Hello Church,
Many don't know it, but this week is very important for us as the church. I will be engaging in at least 4 face-to-face conversations that could be a catalyst for cultural change at Emmanuel. By this I mean continuing a shift from 'doing' to 'engaging'. From 'providing' to 'relating'.
Before you get your hopes up (or your anxiety up), know that this also continues to be a very difficult shift. It likely has been the most difficult task I have taken on in 20+ years of ministry. Re-inventing, reconstructing, re-visioning, reassessing, reasserting.... I can't and won't do it alone. Will you help?
To help you might need to re-look at how you are the church. Re-define how you measure success as a Christian person and as a community of Christian people. I am asking you to do something very difficult, but not something I haven't been doing for myself the past 12 months. Why would I ever do something so drastic? What would I invite you into this painful process?
85% of churches in the U.S. are declining. 15% are growing. 14% are growing because of church transfers. 1% are growing because of new believers (and it is more like .5%, but we like to round up). 96 churches are closing per week. 50 pastors are leaving per day. (Hartford Institute for Religious Research).
Why? And what is the secret formula to buck the trend?
Churches that are finding a little growth are the ones who have stopped looking at numbers, programming or events and started looking at culturally relevant relationships. Opportunities for face-to-face conversations is still a thing for people strive toward. Less ranting about rules and doctrine, more attempts at engaging the neighbor. Feeding the hungry turns into eating with the hungry. Attending worship turns into participating in worship. Giving to one another turns into sharing with one another. Praying for people turns into praying with people. Get it? Will you help? How?
Not just texting. Not just Facebooking. Not just snapping, instagraming or tweeting.
Engage in real, authentic, relevant, face-to-face conversation.... sort of what Jesus did. It is a start and something I am committed to doing moving forward. Will you help?
The opportunities are coming.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
Big, Fancy Words And Joe's Losing Argument
Hello Church,
Sacramental Theology is a tricky thing. The ins and outs of Communion and Baptism can make one rather confused, especially if there is a diverse range of church experiences.
June 2nd is not to be missed. With 5 Baptisms and Holy Communion on the slate, it makes for a rather short sermon. So if you enjoy the Baptism of young children or old men; like the taste of juice and bread; or don't like listening to me go on and on.... then Sunday, June 2nd is the day for you.
And every time I come upon one of these kinds of days, I am reminded of my unworthiness compared to God's Grace. I THINK I know the rules around these sacraments. I am prepared to debate with the best of them. I am ready to fight tooth and nail, drawing lines in the sand on who can and cannot do what and why and therefore and so on and so forth. I am Methodist. We have rules. Take it or leave it.
And I often end up feeling silly. Issues of intinction, immersion, rebaptism, reaffirmation, transubstantiation and other words that only live in seminaries create looks of confusion among the laity and make preachers sound smart. The problem is Grace isn't confusing. Grace is simple. Grace should stay simple. God doesn't complicate it with fancy words (the Book of Mark had no big words... read it and find out). And so Pastors should not meddle in the attempt to make it fancy. For God gives Grace more lavishly than I would. Just sayin'.
So June 2nd is a day when I get out of God's way. Let the theologians make their comments. In my ever-determined way to err on the side of Grace, I'll force God to be angry with me because I was too gracious rather than not gracious enough. My words will be fewer and the water will fly, maybe to unwanted or unneeded places (ever try to baptize a 6-month old?), but it will fly nonetheless.
Besides, some arguments you know you just won't win.... so why try?
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Sacramental Theology is a tricky thing. The ins and outs of Communion and Baptism can make one rather confused, especially if there is a diverse range of church experiences.
June 2nd is not to be missed. With 5 Baptisms and Holy Communion on the slate, it makes for a rather short sermon. So if you enjoy the Baptism of young children or old men; like the taste of juice and bread; or don't like listening to me go on and on.... then Sunday, June 2nd is the day for you.
And every time I come upon one of these kinds of days, I am reminded of my unworthiness compared to God's Grace. I THINK I know the rules around these sacraments. I am prepared to debate with the best of them. I am ready to fight tooth and nail, drawing lines in the sand on who can and cannot do what and why and therefore and so on and so forth. I am Methodist. We have rules. Take it or leave it.
And I often end up feeling silly. Issues of intinction, immersion, rebaptism, reaffirmation, transubstantiation and other words that only live in seminaries create looks of confusion among the laity and make preachers sound smart. The problem is Grace isn't confusing. Grace is simple. Grace should stay simple. God doesn't complicate it with fancy words (the Book of Mark had no big words... read it and find out). And so Pastors should not meddle in the attempt to make it fancy. For God gives Grace more lavishly than I would. Just sayin'.
So June 2nd is a day when I get out of God's way. Let the theologians make their comments. In my ever-determined way to err on the side of Grace, I'll force God to be angry with me because I was too gracious rather than not gracious enough. My words will be fewer and the water will fly, maybe to unwanted or unneeded places (ever try to baptize a 6-month old?), but it will fly nonetheless.
Besides, some arguments you know you just won't win.... so why try?
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Monday, May 13, 2019
Looking Forward To Tomorrow
Hello Church,
It's refreshing to be productive.
Since re-inventing myself, re-prioritizing how I spend my time, and setting new goals for myself, I have found a new lease on my days. I feel a general sense of overall productivity and purpose. I once again feel I have a place in God's plans for the day, though I usually don't know how. Life is good.
How did I get here?
If you are like I was, you might feel frustrated or discouraged about your day, generally speaking. You are tired and have moments of 'blah'. While I have shared much of my journey over the past year, there is something I haven't mentioned.... and this might help you.
Choose who you spend your time with.
