Not really a post but I just want to comment that the Barnes & Noble Nook for Android app is almost unusable. I have quite a few ebooks from Barnes & Noble due to the fact that my first android tablet was a Nook Color that I didn’t originally root. I am presently trying to finish a book I started on that Nool Color. It is Exclusion & Embrace by Miroslav Volf. As usual Volf makes excellent points but this has not been one of his better flowing books. Therefore I have taken some time reading it. I would read and then take a break and then start reading again only to eventualy take a break again. Well I am now reading Exclusion & Embrace on my Google nexus 7 and the Nook for Android app is just heidous. It is almost impossible to highlight anything. ARGH! This is terrible. I am ready to be finished with this book so that I can swap back to Aldiko or the Kindle for Android apps which I much prefer. I’ve actually tweeted my disdain concerning the app to B&N and they never responded. That doesn’t really make me want to like the app either.
Why Do Pastors Leave Post Project?
Just talking with a friend of mine (Hey Trey) concerning the phenomenon of pastors leaving churches after they finish a big project. The conversation started by him asking how I was feeling after finishing my D.Min. I told him I somewhat felt like I was struggling with what I was supposed to do next.
Pam will tell you that when I was in my undergraduate and graduate degrees I was no fun to be around after finals. Not unfun in the sense of being a grump, just extremely somber. Before my finals I always knew what I was doing with my free time. I had to study. I had a purpose for every second and usually didn’t have enough seconds in a day for that purpose. When I would finish finals I no longer had that purpose for every second and it would leaving me floundering about a little bit. That was what finishing my project report/dissertation was like. Now I find myself wondering what I am supposed to do next. I’ve joked with Pam about starting a Ph.D. but that is really just a joke (at least until the boys are finished with their undergraduate degrees).
Anyhow Trey asked how I was doing and that led to us discussing a phenomenon that seems pretty common in Evangelical churches – pastors leaving churches after a building is complete. This is all anecdotal but it seems to be a pretty common in both of our experiences. When a church builds a new building the pastor often leaves soon after it is completed. I’ve know of a minister who announced the week after the opening of the new building and only did that because he didn’t want to ruin the church’s first Sunday in the new building. I’ve heard people discuss this issue and heard many reasons offered for why it happens. The reasons usually focus on how draining a building project is ministerially, relationally, and personally.
While Trey and I were talking about pastors leaving after a building project we both mentioned that it seems from our experiences that pastors also quite often leave a church after they finish a degree. Don’t worry “threads” I’m not leaving and not evening thinking about it (unless of course you wish that I would leave – then you should worry because you are stuck with me). In our brief conversation we reached the point we we thought that often pastors leave just because they were trying to figure out what to do next. A new church is an easy answer to “what’s next.” Anyhow I think that’s a pretty lousy reason to leave a church and one that is correctable.
I wonder if someone like Ed Stetzer has ever done any statistical research on this phenomenon? I think there might be a correlation between finishing a big project and pastors leaving. Possibly the ministerial equivalent postpartum depression. Let’s call it “post-project depression.” If there is such a thing it is something that I believe could be addressed pretty easily with some education on the subject. Something like…
Hey pastor when you finish that big project there is a chance you will be down in the dumps for a little while and consider jumping to something new. Just wait for awhile and you’ll get over it. Then you’ll discover that you don’t need to leave the spot where you just did such good work.
Missionaries & Democracy
Pam pointed this article out to me and it is quite cool. Robert Woodberry has done compelling research indicating a connection between non-state supported, conversion focused missionaries and the development of the elements of strong democracies. To quote Woodberry:
Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations.
Cool thing is that these conversionary missionaries (Woodberry’s term for evangelistic missionaries) brought with them the desires for social justice and education that led to greater freedom and stability for those countries whose people they were trying to reach. The missionaries’ influence planted the seeds that decolonized the colonies they went to. This speaks of a kingdom priority that was different from the nations the missionaries came from. The article discusses some of the statistics associated with his research. I’m interested enough that I will have to find more that he has written.
