testament. There we see shared responsibility, shared vision, shared workload. The church of Acts 2 were not consumers coming to be gratified, but were co-workers in the Kingdom, as passionate and engaged as their leaders in the life and activity of the church. Perhaps that’s why three thousand were added to their number in one day?!

Blue Sky Thought - Righteous

Now this is one of those thoughts that starts fights - so let's get it on:

Cleric or Pub Landlord?

There's not a great deal between them really!

So said someone I was chatting to today and you know what - As the conversation progressed the 'I think they might be onto something' light came on and I began to think and this has turned into the quick checklist (feel free to add and/or suggest other categories and areas) which I include for you consideration here:

Now I have been careful not to enter text into the boxes above (in case you'd like to use it yourself) but here are a few of the comments I've had with it thus far make me think that we're not perhaps as good as many of the pub landlords) as they include:

'Quick to serve drink and nibbles' - takes our Vicar 45 minutes!'

'Nobody knows where to find him/her - why do you think they're known as 'the Pimpernel' or 'Lord Lucan'?'

'Never leaves the vicarage - easy to find them - harder to get to spend time with them!'

'Wouldn't know - not one of their inner circle.'

'Never has an opinion - a permanent 'fence sitter.'

I came to realise that we (clergy) do need to have the skills that make for a good pub Landlord and if we don't, perhaps we need to look at our customer facing skills. Pubs that struggle do so because of the 'look and feel' of the pub and the ethos that the Landlord creates.

Community pubs thrive whilst those that fail to attract, welcome and keep clientele are destined to follow the trend which sees them become McDonalds, Indian restaurants and the like (although with churches it's carpet warehouses, heritage centres and the like). There is, at many levels, no difference with churches and those who act as 'mine host' in them.

Now, as with all parallels, there are sure to be inconsistencies and errors and yet I think there might be some value in comparing the two roles and the way their premises operate. Who knows, it might just shed some light and help us to modify the way we do business.

let's hope so :-)

Giving members away - the key to growth?

Just a quick thought regarding church growth is that I come across so many places where the people are all inward looking and the last time they send someone off to be trained in any form of ministry in the wider Church was before any of those attending were born.

What makes it fun is that those who see to release their members into serving the wider Church generally find themselves blessed with growth and in fact the more they give away the more they seem to have. That doesn't mean that we do it to get members but it does seem to be the reality that there is a quid pro quo with God and membership.

So, here's a challenge tomorrow- why not take a look at the people around you and ask God what calling they have, for we all have a calling on our life, and then work out how you can support it?

You never know you might be pleasantly surprised (and they may be totally gobsmacked too)!

Let's make 2014 the year when we release our members into their ministry and find the joys of being a 'sending church' eh?

Church Growth - Not about being popular

Now I know that this might just get some people going but the biggest problem the Church has at the moment is that there are so many people out there who are convinced that the way to grow church is to be a bunch of smiling people who refrain from commenting or criticising on the way people think, act and  generally behave.

Not only that but they also bend over backwards to give those who come what they want and will make church (that means locally) the place that they want it to be. A 'for instance' can be found in the area of baptism where people turn up and want it on their terms because, for them, it's a service (and not of the church kind) and a right that they are seeking. They come and often it seems demand that their little Damien is Christened and should we, being faithful to our call, dare to explain that there are some things that they have to do to get what they desire they will merely move on to another provider.

Discussing baptism with colleagues recently I found a plethora of views and practices. Some asked the baptism families to come for a period of time and actually turn up at church to understand what they were seeking to bring their sprog into. Others asked the families to have a period of instruction whilst others just asked them to come to a session which took them through the service and the things they might say.

One told the people that they, and the godparents or sponsors, were going to make promises to God and that if they weren't going to keep them them they, and the clergy, were putting themselves in a really dodgy position. Of course, those who were happy to continue regardless probably didn't think that the whole God bit were that real anyway - which beggars the question, 'Why are you here then?'

I have met many who have moved heaven and earth to accomodate people and their requests lest they end up with a bad view of Church. They talk about building relationships and yet, when one starts to dig, those who have received what they wanted rarely have a greatly different view of the Church and rarely are seen in the church building after the event - well not until they want another sprog baptised that is! I know of a church who have a three months attendance rule and because of this have seen a family meet the criteria, have their sprog baptised and then disappear until a couple of years later they repeat the process with the next child, and the next - but they never actually stay after they've had their desired service.

We are called to exhibit integrity not garner popularity (something those at the pointy end of the CofE itself might do well to consider) and the watering down of the baptism rite is just one of the many areas where we can be found lacking!

Recently, I heard of a family asked to have a baptism done in a place other than church. Now I've done this on a number of occasions where pastoral needs have demanded it but the reason for this was that they didn't want to have to travel to and from the booze up! Now this isn't the first time I've had this sort of thing myself (the best being the people who wanted me to cancel the main service so they could have their baptism at 11:30 so the service didn't get in the way of their party ('3:30 in the afternoon? That's no good- we'll all be too inebriated (they used a different word!) to get there by then').

The only grounds upon which baptism can be refused is that of unpreparedness - not knowing what they are doing and what it is all about. Now how of ten do we (as a lovely man from Church House, Westminster, once told us) exercise our role in society as a modern day shaman and provide a nice day out and some 'folk religion' that permits a baby to wear the family christening gown or consume the cake Nan's made or fulfil some other desire (like making sure your kid can get into Church school later) rather than engage with the faith they are seeking initiation into?

Our mantra should be: Accessible - integrity-filled - inclusive (not permissive) - engaging

Baptism is not the 'New Marriage' (no matter how much people mutter that mantra)

Baptism is not a meaningless rite

Baptism requires integrity on all sides and if it is missing from any one side of the triangle then it shouldn't be taking place - Simple innit?

And for those who don't get what they want - the question has to be:

What part are you willing to place and what actions are you willing to take

Jesus has done His bit

I'm willing to do mine

How's about you?