I am reading the chapter on evangelism in Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church and had to stop mid-paragraph. A lot of what he is saying is confirming some of what I've been feeling in how the worship gathering/small group model that we are currently using probably will be counter to what we will need to see in any kind of post-Christian evangelism efforts. He draws some parallels between modern/post-modern approaches and the Roman approach when they first encountered the Celtic tribes. The Roman approach was to 1) present the Christian message; 2) invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; 3) If they do respond, assimilate them into the church. This is a very logical approach, but when the Romans encountered the Celts, they encountered a pagan culture that "favored a more sensory approach to learning."
If the modern church models the Romans in the example, the post-Christian culture represents the Celts. In the Roman model the logical progression was:
1) Presentation
2) Decision
3) Fellowship
The Celtic model (in contrast) became:
1) Fellowship
2) Ministry and conversations
3) Belief, invitation to commitment
What this means for us: Hanfield has had a "if we build it, they will come" approach to things. This worked well for us for awhile. We still see the worship service as the main entry point for non-believers. Once they show up, we work to assimilate them into groups. Thankfully, I think we understand that we need to get people involved in fellowship regardless of whether they have made a commitment or not, but we still tend to approach our adult groups in ways that the post-Christian would have a hard time engaging with. That's not a criticism, just an observation. Our adult groups are made up almost entirely of people with a Judeo-Christian mindset or understanding. I don't think our current groups would experience a lot of success with the Celtic model unless they really worked hard at making changes to the way they function. It is possible, but not without reimagining the purpose of groups beyond incubators for discipleship. I suspect Leanne is helping them to move beyond that in their planning.
I'm wondering if we won't experience more success in the satellite by recreating adult ministry models to where our adult groups are the first contact point for post-Christian people. Could the groups be done in a way that we begin by engaging in relationship with non-believers, learn about them, live with them, love them and let them experience community at that level as a way of introducing them to the faith before they ever set foot in a larger worship gathering? Obviously, assimilation for those that begin in the service setting is still important to consider, but what if it wasn't our primary modus operandi?
I'll probably wrestle with this some more, but it's time for lunch.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Connecting Campuses
One of the challenges that I am seeing with the satellite campus (no matter what it looks like) is finding ways to create connection between a satellite campus and the main campus. If we don't, we may as well be doing this as a chuch plant with a short-term connection untill the plant is capable of being its own, self-sustaining church.
I think there are ways that a main campus/daughter campus partnership would be beneficial to the mission of Hanfield. It would allow us to have a presence in a location and with a specific part of the population that we do not currently have. It could also help the main campus (in the country) stay connected with some of the needs of people in Marion better. The satellite could potentially serve as a ministry outpost for the main campus in Marion as well.
I'm also wondering if we might be able to serve one another by sharing some resources. I am expecting to start with just a single service at the satellite. Who does nursery during that time? If it is someone from the satellite, they then miss out on the service. If they always attend the service, where are they serving the body? Using the nursery example, what if people from the satellite took turns helping in the nursery at Hanfield during an earlier hour and people from Hanfield helped in the nursery at the satellite? What other resources could we share in an attempt to stay closely connected to the main campus?
In terms of relationship, what about using people from each campus to give testimonies at the other campus? What about developing additional teachers and allowing them to periodically (maybe on 5th Sundays) teach at the other campus? What about using people from the main campus to partner with small groups from the satellite who are older and can share their wisdom experience with younger believers?
Other ways we could partner in more obvious ways are combined VBS programming (as much as I hate the word "programming") and other outreach events, combined teams for missions trips and enlisting skilled people from each campus when a specific ministry need arises that matches their gifting. I'm sure there are many more, but that at least gets the ball rolling.
I think there are ways that a main campus/daughter campus partnership would be beneficial to the mission of Hanfield. It would allow us to have a presence in a location and with a specific part of the population that we do not currently have. It could also help the main campus (in the country) stay connected with some of the needs of people in Marion better. The satellite could potentially serve as a ministry outpost for the main campus in Marion as well.
