After 5 minutes of hitting the “Publish Post” button, I remembered I wanted to include this piece of video from last night’s Daily Show. I doubt I’ll pick up the book, but I do like where the discussion is headed recognizing that science and religion aren’t necessarily in opposition, and what we need right now are the best minds from science and theology working together, instead of mediocre commentators waging cultural battles.
It’s been a while and I’ve been getting nervous about losing my discipline about getting something posted every week, but life is (slowly) returning to normal and the internet and phone problems I’ve been having are nearly resolved.
Andrew Conrad asks a pretty provocative question, What to Do with Unhealthy UM Congregations? Like the “ineffective clergy” issue I think it’s an important question to ask, but also fraught with potential abuse, beginning with the issue of how an “unhealthy” congregation is defined (which Conrad notes). Unhealthy congregations can’t simply be “written off” especially we we are going to hold to a theology of redemption and resurrection, but there is a tricky game of how do we deploy effective clergy into unhealthy situations? On one hand, it’s the only way a turn-around can be achieved, on the other without the proper support and understanding it can be a recipe for clergy burnout. (This is also reason #2348 of why I’m glad I’m not a DS).
Andrew also offered some nice, brief additional thoughts on What to Do with Ineffective UM Clergy? As I think I’ve mentioned before, one of my primary concerns with the “ineffective clergy” question is if we need to remove clergy from leadership (due to ineffectiveness and not because of misconduct), can we do it in a way that is fair and pastoral? We need to give people the opportunity to change, but if they can’t (or won’t) grow, then there needs to be a level of support around the transition. As Conrad says, it should never be about kicking people out of the church, but helping them find their vocation, and I think we need to take that helping part seriously.
I’ve talked before about numbers (attendance, membership, etc.) being a key measure of clergy effectiveness; it’s an issue I’m torn on, because I understand the value and the appeal, but I also know that sometimes numbers can’t tell the whole story. So I found this article to be an interesting take on those types of measurements from a secular perspective. Chris Guillebeau writes:
the numbers give you a goal—something to keep in mind as you go through a challenging process. The numbers can’t be your sole motivation or identity, but they can be a big help.
I like that perspective, the numbers aren’t the sole motivation or identity, but they can be a healthy barometer of what is happening.
I know I’ve missed a ton of good stuff while I’ve been away, but hopefully I’ll be back into my usual routine soon. I’ve been putting a “summer mix” of music together on the ipod this is one that hit me as one of those good summer songs. (The 80’s era video production is also pretty entertaining).
Andrew Conrad explains the Internet #FAIL at Church of the Resurrection Online this week. Like the lesson from Jobs, transparency is good. If there is a problem, acknowledge it, solve it, and move on.
Seth Godin explains how we’ve moved past “slick” and what matters now is transparency, reputation, and guts.
Justin Wise on Mormons, iPads, and a New Way. Good thoughts on evangelism – first rule, treat the person you’re dealing with like a human being.
Small groups are the building block of small churches. The important reminder here for me is that small groups don’t always have to fit a certain model of a home “cell group” – sometimes just adding a new Sunday School class makes a difference.
Establishing a culture of distributed leadership good read, written from a secular perspective, but very applicable to the church. I just finished reading Ultimately Responsible: When You’re in Charge of Igniting a Ministryby Sue Nilson Kibbey which really takes this idea and examines it in depth – all about finding and training the right people for the mission and task of the church, making sure they understand and support the vision, and giving them an environment to succeed.
Jeff Nelson hits close to home this week’s offering – No Outlet.
Crazy week ahead. Don’t expect a round-up (but who knows, maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised).
A couple days ago Jeremy Smith wrote a great article about his concerns with Church of the Resurrection entering into discussion with another struggling United Methodist congregation about becoming a remote campus of CoR. Jeremy does a great job not only naming the temptations of such a move, but also suggests the ramifications (specifically dangers of theological outsourcing, denominational splintering, and the marginalization of women and minority clergy).
I think Jeremy’s on-target, but in the early morning hours as I found my mind awake before my body was ready to be, I found myself reconsidering.
I’m playing “devil’s advocate” to a degree here, but is it possible this (or something like it) is exactly where United Methodist reform is going to come from?
