Five Practices?

I recently read a book that had some interesting information in it. In all fairness, I did not choose to read this book. It was an assignment by my denominational superiors. Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase is a little book that outlines some "best practices" that many successful congregations have in common.

I will not even broach the subject of what makes a successful congregation. That is an argument that is beyond my energy or commitment to win. Suffice it to say that there are several definitions of success in congregations. Sometimes Schnase seems to equate "fruitfulness" with numerical growth. At other times success seems to equal meaningful outreach or peaceful congregations or growing budgets.

The biggest flaw in the book is that the title implies some help in determining and implementing the practices that will make a church fruitful. We never get that. We are given the five practices and some examples of how they work and change churches. But there is never a hint of how to affect the change necessary to carry out the practices.

• Radical Hospitality. The first practice is not mis-named, but it is definitely out of place. For Schnase hospitality happens when a person comes to visit your church. This is a problem because people do not just show up in church any more. If we are to be truly fruitful, we need to go beyond hospitality to reaching out.
• Passionate Worship. Schnase focuses on planning, preparation and balance in worship. I could not agree more. The old hymn admonishes us to "give of your best to the master." In worship we should certainly offer God the first fruits, the very best effort that we can muster.
• Intentional Faith Development. I could not agree with this point more. Well-meaning Christians are more likely to let their their faith slide than to be serious about growing in relationship to Christ. This needs to be addressed by individuals and congregations.
• Risk-taking Mission and Service. There is nothing, I believe, that causes faith to grow more and more quickly than mission. Doing what God calls you to do is great faith development and it is obedience to God's command.
• Extravagant Generosity. I felt that Schnase gave a disproportionate amount of attention to the matter of giving. If the church is faithful in all the other practices, generosity is sure to follow. One other weakness here is that generosity is limited to financial stewardship.

Schnase has written a book that does identify some common practices in successful churches, but this is all information that we have heard and read elsewhere.

The Jerry Maguire Manifesto

A few years ago the world was filled with cries of 'Show me the money.' The film, Jerry Maguire had hit big time. And although Cuba Gooding, Jr and Tom Cruise were fun to watch, the key to the movie was Jerry Maguire's manifesto. He began the film by writing a paper that changed his life and his profession. He called all sports agents to look at their world in a different way.

I have no illusions that this 'manifesto' will change the church in any significant way. I do know, however, that it is destined to change the way that I do ministry. So here is my manifesto for working in the church in the 21st Century.

• The church needs to be about ministry, not administration. In my denomination, the United Methodist Church, we are very good at administration. In fact, we are so good at it that we sometimes ignore ministry altogether. Currently we are considering yet another large-scale administrative re-organization in north Indiana. This will be the third time in the last five years. When we re-organize we feel as though we are doing something. This somehow salves our consciences as we realize that ministry is suffering or non-existent. When we change our administrative practices it becomes easier to overlook our ministry failures.
• The church needs to be about church health and church growth. We seem to be in either one camp or the other. We advocate for church growth with programs, events and services. We advocate for church health with spiritual growth initiatives. And somehow we lose sight of the fact that we should be about both health and growth.
• The church needs to be about community, rather than tradition. Overall I am a pretty traditional person. I love the history of the church in general, and my denomination in particular. I love hymns and traditional worship styles. I love worshiping in ancient cathedrals and country-side chapels. But more important than tradition, is the community of faith. As followers of Jesus we must be advocated for community. We must support and build one another. That may mean that some of our traditions must die. But if it is for the glory of God, so be it.
• The church needs to be about relationships, rather than organizations. How interesting it is to consider that we often neglect those around us because they do not fit into our organization. Jesus did not start a church, a club or any other kind of organization. Jesus built relationships with men and women that he loved. I believe that he still desires to build relationships. It is incumbent on us to make that happen.
• The church needs to be about worship, rather than programming or performance. I have nothing against Christian entertainment. I love Christian music, books and videos. However, in the church we need to be sure that we are insisting on worship, not performance. Let's engage God, the Creator of the universe, with our hearts, not our sense of good taste.
• The church needs to be Christian, rather than liberal, conservative, progressive or evangelical. Labels in the church serve only to divide. In recent years that division has grown to proportions that cannot fairly be measured. All of these titles, labels. serve only as political identifiers. It is very hard to find Christians who believe that the church should be political, and yet almost all of us choose one or more political labels. If you identify yourself as an evangelical aren't you really giving testimony to all that you are against? If you are a liberal aren't you against the back-woods fundamentalists? It is time that we got over our differences and prayed together. Let's be Christians, after all.
• The church needs to look outside for answers to its problems. My denomination has a terribly myopic problem. We believe that any problem we have can be solved by us. This is very sad. We fail to see the work of God in the lives and organizations of other churches and Christian ministries. We cling to the belief that we can figure it out ourselves. And all the while we sink into oblivion. There are answers to our problems. We just need to get rid of our egos so that we can figure out what we should do.

