Church in Silver Spring

This past Sunday, TTS, AR and I went to visit a church in downtown Silver Spring that meets in the Majestic Theater.

Some immediate observations:

- its in a movie theater (obviously)

- the majority of the congregation was black

- about 100 people in the afternoon service

- no youth service, but a children's service was available

- the church has been around for about 2 years

- there are only about 6 people on staff at the church

- the church is located in an urban setting, outside of D.C.

After the service we had the opportunity to talk with the pastor and church planter of the Theater Church. We asked him, "What is the most challenging part of being a church planter in this area?". He replied that it is very hard to maintain balance between his personal life and the church. It is hard to keep himself spiritually full and still pour out all that he can for his church.
This is reflective of the statistics in The Crisis of the American Church which states that a number one cause for pastors leaving the church is that they are spiritually burnt out.
I really enjoy visiting other churches. Comparing the church I normally attend and Theater Church, they seem to be polar opposites. My church has a huge congregation, of mostly caucasians, and a strong youth program. We have our own gigantic building in the suburbs. I think this demonstrates the diversity of the church of Christ.

Organic Multiplication- Copies vs Common Characterisics

Many times pastors will look at the models and programs of successful churches and attempt to implement the same activities in their own church. As the pastor takes the new ideas back to their church, they can either reproduce the program exactly or create something with the same basic structure with common characteristics; they can have a factory or a farm.

The reproduction of a model is like a factory. A factory can readily reproduce reliable copies of the original product, given the appropriate resources are provided. However, they do not, in and of themselves produce life, nor are they capable of recreating life on their own.

On the other hand, a model with similar characteristics is more like a farm. A farmer studies the conditions a life form needs to flourish and the dangers from which it must protect. In this way, a farmer can extract the key characteristics that make that life form successful.

Both of my parents are avid gardeners. They enjoy growing plants and landscaping our yard. However, most of my house is in the shade. This means that only certain kinds of plants can grow around my house. If I were to plant a plant that requires full exposure to the sun, like roses, they would without a doubt shrivel up and die. However, if I planted a hosta around my house it would survive. In the same way, if the methods of a wealthy middle-class large congregation are implemented in a church in central Africa, they certainly wouldn't survive. This demonstrates that exact copies of a church's methods and programs will fail when put in a different context. Therefore, in order to spread the gospel and create a sustainable Christian movement, the gospel must be contextualized to each culture it is in.

From 35,000 to 15,000 Feet: Evangelical Statistics in the U.S. and Canada

Statistics gathered by The Church Planting Center, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Dr. J.D. Payne reveal the presence of evangelical Christians in the United States. Dr. J.D. Payne has compiled this information from several sources and created a powerpoint that displays the number of evangelicals in each state, broken down by county. However, Payne notes that the definition for "evangelical" is a broad one and therefore the numbers in the statistics are higher than in actuality.
He gathered this data to give missionaries information to formulate better strategies. Dr. Payne says that "We have proven ourselves in areas of research related to other countries... but little knowledge of the same people group living on the other side of our city." This data is to give missionaries a better idea of the reality in our own backyards. This information can truly help the missionally minded church. Missionaries will be able to create an effective plan to impact an area.
I like to focus on areas of the world outside of the United States. I think this data really puts into perspective the need for the gospel even here in the United States.

The Crisis of the American Church

The American Church is on a steady decline. David T. Olson, writer of The American Church in Crisis, notes that 3500-4000 churches close each year in America. And, according to The Condition of the Church in America, 1400 pastors leave the church permanently each month. The cause: moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention with the church.
The declination of the church is surely a multifaceted issue with a plethora of problems and possible solutions. What I find interesting is the rate at which pastors leave the church. How is it that 1400 pastors a month leave the church? A sudden change of heart? Or perhaps unexpected responsiblities arose. I saw that a reason listed for a pastor's leaving the church is from them being spiritualy burnt out. I think that taking a leadership role in a church, especially becoming a pastor, has incredible spiritual strain. And, although the reasons for such strain remain unlisted, I believe some of these strains could be avoided and therefore a church could retain its leaders. I think the way some churches are set up put an incredible amount of pressure on certain people in the church, like the pastor, while other members of the church feel no pressure at all. For instance a pastor who is really involved with the community and a congregation that only shows up on Sunday. The amount of work the pastor does, in comparison to the congregation, seems unfair. Certainly leaders must put in extra hours but not to this extreme. I think putting more responsibility on the congregation or the "average church goer" would ease the burden of a pastor. I visiting a church in Washington D.C. and the pastor tells us that the church's lease on the space they were renting for the past years to hold services was now being closed. He then asked for the entire congregation to fast and pray with him and to look for a solution. In that way, some of the pressure is eased off the pastor and distributed to other members, making them more accountable.