Is it possible that instead of this being the first step to a Wal-Mart church, this is a step back to what John Wesley was doing by traveling the English countryside preaching churches where he was invited in (and fields where he wasn’t), declaring “the world is my parish” and doing an end run around the (largely ineffective) structures of his day? Could an internet feed of a person’s preaching simply be the modern-day equivalent of publishing a volume of “Standard Sermons“? The reality is: creating a wide-spread movement, observing a set of unified expectations and practices, primarily driven by a single dynamic personality, that generated controversy and divisiveness is largely was Wesley was about.
But it did strike me that Hamilton (and Slaughter) are both in the position to spark that kind of reform if they wanted. It seems to me that they are both very close to having the tools as well as the leverage in place to bring about significant denominal change if they so desired. By design the United Methodist system lacks a single visionary leader, largely to our credit; the system of leadership offered by regional Bishops works well. Yet, I find myself wondering, if we’ve entered a time when we need a new “John Wesley” – someone who can spark a wide-reaching, inspiring vision that is rooted in those unified standards and expectations.
What if it’s not about building an empire of mini-CoRs, what if it is instead about inspiring a church to reach back to it’s roots (before it was a ‘church’), to be a reform movement once again, reaching out to the people who have been alienated from the institution, and motivating people to live their faith?
I don’t think that’s what CoR is doing right now, and so in the end, I resonate with Jeremy’s concerns, but I find myself wondering if it could be possible.
Check out the staycation ideas for churches from UM Communications. One of the things I’m excited about with the congregation I’ll be serving in July is the connection we have with Myers Lake Camp; they already to VBS at the camp, and many people stay at the campground during the week, but I’m already starting to think how else we might be able to utilize the space for mini-retreats that can foster fellowship, fun and spiritual development over the summers.
Jeff Nelson hits another one out of the park*. Donald Miller also addresses the subject of the Tigers game where Jim Joyce made the wrong call, costing Galarraga a perfect game. Like Jeff, Miller reminds the reader of the power of apology, in part, he writes:
If you’re a leader and you’re wrong, admit it. People will respect you. Admit it and show remorse. And if you follow a leader who struggles admitting they are wrong, DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. We all make mistakes, and people who admit their mistakes are in touch with their humanity, and those who don’t are simply delusional. And if they are not willing to pay for their mistakes, you better believe they are going to make those around them pay.
Rick Dake gives a few words on his experience of church as a youth versus the church of today. I’ve occasionally thought about how our “home” church experience can shape and influence our expectations of how we give leadership to the church today, sometimes to a negative degree, wanting to recapture a past imperfectly remembered. Rick’s post is a nice celebration of the positive changes that have taken place. Like Rick, my missional experiences were pretty limited – collecting for UNICEF was about it; the “big trip” we took was to go skiing in Minnesota, but in these last seven years of ministry I’ve led youth to serve others in Alabama, Washington DC, and Mexico; plus had the opportunity to be among the first to bring youth and adults to do flood recovery work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This isn’t the church of yesterday, and that is something to be thankful for.
Great meditation on transitions from The Art of Non-Conformity, that is especially meaningful given an work transition, now less than two weeks away:
I say: hold on to the moment as long as you can. Fight for it if you have to. Get up early and stay up late. Be brave. Choose the raw emotion, even the awkwardness if necessary. If we must go on to something else, let’s at least think about what was and what could have been.
The more intense the feeling, the better. If synchronicity and the feeling of being part of something meaningful comes with sadness, loneliness, and disappointment, so be it. I just know that I don’t want the alternative—mediocrity, routine, the safe and the comfortable.
Len Sweet on the need to adapt to and adopt the new digital language… “the devil is already learning the language of Google, are you?”
Lifehacker offers an excellent guide to escaping from office clutter. Much needed advice in my case, hopefully I can just commit to actually following through with it.
If you have the time (about 16 minutes), I’d also encourage you to check out this TED talk from David Byrne (you can also download it from itunes, for playback at another time). Byrne speaks to how the setting influences the form in the creation of music. Might the same be true for preaching? Is it possible that where we preach, subtly changes how we preach, and where we write influences what we write? I think it was Adam Hamilton who once suggested that if you write your sermon in the church office it will come out sounding like it was written for “church people,” but if you write it outside the church (coffee shop, restaurant, etc.) it will more likely speak better to people outside the church.
