Should You Kill Your Church?

Hundreds of churches will be closing there doors this year. I’m not about to call this a good thing, but it is inevitable. The fact is that no big news is coming out of the Jerusalem Church these days, or Corinth or Laodicea.

We like to talk about churches as “bodies” or “plants,” but we forget that all life dies. Some churches die in explosions of controversy. Others fizzle down to a few gray hairs paying exorbitant bills.

Perhaps today we should also talk about churches as stories. Essential elements of stories include Setting, Characters, Conflict, and most importantly the plot–beginning, middle and end.

Leaders could cast a vision the churches whole story: How did your church begin? What God has done through it in the past? What would it look like for the church to end well?

Great stories require great endings. A church might reinvent itself to by handing over the reins to a new generation, or selling the property and giving the money desperate church planters.

A church’s death could actually be the most powerful thing it does for the kingdom.

How do you want things to end?

Tags: Church, church planting, Missional

A Church For Strippers

According to Vince Antonucci, only about 2.2 percent of churches grow by conversion growth.  So your big, comfy megachurch, your cozy little house church or you nice traditional denominational church are either shrinking, or stealing people from other Churches.

In his hilarious I Became A Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt,  Vince tells how he came to Christ in college, having never met a single Christian in his life.  This led him to plant Forefront in Virginia beach, where they have grown a dynamic church, almost totally from non-believers.  Recently, Vince got the crazy idea to move to the Las Vegas strip and do it again.

Verve has an incredible vision and proven experienced leadership.  They have spent the better part of a year researching and reaching out in Vegas, which has led them to lease a property right off the strip, which will be home to a non-profit they’re launching, church services and more.  On Wednesday, Vince announced this on his site:

Shepherd of the Hills church let me know that they will match any donations given in December to our Verve Venture Capitalists campaign!! We are trying to raise $50,000 for the build-out costs of getting the warehouse turned into a space where we can do church services (and more). Our hope has been to have 500 people give $100 each, all in 100 days.

So far we’re about half way there, but with only 29 days left. So Shepherd of the Hills said to help us reach our goal, they will match your donations given in December, all the way up to $25,000! So, if you can PLEASE give, you can know that your gift will be doubled!! You can learn more, and give online, at www.verveventure.org.

Imagine the impact you could have by helping out this phenomenal ministry!  There’s only a few days left for the matching gifts, and only only a few left for those who need to give in 2009.  Please prayerfully consider how you can help the strippers.

Tags: Church, church planting, I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip, Vince Antonucci

A Big Sunday

With the mission trip over, I don’t want to keep talking about myself, but yesterday was a pretty big Sunday.

7am-Shaved the travel beard.  I hadn’t shaved since before leaving the States and had two months of nastiness to get rid of.

8:15am- Littleton Church of Christ, where I was priviledged to hear ACU’s young preaching prodigy Colin Packer.

12pm- Called my old friend Jeff Cole, only to find out he’s left Colorado for Fuller’s big campus in Pasadena.

2pm- Grandma’s 80th birthday.  3 generations of church of Christ leadership from across Denver showed of to celebrated.  Good woman.

5pm- Met up with my old friend Michael Hannegan at Adullam.  Had just enough time to shake hands with Hugh Halter and steal some food.

6:30pm- Mike and I arrived at the Castle Rock church of Christ in time to catch the last few minutes of the Angola Team‘s presentation.

7:30pm- Hugged friends and people who had a huge influence on me that I hadn’t seen since High School.  Teared up thinking of some really good times.

8:30pm- Heard the story behind my good, dear friends Robert and Teague‘s choices to go to Angola and to adopt to sibling boys from Ethiopia.  Prayed together. 

10:30pm- Drove Mike to his car and the discussed quandry of remaining loyal to the churches of our youth in a post-denominational America.

Today was a bigger blessing than I could have asked for.  I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life right now (although many days it is miserable), and the chances I get to see his work around the world.  I am also incredibly grateful to cross paths with those who meant so much to me when I was younger, and see them in dedicated service to our Lord.

Tags: Angola Team, beard, Church, church of Christ, friends, Hugh Halter, Littleton church of Christ, memories, Tangible Kingdom

Austin Churches, How Are You Serving SXSW

Every spring, tens of thousands of the world’s most creative mindsdescend on Austin, Texas for South By South West.  The event includes over 400 indie bands, an interactive media conference and a film festival.

The first time I experienced this artistic pilgrimage, I wondered where all the churches were.  My answer came on Friday night from a suited street preacher yelling for repentance.

Conversations such as the Q Conference, have shown that the Church’s role in a post-christendom culture must be to create culture that is more relevant, beautiful and creative as what the lost world has to offer.  This is a far cry from Christian creative movement of the last few decades, focused on creating cheap knock-offs of secular culture.

The same day I encountered the street preacher, a nice guy from a music label gave me some free pizza and beer.  He didn’t yell at me, explaining why his label was so much better than all the others.  He just served me.

Every year, the artists who will shape the music, media and movies of the future come together for SXSW.  What if Austin’s churches made it their goal to minister to the creators of tomorrow?

Tags: Austin, Church, Creating Culture, indie music, South By South West, SXSW

We Can Do Better

I’ve been reflecting on my recent reunion with four college friends who have since gone into full-time ministry.  We were each on our second or third church in five intervening, and we each had our horror stories. 

Why is it that those who devote their lives to leading the Church have so little to show for it?  Blame the minister-maybe they weren’t properly prepared, or had no business going into paid ministry.  Blame our denominational schools/institutions.  These guys run in Church of Christ circles, where there is no sort of “placement” system. Unsuspecting 20-somethings are left to desperately chase down a church job to pay off their college loans. Blame the church, for the cruel way they treat their servants.

Sure there is blame to go around, but we can do better!  What if young ministers were required to complete a hands-on discipleship/internship, instead of just going straight into full-time work? What if the ministers submitted to a coach that would help them grow organizational and relational skills?  What if elders, staff and lay leaders focused on developing these new leaders?  What if we were more concerned about the spiritual formation of our ministers and pastors than the politics which make it so hard to hold on to a young minister for a year or two?

What do you think we can do better at?

Tags: Church, fired, minister, youth minister