Learnings @ Leadership Network

Korean and American Churches Are Similar, But Maybe on Different Timetables

I just returned from a week with Korean megachurches. I met the pastor of a church with 40,000 attendance (see lunch photo) that last week bought two acres with plans to construct a 7,000 seat sanctuary on it!  Another church, the country's first megachurch, currently with 30,000 attendance, has a 5-story parking garage under one of its buildings (see photo of the pastor and me outside his gorgeous facility).  Yet another church, currently growing through about 9,000 in attendance, has a second facility about two blocks away and wants to learn more about how multi-site works in the U.S. I also met with pastors of "smaller" megachurches as well.
 
Korean churches are way ahead of us in so many ways: prayer, zeal, sacrifice, and more. We have learned so much from them and will continue to do so.
 
They're interested in developments of U.S. megachurches because their society seems to be following ours, and practices that used to work for them are not working as well today.  For better or worse, the consumerism that characterizes American society, including American churches, is also showing up in Korean churches. The churches I visited are typically great at drawing believers into attendance at many meetings each week -- for prayer, worship, and instruction -- but general Korean culture is becoming more individualistic as we have become, so they're just beginning to explore the idea of lay empowerment for ministry in individualized, tailored ways. They responded well to the idea I borrowed from Robert Lewis of pastors adopting the Home Depot slogan: "You can do it, and we can help." (Now all they need is an actual Home Depot store there in Korea!) 
 
My talk on multi-site actually made front page of a local newspaper, illustrating the level of curiosity about multi-site. No one had time to read it to me so for all I know it says, "American speaker explains all the stupid things he's done here in Korea"!

On a more humorous level, Korea is considerably ahead of us technologically. I was so clueless about their electronic toilets that instead of flushing I created more of an unexpected spray and wash event (see photo of control panel). Another example: they give speeding tickets mostly by mail when cameras catch your speed and also identify your license plates. But Koreans are resourceful, so the in-car GPS software detects where those cameras are and warns you each time to slow down as you approach it! Woe to those who don't have an automobile "Garmin" equivalent.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Any Dogs at Your Church?

Some churches allow dogs -- and other pets -- at regular weekly services. Does yours? 
 
In my church visits over the years, I've met up with many churches that have quite an effective ministry with dogs. Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church, Montgomery, AL, for example, has a PAWS ministry (Pets Are Working Saints), where people and their pets go together into hospitals and convalescent homes. Church members love involving their pets in ministry, and the people they visit seem to love it as well. 
 
Mariners Church, Irvine, CA, likewise has an outreach called Ministry Dogs. Ministry Dogs are experienced therapy dogs that serve along side existing ministries to help people feel welcome, to encourage participation and to help people experience unconditional love. 
 
Last year I visited New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, HI. They rent a local high school auditorium for services, and they also set up a tent and large projection screen just outside. One reason they do so is that people like to bring their animals, and they feel freer to do so in an outdoor setting. The week I was there I saw three dogs, but none were very cooperative in letting me take their photo, so I got the outdoor service itself instead.
 
USA Today recently ran an article about a dog-friendly worship service every Thursday at Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE. The weekly "Paws and Prayers" service started in December and currently draws 50-60 people and an estimated 50 dogs. Further, the vast majority of the people who come are not members. In comparison, the 85-member church has an average attendance of 71 for its Sunday morning service.
 
The article quotes one woman saying, "I hadn't been to church in many, many years, and this gave me a reason to come back with my friend" -- her dog. She told USA Today that hasn't attended any church regularly since about 1988. "To go to church by yourself is really lonely, and if you bring your dog, you're not alone," according to Becky Balestri, the pastor at Underwood Hills.
 
The article explained that some dogs take seats on pews and sit upright while others lie on the floor, preferring a spot under the pews. The minister likens it to having kids in church. When the offering plate is passed, people place their gifts inside and take squares of cheese for the dogs.

I've heard of other churches that do so. For example, in New York City, for about 10 years Church of the Holy Trinity, an Episcopal congregation, has welcomed dogs at its weekly services. Also the Pilgrim Congregational Church in the Boston suburb of Weymouth, MA, as a Sunday evening worship, started September 2008. It's called the "Woof and Worship" service and it typically attracts about 20 to 50 dogs, plus owners. 
 
In October -- Blessing of the Animals
 
While few churches have a regular weekly service for dogs and their owners, many (as Underwood Hills) do sponsor an annual "blessing of the animals," in honor of the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi, which in 2009 falls on October 4th.
 