In preparation for the move I’m making in a little less than two weeks, I had to make the difficult decision to part with a part with a portion of my music collection that I still had on cassette tape. Admittedly, they weren’t great works of art, and can be easily replaced with better quality digital versions, but it’s still hard for me to part with those pieces of plastic and magnetized tape. Here’s one of the songs I had to part with:
Not a personal friend, but Jeremy Smith also has some good comments regarding Willimon. While I haven’t gone in-depth on the subject, I have mentioned the dilemmabefore – I think Willimon does have a point in that in the end you do need some kind of metric to help examine what is happening in the life of the congregation. He also has a point in that we take all this time and energy to collect the data, so we should be using it as well. But, as Steve and Jeremy point out the numbers (of baptism, membership, attendance) don’t always tell the whole story, and even that data can be abused and manipulated. Furthermore, when the numbers are taken to specifically measure clergy effectiveness, with the assumption that all areas are the same, problems will emerge. A congregation that is serving an area facing negative population growth simply can’t be expected to do as well as an area that is growing. Likewise, while the clergy leadership is an important element in congregational growth, it is not the only element and sometimes other factors (resistance within the congregation, “cleaning up” after another person’s mistakes, etc.) will limit growth, at least in the short-term. Having said all that, though, I will concede that Willimon does have a point that sometimes in the face of the hard numbers before us, all we choose to offer is excuses, instead of actually doing something to bring about change and growth. What also needs to be understood is that the denominational authorities can’t just command this to happen: vision, training, support, and resources are needed for this change to take place – the entire church culture has to change, not just the performance of individual pastors.
Scot McKnight shares some interesting data suggesting that people who hold to a concept of a benevolent and engaging God are significantly more committed than those who primarily understand God to be wrathful and judging.
Both Eric Bryant in his post, Seinfeld as a Drama?, and Dan Kimball address the issue of context. The videos they each link to are great, and an important reminder that a story can be told and manipulated, by how it is presented and removed from its original context.
Similar to Dan Kimball’s discussion, but with different take on the issue, Fred Clark has some interesting things to say about the emphasis Christians give to sexuality versus money relative to the amount they are discussed in Scripture. Clark is writing in a multipart series, check it out: Part 1 and Part 2.
It didn’t make it in my posting last week, but I did enjoy the piece from David Byrne on The Architecture of Fear. (Warning to the easily offended: Byrne uses some objectionable language).
Lifehacker posted the recommendations for essential Windows software. Quite a few things on the list I already use and can vouch for (Chrome, Skype, Thunderbird, VLC, Picasa, Microsoft Security Essentials) and a couple I’ve been meaning to check out (Mozy, Dropbox). If you use Windows, I’d encourage you to check it out and download the pack. (Of course I’m considering converting the Windows box in my new office to Ubuntu, just because I am a big nerd).
Interesting article suggesting we can all expect an increase in traffic tickets as state and municipal revenues remain tight. It especially hits home because I just received my first ticket after 20 years of driving, just two months ago.
If anyone wants to send me to Portland so I can hang out with Donald Miller for a couple of days, sign me up here.
My friend Eric mentioned how he just discovered The Black Keys this week, so in Eric’s honor here’s they are:
Nice thoughts on the Lost finale here, here, here, and here. Overall, I thought the finale was good. While I agree that the idea of the “sideways world” is problematic from the perspective of Christian theology (to me it seemed to be something more than “purgatory” – I saw it as a place they chose to go, rather than “had” to go to work out their redemption – to me it was more of a “mini-heaven”), I did like the idea that in this place (which was beyond time) the connections remained. I was also glad to see that Hurley became the protector of the island, Ben was redeemed, and the conversation the two shared about how Hurley now had the power to change the rules and be a different kind of leader.
Speaking of leadership, in Leading Ideas this week, Lewis Parks writes on A Better Script for Small Churches. There is also a great article from J. Clif Christopher on What Report is First on Your Church Council Agenda, which is something Lovett Weems talked about in the conversation I was a part of last week. How we tell the story influences how we live the story, and something as simple as moving the Finance Committee report to the end of the meeting can send a significant message about our priorities.