Philadelphia- Set the City on Fire

The Ember Cast's maiden launch landed in the City of Brotherly Love the weekend of January 22nd. We stayed in and around Chinatown, partnering with a local Chinese Christian church. LT, pastor of the Chinese church and our guide around the city, explained to us that Chinatown was originally built to keep the immigrant population from expanding into the surrounding parts of the city. There are literally walls built around Chinatown and buildings placed specifically to keep the immigrant population living and working in a condensed area. At first I was shocked. My thinking tells me that if there is a new culture emerging in a community that isn't going to cause direct harm to anyone, I should help them grow and I can learn something from them. Then again, I am part of the "world culture generation", where other cultures are viewed as interesting instead of as a threat to "the American way of life." In fact, LT's church is the first church to move and expand outside of the boundaries of Chinatown. And, after talking with some of the kids from the Chinese youth group, I found out that most of them live in suburbs outside of the city.
I think this observation points out how different generations of church or christian leaders can view a different culture. Recently, and even currently, there have been churches and other christian organizations that have become territorial and therefor hostile towards outside help. LT was telling us that in his generation, church pastors and leaders tend to work in solitude rather than partner with other organizations, even if the other organizations are christian and trying to get the same goal accomplished. LT said that there was a sense of ownership over the church, which, among other things, caused churches to become isolated from one another and from the rest of the world. In the same way the builders of Philadelphia wanted to keep the American Philadelphia separate and different from the Chinese Philadelphia because they felt this new culture would be a threat, different churches (even ones of the same denomination or lack thereof) will not associate themselves with one another. This solitude can be detrimental to the impact that the church (as in the body of believers in an area) can have on its community because there are churches competing against one another and against other community-based organizations.
LT has branched out from the rest of his generation by connecting his church in the community so that the community can help the church, and the church can help the community. Although this kind of partnership seems like common sense, most leaders in the church world of his generation are not engaging their community in this way. The next generation of leaders in the church will have to be connected to their community. The old model of "do it yourself" has proved to be lacking. I feel that if a church engages in its community in such a way that the relationship it has with local community oriented organizations is almost symbiotic, we can see in a short time how a church can mold its community, both in what is seen (community clean up, rebuilding) and in what is unseen (mindset, moral).

For a more in depth look at the Ember Cast's stay in Philadelphia, visit
http://faithinhighdeff.blogspot.com/

Iraqi Party

On Saturday, Columbia Presbyterian Church hosted an Iraqi refugee welcoming party. Despite the arctic conditions, around 100 Iraqis were able to come. Upon arrival, we were greeted by manual labor such as moving tables and chairs, wrapping Christmas gifts and repositioning boxes from one corner of a room to another.
Volunteering as a greeter, I had to be aware of certain cultural rules so that I did not offend anyone out of ignorance since many of the guests from Iraq have strong ties to traditional practices and customs. About a week before the event, an email was sent out to the volunteers describing certain cultural norms of the Iraqi people. It listed appropriate attire, special greetings and customs that are foreign to America and pointers for conversation. I was able to observe some of the aspects of culture when I talked to a group of teenagers. The email had mentioned that when shaking hands with men, a strong grip is considered aggressive and offensive. When I shook hands with one of the teenagers, I was a little taken back at just how light of a handshake I received. To Americans, it would have been considered "a dead fish handshake", where the hand is almost limp, whereas the Iraqi culture considers it respectful. The email also outlined taboos concerning women. It is inappropriate to look at, talk to, or talk about an Iraqi woman with an Iraqi man. I was able to bring a good friend of mine to this event, so I sent her the email given out to volunteers. I noticed as I was talking to the teenage boys, they did not even acknowledge that she was with me. In fact, I had to introduce her to them before they even looked at her. After talking with her about it later, she told me that she didn't know how appropriate it was for a girl to start a conversation with a guy and that she didn't want to offend anyone.
This party, although it highlighted many differences between the American and Iraqi culture, also showed me just how well people can get along. The Iraqi parents trusted the volunteers to take good care of their children during the program. This American church had hosted an event to help Iraqi people in America. When it comes down to it, people are people. I loved seeing people loving people simply because they were people. The countless differences in culture made absolutely no difference in how much we were able to help one another.

Catalyst One Day

Catalyst One Day- a one day leadership package with innovative church guest speakers Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. This conference was held at Grace Community Church in Fulton, Maryland. I had the opportunity to spend a day as a wide eyed student ready to learn! Craig and Andy used their time at Catalyst to discuss momentum. They talked momentum in the church and personal spiritual momentum. Thank God they handed out an extensive note taking packet because I would've been crippled if I had to do it on my own. Some key notes I got out of the day's speakers:

• New things create momentum
• Be sure to tweak your programs, but know that tweaking doesn't create momentum
• "The quickest way to forget what God thinks of us is to concern ourselves with what ohers think of us."-Craig Groeschel
  
• Limitation breeds innovation
• Instead of asking someone who is successful what they do, ask why and how they do it to get insight on their leadership strategies
• "The secure and confident person is attractive. The secure and confident church is attractive."-Craig Groeschel
• The longer something is established, the more stagnant it becomes
  
• Create systems that promote the mission of the church. Avoid systems that work against the mission of the church
• Create artificial ministry deadlines to cut back on time and force people to be productive
• Don't delegate responsibilities, delegate authority
• "I'm the only one who can seek God on my behalf." -Craig Groeschel
• As culture changes, many of the questions remain the same, but the answers don't

I know I only have quotes from Craig. Andy was an incredible speaker, I just happened to jot down more of Craig's quotes. The day really hit home when talking about personal spiritual momentum. I feel that sometimes in the clutter of trying to put on programs in a church I can loose sight of why I am doing these things in the first place.