My wife is sponsoring a Seeing Eye puppy, and we plan to visit a church this October to ask God's blessing on our dog, as she, upon "graduation," will make it possible for a blind person to get around -- and maybe even to get to church!
 
Will your church do a blessing of the animals or other outreach to dog owners?
 
Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

What do you take to a conference?

Because of my role at Leadership Network I am somewhat of a pro at attending and hanging around at conferences. Each year I learn something new.

My pack list:

1. My own pen. Yep, I know a lot of conferences give you one but if I am going to take a lot of notes and write them, I feel better using my own pen. (Current model: a cheap Foray ballpoint retractable.)

2. My moleskine notebook – Yep, I know a lot of conferences hook you up with a really cool pad or journal or notebook, but my notebook is not so much about what the speakers say – but about my reactions and applications of what they say. How is this challenging me? What can I apply?

3. My cell phone – set to silent or vibrate so it doesn’t bother folks but lets me keep up with twitters, tweet ups and texts from friends that I want to connect with while there.

4. Business cards – Call me old fashioned. I know that folks like to text and beam stuff around, but biz cards still work for me. Plus I can always write a special note on the back. I pack a bunch and put some in my pocket and some in my moleskine.

5. Comfortable shoes – most of the conferences I go to you can wear anything. I am not a sit down person but more of a stand up hang around type. So good walking and standing shows with soft soles is a must.

6. A light jacket – for me, that is usually a casual blazer but people say I look old that way. Guess what. Don’t care. You never know what the temp is going to be in a facility, plus with a jacket I have extra pockets for all my stuff.

7. Breathe mints or gum- If you are wondering if your breathe stinks, it probably does.

8. Crash Cash – for books, water bottles, coffee. Yeah lots of places will take plastic but lots don’t, so I carry some with me.

9. Laptop – it is sort of a habit with me.  This one is optional.  Sometimes I break it out to blog something or send a message before I forget. I know the smartphone and iphone geeks are laughing at me but sometimes you just have to flip up the screen and get some “real work” done.

10. A hang loose attitude – I find a lot of folks stress out at these deals. I just count it a blessing to hang around some smart folks. Enjoy it like you would a party. Meet some new folks. Reconnect with old friends. Find out what is going on in their world. It makes my life bigger.

 

OK, so what do you carry along with you?

Will I see you at Innovation3? Come and find me and let’s swap biz cards.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

Are you interested in what Seacoast did earlier this week?

This is a guest post written by our friend and colleague Tim Dammon. Tim as present the other day at the Ribbon cutting ceremony and had a little hand in it. Here's his guest post today.

“At ECHO we’re crazy.  Crazy enough to believe that when Jesus said, “Heal the sick,” He meant it.  Crazy enough to believe that when He said, “If you want to honor me, serve the poorest and least influential in your community,” that He intended for us to do just that.  And crazy enough to believe that we can find 10,000 congregations in America who agree with us.  We only have 9,999 to go.  This week, Seacoast Church opened the Dreamcenter Clinic in North Charleston, South Carolina.  ECHO (Empowering Church Healthcare Outreach) is proud to have helped facilitate the planning and launch of that clinic.

Founded just a year ago, ECHO offers consulting and support services at no cost to churches who are willing to plan and launch clinics to deliver healthcare to the financially struggling men, women, and children in their communities.  ECHO’s ministry is as much to the church itself as it is to the people who need access to healthcare.  Pastors Greg and Geoff Surratt, Campus Pastor Sam Lesky, and a number of volunteers at the Dreamcenter clinic opening told us again and again what a phenomenal effect the planning and execution of the clinic launch have had on Seacoast Church.  A renewed sense of passion for the community has driven an incredible response in financial, volunteer, and prayer support and unleashed a whole new wave of ministry for Seacoast congregation members.

ECHO is facilitating a dozen or so other similar projects across the nation (okay, so I exaggerated earlier – there are only 9,988 to go – better hurry and get your name in) and believes that if we can get 10,000 churches involved in this ministry we can improve access to healthcare for 20 million people.  That’s nearly half of the uninsured in America.  Think of it!  With just over 3 percent of American churches engaged, we can solve half of the national problem!  Imagine what we could do if some huge proportion like . . . TEN percent were engaged!

I know.  It’s a radical idea.  It’ll never work.  The CHURCH taking responsibility for their community?  No one has EVER suggested that before!!!  But just in case any of you radical types out there want to join us in this insanity, you can contact us at www.echoclinics.org .

By the way . . . at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Pastor Greg Surratt said that it was his vision to have all thirteen Seacoast campuses provide access points for healthcare for those in need around them.  So that’s only 9,976 spots left.  Better hurry.

