Story Auction Winner #2

Two weeks ago I announced the first winner of the “story auction” that we ran for two shuttle buses.

Today I’m happy to announce the second winner. I actually got to meet the team from Renovation Church awhile back when we were exploring our first multi-site service in a movie theater. At the time I was so impressed by Brek Cockrell and the rest of their leadership team.

Renovation Church is affiliated with The Chapel, but located in a very tough part of urban Buffalo, New York. They launched in January 2009 and serve a very diverse and under-resourced community. They average over 500 every week and have only 38 parking spots. The shuttle will serve a similar purpose as it did at Granger–helping transport people from wherever they can find a place to park–to the building.

Congratulations to Renovation Church!

Something Just Doesn’t Add Up

I had a great email conversation with a reader…here it is:

I left a comment but also wanted to email you. My name is (Jack) and my wife and I are currently attending a mega church in Phoenix. Having said all that I just wanted to say that I have been burdened by the thought of something just not adding up with the “come to us” strategy in today’s church culture. I haven’t been able to get it off my mind lately. I feel like something is wrong. Not that the Church isn’t doing good in the world, but that we aren’t living up to the capabilities God has equipped us with. I feel like my heart is to reach a crowd of people that the church has seemingly avoided due to it’s “come to me” attitude. I am really looking forward to seeing what you post in the days to come about this situation. It has been on the forefront of my mind and heart non-stop lately. Do you think that we have totally strayed from what the Church’s strategy was intended to be? Do you feel like my generation (I’m 20) will be the one to fix these issues?  I know my heart is to be a part of a local church but to do ministry in what seems to be an unconventional, missional AND attractional way.  Maybe in the near future what is on my heart won’t be too unconventional after all.

And my reply:

Thanks for writing Jack. Actually, I don’t see what the typical church is doing today as a “come to me” attitude. I see it as a strategy or method. And the thing is–it’s working in a lot of places! Why? Because culture is diverse–and for a bunch of people who don’t know Jesus or who don’t “go” to church…attending a church service in a church building fits right into their culture. They “go” to a stadium for a game, they “go” to a mall to shop, they “go” to a school for an education.

So, no, I don’t think we’ve strayed from what the strategy was intended to be. I don’t think church buildings were part of God’s strategy, but neither are they unbiblical. We were left on this earth to go into the world. As Alan Hirsch has said, “We need to go into a culture and figure out what the good news means to them. We need to discover what church looks like in their context.” I’m convinced the “come to us” model is still the right model for millions in America. I believe it might be the right model for about 40% of my community.

But the problem–that 40% number (or whatever you think it is in your setting) is shrinking. And the number of people for whom the “come to the box” model will never work–it’s growing.

I want to be part of the solution. I want to have eyes wide open about how to reach the 60% while still being effective with the 40%. I want to help motivate thousands of Christ-followers in an established church to open their eyes and offer Hope and Light to a world around them who might never come to church.

How would you have answered Jack? What thoughts do you have about my reply?

The Shrinking 40%

In the book, The Forgotten Ways, author Alan Hirsch identifies a problem that I’ve been wrestling with for several months now.

He says that the way we do church is working with fewer people all the time. What does the way we do church mean? It means the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1700 years or so and that most of us are a product of is becoming quickly ineffective in today’s world. I’m not talking styles of worship, high church or low church, mainline or independent, protestant or catholic. I’m talking about all of those churches combined. Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship.

Let me explain it this way…

The Shrinking 40% - these are people for whom the “come to us” model works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40% of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model. For some communities on the left or right coast—this may actually be 20% or less. Hirsch believes it might be 35% for America overall. For our church in northern Indiana, we are still relatively insulated from the coastal influence—and we believe it could be around 40%. Whether the correct number is 40% or 50% or higher—there probably isn’t a place in America where this number isn’t shrinking.

The Growing 60% – these are people who believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus, and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. Research indicates “young adults today are less church-connected than prior generations were when they were in their 20s. But…they’re just about as spiritual as their parents and grandparents were at those ages.” An even newer study published a couple weeks ago indicates if the current trends continue, “the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships,” this according to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group’s survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they’re “really more spiritual than religious.”

Here’s what I think we should do about the Shrinking 40% — I think we should still create amazing church services and knock the ball out of the park on everything we do inside the box. Why would we not? It’s working for a huge percentage of our community! We should do whatever works to attract them, introduce them to Jesus, help them grow in their faith, and motivate them to make a difference in the world.

But I don’t think we can ignore the Growing 60%. Up until now, I honestly don’t think I ignored them. I just didn’t think about them. I’m a statistics guy, and it is the statistics (that I talked about earlier) which are waking me up to a missional problem. Now that I’m aware of the Growing 60% –I can either ignore them (and in reality tell them to go to Hell), or I can do something about it.

I don’t even know what that means. I just know that as churches we have to figure out how to deliver the gospel of Jesus in a way that doesn’t require them to come to the box. Because attracting people to come to the box is only working for a Shrinking 40%. And the Growing 60% will never be reached that way.

It’s not either/or. It’s finding the genius of the AND.

We are creating a conversation about this in November. You should join us. But don’t wait until then—tell me your thoughts now.

We Have a Statistical Problem

It’s a problem that is on my mind when I go to sleep, and I’m thinking about it again when I wake up. It is huge.

First, an illustration: Back in 1986, Mark Beeson came to town and started this church we call Granger. At that time—the church had all of 5 people (the number in the Beeson family). By our best guess and memory of demographic reports from 25 years ago—about half of the local population attended church somewhere. Mark and Sheila went after the other half—the people who were unchurched. And we built an entire ministry around that mission.

