Archive for the ‘church growth’ Category
You can shine like stars in the universe.
"But I'll never get this project completed!"
"Those potholes are so huge – why doesn't someone fill them?"
"I'll never get these books read."
"I don't care for this music…. it's too loud/soft/fast/slow."
—–
The litany of complaints never ends. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that what you complain about with words but refuse to take action on will never be resolved.
Instead you stew, you vent, you get red-faced. And in the end you look like a clown: your face is discolored, your actions are animated (looks like you're juggling), and you might even shoot steam out of your ears.
Paul once wrote on the subject to the Christians in Philippi, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." -Philippians 2:14-16 NIV
I have learned that merely complaining never fixes anything. I used to be a big complainer – to waitstaff, to 800-number customer service reps, to my friends, to family, etc.
I learned that in all those wasted breaths I accomplished nothing – it was as Shakespeare wrote, "sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
Instead of complaining, I choose to make a difference. So where I see injustice – I seek justice. When I am confused I pray for clarity. When I am lost I seek guidance. When I see that something needs to get done – I do it.
Funny thing is – when you become a person of action – you feel healthier because you're doing something about the situation. Others however, get jealous very quickly and say, "What's so special about him?"
The answer is – nothing special. Except for being fed up with being the clown. You can do this – it's easy. Instead of problems focus on solutions.
May you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life!
My takeaways from Creating Community (Andy Stanley)
My takeaways from Creating Community (Andy Stanley)
- We must push people to get in groups. The alternative is "disconnected, isolated, lonely people…not a viable option."
- Group experiences across the church need to be predictable – not in boring but in what their purpose is, how they will meet, etc.
- Clarify the "wins" for groups
- Strive for 100% participation
- There are easily identifiable levels of relationship in a church.
- Stanley uses the metaphor of a foyer (guest), living room (friend), to kitchen (family) to identify the different levels.
- Our opportunity as the church is to help people discover the power of each relationship in community.
- We must be directional about helping bridge each gap. What is a specific step that will help them make the jump?
- Good intention is not enough.
- Be honest with people up front as to what groups are NOT about: i.e. not a social club, meditation group, support group, or an expert group.
- The primary purpose of groups is simple: social fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.
- Through implementing a process to the groups system, Stanley's church has seen 90% involvement in small groups.
Connecting the concentric circles with social media
Rick Warren introduced an idea several years ago in his book "Purpose Driven Church". The concentric circles represented the influence and relationships of a community in this order:
- Community
- Crowd
- Congregation
- Committed
- Core
It provides a handy framework for understanding influence and commitment among the people in any given church environment. I began thinking recently about the use of social media and the context within which they operate for pastors and churches.
To me the correlation between technologies goes something like this:
- Community = mass media (radio, tv, youtube)
- Crowd = Twitter
- Congregation = facebook
- Committed = email/phone
- Core = face to face / coffee
Community is a larger body that pretty much allows one-way communication or limited two-way. Community has been traditionally fostered through mass media and now perhaps some narrowcast media as well. At Coffee Creek we implement a weekly podcast and our media team produces a vimeo video that is available 24×7 for streaming on the internet.
The crowd is a smaller group that raises it's hand and says – I'd like to know more. Twitter facilitates this sort of relationship with a feedback channel through retweets and direct messages. With twitter I send updates on service themes, topics, and links to resources that fit our current theme or teaching series. This is a natural occurrence as I read, highlight, and copy the thoughts into 140 characters or less. follow @clarkfrailey on twitter
Next a congregational relationship is a little bit closer in that I know your kids names and care what you might have done over the holidays. facebook facilitates a closer connection by sharing photos, videos, and more posts of a more personal nature that engages a conversation (via comments). Our Coffee Creek facebook fan page allows us a level of more personal connection to a smaller group of people that have expressed an interest in knowing what's going on around Coffee Creek.
The committed group is a tighter group that expresses a desire to be on the "inside track" – to me communication in email and by text/phone provide this group a deeper connection with volume of content and ability to ask questions and receive responses. At Coffee Creek we send a weekly email update with little text and big pictures that link back to website pages for further info or registration forms as appropriate. MailChimp is an excellent and reasonable service for sending regular emails to targeted mailing lists.
The final group, the "core" is the group that probably deserves to be communicated with regularly (monthly/weekly) in face to face conversations, coffee meetings, and brainstorm sessions. It's hard for me to envision how this group could maintain the direction and unity necessary for a core if they did not have some significant face time outside of social media.
One major upside of social media to me is that crowd, congregation, and committed prior to this technology were largely omitted from these channels of communication (outside of a newsletter or special mailing). Social media allows an extra layer of connection that should strengthen the bonds of all levels of relationship
3M’s – Message, Music, & Munchkins
I was recently asked to give the top 3 things that were my priorities in ministry. After thinking about it there are three things I’d die for – battles that I’m willing to fight for in church work and they go like this:
- Message – biblical and relevant
- Music – contemporary and passionate
- Munchkins – excellent children’s ministry, the best hour of their week
These priorities indicate a lot about my perspective on those things that are impossible for a church to ignore or overlook. I think these three things have the power to transform an unchurched/dechurched person from jaded or lost in the mix to someone that has an opportunity to explore the claims of Christ.
Isn’t that why we exist in the first place? Andy Stanley says, “The Church is a family expecting guests in their home.”
Guests deserve our best message, music, and care for their munchkins every Sunday. The way I like to frame it is that our facility and our friendliness needs to have the attitude that Jesus is walking in through our doors every week, because His guests certainly are.
So put on those winning smiles I see so many Sundays, get those hands out of your pocket, and welcome everyone with a simple thought in the back of your mind, “God loves you and so do I!”
-Pastor Clark
Bowled over
Wendy, the boys, and I embarked on a new adventure this past Sunday as we were welcomed to our new church home in Edmond at Coffee Creek Baptist Church.
Something more and more rare in ministry, this church took great care of us as we transitioned to their ministry. We were welcomed with a luncheon and honored with an overflowing table of food and other staples for our new home. Stephen and Sam were remembered with fun toys which they immediately tore into.
We greatly appreciate the honor our new church family has given us and how they’ve made every step of the way thus far so extremely pain-free and easy even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of moving with toddlers!
I recall the text in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” TNIV
We definitely are blessed to have a church family that is living out this philosophy! Thanks for the great welcome Coffee Creek – we’re excited about what God is doing in our midst!
About
Clark Frailey is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Coffee Creek Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
clarkfrailey.com
