Monday 31 January 2011

Happiness - Church Or Friends?

A new survey shows that frequent church attenders are happier than less frequent attenders.

But is it due to church? The authors suggest it's more about the friends.
Our evidence shows that it is not really going to church and listening to sermons or praying that makes people happier, but making church-based friends and building social networks there

One-third of frequent attenders (with 3-5 close friends at church) were "extremely satisfied" with their lives. This increases to 40%, for those with 11 or more friends at church. Churchgoers with no close friends at church are less happy than those who don't attend at all.

Overall, one would have to conclude that church itself makes people unhappy, but having close Christian friends more than compensates for it.

Perhaps this is what the writer of Hebrews realised when he talked about motivating one another to acts of love and good works, meeting together, and encouraging one another. Sounds like Christian friendship to me.

Saturday 29 January 2011

Jesus Made Me Do It

"Some Christians take so few risks, it's no wonder folks have a hard time believing in heaven. Most of us live in such fear of death that it's as if no one really believes in resurrection anymore."

Shane Claiborne is definitely at the other end of the spectrum - if Chapter 8 of Irresistible Revolution is any guide. He lived in Iraq during the war, was arrested for helping the homeless, and was taken to court (where he wore his "Jesus was Homeless" t-shirt - see Matthew 8:20 and Luke 9:58).

It sounds a bit scary, but Shane quotes Jesus's words that we should not fear things that can destroy the body, but those that destroy the soul. (Matthew 10:28)

Conversely, churches teach kids to "tiptoe through life so they can arrive safely at death." Such a timid mindset (apart from being unJesus-like) is part of why we "lose kids", according to Shane. "Kids want to do something heroic with their lives". The gospel provides that opportunity but often we hide it. Shane asks for God to "forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel too boring."

Saturday 22 January 2011

Last Resort

Believe it or not, this is a real sign (courtesy of Crummy Church Signs).


I'm not sure which is sadder (i) that church is so secluded from the community that it looks upon its sign as the only way of growing, (ii) that is so narrowly-focussed on inflating its sunday numbers, (iii) that it is so desperate it will say anything to get someone to attend its building.

What do you reckon? Or should they just put up "Free Beer" and see how many people show up? :)

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Public Transport For Ministry

CMS interviewed Tim Schraeder, and he talked about context - the stuff the happens around us.
Where we are determines what we need to do. Living in the city, I often times learn the most by riding public transportation. [It] is like a snapshot of the city as it brings together people of all walks of life. You can get a real inside look at what people are reading and listening to, what conversations they are having and hear what questions they are answering.


Of course, there are other ways to pick up what's happening in the community.
There are simple ways to learn from hanging out in coffee shops to reading [or following] local news agencies, and just taking time to be outside of the office and out where people are. Once you know your context you’re better able to know how to adjust and shape your message so it’s heard.
[full interview]

Monday 10 January 2011

What Are The Odds?

Just thinking about last week's entry - the americans predicting the exact date of the world's end.

End of world predicitions have been failing ever since 1844, but has there ever been a date that hasn't fallen within the lifetime of the predicter? Or even within a few years of the prediction being made? What are the odds out of all the possible years, each time the 'answer' turns out to be just a few years off.

I guess there's just not much publicity to be gained in predicting a 4067 end. ;)

Perhaps we should just listen to Jesus. "No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself"

Sunday 9 January 2011

(Less Than) 20 Questions

Recently stumbled across a list of 21 Questions I've Been Asking Myself by Tim Brister. Here are 7 that i found particularly relevant.

1. If our church ceased to exist, would it be missed?
I find this question a good test of whether we are actually being good news to the community, or just for the 'in-crowd'.

3. If the only possible means of connecting with unbelievers were through the missionary living of our church members, how much would we grow? (I ask this because the early church did not have signs, websites, ads, marketing, etc.)
I've sometimes wondered a similar thing: "If public worship was illegal, what would church be?".

6. What are we allowing to be our measuring stick of church health? (attendance vs. discipleship; seating capacity vs. sending capacity, etc.)
Ouch! Sometimes the thing that are the easiest to measure are not the things that actually matter.

7. Are the priorities of our church in line with the priorities of Christ’s kingdom?
This has got to be the biggest one hasn't it? Otherwise we should perhaps consider taking the word 'church' out of our name.

13. What can we learn about our evangelism practices by the kind of people are being reached with the gospel?
Have i mentioned black box theory? We reach people who fit our comfort-zone. Problem is, Jesus asked us to take his love to all people.

15. What percentage of our growth is conversion growth (vs. transfer growth)?
I'm sure we've all seen excitement over increased attendance, even when not one person is a new Christian. It's just shuffling churchgoers from one church to another. Kind of reminds me of the classic Bert and Ernie cookie sketch. Moving things around doesn't change how many there are.

17. How many people do I know (and more importantly know me) on a first name basis in my community and city who do not attend our church?
This kind of links back to number 3, and is kind of important if we are to fulfil the gospel.

Anyway, there's my thoughts. You can read Tim's full list here.

Saturday 8 January 2011

Online Giving

Yesterday i wrote about the possibility of using technology for online giving. I assumed it must be a tricky thing to organise, but i see that within days of the deluge, the Uniting Church has managed to set up an online Flood Appeal.


If this can be done so easily, I can't see why a similar site can't be made for church donations. Add another box for people to select the congregation of their choice, and it's done.

Oh, and kudos to the uniting church for doing something online. Perhaps they heard the same stats that i did:
"The buzz surrounding electronic giving options continues to grow as online donation capabilities improve and text-messaging campaigns take hold. The American Red Cross says it raised $35 million within 48 hours of the January earthquake in Haiti, with half arriving via its website and $5 million through texts."
Half the money arrived via the website, so without it they would have raised 50% less. That's what i'm talking about.
------
ps. remember Mars Hill - only 8% of their website visitors are from their city. If it wasn't for their online giving, they'd be refusing the contributions at least 92% of their people.

Friday 7 January 2011

Successful Fundraising

You may have read the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It was to be made into a movie, until a financial backer pulled out. Fortunately, 2 guys started Save Blue Like Jazz and raised $125,000 in 10 days and the project was back on.


CMS draws 5 lessons out of this fundraising success, including:

* they crowd-sourced
* they had a clear goal
* they used technology

By contrast we have the church. Instead of crowd-sourcing we ask more and more from fewer and fewer people. The clearest our goals get is 'to balance the budget' or 'to carry out restoration on the the church roof' (hardly awe-inspiring).

And technology we also struggle with. Often the only donating option is to bring physical cash, to the church building, on a Sunday. To people who are accustomed to doing financial transactions by phone, online or by card, it's another instance of the church painting itself as something that belongs in the 1950s.

I'm not sure whether it's the method or the inspiration that's holding us back, but it's worth comparing the effectiveness.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

The End (Of Common Sense)

Only 3 days into the new year and someone is out predicting the end of the world this year. No surprise to me that this happened in America.

Seemingly oblivious to Jesus's words that no-one knows the day or the hour, this group has mixed selected old testament passages with numerology, and some seemingly baseless assumptions; to come up with 21 May 2011 as the use-by date of the world.


Why do people do this? I'd estimate at least 99% of people would dismiss this as loopy, and distance themselves further from anything faith-related. Of the 1% who might be scared into faith (i'll leave the ethics of that for another day) surely most of them will leave when the prediction falls flat (like with JW's in 1975).

In the end, next to nothing is achieved and massive damage is done to the credibility of anything Jesus-related. I just don't get it. Do you?