I'm also wondering if we might be able to serve one another by sharing some resources. I am expecting to start with just a single service at the satellite. Who does nursery during that time? If it is someone from the satellite, they then miss out on the service. If they always attend the service, where are they serving the body? Using the nursery example, what if people from the satellite took turns helping in the nursery at Hanfield during an earlier hour and people from Hanfield helped in the nursery at the satellite? What other resources could we share in an attempt to stay closely connected to the main campus?
In terms of relationship, what about using people from each campus to give testimonies at the other campus? What about developing additional teachers and allowing them to periodically (maybe on 5th Sundays) teach at the other campus? What about using people from the main campus to partner with small groups from the satellite who are older and can share their wisdom experience with younger believers?
Other ways we could partner in more obvious ways are combined VBS programming (as much as I hate the word "programming") and other outreach events, combined teams for missions trips and enlisting skilled people from each campus when a specific ministry need arises that matches their gifting. I'm sure there are many more, but that at least gets the ball rolling.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Reflections from last week
Had coffee with Jason Makowski last Friday and a lot of satellite ministry stuff and my personal burden came up. It was encouraging to see how much of what I had to say resonated with Jason as he is someone who is a great brother and also a restless soul trying to sort out how his Christianity matters to the world around him. I sense that we are kindred spirits and it was great for me to be able to share what God has been doing in me with someone that gets it.
I think that's my biggest fear as we begin to look at what satellite ministry should look like; that people won't get it and see the value of it and, therefore, will not support it. We can't hope to engage in this kind of a ministry as a church without a sense of unity and purpose to it. If we do, we will have ineffective ministry carried out by a few people who will not have the time, energy and ability to carry it out.
I am envisioning the satellite becoming a place where need is encountered at a greater level than at the main campus. I am seeing us as a network where need can be communicated from the satellite to the main campus and we can partner in addressing that need. Frankly, Hanfield is too isolated right now. It is an oasis in the desert. It's not that there isn't need, we are just removed from so much of it that it becomes very difficult to learn of it by any other way than the individual telling us what the need is. Of course, this goes back to the lack of relationship and true "fellowship" (a term we've completely screwed up) that we currently have. But when you are not so isolated and you put yourself in a place where you can develop relationship and observe someone on a more regular basis, it is easier for you to see where a need might exist before the person even tells you. Then, in the context of relationship, you can ask about the need and if there is anything that you can do to help. I see the satellite as more localized (compared to the regional focus of Hanfield) ministry that allows that regular contact with the people that we are in the body with. I am praying that it begins in such a way that there is relationship established early on and we are able to get the care part right before it gets too difficult to care for one another in any deep, meaningful way.
Well, I'm off to coffee again. We'll see what thoughts are spurred on this time.
I think that's my biggest fear as we begin to look at what satellite ministry should look like; that people won't get it and see the value of it and, therefore, will not support it. We can't hope to engage in this kind of a ministry as a church without a sense of unity and purpose to it. If we do, we will have ineffective ministry carried out by a few people who will not have the time, energy and ability to carry it out.
I am envisioning the satellite becoming a place where need is encountered at a greater level than at the main campus. I am seeing us as a network where need can be communicated from the satellite to the main campus and we can partner in addressing that need. Frankly, Hanfield is too isolated right now. It is an oasis in the desert. It's not that there isn't need, we are just removed from so much of it that it becomes very difficult to learn of it by any other way than the individual telling us what the need is. Of course, this goes back to the lack of relationship and true "fellowship" (a term we've completely screwed up) that we currently have. But when you are not so isolated and you put yourself in a place where you can develop relationship and observe someone on a more regular basis, it is easier for you to see where a need might exist before the person even tells you. Then, in the context of relationship, you can ask about the need and if there is anything that you can do to help. I see the satellite as more localized (compared to the regional focus of Hanfield) ministry that allows that regular contact with the people that we are in the body with. I am praying that it begins in such a way that there is relationship established early on and we are able to get the care part right before it gets too difficult to care for one another in any deep, meaningful way.