There’s an article this week from the United Methodist News Service about United Methodist clergy job security. It’s a tough topic. As some suggest in the article, I find myself feeling a little nervous about how “ineffectiveness” might be defined, evaluated (and possibly abused) and my own sense of perfectionism keeps telling me in the back of my mind that I won’t measure up. At the same time, I know there are clergy out there who are hurting congregations; who consistently make poor choices and haven’t received or responded to the personal, professional, or emotional help when it’s been made available. Furthermore, when I read quotes like this one:
“After being assigned for the last 30 years to clean up behind broken colleagues, suffer abuse at the hands of clergy-killing congregations with no intervention from the superintendent, questionable appointment practices, and never once complaining or requesting reconsideration, making multiple salary concessions and living in substandard housing that I would spend up to six years renovating, I am now … serving a system that has NO reciprocal obligation to care for or support me.”
I find myself wondering about the bitterness and the level of effectiveness of the person making the comment. I understand occasionally following pastors who have made poor decisions, I understand that occasionally there are congregational systems with unhealthy dynamics, and I even understand the occasional frustration at the lack of denominational support, but if a person’s experience is that these things have been a constant for 30 years, surely at some point they need to start questions if they might be part of the problem, too. I can confess that I’ve had that same mindset of “Ok, I’ve paid my dues, now where’s my reward?” but I know that’s not a healthy attitude toward ministry, and I’ve been working hard at developing an attitude on focusing on today, and letting go of tomorrow.
The reality is we need more accountability AND we need more grace, and both those things need to be extended in both directions. If the Cabinet and Boards of Ordained Ministry are going to get serious about clergy effectiveness, they also need to have programs and systems in place for healthy mentoring, training, and vocational re-direction. Likewise, clergy need to be better at trusting each other, stop expecting the system to automatically reward them, and develop systems that keep them accountable and fit for ministry. I believe some good things can come out of this study, and I’m excited by the possibilities it has to offer.
Jeremy Smith posted an interesting article about “breaking up” the United Methodist Book of Discipline into much more manageable parts. Although I’m not sure about the idea of juggling three different books instead of just one, I think there is some merit to the idea. I especially like the idea of a small volume with core doctrine that people could use without having to get bogged down with all the administrative rules that govern church life.
On a similar note, I’ve been interested in the idea of bi-vocational ministry and found this article to be a interesting look on the subject. I tend to feel uncomfortable with my salary being such a large part of the church budget. I like the idea that bi-vocational ministry provides some financial freedom for the congregation, as well as gets the pastor into the community in a significant way. At the same time, I’ve give a lot of thought to the downside as well – that is reduces time and energy that can be devoted to ministry. Bi-vocational ministry limits opportunities to schedule things like mid-week funerals or other emergency pastoral care situations if the person is committed to another job.
A few days late because of Annual Conference. Time to bask in some introvert time, and watch the end of LOST (hoping, hoping, hoping not to be disappointed – which means, I for one, DON’T want all the questions answered – leaving us with a little mystery is absolutely necessary to the beauty of the story, in my mind).
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.
Ed Stetzer has a great article on embracing the congregation’s unique identity. It’s a good warning against the temptation to create “copycat” churches where you just try to do whatever the flavor of the month is doing. Overall, I think I do pretty well, but I understand the temptation to try and be more like Mike Slaughter, instead of being the best Mike Mayo-Moyle I can be.
Falwell: Measurements in Ministry Success are Messed Up interesting data: 50% of pastors would quit if they could, 70% are fighting depression, 90% can’t cope with the challenges of ministry. Those numbers seem high to be, but his larger point is good – success isn’t about building the next mega-church, our focus needs to be on just one person at a time.
I’ve mentioned my friend Marcus, and his family, before – he’s an amazing guy (in general), but what I really appreciate is how he genuinely lives out his Christian faith. One of the ways he’s been doing it has been by opening his home to a group of students had when he taught in Mississippi. This past week the last of those students moved back. As Marcus notes in his blog this has been a tough week as he’s had to face the seeming insurmountable obstacles of poverty, culture and poor education. It’s hard reading, but it’s honest, and reminder that the change we hope for doesn’t always come.