Mini-church vision

The church is in a rut because we believe that the world should come to us. We sit back and wait for the lost and hurting to come to our worship services and our programs. Then we get frustrated because we are offering all these great opportunities and no one is coming. There are too many options (distractions) for most people to even realize that they need Jesus, let alone church. That is why it is time to make some changes.

The church must do things differently to reach the world.

• First of all, the church must go to where people are. After all, this was a command of Jesus (Matthew 28.19). If people do not come to us, it does not remove our responsibility. We must reach people, wherever they are.
• We need to get over our traditions and rituals. For the last 30 years there have been arguments about appropriate music in church and worship settings. That dispute is nothing compared to what we need to be discussing. Where can we have worship? What makes spiritual growth? Do we need to sing? Do we need a sermon? How can we be more accountable?
• Our concerns with proper authority, responsibility and offices are probably hindering more than helping us when reaching new people. We need to consider calling, gifts and passion when assigning and accepting leadership rather than education, experience and political affiliation.

At least for my lifetime there will be a church, at least in the traditional understanding of church. However, the church will continue to decrease in attendance, in importance and relevance. The Kingdom of God will not decline. The Kingdom of God will march on. The question for us is will we be marching along.

The Anti-Status Quo

Everyone knows the old adage, "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." A truer statement has never been uttered. We cannot continue to do the same things and hope for different outcomes. We will always get the same results as long as we maintain yesterday's emphases, programs and priorities. And this is exactly the problem in ministry and churches all over the USA. We are designed to support and maintain the status quo.
Our denominational bureaucracies are designed by the status quo, and therefore they primarily support continuing business as usual. Those who attempt innovation are pushed to the fringe of the establishment by those with power. It is no wonder that growing ministries are found to be independent, non-denominational or in very new denominations. Innovation in established systems is frowned upon.
A NOTE OF WARNING TO NEW DENOMINATIONS: Take care that you do not become enmeshed in the status quo. Continue to innovate. Make creativity and innovation a part of your expectations.
Our local churches are also prone to be committed to the status quo. Long-time members love to say, "We've never done it that way," or "Aunt Mary would have never approved of that." These words are essentially the death rattle of a once healthy and vibrant congregation. Every church should constantly be looking for ways to change, improve and make a new difference in their communities.
Our church members (including most pastors) love the status quo. After all, the way we have always done it is easier than changing. We are comfortable this way. "Don't rock the boat!" Every person, and especially every Christ follower should look for ways to change and grow. We need to constantly be growing in faith and ministry effectiveness. Our culture keeps changing, we ought to be changing with it.