Jesus said, “Heal the sick.”  You’re called to do it.  We’re called to help.

 Tim Dammon, President, ECHO

Why They Stay

Imagine that you moved to a new city a couple of years ago, found a great church, and over time found your niche for involvement and developed some close church friends.

Now, how long will you stay at that church?

One of the many things Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis has figured out is how to help you stay with the church potentially for decades, and to keep growing spiritually all along the way.

The church was stop #10 on Scott Thumma's and my mega-tour of U.S. churches. (See links for previous stops here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.) Here's what we learned about why people stay at this church:

• Preach Bible Application: One of the most prominent expressions at Eastern Star is "Where Jesus is exalted, and the Word is explained." Indeed Senior Pastor Jeffrey Johnson Sr. takes the congregation into the Scriptures, and then shows how it applies to following God's way in day-to-day living.
• Validate Longtermers: Since Eastern Star's founding in 1920, attendance has grown from a handful to thousands. Through repeated facility expansions and even a major relocation, change has been continual but step-by-step. The church's good leadership helps people experience change in increments and validates long-term members by making sure there's always important roles for them.
• Move with the Population: If you move to an outlying suburb of Indianapolis, Eastern Star moves with you. It has become one church in three locations and with three church plants, making somewhat of a circle around Indianapolis.
• Keep the Music Relevant: Eastern Star's music ranges from hip-hop to classic black gospel. The contemporary instruments, high-energy leadership of the worship services, and wide variety of choirs continually push the worship to new levels of cultural relevance.

As a result, the church has young, new families coming in the door, helped by such programs as their stellar academy with 200-plus students. But we also found a disproportionate number of people who have been part of the church for 30, 40 and 50 years (often along with their children and grandchildren). Indeed, they've figured out how to be a big family, growing bigger by growing smaller.

Our next stop is The Rock in San Diego. See you there!

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Church Has Lots of Struggling People -- and Wants More

    John Leonard has a Jesus tattoo on his leg, plus numerous other tattoos on his leathery arms and chest. On Friday nights, he parks his big motorcycle in a "preferred parking area" designated for bikers, just steps away from the front door of Grace Church, a United Methodist congregation in Cape Coral, Florida,  where Scott Thumma and I conducted our most recent field study visit. (See these links for previous stops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.)

In many churches, John might feel or seem out of place. Not at Grace Church. The Friday night Christ-centered recovery ministry regularly draws several hundred people like John. Some are far from God, but find an inviting sense of community there. Others, like John (a former prison guard with a big-time drug addiction), have not only seen God break through their addictions, but also develop them into leaders. In fact, today John heads up the entire recovery ministry.

  Grace Church, which started its first recovery group in 2000, is at the vanguard of a growing number of churches launching Christ-centered recovery programs that serve alcoholics, substance abusers, sex addicts, or those with other areas of brokenness. Most do so cautiously because they are uncertain of where   it might lead. These churches are concerned with the long-term impact: how can an us-vs.-them attitude be avoided? How can we fund these presumably money-losing emphases? Suppose the struggling people we reach have out-of-control children who join existing children's programs? Will we become a different church if the recovery participants successfully deal with their issues and become church leaders? Will cigarette butts litter our parking lot or other gathering areas?

Grace Church is a great model for how these questions can have positive, healthy outcomes. Jorge Acevedo, lead pastor since 1996, has taught the church to pray, "Lord send us people no one wants, and send us to people that no one else sees." The church has not only seen that prayer answered, but it has developed a church-wide culture of respect for those in the recovery community who become followers of Christ and integrated into the life of the church. "The twelve-step community knows more than most churches about how to make disciples," Jorge comments. "They've figured out a spiritual path rooted in the future that gets people out of themselves; they are unapologetic about how messed up we are and about our need to take an apron and serve."

Yes, the church has developed thriving worship services, ministry to young parents and dynamic  children's ministry. But its biggest draw is the way lives are being touched. "We don't do any advertising, not television, radio or mailers," says Wes Olds, senior associate pastor. "People are seeing transformation and they wonder what is going on here. We have life-change stories here every week."

It's little wonder that some 2,400 adults and children attend Grace Church on a typical weekend. One church board member, a member for 12 years, speaks for others as he embraces the transition and growth, and looks forward to more of it. "If we were a smaller church, we'd reach the same kind of people but then we'd grow to the size we are now. And we still have a lot more people to reach!"

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

The Power of Empowerment

Unfortunately, too many churches exist where the senior pastor is a tremendous leader but an even  bigger bottleneck. In such churches nothing of importance can happen unless the senior pastor is at the hub of it. Neither long-term volunteers nor senior staff feel empowered to take initiative on anything major. They feel underutilized – and they are.

