Edgy in worship is a relative term.

 When we planted our church three years ago we were considered “edgy” in our worship style.  Now three years later we aren’t all that edgy.

It has been interesting over the last few months to hear dialogue from people who think we are too fast or too slow or too whatever.   Hearing these discussions provides proof that our church of 3 years faces some of the same challenges of a traditional church when it comes to styles of worship. You can’t please everyone.  (Some days as a pastor, honestly, you wonder if you can please anyone.)  Thankfully we can make decisions rather quickly, so as we sense a need to change we can. 

One of the questions in my thoughts these days is what is next in the area of change needed in our worship planning.  I certainly think the church needs to always be thinking, dreaming and planning for the next phase of our ministry and we need to be ready before or at least as changes occur in society.  I’m not talking just about the music, but the whole service.  If everything changes and if change today is occurring rapidly in our society, what kind of changes will we need to make in the coming months and years to continue to reach people for Christ?  If the Apple iPhone is already undergoing changes after their short history in the cell phone market, how much more must we as presenters of the Kingdom of God be willing to change and adapt to change quickly?  Again, these are just questions.  I usually live my life with more questions than I have answers.  

My mind started racing Sunday afternoon. I tried to take a nap, but I couldn’t get these thoughts out of my head.  I woke up with the same thoughts again this morning.  I’m trying to figure out how best to reach people in today’s culture.  These thoughts began with a game my family plays each Sunday after church.  Perhaps your family plays the game. It’s called “Name The Missing” and the object of the game is to list as many people as you can who you didn’t see at church that day.  I hate the game personally, but I seem to fall into it and actually win quite often.  If you can name the person and where they were you get extra points.  The most common response lately has revolved around dance competitions or sporting events.  I’m wondering now if there is a better game we should be playing. 

We are living in a culture where Sunday morning is not necessarily reserved for church. It used to be and we could wish it still were, but it’s not.  For years I have tried to figure out how to stop this cultural shift, but I’m beginning to wonder if that is the correct response.   I wonder if we should be considering how we interact with the present culture.  How do we reach people who no longer have the mindset that to find God they must free up their Sunday morning? 

Jesus said, in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”  Does that command include the dance competitions and the baseball diamond, even if those places are occupied on Sunday morning?  What about the restaurant I passed on the way to church this morning?  Does the absence of a person from my organized time of service mean they have no interest in God or no desire for Him in their life? I’m not sure it does.  I’m wondering if we as the “church” need to rethink our strategy to include those absentees in our outreach. 

I’m not suggesting Tuesday night visitation.  I don’t want unannounced visitors at my house and I’m a paid professional.  I am, however, talking about finding ways to reach people within the schedule the culture is setting for them.  That could mean alternative scheduling of our services or it could mean alternative type of “services”.  I think it definitely means taking the message of God’s love and grace, which is only available through the person of Jesus Christ, (I added the Jesus qualifier just so someone doesn’t think I’m talking about a new “religion”) to them in a ways that intersect with where and how they have currently chosen to live their life, even if that is just through personal relationships.   I guess I’m also wondering if thinking through ways to accomplish this should be occupying my thoughts as much or close to as much as thoughts about how to improve Sunday mornings at my church. 

I don’t have all the answers. I’m just thinking.  I welcome your ideas. 

I love it when a church that is already doing great things attempts to get better.  Continuing to dream, explore, experiment and improve should be the goal of every organization; especially the church!  Some things will never change, but how we present it must always be on the table!

I always learn something when I read Tim Steven’s Blog:  http://tinyurl.com/5nvr39

My hope would be that we as a church never get stale and never be afraid to tweak things to get better.  It seems to me we could never improve too much in attempting to tell the story we have to tell! 

Every week we send first time visitors a questionnaire to tell us about the experience they had visiting.  We receive many wonderful comments, and a few suggestions, but the most repeated praise of what we do is the welcoming spirit of our people.  Your friendliness and love towards others is evident when they walk in our doors.  Sometimes it is humbling to know their greatest impression of us was not the music or the message, but the people they encountered, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Grace Community Church has grown mostly by people who cared enough to care for others.  If we ever lose that somehow I think we will lose our soul as a church. 

Will you do me a favor?  Will you help us do this even more? Sometimes we grow comfortable in our seats and fail to do what we need to do. (That statement is probably true about a lot of other areas in our life as well.)  This Sunday and every Sunday will you do two things?  1) Consider who you can invite to join you at Grace this week; and, 2) Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know and make the people around you feel welcome and at home.   