And it worked. Better than we could have imagined. We couldn’t baptize, disciple or minister to them fast enough.

Now, more than two decades later over 5,000 attend regularly, 8,000 attend at least once a month, and we have a well-established community impact ministry happening throughout the city. Conservatively, more than 10,000 people have given their life to Christ and untold thousands of next steps have been taken by Christ-followers at all stages of their spiritual journey.

And yet, today, as we look around our community, the stats haven’t changed a whole lot. Even with all that impact, there is still about 50% of the population that doesn’t attend church (maybe even a bit more now).

How is that possible? How is it, when we’ve gone from 0 to 8,000 – that we aren’t even making a dent in the unchurched population?

I think it’s because of three other conditions…

1. The church in America, as a whole, is in decline. That means if you combine the stats and impact of all the churches in our region, we are cumulatively involving fewer people and having less of an impact with every year that passes. That is a statistical fact that describes our country—and a subjective, yet intuitive reality about our local region.
2. The culture is becoming more varied by the day. With rare exception, churches tend to reach people like themselves. At Granger, we are reaching a subset of our local culture—and doing it VERY effectively—but that subset is a smaller percentage of the population with every year that passes.
3. Culture is not only more varied—it is changing. More people are exploring spirituality now than ever before—but fewer are doing it through the context of a physical church.

Pick any well-known large impact church and ask the same question.

• Willow Creek – is the percentage of people in the region who are fully devoted followers of Christ higher than when the church started? The same? Or actually less?
• Saddleback – same question.
• New Spring Church – same question.
• North Point Church – same question.
• Name Your Favorite Large Church – same question.

I don’t pretend to have studied the demographics in each of those areas, but in general, my sense is there is something about the “come to us” model that isn’t working to expand the gospel. Yes, it’s working for who it’s working for. But it’s not working to curb the decline of the American church overall. And that, my friends, is a statistical problem.

Some popular authors and speakers are saying it’s time to give up on church as we’ve known it. Leave the “attractional model” behind and become “missional” instead.

I don’t think it’s an either/or. I think there is an AND in the conversation that we are missing. Like I said, it’s been on my mind 24/7 in recent months. And, it is having a gargantuan impact on our thinking at Granger about the future.

It’s something I’ll be writing more about in the coming days, but for now, what are your thoughts?

One Prayer is Unstoppable

Since 2008, we have joined with thousands of other churches during the month of June to host a simultaneous series called One Prayer. The concept is simple–a theme is picked, any pastor/teacher can submit a 30-minute message on that theme, those messages are uploaded into a central database hosted by LifeChurch.tv–and any church can download the messages of their choice for free.

This concept not only breathes life into what has typically been the lowest-attended month of the year at Granger–but it also has raised over a million dollars and seen over 2,000 churches planted in four different countries.

This year we are jumping in again. The theme is Unstoppable.

Story Auction Winner #1

Last month we launched a “Story Auction” for two shuttle buses. Organizations from all over the country (and 2 from other countries!) wrote a compelling story and made an offer for our shuttles. I took the stories and dispersed them to about 40 leaders at Granger–and asked them to help me pick… “Which story is most compelling? Which story moves your heart?”

One story that was #1 choice by many was that of Pastor Darrly Murdock of the Faith Deliverance Center. They have planted a church right in the middle of one of the hardest parts of South Bend, Indiana. I had never met Darrly nor heard of the church–but this is what one of our leaders had to say about his ministry: I have known him for 30+ years. He and his wife are wonderful, compassionate, and have a heart for people. They have a small congregation but a huge heart!”

This is a part of the Faith Deliverance story in their own words:

We are right in the middle of the drugs, prostitution, homelessness, hopelessness and darkness. But God placed us there to be the light of love through Him. We know it was God because we were given the building and needless to say it was in very bad shape. But God is faithful!!! He remodeled our building and it looks brand new. And the best part of this miracle is that we are debt-free. We have a food pantry, clothes closet, hygiene, women counseling, men counseling, marriage and youth counseling. Whatever we can do to help God’s people we will do it. We know that God can and will restore this community. It does not have to be “the ghetto”. These people do not have transportation to get to Church if they live across town or further away. I have picked people up for Church and bible study for over 6 years with one car. Sometimes I have made 3 trips just to make sure people get to church to hear God’ s word because I know it brings them peace and joy they need to get through the week. And the youth need to leave their environment and see new things. We would be able to plan field trips for the children. Get them out of situations that are dark and grim. A day away from walking up and down the streets of drugs and crime, could  show them that it is a better way.

Congratulations to Pastor and Mrs. Darrly Murdock!

Does TV Control You?

(HT @aplusk)

In today’s world, this might better describe digital media (internet, texting, ipods, etc.). What do you think?

Ribbons, Magnets and Colored Bras

One of the few blogs I read daily is that of KemMeyer.com. And I told her last week this may be the best post she’s ever written. Why do I think it’s so good? Cause she said exactly what I’ve been thinking lately (and don’t we generally think people are brilliant if they agree with us?).

What follows are Kem’s words speaking my thoughts…

Celebrating Mother’s Day the YouTube Way

Classic…

Cute…

Sappy

Now This is What I’m Talking About

Last month I shared my frustration with NYC churches for not doing something about those who were stranded in the airport. In part, I said, “If these people had been sleeping in warm beds, cared for by loving followers of Christ, their kids helped and entertained by people who care–can you imagine how they would have been marked forever? They would have had stories to tell about people in America who truly loved them.”

With the recent historic flooding in Nashville, I’m so glad to see churches in the region being the church to their community. One example is Crosspoint Church which is coordinating thousands of volunteers to help people at their point of need. Way to go Pete Wilson and church!