You should read the entire article. It is quite interesting. Here’s Christianity Today‘s article discussing Woodberry’s work. I just found Woodberry’s original article here and will be reading it after I finish Miroslav Volf’s Embrace & Exclusion (which could be a while because while it is great, it is also not a page turner).
I would be intrigued to hear what my missionary (talking about you Andy & Arnold) and political science (talking about you Kirby & Clint) friends think about this.
I Figured it Out
EUREKA! I figured out what I wanted to remember last night. I mentioned this in a post earlier today. Here it is. Anyhow it hit me a little earlier. I was writing to remind myself that it might be nice to blog about how to dialogue in the middle of a sermon. Now that I remember what it was I might actually write about it.
Ting & Evangelism
Earlier today I had an email conversation with a friend concerning the cell phone company I swapped to about 4 months ago. The company is Ting and I really like them a lot. My experience with them has been very positive which is saying something for cell phone companies. In fact, the only cell phone experience I have that would top my experience with Ting is when my friend Devon was the manager of our local Sprint reseller. Devon was, and is, a friend and my experience with him was great. My experience with Sprint was mhem. So Ting is up there with a personal friend. If you are a friend of mine in Point there is a good chance that I have mentioned Ting to you because I enjoy talking about things, people, and companies that I believe in. It is the same reason that during conversations with new people I mention my wife (everyone should know her because she is great), or encourage people to fish the Wisconsin River (Point’s fishing is amazing), or tell people that Emy J’s has the best coffee in town, or finally if you are a journal users (or a chocolate lover) then you should go to the Paper Doll and say “hi” to Mary. I naturally like to recommend people and things that I think are great for life. Ting is just another example of this.
Anyhow my email conversation with my friend centered around what I liked about Ting and how he could start using Ting. If this had been a religious conversation this would have been called evangelism. That is all evangelism is, sharing your experience with Christ and helping someone else to figure out how to start their relationship with Jesus. So often we make it so difficult when it should simply be an enjoyable conversation about someone who has changed your life. I don’t really know how to program a phone to connect with the Ting network but I don’t have to know how to do that. The reps at Ting with help my friend with connecting a phone. All I did was talk about a service that I found helpful. You don’t have to know everything bout Christ, in fact, no one does.You just need to know some of what He has done for you and share it with those around you. Others can help with more detailed theological stuff.
I once heard evangelism described as an enjoyable conversation about the One who is most important to you (if you are a Christian). I like that definition.
Truth in blogging moment here – I do get a referral credit from Ting if my friend swaps. If you look at Ting and decide to swap I would much appreciate you using this link (https://zd66pl1ta93.ting.com/).
No Idea What I Was Thinking
I usually keep a pen and some form of paper by my side of the bed just in case I want to remember something during the evening. Late at night If I don’t write down whatever I am thinking about I will most definitely forget it by morning. Last night around 2 am I woke up after I had been thinking while sleeping. I had thought of something that I wanted to blog about. I remember thinking at the time “this will be good and something that probably hasn’t’t been discussed much.” So I looked for my pen and couldn’t’t find it. I finally decided I would grab my phone and use the WordPress app I have on it to start a draft of the post with the title to remind me of what I wanted to write about. I remember that the app wouldn’t allow me to save a post with just a title so I added a little content also. I just opened the app up so I could start to remember what I wanted to write about and image to the right is what I saw in the draft post.
I have no idea what “dislodg[ing] during a sermon” is nor do I even think that “dissolving during sermon” would necessarily be a good thing (I guess that depends upon how bad the sermon is). All I know is that I thought it was something really good last night. Apparently my standards of good are much lower when I am asleep. I tend to think of sometime of thunderdome experience when I read “dislodge during a sermon.” While that might be very entertaining I can’t really see that it would be helpful to the kingdom of God. I wonder if Tapestry can fit a full size thunderdome into the Washington Elementary School gym?
