The Long Walk

It isn't every day that I make reference to Stephen King when I blog. But today I feel adventurous. So here it goes:

Before he became 'Stephen King', he wrote a short story called 'The Long Walk'. It is about a VERY long race (lasting days) for teens who must keep moving at least 4 mph or risk being eliminated. One participant in the race had an interesting strategy. He started the race at a very slow pace. So slow, in fact, that he recieved his first warning of a slow pace within the first 100 yards. His strategy? If he started out too fast, then he would tire out before the end and be eliminated. Knowing how slow he could go helped him to pace himself and reach his goal.

I'm not a huge Stephen King fan. Honestly, I've not read any of his other books. But this strategy stayed with me even as I thought about how to equip churches to progress forward in ministry. How would I know what a healthy pace is for a church if I never test the threshold.

So I made the decision years back that I wouldn't make the mistake of going too slow and risk stagnation in the church. Instead, I was going to risk going too fast which might result in negative feedback. Once I taught myself to take constructive criticism well, I was able to get a much better hold on what a healthy pace is for a given congregation. This would play a HUGE part in planning ministry for years to come.

Here at Emmaunel, I've recently discoverd an area where people are pushing back (gently, I might add...my fragile ego thanks you, by the way). To me, this is good news. I now have a better sense of what a healthy pace is for this particular area of the church. I don't have to be worried about moving too slow. Now I can help dream, plan, implement and evaluate ministry with a better sense of how it might be recieved.

Thresholds are important to know. But it can only be made possible when a congregation is willing to give feedback. I'm not referring to those one or two people who will tell you what they think ALL the time whether you want to hear it or not. I'm referring to the congregation as a whole. Getting feedback from several people from different perspectives helps tremendously. And I do encourage positive as well as negative feedback.

So know that I am open to hearing from you and I value your feedback. I also encourage other leaders at Emmanuel to also be open to hearing feedback. It is in this way that we truly function as a community of believers and can move forward in 'making disciples of Jesus Christ' better tomorrow than we did yesterday.

What makes or breaks a worship program? I'm not talking about one service. I'm talking about a program: the long-term impact that a worship service can have on the life of a church. Certainly a good sermon is paramount. Good, energizing, biblical preaching that reaches the heart is THE beginning of quality worship experiences. This should go unsaid, but sadly needs to be said over and over again in worship services and to pastors that settle for mediocrity.

Music is another element that adds to a worship program. Music sets the tone for any worship service. Music that is less than good can become a distraction to the worshipper. Music that is very good can energize the worshipper into passionate worship. I feel blessed at Emmanuel. Glenda, Russ, Fools For Christ, the choir.....all are doing a good job and sometimes and excellent job. They will continue to do more and hopefully I will continue to do less. This will allow me to focus more energy on the sermon and allow better musicians to set a better tone.

The third element to a successful worship program is a strong children's ministry. I know there are opinions out there that parents should teach their children how to worship with the rest of us. I don't necessarily disagree with this. But I also am very well aware of many parents who simply can't worship because they are too busy parenting during the songs, prayer and sermon. Having a strong Children's Church and nursery to give parents an option is a huge plus for a church wanting to fill the gas tanks of young families. This leads me to a rather heart-felt point:

We need to re-energize the Children's Church program.

Now that the Faith-Forming Relationships Team is in place, we have the people and the energy to focus on children. While Vera Edwards and Andrea DeRose have done a tremendous job at organizing this ministry, I am sad that two person are responsible for such a huge task. At the risk of embarrassing her, I hope everyone knows the heart and soul Vera has poured into Children's Church. It is way past time to have a team around her. Now we do.

In the coming weeks we will be making changes to this ministry. There will be guidelines and volunteer meetings (October 11th after church). There will be an emphasis on holding children responsible for disruptive behavior and rewarding children who help with the learning environment. There will also be added help for volunteers who become discouraged and frustrated with their time spent with the children.

In the coming weeks it is my prayer that parents are understanding and accepting of the changes. In the short-term, parents may have a difficult time understanding the changes. But in the long-term I am convinced it will lead to a healthier children's minsitry and, in turn, to a healthier worship program. Pray for the FFR Team and all the volunteers as we move into a time of change.

One-On-One

Is the church that you are a part worthy enough to risk your reputation on? Would you dare to invite a trusted friend to go to worship with you? If not, I want to know why. I will do what I can to fix it.