Well, I'm off to coffee again. We'll see what thoughts are spurred on this time.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Thought on a conversation with Ryan Fox
Had a good time sitting down with Ryan last night at Beatnik's that fueled thought that kept me up half the night (although that may have been the tall Cafe Mocha that I ordered). Ryan had approached me about mentoring him and last night was our first chance to build into that. We talked about his band, their next recording process, worship team stuff, church stuff and satellite stuff. I was encouraged by how much I had to say about the satellite resonated with him. He's definitely a guy that I want to stay in close contact with because I know he brings a solid perspective about church stuff and he's 12-13 years younger than me and will soon be a part of that target audience that we keep saying the satellite will have.
One particular thing that Ryan shared with me got me thinking a great deal. There is the beginnings of an emergent worship service once a month in Amboy at McGrawsville UMC that a lot of college age guys from Marion are going to. The pastor for that age group is a recent IWU grad, so there's not a lot of surprise that the college population would be plentiful there, but that might be a place in our own backyard worth checking out to give people a glimpse of what I'm envisioning and to help them see that it isn't just an east coast or west coast thing. I had first heard about "Encounter" last spring when Jason Makowski was having a conversation at IWU with a student while we were having coffee and Ryan said he and a few guys went last week to it. I asked him what they did in the service and he said they had a few prayer stations and a lot of music (at the appropriate volume, loud).
With this going on just over 20 miles from here I think it lends a lot more credibility to emerging worship as something that might be pursued in Marion. Here's the potential gap between what's going on there and what I'm envisioning: it seems like it might be just another place for already churched people to get their worship fix. Since everybody that I have heard about attending that service is either a student at a local Christian college or attends another church I have to wonder about whether they are impacting people with a post-Christian, post modern worldview. I don't know. I haven't done the research, called their church staff, visited a service... I just have a feeling. Now, if what they are doing at McGrawsville opens churched people up to the possibilites in other ministry approaches and paves the way for emergent ministries for the post-Christian person, then I pray that God will use them to shape this next generation of church leadership to value and pursue this kind of ministry. That is the kind of ministry that I am passionate about, not just another place where we can keep ourselves interested in worship, but a place where people experience an understanding of the love of Jesus for the first time and are supernaturally transformed into Christ followers.
One particular thing that Ryan shared with me got me thinking a great deal. There is the beginnings of an emergent worship service once a month in Amboy at McGrawsville UMC that a lot of college age guys from Marion are going to. The pastor for that age group is a recent IWU grad, so there's not a lot of surprise that the college population would be plentiful there, but that might be a place in our own backyard worth checking out to give people a glimpse of what I'm envisioning and to help them see that it isn't just an east coast or west coast thing. I had first heard about "Encounter" last spring when Jason Makowski was having a conversation at IWU with a student while we were having coffee and Ryan said he and a few guys went last week to it. I asked him what they did in the service and he said they had a few prayer stations and a lot of music (at the appropriate volume, loud).
With this going on just over 20 miles from here I think it lends a lot more credibility to emerging worship as something that might be pursued in Marion. Here's the potential gap between what's going on there and what I'm envisioning: it seems like it might be just another place for already churched people to get their worship fix. Since everybody that I have heard about attending that service is either a student at a local Christian college or attends another church I have to wonder about whether they are impacting people with a post-Christian, post modern worldview. I don't know. I haven't done the research, called their church staff, visited a service... I just have a feeling. Now, if what they are doing at McGrawsville opens churched people up to the possibilites in other ministry approaches and paves the way for emergent ministries for the post-Christian person, then I pray that God will use them to shape this next generation of church leadership to value and pursue this kind of ministry. That is the kind of ministry that I am passionate about, not just another place where we can keep ourselves interested in worship, but a place where people experience an understanding of the love of Jesus for the first time and are supernaturally transformed into Christ followers.
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