I’m fairly sure that whatever I was thinking about had something to do with the conversation that Pam and I had before bed which dealt with a portion of Miroslav Volf’ book Exclusion & Embrace
My Thoughts on the "Do We Still Need Choirs" Post
Since I was a minister in traditional churches for many years I have lots of friends, who I love and respect, who are music ministers. Many of these music minister friends have recently linked on social media to a post by a guy named Mark Condon titled “Do We Still Need Choirs?” I’m not sure why the post seems to be making the rounds through my newsfeed right now because it is from 2012, but I have seen it at least 4 times in the past two days. The interesting thing to me is that Condon asks a really good question, “do we still need choirs,” and then, in my opinion, doesn’t answer it. A “need” is something you can’t live without and I’m sorry for anyone who disagrees, but churches can survive, and more importantly worship God, without a choir.
During the Magisterial Protestant Reformation Martin Luther struggled with what defined a church. Afterall, he was convinced that in order to follow God he had to split from the Roman Catholic church and thereby form a new church that was still an extension of the church universal. So he struggled with what made a church a church. He came up with what are called the 7 Marks of the Church. He used these marks to recognize a church that is part of the one, holy, universal, and apostolic church. These marks are that a real church has…
- the holy word of God
- the holy sacrament of baptism
- the holy sacrament of the altar
- the office of keys exercised publicly
- it consecrates or calls ministers, or has offices that is to administer, bishops, pastors, preachers, but not women.
- prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God, the liturgy
- holy possession of the sacred cross, suffering and carrying the cross as followers of Christ.
Really, it’s a pretty good list and I don’t see choirs mentioned anywhere. You could argue that “public praise” hints at choirs, but I think that is only true if no one else in your church sings but the choir. I think we need to be very picky about what a need is for the church. One thing being a church planter has taught me is that aside from Jesus the church doesn’t have a lot of needs. We seem to have lots of wants that we mistakenly think are needs.
So in answer to Condon’s question of “do we still need choirs” I am fairly sure the answer is “Nope, never did because it isn’t a need.”
I think the question Condon actually tries to offer an answer for should be phrased more like, “are choirs still useful in a church anymore?” He basically asks this when he asks ” Is choir still relevant?” “Useful”/”relevant” is very different from need. “Need” is about necessity, while “useful” deals with effectiveness. I think we should question the effectiveness of various things we do as the church. Every now and then we need to consider if what we are doing is the best use of the resources God’s has given us. I was a Youth Minister for almost 20 years and while I believe a good Youth Ministry is amazingly effective for spreading the good news of the kingdom of God it isn’t a need, and therefore we should judge its effectiveness every now and then. You don’t question the effectiveness of a need … well because you have to have it. You should question the effectiveness of non-needs … well because it isn’t a need.
Aside from Jesus the church doesn’t have a lot of needs.
So are choirs still useful in the modern church? A good question, I’m glad you asked. Condon offers some answers to whether or not choirs are still useful to the church. I agree with some and others not so much. His point about fellowship is spot on in my opinion. A choir can be a really effective way of connecting people. Unfortunately a choir can also be destructive and merely focused on performance. I’ve been a part of some churches that had amazing choirs that really helped people connect with God and I’ve seen choirs that used a tremendous amount of a church’s resources and didn’t really connect people with the kingdom of God. Effective choirs are great things that help people to glorify God and point others to Him. Ineffective choirs are a draw on the resources of a church that don’t help the kingdom of God much, if at all. If the choir isn’t effective then I don’t see any reason for a church to continue having one because it definitely isn’t a need.
Needs are non-negotiable.
Everything else is up for discussion.
Choirs aren’t a need,
and therefore they are up for debate.
Why do Evangelicals Tend to do Our Own Thing?
Last week I went to an in-service for clergy concerning communicating with people who have acquired communicative impairments. I know the in-service was advertised to 90 different ministers in the Point area and I know that I personally sent word to 10 local ministers I know and respect. It was an excellent in-service that I found very helpful. I did, however, find the attendance interesting.
