Feeling stressed out by life?

Some years ago I had reason to write this little pamphlet, which I've never regretted.  I keep explaining it and giving it away to people, so why not put it on the web as well?

Here's the link:
http://bit.ly/bjjNqE

Do let me know if you find it useful, or if you've got feedback for me.  And please do feel free to use it in your ministry to others.  God's blessings!

ps. Hey, since posting this just last week, I received a copy of Luke's Journal, the rag of the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship (Australia).  They've published this!  And I think I gave them permission... ages ago.  Hope their readers find it helpful.

Breaking the 500 barrier

Nelson Searcy is a pastor in New York City, has worked on staff at Saddleback with Rick Warren and is a church leadership consultant.  http://www.churchleaderinsights.com

I’ve been listening to a Searcy audio talk on churches ‘breaking the 500 barrier’.  It’s widely acknowledged that churches approaching that size of membership need to overcome several cultural changes to grow beyond 500.  (Of course another option is to send off a portion of the congregation to a church plant, and stay below 500.)

Here are four bits from his introduction which I took note of:

1. Change is essential - with optimism and faith in God - to break through 500. 
2. Ask, ‘What is keeping my church from growing?’
3. Go from ‘good’ to ‘great’.
4. Move ‘occasional attenders’ of church to become ‘committed attenders’. 

These overlap nicely with what I’ve seen in Surprising Insights.  I noted the observation there that  excellence is intrinsically attractive.  If we’re determined to serve God with excellence, we’ll change some things that we do at church presently.  

The direction of change that I’m interested in is change for growth.   So I’m already asking, ‘What’s keeping us from growing?’  We’re already doing many things well, but how do we go from ‘good to great’, and in which areas first?  Moving occasionals to becoming committed attenders is certainly a top priority!  (I sometimes call it ‘discipleship’.)

Surprising Insights #7 - Doctrine Really Matters

This is the final chapter in Part One, which deals with results from the survey of 353 formally unchurched persons.  True to the title of the book, the counter-intuitive finding is that doctrine really matters to the unchurched.  

The highest scoring factor influencing choice of church was theological beliefs or doctrine.  Interestingly, this factor was slightly more important for the formerly unchurched (91%) than for the control group of transfer churched (89%).  

Four headings in the chapter caught my attention:

Looking for absolutes:  the qualitative comments from the survey indicated that the unchurched were looking for absolute values in a world filled with uncertainty and the proliferation of relativism.  They picked it up not just from the sermons, but also in publications where the church’s doctrinal position was clearly set out.

Sensing certitude: certitude is the conviction of belief, which was also attractive and convincing.  One remarked, ‘there are a lot of wishy-washy churches out there’, and another said of the pastor, ‘this guy really believes this stuff’.  

Pastor, doctrine and certitude: Pastors who were unafraid to deal with difficult doctrinal issues also stood out in the remarks.  Their clarity and conviction was refreshing, and carried across not just in the pulpit but across a range of contexts like a welcomers’ gathering and Bible study class. 

Speaking the truth in love: Above all the grace, warmth and love communicated by not just the pastor, but the entire congregation as they held on their doctrinal clarity, was attractive and convincing.  

Surprising Insights #6 - Closing the Back Door

Well, that’s what I would have titled Chapter 5, instead of ‘Why They Returned and Stayed’.  Rainer opens the chapter with the burning issue a senior minister of a large and expanding church was wrestling with: low retention rates among newcomers.  The study of 353 formerly unchurched persons produced 6 key factors for retaining newcomers and encouraging return visits among guests:


1. Doctrine clarified

There is a desperately intriguing sentence in this section: ‘In a culture that prides itself on religious pluralism, we found that perhaps millions of Americans are on a quest for objective truth’.  I’m not so sure about the average Australian’s confidence that there is such a thing to be found - but I’d be very happy to be corrected!


2. High expectations

‘People have no desire to be a part of something that makes no difference, that expects little.  And, frankly, many churches have dumbed down church membership to the point that is has no meaning at all.’  Rainer combines results from an earlier survey of 2000 churches and concludes emphatically that churches with high and clear expectations of members to commit to living and ministering in a way consistent with New Testament teachings are better at evangelism and retaining guests (as members).


3. An “entry point” class

By this Rainer means a class or session for new members or potential new members in which the culture and identity of the church, and the expectations of members, are communicated and clarified.  This is typically done by the senior minister.   Further there was a positive correlation between the rate of retention of new members, and the requirement of attending such a class.  The more ‘optional’ the classes were, the lower the rate of retention.  

4. Small groups or Sunday School 

Forming meaningful relationships is the critical factor in retaining new members.  And involvement in a small group or a ministry area are the two most effective contexts in which those relationships form.  The study found an overwhelming correlation between membership of a small group or a Sunday School class and forming a long-lasting commitment to the local church.  

For some new converts, a Sunday School option was preferable, as it kept church involvement to a Sunday and decreased potential resentment from non-church going family members - a factor that I’d not considered more seriously before.  

‘Busyness’ is a common catch-cry these days, but this observation is not dissimilar to the narrative argument in Tim Chester and Steve Timms, Total Church - relationships matter, and relationships and community-building take time and energy and a degree of prioritisation over other competing demands.


5. Clarity of purpose

More than 90% of laity in evangelistic churches can name 4 out of 5 of their church’s purpose statements.  The figure for non-evangelistic churches is 17.7%.  Full-stop!


6. Ministry involvement

When asked what kept them ‘active in church’, 62% of the study’s respondents mentioned some form of ministry involvement.  55% mentioned the Sunday School - what we would call the Bible study small group.  But it was ministry involvement that generated enthusiastic, ‘eyes lighting up’ responses.  

So in summary, the formerly unchurched want to be in a church that makes a difference, that has clear direction and vision.  And they want to be in small groups, and serve in ministry - and they want to do this in a church that sets a high bar on what it means to be a Christian and church member today.