When I visit churches like that, I am saddened by the waste of so many people's God-given talents, energies, and spiritual gifts. It's like the church is running on 10% of its potential and calling.
Last week I saw a terrific model of the way things could be (and should be). The place was New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, stop #8 in Scott Thumma's and my large-church fie ld study (see previous blogs for stops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7).
Lead pastor Stacy Spencer  is a visionary leader and an unusually gifted preacher. He effectively sets the spiritual cadence for his staff, the congregation, and in many ways the surrounding community. Yet he has clearly "hired up" – gathering a team of paid staff and volunteer leaders who are both highly skilled and highly permitted to take major ministry initiatives. As a result, a strong sense of empowerment pervades all levels of the congregation, which in turn leads to a highly involved, passionate and spiritually growing congregation.

One example is his senior staff, each having a strong professional background in the corporate world or pastoral ministry, each warmly encouraged to bring their expertise to bear on their respective areas of evangelism, pastoral care, communication, organizational structuring, or financial management.

Another example was revealed in a conversation we heard about, which happened at a newcomers meeting. "Pastor, why don't we have a ministry to [people like her in a specific life stage and circumstances]?" His reply: "Let me introduce you to [a well-connected volunteer leader]. She can help you get this ministry started." That's on-the-spot empowerment!

The impact of a church like New Direction is far reaching – on the people who are part of it, on those it is touching, and those it is yet to touch. When God's people are released, He does amazing things.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Portable Church–Building and All!

Churches that meet in rented facilities often learn to make everything portable. After worship, everything from projection screens to children's cribs get stored in a closet or trailer and then rolled away. Entire industries like Portable Church (www.portablechurch.com) exist to serve such situations.

Interestingly, I found a church that owns several facilities and yet behaves as if everything is portable. 

"Where do you go to church?"

"The Yellow Box."

Seems like everyone in Naperville, IL, would understand that conversation. The Yellow Box is just that—a conspicuous, two story, distinctively yellow box-shaped facility bordered by homes on one side and a well-traveled, business-lined avenue on the other. 

The church's actual name is Community Christian. Scott Thumma and I recently completed stop #7 there for our field study of megachurches. See reports here for stops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Community Christian today worships on 9 different campuses each weekend. Some are facilities it owns like the Yellow Box and a 40-year-old church building from a congregation they merged with. Others are rented like a public school and a community center.

Yet the church lives as if everything needs to be portable and replicable. The facilities are used for many things just like a community center -- church, sports leagues, recovery meetings, school for the arts, cyber cafe, etc., and so most everything is stackable and storable -- see photos.  

That multiplication value goes beyond the equipment. Everyone has an attitude that they need to be training someone to reproduce their ministry, whether it's at the same campus, such as by adding another service, or at a yet-to-be-launched new campus. "Anything we do here needs to be able to be replicated somewhere else," one person told me. Another lay leader explained, "I've almost always had an apprentice leader in everything I do." And yet another said, "God's not going to send us more people than we can care for, so we've got to be ready."    

One outcome is the church's continual growth every year since its 1989 founding (see table on left). It seems so simple: stay focused on the mission of helping people find their way back to God, and then make sure there's room to welcome them, taking the church to wherever people can be reached. That means developing Christ followers with a vision to replicate themselves through others. “We’re all about leader readiness; that's just who we are” says Pat Masek, executive assistant to Lead Pastor Dave Ferguson. 

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Making Money More Missional

Scott Thumma and I recently completed the sixth stop in our National Field Study of U.S. Megachurches. See posts of previous stops here: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

  We went to Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in west Houston, which started in 1955 with 50-60 people at their first service. The original core group, mostly people with Presbyterian roots, were amazingly active in reaching out. Within their first two years they had an Evangelism Chain that prayed for visitors to the church who were not Christians or who did not belong to a local church. Their Covenant of Seventy was an evangelistic group that called on prospective members, usually persons who have visited the church. And their membership materials emphasized that this isn't a church of "sit-easy religion" but rather "a missionary society." It also noted that "keeping you happy is not our first job." So no low-threshold, easy believism here!

The church was quite innovative early on (and continues to be so). Charlie Shedd, the first pastor, started a small-group system of "flocks" led by "undershepherds" -- way before the era of small groups emerged nationally. These "small, intimate fellowships" were to be marked by "acceptance, forgiveness, loving care, listening, and personal sharing." According to Pastor Shedd's memoirs, "within this structure arose the most dedicated and responsible lay ministry I have every seen in any church."