(As a side note from personal experience: Don’t assume it is their first visit, because they may have been there all along.  You just may not have met them yet.) 

Thanks for giving us a reputation as a friendly place where people are loved.  There is no better way to begin to introduce people to the love of Christ than to let them know they are loved by us.   

What is the next level for your organization?  Do you have a vision to get you there? 

As we approach our third anniversary as a church, I’m in a deep brainstorming time about where God would want us to lead the church in the coming years.  God has blessed us with three wonderful years, but what’s next?  I have always believed and taught that a healthy church is a growing church, so what is our role in producing that growth.  Of course our overall vision remains the same. We want to make growing followers of Jesus Christ.  I know that God ultimately is the One who grows the church and people, but I also know that He uses people to carry out His will.  Will what worked to accomplish our growth the first three years work the same way in the next three years?  As fast as the world is changing, and since we are a culture invading church, reaching people who are very entrenched in the culture, it would make sense that we would need to be ready to make changes quickly to maintain our growth.   

So, here are some of the tough questions I’m asking myself.  While at this point these are personal questions I am processing, yesterday I shared these with our staff for their input and to spur their thoughts in similar directions.  I welcome your input if you have questions or thoughts that would be good for us to consider or if you have insight for a church at our stage of its life-cycle.    

Where do we want to go?  What specific goals in each area of ministry do we have for the next three years in regards to numbers of people engaged and numbers of people volunteering?  What changes need to be made to our current structured programs in order to better disciple people?  Do we need to alter our service times, tweak our style of music or add new services to reach new people? 

How are we going to get there?  Once we know where we want to go, what steps need to be in place to accomplish each of the goals?  How much will it cost?  Will our current facilities be enough to sustain our new growth goals? 

Who is going to lead the way?  Are the right people in place to take us to the next level?  Do we need to add staff or alter responsibilities in order to achieve maximum results from everyone on the team?  How many new volunteers will be needed to meet our goals? 

These are just a few of my questions. Again, I welcome your input in this process. 

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 NIV

News that Wal Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is giving itself a new image via its logo fascinates me.  From what I’ve been able to tell online the new logo isn’t much different than the last, but to logo experts, I guess it’s a pretty big deal.  The bigger deal for me is that they are changing it at all.  They remain Wal Mart.  The giant, mega-sized corporation that no one seems to be able to fully compete with doesn’t appear to need the help of a more modern symbol to represent its supremacy.  Or does it? 

The king of retail has faced challenges on numerous fronts in recent years from employee lawsuits and threats of unionizing to more challenges than ever to locating in certain areas.  Some don’t want the giant retailer in their neighborhood, and, not accustomed to being told no, Wal Mart is now losing the battle in some communities they have tried to enter.  Reports also indicate that Wal Mart hired an outside public relations firm several years ago to look at ways to improve their image among workers and consumers.  Perhaps this new logo is a product of their work. 

As a church leader, I think this teaches me more than just to be looking for a new symbol when I need bargain toilet paper (or whatever else I need).  I think it reminds me that if Wal Mart must continually evaluate things as simple as logos (really not so simple), then surely we do in the church. 

So, consider these questions: What does your organizations current logo say about you? Is it still saying what you intend it to say?  Does it adequately communicate your vision?  Is it warm, inviting and reflective of the organization you are today?  Is it time for a change?  More importantly, what about the image of your organization that your logo represents?  Could it use an overhaul?  Finally, and this is a hard question, if a fancy PR firm, the kind only Wal Mart could afford, told you that people think you stink, do you believe in success enough to humble yourself and change?   

Starbucks Howard Schultz is back in charge at Starbucks.  He tried to leave and came back earlier this year to attempt to reverse the suffering the company is experiencing.  Dell’s Michael recently returned to help steer Dell back to health.  Other companies, who have founder with lesser known names, have recently seen their founding fathers return to the helm of leadership.  Take a look at companies like Sun Microsystems, Novell, and Vonage who have seen their founders return. 

Bill Gates, who needs no introduction to the world, spent his last day as CEO of Microsoft yesterday.  His teary departure to lead the Gates Foundation has been much anticipated and is noble considering the difference he hopes to now make in the world. The question is will he be able to enjoy “retirement” or will he be needed again at Microsoft’s top spot?   The answer to that question remains to be seen.

