I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things that God has blessed me with. A new blessing this year is this little one. God is so good!
Archive - November, 2010
My First Grandchild!
I cannot even believe I am old enough to write those words, yet there they are! My oldest just gave birth to my first granddaughter! Madysen Harlee Mains was born November 16th, at 7.38pm. She was 8lbs. 3oz, and 21in. long! Mom and baby are doing great! Hopefully more pics to come. I am sure MANY more pics to come!
Happy Birthday To My Wife!
She is not here so I can tell her this in person. She is in Kansas waiting for my oldest daughter to give birth to our first grandchild. She will now share a birthday with this little one! How cool is that for a birthday present! Anyways, I love this amazing woman! Life just gets better the older we grow together, and I am glad I get to do it with her! Happy Birthday Jennifer. I love you!
AND Conference – Session 6: Tim Stevens
Session 5 was the Arts Mash-Up. Awesome presentations from all 3 churches!
- Every new term that comes out tells us we’re doing church wrong. So “Missional schmissional and Attractional Schmactional!”
- 40% of people are attracted to and will come to the “box,” and that number is shrinking. Tim says that the number holds true for Granger and its community.
- Granger did not exist 25 years ago, and now it runs over 5000. But has it made a dent on the statistical number of unchurched in the area.
- Granger does not have all the answers, but here is what we know at Granger right now:
o We must begin reaching the 60% of people that are unchurched in the area
o We must reach more of the 40% that will go to church
o We must help the 40% reach their 60%
- In the past we wanted to get the community into the church, in the future,, we want to get the church into the community
- In the past church was defined by the weekend service, in the future, church is defined by where you are
- In the past, it was primarily centralized, top down structure, in the future, it is a decentralized, organic structure for quick growth
- In the past, there was no designated giving, in the future,, there are lots of ways to give to your passion
- In the past, people have come to the building to do their ministry, in the future,, ministry isn’t confined to a building. It happens everywhere you are.
- In the past, buildings served the church, the community is invited to join, in the future, buildings serve the community, the congregation also meets there.
The community at large should no longer look at the church as a last resort, but the first place to go for hope and help!
Thursday Links
Here are some great posts from the last week:
- “The Fear Of Doing” is a great Post by Donald Miller. Read it!
- Scott Hodge writes about he process in “Becoming.”
- Jonathon Acuff writes “Having Two Gods.” Wonderful read.
Just those three for this week. Make sure and check out the links on the blog to coverage on the AND conference.
AND Conference – Session 4: Dave Ferguson
- People who say they have no religious affiliation has doubled in the last 10 years.
- Missional people + Multiplying churches = Missional movement
Creating a culture for missional movement
- Ordain every Christ-follower. Live the priesthood of believers.
- Lead with a “yes”. Allow others to live out their dream.
- Make heroes of everyday people. Tell people’s story. When people see everyday people doing something it inspires them and releases them to do what God has birthed in them.
Some Videos from AND
This was used as the opening video for The AND Conference.
We’re plagued by the curses of the vs. They are all around us – including in how we think we have to do church.
Before we were plagued by the “curses of the vs.” but now, we’re opening up a can of the Power of The AND. The thought process that church doesn’t have to be missional OR attractional – it’s the power of AND instead of OR.
AND Conference – Session 4: Matt Carter
(Session 3 was a breakout session)
- Matt says he is not yet ready to totally throw out the attractional model of church because it is still able to reach some people that will not be able to be reached otherwise. It is also able to do some things that smaller gatherings are unable to do.
- But, there is something missing in the attractional only model. There is a growing restlessness among the church laity.
- For far to long, we have told the masses to come to us and we will fill your needs, we will feed you, we will make you feel comfortable.
- The laity is restless wondering when they get to get in the fight.
- We can grow another 3000 people as a church, but if we do that, nothing really changes in the city. We do not make a difference there.
- What if instead of growing 3000 more people, we release 3000 people to leave the church and go to the city.
- Jesus was not make a very good mega-church pastor. Every time he drew a croud, He ran them off. It was not His ministry style to gather people, but to work with 12 and send them out.
- What if it is possible to both attract people and send them out?
- Matt does it with his church in what they call missional communities.
- Not just small groups, but groups getting on mission to reach their communities for Christ.
- They have done three things to make this happen:
o Change the definition of success for small groups.
o Train them to be missionaries to their communities.
o Change the bar as far as what God is able to do through them.
- After that, you have to let them go to actually be the church.
This is one you have to listen to if it gets posted online at wiredchurches.com!
AND Conference – Session 2: Rob Wegner
Attractional 101
- External Focus
- Cultural Relevance
- Priesthood of believers (every member a minister – focus on service)
- Church as an institution
Missional 101
- Educates and sends members out to where the people live
- People do not come to the church, the church goes to the people
- Church as a movement
The tone over the last many years has been one of being either or; being opposed to one another.
Transactional model of mission
- Pay another organization to send out missionaries
- May even have some of our people tag along for short term work
- Based and focused on the organization
In the book of Acts, we see missions done through the local church, not an external organization. Missional is the responsibility of the church itself.
- We need to move from cultural relevance to cultural embedment.
- Do we have to see church as institution and church as movement as being against each other. The can exist together in a healthy relationship.
- God’s Spirit empowers and gives life to both expressions of the church.
AND Conference – Session 1: Alan Hirsch
Here are some highlights from the first session with Alan:
- The church is becoming more isolated from most people today in the US.
- Most churches in an attractional setting are extracting people from their cultural group, which also removes their influence from Christ in their cultural setting.
- Within 3-5 years of coming to Christ, most people are socialized out of their context and into the context of the church, which removes them from their sphere of influence.
- 40% of the US would be interested in the Contemporary Church Growth Model.
- That means 60% of people are alienated from the Contemporary Church Growth Model.
- The problem? 95% of churches are trying to become like the Contemporary Church.
- Even if every church could pull it off (by becoming a growing church in the CCGM) we would only be reaching out to 40% of the population.
- What is church for the 60%? What is going to reach them? More of the same is not the answer.
- The problems of the church cannot be resolved by the same kind of thinking that created those problems. You cannot do the same thing over and over and expect different results. That is the definition of organizational insanity.
- We are living in a de-churched cultural society. Most churches do not know what to do with that. They are unsure of what they need to do different.
- Church comes out of mission. Not the other way around.
- We need to plant the gospel and let church come out of that