Another innovative quality, also begun in the church's first year, was a dollar-for-dollar budget. The church boldly decided to give away a dollar of benevolence for every dollar it spent on itself. The idea was to share its blessings with those less fortunate, from the homeless to missionaries. This was a big-faith decision for a fledging church that at the time had a huge debt (from buying property) and no building. Yet in the first 50 years of the church, that "crazy" idea produced over $50 million in gifts to others.

Through the years, the church has maintained its dollar-for-dollar emphasis -- and they're also currently debt free. Perhaps inevitably the dollar-for-dollar principle became too much of a check-writing emphasis. Recent efforts have been to balance it out by personal engagement: the church is attempting to give money primarily where its people are directly involved relationally. Now they don't just send a check overseas, they also send a short-term mission team. Now they don't merely buy groceries for the homeless; they volunteer to be on the soup line. And they continue to integrate prayer into all they do.

Dave Peterson has been senior pastor since 1995. In recent months he's been suggesting a simple phrase to help the church, including its dollar-for-dollar emphasis and desire to be a praying church, both to become more missional and also to measure its missional progress. It's the acronym B.L.E.S.S., an idea he adapted from Michael Frost.

-  Bless everyone, everywhere you go. 
-  Listen to God, don't just talk! 
-  Eat with someone.  (“Christianity moves at the speed of friendship, so expand your circle of friends.”) 
-  Study Jesus, make it a serious matter. 
-  Serve sacrificially, from the church facility to the soccer field. 

If the no-airs, warm welcome Scott and I experienced is typical of how other first-timers feel, then this church will turn yet another corner. The current culture in the neighborhood they serve is one where it's easier to be generous with money than with your time. But as people at Memorial Drive step into a more relational, personal engagement of their faith, the church's overall potential might  become even greater. As one of our interviewees commented, "I'm drawn to the combination of service, study, and fellowship; when they're all mixed together, it propels me to grow spiritually."   

Our next stop is Community Christian Church, which has campuses all over Chicago. Any ideas of what we'll learn there?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Incredible Impact without Being Flashy

You would think the world's largest-attendance church in the Vineyard movement, drawing over 7,000 people weekly to its way-off-any-main-drag campus, would be represent a unique or unusual approach to ministry.

Yes and no, but mostly no. Especially no if you think innovation has to be high-tech or flashy.

Scott Thumma and I just spent five days in Columbus, Ohio, for stop #5 in our National Field Study of U.S. Megachurches (see previous blogs for stops #1, #2, #3 and #4). We did focus groups, one-on-one interviews, surveys, and ministry observations. We got as much of an insider's total-immersion experience as possible in one week, in addition to downloading sermons and studying the impressive amount of information on their website.

To our surprise, this church does nothing unusual or unique that isn't found (or couldn't be done) in other congregations, including churches of all other sizes. Yes, the teaching is outstanding, and the leaders work hard to sense and follow God's leading -- but can't other churches do that? Children's ministry is such a high priority that one of the church membership requirements for any adult is to serve as a children's ministry helper twice a year -- but can't other churches do that? Every adult is encouraged to get involved in small groups. The congregation has come to value service to the surrounding community, and every ministry makes some level of priority in doing so. In fact, the commitment is so strong that in 2006 the church opened an on-premises community center that gets used every day of the week. The church has gotten out of debt, and each year dedicates a larger percentage of its income to serving people who are not part of the church, both local outreach and missions (17% in 2002-2003 climbing to an astounding 43% for 2006-2007). The church also works really hard on good communication, both the signage and its location, as well as appealing brochures to describe the many classes and ministries offered.

                                                                                                                                                                                                         Sure, the large scale sometimes creates a "wow" factor, such as the guitar class I observed with 130 people learning to play guitar. Some were from the community, some were from the church wanting to learn how to lead worship in their small group, and some were from other churches.  Churches of other sizes could easily do the same thing on a smaller scale.

The innovation here seems to be that of a church that dreams big and stays focused at doing its priorities well, frequently asking "what kind of fruit are we producing?" and "what blockages keep us from doing well?" The Sunday I was there Pastor Rich Nathan referenced Jeremiah 29 about doing good to your city and asked aloud, "Why couldn't we dream that no one here in Columbus will ever go to bed hungry at night? By partnering with other churches and organizations, why can't it happen?" The congregation responded with applause. To them, it seemed obvious, like they were sensing: "Why shouldn't God do something like that through us and others?"

It won't surprise me if in the months and years to come, that's exactly what happens -- all to the glory of God. It also wouldn't surprise me if hundreds more people are drawn to become part of this amazing church.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.