Another Annual Conference is finished. Good times “holy conferencing” especially outside the spaces of sessions. I had the chance to have lunch with Lovett Weems who is both funny and insightful. I need to add his books to my reading list. One of his presentations on change can be found below. (I’ll also plan to add video of a spoken word piece I collaborated on later this week).
Music for this week – Jonsi Go Do. This one is a little on the strange side, Jonsi is from Iceland (also the lead singer of Sigur Ros), and his music isn’t in the realm of mainstream pop, but I enjoy it.
This is a spoken-word piece a group of us wrote for Annual Conference. I’ll get video posted soon.
Written By Revs. Jeff Nelson, Eric Kieb, Michael Mayo-Moyle, and Jeremy Peters
Presented during worship on Friday, May 21.
sprinkle me splash me dip me dunk me dowse me drown me pour me plunge me spew me spray me
bring me to the water take to the river open up the fire hydrant fill the kiddie pool
just baptize me now and I care don’t how
baptize me in Sunday morning worship water a whole world waiting to happen a kingdom around the corner water newborn promises and weepy eyed mother water first cry of new creation aww…ain’t she cute in her little white suit water make me a brother to the usher and the preacher and the Sunday school teacher, to the sleepy-eyed dudes who snooze in the pews, to the faithful attenders and the salvation vendors
Hit me with a fire hose. Make me a brother to all of those who remember Selma in ‘63 and a dream they said could never be and a King locked up in a Birmingham jail, I want to march with them past the gates of hell, with a song on my lips and a fist in the air, make me care about freedom and justice and civil rights, make me a brother to the other, red and yellow, black and white – bury me beneath the rubble of Sixteenth Street with four little girls Addie, Carole, Cynthia, and Denise.
Baptize me in the river Jordan. Make me a brother to the Canaanites who sleep behind a wall tonight a brother to the alien, legal and illegal alike, a brother to Joshua, Jesus and Jose, a brother to the desperate man trying to find a way across the border, crossing over looking for the Promised Land, help me to stand with the ones who have wandered desert sands from the Sinai to Arizona and everywhere in between All: hold me down in water so cold it makes me wanna scream!
Baptize me in solidarity with the poor the downsized and marginalized the victimized and brutalized the left out the least the last the lost the loser and the loner
stick my head in a toilet and pull the lever, make me a brother of every little guy who’s ever lost his lunch money and then his pride, let me be on the side of the tiny and the picked on curly-haired, swirly-scared kids of this world.
Baptize me in water that celebrates the I in you and you in me, the us in Thee and the one in three because it takes more than a village it takes a head, hand, eyes and ears, Body of Jesus community that beats with the lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub of our Abba’s heart and runs with the everliving blood that flowed from the hands and feet & side of the Beloved as he died;
Baptize me in black and poisoned British Petroleum water. Baptize me with the jellyfish and the smellyfish and all the upside down – belly-up fish make me go down below where the dolphin knows that a gallon of gas doesn’t cost just two bucks – make me a brother to the ducks and the turtle and the tern help me learn to love my neighbors with fins and flipper feet.
Baptize me in confessing water. Baptize me in reconciling water. Make me a brother to both sides of Dawson Auditorium; in the name of Jesus Christ let us declare a moratorium on pretense and posing and puffer and pride,
because I come as I am and so do you, broken battered beaten and bruised, ugly uncomfortable unusually used
I come with a burning yearning to abide in waters that cleanse create consume waters that expose the man beneath the satin suit and academic robes
baptize me in ark rocking, chaos riding, olive branch and rainbow promise water
in Red sea splitting, manna eating, milk and honey treating leaving all things behind for 40 years of wondering water
baptize me in exiled Babylonian river water in cloud splitting, heaven opening, phenomenological phenom of a sprit dove descending “This is my child do what he says,” water thirst-quenching, life-giving woman at the well spirit flowing from a pierced side water poured from gold trimmed pages broken open until every word is wet with wonder water
sprinkle me splash me dip me dunk me dowse me drown me pour me plunge me spew me spray me
bring me to the water take to the river open up the fire hydrant fill the kiddie pool