There were 13 of us at the in-service. I was the lone Baptist. There was a United Methodist, and 11 Evangelical Lutherans (ELCA). While my ELCA friends have “evangelical” in their name I don’t think that many of them (Anne & Ben S. please correct me if I am wrong on this) would claim that they would fit in the Evangelical subculture as it is defined in our present culture (i.e. basically theological and socially conservative, which I would fit into). United Methodists vary all over the spectrum so I’ll not make an assumption with her. I point out my assumptions on whether or not these individual ministers were Evangelical or not (and I acknowledge that they are nothing more than my assumptions of whether someone is Evangelical or not) because I would like to point out something that I think is a tendency among Evangelicals and that is that I believe we tend to do our own things and ignore everything else. In other words, I believe that if this had been a specifically Evangelical group, sponsored by a local Evangelical church, that more Evangelical ministers would have found time in their schedules to make the in-service a priority. Where as, I believe we tend to ignore things that are non-Evangelical in their nature.
Now I’m not calling out the ministers in the Point area because I know most of them and therefore I know they missed for very good reasons. I am sure the ones that didn’t come did so because they were very busy, had already dealt with ways to make sure they communicate effectively with people with acquired communicative disorders, or had other pressing matters. I know one who was planning on being there but was so thrown off by the snow of Tuesday that her schedule would no longer allow her to be at the in-service. I’ve seen the Evangelicals in the Point area in the name of Christ reach out and help those on the margins of society. It is just that it appears to me that we Evangelicals often do a better job of doing this when it is our thing rather than joining others in something good that is already happening. I’m not sure how nice we play with those outside of our Evangelical tribe. I’m not even real sure how well we play with those in our tribe. Seems to me that we are real good at inviting others to join us and not as good as joining others when they invite us. This post isn’t about ministers in the Point area. Instead, this post is just me wondering if this is an Evangelical tendency or not. Have others noticed this? Or am I just reading too much into my own experiences.
Maybe I am wrong. It just seemed odd to me that I was probably the only Evangelical in the room for a clergy in-service that was about helping us to communicate, and thereby share the message of Christ, with those who have communication impairments. Thinking that was odd got me to thinking about the bigger picture and had me wondering if it was a tendency within Evangelicalism on a whole.
If you noticed that their weren’t any Roman Catholics mention in attendance you would be correct. I`m not Roman Catholic though so I don’t have much to say about that circumstance.
I Have Failed as a Geek
I have failed as a Star Wars fan. Tonight during my message at Tapestry I used the image to the right as an illustration to talk about the past, present, and future. I thought it was a good point and that the image would help convey it but there was a problem that became a huge distraction for every geek in the room. You see I went from left to right with the first couple representing the past, the second couple representing the present, and the third couple representing the future. The problem? Well as any true Star Wars fan would know the icons of Darth Vader & Princess Leia wouldn’t work for the future because the story takes place …
a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
In fact the image should actually look like this.
I feel like such a failure and I deeply regret letting everyone down.
Architecture Stories
Today while meeting some recent guests who visited Tapestry (I try to take everybody who visits Tapestry out for coffee and a conversation) I realized that I have a bit of fascination with what architecture says about our culture and priorities. I have three examples that I use pretty often.
- Church worship arrangement reflecting the priorities of a church. I think I stole this from Dr. David Kirkpatrick my favorite theology professor at SWBTS. How the room is setup shows what is most important to a congregation.
- The tallest building in town reflecting the priority of a culture. At one time a church was usually the tallest building in town, then it was a government building that was most likely the tallest building in town, and now it is most likely a business that has the tallest building in town. I’m not sure where I originally heard this so I can’t give credit to who it is properly due.
- The place of graveyards reflecting our society’s fear of death. If you look at historic graveyards they are typically in the center of town by the church, versus the continually segregating of death further and further away from the living reflected now. This came from Jürgen Moltmann.
They are three of my favorite story/illustrations and I use them a ton. I need to do some more reading concerning architecture and a society’s priorities.