A New Way

So what is the church? What does it do? Is it broken? How should we fix it?
I am not sure that I can answer any of those questions, but I can take a stab at figuring out my own life and ministry.
I believe that the church is a community that exists to meet needs and to know God- at least, that's what it should be. Too often, as we are all aware, it meets no one's needs and would not know God if He showed up for the 11am service. Thankfully, he doesn't show up at those services very often.
Instead our churches are filled with the status quo. We do ministry not for the sake of pleasing God or meeting the needs of people, but for the comfort of those who attend it's perfomances/ services. We worship like our ancestors did 100, 200, 400 years ago, and are surprised when people nurtured on technology, communication, innovation and speed are not thrilled with what we have to offer. We should be ashamed.
The problem is that I am not sure that anything can be done for the established church. It would be better said that the established church does not want anything done for or to it. Those Christians are happy with their lives and amazingly unconcerned with the lives of others. What a tragedy. That is why it is time to cicumvent the estabished church.
What I am about to propose is not new. It is not an indictment of existing structures, fellowship groups or denominations. I believe that the 'New Way' can be used in every congregation where even one Christian seeks renewal and the blessing of Christ.
I propose that every Christian work toward planting at least one mini-church. This mini-church can serve within the existing structure of the church to be a renewing agent. Each mini-church should include both Christians and not-yet Christians. It could meet in a home, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a workplace, a dorm room or a shopping mall. The mini-church should meet at least bi-monthly. For the sake of consistency, a regular meeting time and place on a weekly basis would be best. Each meeting of the mini-church should include the following:

• Friendship- Mini-churches should be a place where all people can share their problems, their triumphs and their struggles. There should be mutual support and concern. Although sin should be examined and condemned, persons need to feel welcomed and loved. In addition to sharing, there should be a measure of accountability. For growth in Christ to occur, we must submit to the challenge of others.
• Nurture- Each mini-church should see to build up each participant in the mini-church. That should be done through regular times of prayer, worship and teaching. Although these times will be less formal than in the traditional church setting, they are more important than ever.
• Outreach- Mini-churches need to be groups that purposefully reach out to others. This will be accomplished in many ways. One of the most obvious is that not-yet Christians are involved in every aspect of the mini-church life. The existence of the mini-church is in itself an outreach. Additionally, each mini-church should be intentional about doing ministry to others in need. This might include missions trips, community service or evangelistic programming.

Getting Off Square One

These are questions that came to me as I was considering the future of my congregations. They are thoughts that everyone involved in ministry should consider.

1. Are we willing to work with other congregations?
2. Are we willing to change our worship? Our habits? Our meetings?
3. Are we willing to eliminate programs and events that are holding us back?
4. Are we willing to re-organize the administrative structure of the church?
5. Are we willing to lose ineffective traditions, rituals and practices?
6. Are we willing to go, to live and to sacrifice for the sake of the church? For the sake of Christ? For the mission of the church?
7. Are we willing to grow and stretch spiritually?
8. Are we willing to truthfully evaluate who we are? What we want? What we need?
9. Are we willing to try new programs, even if they result in embarrassing failures?
10. Are we willing to dream big dreams for the future? Set goals? Live by timelines?
11. Are we willing to just do it without complicating everything with our bureaucracy?
12. Are we willing to commit more time, energy and money to the church/ ministry/ Jesus than ever before?

30 Year Plan

I used to be in a great big hairy hurry to accomplish things. I thought that the sooner I accomplished each thing the better off I would be. After all, if I did it quicker, I could do more. It is the American Way to think like this. But I have changed my mind. To that end, I think that it is critical to think more long term.
Today I believe that 'long term vision requires long term commitment requires long term resources. On the one hand, this way of thinking slows down all that we do, but the quality goes up markedly. It takes a lot longer to do things, but the things that get done are greater.
Therefore,

• For the next thirty years I plan to build people, not programs. Programs will be tools to build big people. There will always be a place in my life for new programs, inventive ideas and creative resources, but my priority will be to encourage, enrich and disciple men and women. There will not be a focus on purpose-driven, seeker-sensitive, or whatever the next great idea is. I will focus on people, not programs.
• For the next thirty years I plan to spend time, not money. Money is a necessary evil in our world, but it should never take the place of investing our time and our hearts in what is really important. I will not throw my money at problems that I am not willing to invest my time in.
• For the next thirty years I plan to do stuff, not pray that someone else will do it. I plan to be involved and active in life, community and ministry. I will not ask someone else to do something that I am not willing to do with them.