In my vocation there can be a lot of negative. Conversations are had on a regular basis that involve the bad, sad, frustrating, conflicting, grief-stricken, uncertainty and grumpy. Sometimes it can't be avoided. Part of my job is to help people move through their down times. I actually like doing that. Again... a sense of purpose.
But in order to maintain a sense of balance and overall perspective, when it is possible, I stay away from the negative. God wants us to have joy. Some people don't have joy. So unless it is my Call to help someone through yucky times (i.e. to be someone's pastor), I stay away. It does me no good to constantly subject myself to how terrible someone thinks this world is.... be it the news, Facebook, my neighbor or some random person who just wants to complain. I don't need it, don't want it and I have learned it puts me in a bad place.
So I am always ready to be someone's Pastor. I am not always willing to participate in the banter of negativity. God wants you to have joy. I want you to have joy. I want me to have joy. I will help you get to that place, but if you don't want to have joy, your behavior will tell me (and everyone else around you). And if your behavior leads me to conclude that you are just want to live in the dark places and are too stubborn to move, I will go somewhere else until you are ready to meet Jesus again... and walk in His way. Then we can pursue joy again.
It is in this way that I can always look forward to tomorrow. When I can choose to do so, I will spend time with those who are determined to be joyful in the midst of God's grace... even if they fail to do so from time to time.
Choose who you spend time with... choose the spiritually alive, vital, love-seeking soul that oozes joy, contentment and peace. These things are contagious too. Take advantage of it.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
It's refreshing to be productive.
Since re-inventing myself, re-prioritizing how I spend my time, and setting new goals for myself, I have found a new lease on my days. I feel a general sense of overall productivity and purpose. I once again feel I have a place in God's plans for the day, though I usually don't know how. Life is good.
How did I get here?
If you are like I was, you might feel frustrated or discouraged about your day, generally speaking. You are tired and have moments of 'blah'. While I have shared much of my journey over the past year, there is something I haven't mentioned.... and this might help you.
Choose who you spend your time with.
In my vocation there can be a lot of negative. Conversations are had on a regular basis that involve the bad, sad, frustrating, conflicting, grief-stricken, uncertainty and grumpy. Sometimes it can't be avoided. Part of my job is to help people move through their down times. I actually like doing that. Again... a sense of purpose.
But in order to maintain a sense of balance and overall perspective, when it is possible, I stay away from the negative. God wants us to have joy. Some people don't have joy. So unless it is my Call to help someone through yucky times (i.e. to be someone's pastor), I stay away. It does me no good to constantly subject myself to how terrible someone thinks this world is.... be it the news, Facebook, my neighbor or some random person who just wants to complain. I don't need it, don't want it and I have learned it puts me in a bad place.
So I am always ready to be someone's Pastor. I am not always willing to participate in the banter of negativity. God wants you to have joy. I want you to have joy. I want me to have joy. I will help you get to that place, but if you don't want to have joy, your behavior will tell me (and everyone else around you). And if your behavior leads me to conclude that you are just want to live in the dark places and are too stubborn to move, I will go somewhere else until you are ready to meet Jesus again... and walk in His way. Then we can pursue joy again.
It is in this way that I can always look forward to tomorrow. When I can choose to do so, I will spend time with those who are determined to be joyful in the midst of God's grace... even if they fail to do so from time to time.
Choose who you spend time with... choose the spiritually alive, vital, love-seeking soul that oozes joy, contentment and peace. These things are contagious too. Take advantage of it.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Monday, May 6, 2019
The First Big Win For The Renewed Emmanuel....
Hello Church,
Engage, Engage, Engage....
Implementation is always the most difficult of all the phases to complete when re-inventing yourself. I find that to be true personally as well as corporately. This is true for a church as well. Sitting around and talking about it is easy. Actually doing it is not always easy.
So it is important to celebrate when God works through us and something new works. Any win at all is a good win and, in my opinion, we are having our first big win as a renewed, engaging church.
The Personal Discipleship Team started posting daily devotions on Emmanuel's Facebook page. It is an effort to engage the social media world in a more intentional way. Facebook keeps stats on who looks, clicks and shares the posts we make. 7 people took a day of the week and wrote a devotional. Here are the results.
1,400+ people received an Emmanuel post (compared to our average of about 400)
400+ people engaged a post, meaning they clicked on it or shared it with someone else (compared to our average of about 130)
This was just the first week, but it would seem Emmanuel has made an impact of some sort... certainly more engagement than we typically do. I believe this is a first of more to come in all kinds of ministry areas.
The key is for you to do something. Engaging in our new ideas is what creates wins. More opportunities are here and will continue to be made available. Get involved in something. You can help Emmanuel be a more engaging church.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
Engage, Engage, Engage....
Implementation is always the most difficult of all the phases to complete when re-inventing yourself. I find that to be true personally as well as corporately. This is true for a church as well. Sitting around and talking about it is easy. Actually doing it is not always easy.
So it is important to celebrate when God works through us and something new works. Any win at all is a good win and, in my opinion, we are having our first big win as a renewed, engaging church.
The Personal Discipleship Team started posting daily devotions on Emmanuel's Facebook page. It is an effort to engage the social media world in a more intentional way. Facebook keeps stats on who looks, clicks and shares the posts we make. 7 people took a day of the week and wrote a devotional. Here are the results.
1,400+ people received an Emmanuel post (compared to our average of about 400)
400+ people engaged a post, meaning they clicked on it or shared it with someone else (compared to our average of about 130)
This was just the first week, but it would seem Emmanuel has made an impact of some sort... certainly more engagement than we typically do. I believe this is a first of more to come in all kinds of ministry areas.
The key is for you to do something. Engaging in our new ideas is what creates wins. More opportunities are here and will continue to be made available. Get involved in something. You can help Emmanuel be a more engaging church.
God is Good,
Pastor Joe
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