Tag: 1001 worshipping communities

This sounds just like “Bible Study”…what’s different about all of this?

My Presbytery is trying to explore the whole 1,001 worshipping communities/church planting. 

As we did we talked over exciting interest for starting a house church in the college area…

 

and we were discussing how to go about, different ideas and resources (i.e. Messy Church etc.)

and someone asked “Can someone tell me, how this is different from a Bible Study? I mean we do this, we get to better in different houses and worship and get together what is different about this?”

Well……I might have said a few things in response 🙂

1. Its not that different but we are reformed and always reforming because we need to find new ways to tell the gospel message. Clothing Exchanges are not that different from Rummage Sales (as one of my congregants pointed out). But they ARE different because they speak to a different generation in a different way!

2. We need to meet people where they are in a tree, by a well, even on the cross. If that is what Jesus is doing then that’s what we should do too. 

3. Because we need to show our willingness to see, know, people in places that AREN’T the church. When people say they are Spiritual-but-not-religious they mean they want to reach God, but they don’t want to reach God in the same way we do, so we need to find ways that work for people. Ways in which they are comfortable. Thank God, the message is the same as what it was  over 2000 years ago, even though the method changes

4. Aren’t we reformed and always reforming so we can grow and be nurtured closer to Christ? Don’t we hope that we keep looking at ways to become more able to see God?

5. Because its not exactly the same, it seems the same, but its really not. Because we are saying, come to our Game, Come to our Home Field, Come to our Turf and we’ll tell you about how we do the God thing. Its not simply sitting inside the church and throwing open the doors and wondering why no one is coming in…its going out to meeting them on their turf…its street ministry at its finest.Its changes to a “you might not experience God the same way we do, so we’ll come to you and let you tell us what you want to try” thing…that’s what Spiritual-but-not-religious is, experiencing God in a new way!

 

Your right, its exactly like Bible Study…..Only Different!

 

 

Everyday I’m a Pastorin……

Recently the Presbyterian Church tried to address the issue of health care. Basically, they wanted to start charging a higher percentage to families than to pastors without families. (Note a higher percentage, so the families were already paying more)….This is an issue because we try to do something we term “Call Neutrality” which is the idea that we pay everyone a living wage (so we have minimum’s) so pastors can be free to go to the church that best fits

People freaked out (including me)

This raised a whole lot of issues, which are really the issue.

1. Ministry jobs are hard to find. In PCUSA the stats are 3 pastors for every job out there.

2. Most ministry jobs aren’t fulltime anymore

3. Benefits aren’t that generous

4. The Economy is hard–and if your married your spouse needs a job

5. Most ministries are shorter–7 years is the reported average of a ministry, which is way different than the 30yrs that used to be expected

6. Pastors are younger and churches are older…I’m the youngest person at all of my churches by at least 12 years………talk about generational divide

7. The call process is long and hard

8. Call Neutrality is a myth. Young pastors go to small/poor/rural churches, women even moreso. Women get less paying jobs and are more often associates. Children “do” influence a church’s decision to get a pastor even though they are theoretically neutral

Ok, so here are the real issues, on the table

Now how does a call to ministry need to transform?

We talk about how churches need to change, maybe we need to start working on what a pastorate is

Can we be MORE supportive of part time ministries? 

Can we try other models of ministry (more part time ministries)?

Can we work more with all of those ministers who are called to specialized (i.e. untraditional ministries)?

Can the call process be more open or more streamlined?

Are there ways to support small churches doing searches in meaningful ways?

Can we work to get older pastors and young family pastors the stability they need?

Here are the real issues, lets get to it…