I have a theory that companies today will face this dilemma more than companies founded in years past.  Could it be that because companies today begin with such an imprint of their founder in their DNA that it is becoming more difficult to pass the reigns of the top spot to another person?   Study Starbucks and you have to study Howard Schultz. (He even wrote a book about it.)  Look at Dell computers and you see Michael Dell all over the company philosophy. (Even in the name!)  Companies today are very much an impression of their founders.  Google’s corporate “fun” environment IS Larry Page.  Every time I’ve heard Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, interviewed he describes the social network with a passion that only a founder could exhibit.  

Companies are launching into their niche faster than ever before.  The information age and technology allows for growth at a pace unknown in previous generations.  Much of that growth is a direct reflection on the personality and passions of the founder who is seen in the public as the chief representative of the company.  I’m not sure this has always been the case. 

As we consider this phenomenon within corporate America, I can’t help but wonder if there are implications here for churches as well.  Doesn’t Northpoint have the personality of Andy Stanley?  Lifepoint certainlyembodies the imprint of Craig Groeschel.  The same is true for Fellowship’s Ed Young, Jr.  You can add your own to this list.  What will happen when these leaders attempt to retire?  Will we see them return as corporate founders have had to do?  Again, the answer to that question remains to be seen.

This thought process does make me consider a few things organizations may want to consider in their beginning years:     

1.      Organizations must be thinking transition from the founding of the organization.

2.      Organizations must be careful not to elevate people or personalities over vision.

3.      Organization may want consider easing a leader out gradually, rather than allowing a fast exit of the founder.

I read lots of business magazines and blogs.  I find it helps me with my own management skills.  I also believe the Bible teaches us some great leadership principles.  Unless you have lived under a rock then you know that today’s workplace is changing. The “new” generation of workers is more value-centered.  Through my conversation with business leaders, what I have read and what I have personally observed this new generation of workers love time at home more than time in the office.  They value a company that cares for the environment.  They want benefits as well as pay.  Fairness and honesty in the way they are treated is of utmost importance to them. They want immediate responsibility and authority in their area.  They want to dress comfortably and they don’t expect to do what they are doing forever.  Finally, they want to enjoy what they do and have a deep sense of purpose in their work.  It’s not that those values weren’t present 20 years ago, but today they are critical to finding and keeping good people. 

As I lead and help others do so I’m sometimes faced with a dilemma.  What is the balance between creating the “fun”; new values-centered workplace and the need to get a job done well?  When do I need to become the “bad guy” leader who pushes for excellence and for quantity of work as well as quality, without really being labeled the bad guy?  Because this generation will not work long or well for bad guys. 

It seems to me that learning where the lines are, hiring the right people in the first place (of course), and operating with a great Jesus principle of grace and truth, is going to be a key to leading this next generation.  If we want to obtain the energy and creative minds of youth then we must learn to manage them well. 

I’m praying that I will grow in those skills so I can help others do likewise and I’m once again reminded how much I can learn from Jesus!

This is such a friendler post than what I started writing yesterday on this subject. Thank you God for time to think through commenting. I do have a question though about a denomination that I’ve been a part of since birth:

Are the Southern Baptist, by their passing of the resolution “On Regenerate Church Membership and Church Member Restoration” claiming that all the 10 million missing people from their membership rolls are in need of discipline?  You can read the resolution here: http://www.bpnews.net/blog/article.asp?id=176.  It passed at the denomination’s convention earlier this month. 

If so, I have a problem with that. My suspicion is that not everyone understands or even agrees with the system of record keeping Southern Baptist hold so dear.  In our military town, for example, people move away, join a church that doesn’t request “letters”, and never think to notify the sending church.  Are they living in sin because of an oversight in record keeping? 

I know that’s not the intent of this resolution.  Hopefully it is incredibly well-meaning to make sure disciples are being made in keeping with the teachings of Christ, but perception says otherwise, and, as I have learned in church planting trying to reach lost people, perception carries a lot of weight with the unchurched/unsaved world. 

I think the proper response may be to follow up with those “misplaced” members, find out where they are in their walk with Christ, and if necessary, adjust the churches records.  If discipline is needed then it can be addressed then.  I would suggest starting with the “love others” approach first.

Just a suggestion. 

Have you ever read something and wish you hadn’t?  That just happened to me.  While researching for message prep I stumbled on this blog post.  It’s not “new” information, just compiled in a way I haven’t seen; all in one neat, tidy, sobering place.  What to make of it?  Not sure yet.  I’m still processing it all. 

Check out what stirred my thoughts this morning at: http://faithwalk.wordpress.com/startling-statistics/