Contrary to popular belief, church growth is not dependent on excellent marketing skills, numerous promotional gadgets or waves of advertisments. Those things are good to be sure and can help. But the number one reason that churches grow is that:

#1 - The church does church well enough for established members to invite a trusted friend;
#2 - The trusted friend is invited and attends one event or worship service
#3 - The church does hospitality well enough to help the trusted friend to feel welcome.
#4 - The church is authentic and relevant enough for the trusted friend to continue attending and become an established member;
#5 - see #1

One-on-one invitation is clearly the largest reason churches grow. How many friends have you invited to come attend? Were you willing to go to great lengths like actually picking them up for church and then sit with them and introduce them to people?

Additionally, is the church equipped to do excellent visitor follow-up that is welcoming but not overbearing? One of the key components to church growth is a strong hospitality program (commercial for September 27th). But the most important is for the church to be authentic and relevant for everyone involved.

I invite you to invite, but only if the church is worthy enough for you to risk your repuation. If it isn't, I want to know why. I'll do what I can to fix it.

Falling Like Dominos

I'm not a detailed person. Ask my wife. For that matter, ask the multi-media director. I simply don't feel compelled to spend any significant time on the little things...what to wear, what font to choose, how to fold my clothes (big marital issue, by the way), Coke or Pepsi, McDonalds or Burger King, Meyers or Wal-Mart. I could try to care less, but I'd fail miserably because it isn't possible for me to care less.

On the church front this is also glaring. I won't say it's a weakness because I truly believe that everyone is wired differently. But it is more glaring at Emmanuel because of the vast number of questions that I've been getting on so many details of so many ministry areas. You should've seen the faces the first couple of times I said, 'I don't care. Do whatever works best....as long as it works.' The response looked something like, 'Are you serious?'. It isn't that details are unimportant to me. Indeed, I'm going to need good leaders who are detail-oriented...a lot of them in fact. It's just that I firmly believe that once the big picture gets vastly improved, it will take care of so many of the details. For example......remember dominos?

Remember how long it would take to set up a long snake of dominos. The more you had, the longer it would take. I can remember spending 30 minutes setting up boxes dominos. It was tedious, stressful work--getting each domino in exactly the right place to be as effective as possible. And all of it was to enjoy 8 seconds of perfect cause and effect.

Emmanuel is working hard to set up the dominos. It will take time.....months even. It is tedious at times and stressful to be sure. It also takes patience to set up dominos. But the good news is that we are doing it....slowly but surely. And when all of them are set up----when leaders are in the right place to be as effective as possible---the dominos will fall. And all the details that people are asking about over and over and over again will be taken care of. Ok...maybe not all...but most. And we will be on our way to a more effective and more efficient ministry across the entire church.

When a firm decision-making structure gets in place that can dream, plan, implement and evaluate God's work, the details of ministry don't get taken care of one detail at a time, but by the handfuls....by the boxes full. And then we can stand back and finally look at the big picture and say, 'WOOHOO!! God is truly good!'

So I hope you are patient. I also hope you forgive me when you ask me a question related to details and I respond with a sigh before answering your question. It isn't because your question is unimportant. It's most likely because I'm getting impatient, waiting for the dominos to fall.

I like expanding horizons. I like challenging other people to think and rethink. I like pulling people out of their comfort zone and showing them what else can be possible if they would only be a little courageous. In my 13 years of ministry I have done a lot of this with mixed results. In some cases people become defensive and claim that they are just fine where they are, thank you very much. In other cases they look at me as though I'm entirely a crazy man. And yet in other cases, they cautiously test the waters to see if it's worth the risk. Only a few occasions have people jumped up and ran into the unknown seemingly uncaring as to what might happen.

One sign of a progressive church is when people try to outrun the visionary. My strength is in visioning.....dreaming of a preferred future and structuring the church to pursue it. So what happens when I suddenly find myself in a group of visionaries wanting to dream with me and pursue along side of me. To go a step further, what happens when people in the church ask me to expand my horizons; challenge me to think and rethink; pulling me out of my comfort zone and showing me what else can be possible if I would only be a little courageous?

For the most part, this would be a whole new dynamic for me. But I can't help but think that if I'm up to it, this dynamic can catapault the church further than even I can dream. It's a scary and yet terribly exciting prospect. I suspect it would be even more challenging to keep the church focused on the purpose of making disciples of Jesus. And yet, if the focus can be maintained, the potential for living into being God's people is limitless.