Week in D.C. (I am back on blogging)

Those who actually followed this blog in the past (ancient past since it has been a year or so) know that I have been thinking about doing some continuing study and that has pulled me from blogging. Indeed I am doing study again, working on a PhD in Leadership Studies at Dallas Baptist University.  Part of that learning involves three summer institutes, the first was in Dallas last summer, this summer it is in Washington D.C. (focus on Political Leadership) and next summer will be in Oxford, England (focus on Global Leadership).

Specifically during this week we will be focusing on the leadership of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. utilizing the lens of Ron Heifetz's book Leadership Without Easy Answers (among many, many others). Most critically, thinking about how these three leaders, from three different centuries of American history, led the nation in adaptive change.  In addition to being in D.C. and visiting the Pentagon, Congress, White House, Ford's Theatre and Holocaust museum, we will be traveling around to the Naval Academy, Philadelphia, Mount Vernon, Antietam and Gettysburg. All in an effort to better think about how leadership works in both positive and negative ways, and how leaders can help their communities do the hard work of adaptive change. During this week I will be blogging about this experience which comes at an interesting time as on Sunday, July 1st we will be having our annual Patriotic emphasis worship at Trinity. Certainly this week will give some interesting fodder for thinking about preaching when I return.

With that introduction, just a brief comment about today and the experience of arriving in D.C. This is certainly not my first time here, but it has been several years since I spent any significant time here. For those also in the know, I have signed up to run the El Scorcho race on July 15th, as such, I needed to get a good run in today. So having a couple free hours this afternoon I took a hot and humid tour of the national mall and monuments.


My run started just east of the Capitol then down through the mall to the Lincoln Memorial and around all the newer memorials, back over by the White House, and then back to the Capitol.  A good long run, and an opportunity to see Washington in full action.  


The town is full of tourists and locals, out enjoying the summer, getting prepared for the July 4th festivities.  I had to refresh my skills from the days of living in Boston, strategically running as to avoid colliding with the streams of tourists following after their leader, completely unaware of anyone else around them. No fewer than 10 languages were overheard, couples were sitting down next to the Potomac,  wedding parties hopping out of vehicles to get that perfect shot with the Capitol in the background. Families with children, mom's and dad's trying hard to remember their civics classes to answer their kiddo's questions.


The new King memorial was busy, with busloads of people coming. The steps of the Lincoln memorial, where King gave his "I have a dream speech" reflected today that dream as people of all races sat together. Finding some shade they enjoyed an ice cream or cold drink on a hot day, while their children ran and played.


I ran by the WWII, Korean and Vietnam memorials, places of stillness in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, a somber reminder of lives lost. Yet just a couple blocks away, a barbeque festival was going on with bands and music, people living into the freedom and joy of this country.

The joke of course this week is, why go to D.C. to learn about leadership, there isn't any there! Perhaps. But there are, as our trip leader reminded us this evening, quoting Hebrews 12:1, a great host of witnesses around us. This is a city full of life and history and even hope. That this nation, with all its crazy diversity, fears and anxieties, still is a great hope for the world. A place where flawed leaders like King, Washington and Lincoln can rise and lead. I am excited about being here, it is encouraging my soul.

Tomorrow we worship at the National Cathedral.  A couple Lutherans, some Baptists, non-denominationals and others.  We will go together to an Episcopal Cathedral, to be preached to by a Methodist woman. Only in America!

The unchurched, how do we reach them?

First off, yes I am back on the blog.  Been a busy month, first month of classes in my new program.  More info about this to come.  However, that isn't what you are interested in right?  Not me, you are interested in those who are unchurched, those who don't have a church home.  How do we reach them?  How do we stop simply moving the ever smaller pool of faithful church goers around from church to church, while watching more folks go out the doors, never to return?  Is anyone really reaching those who aren't churched?

The answer, well, that depends on who you talk to.  Willow Creek church in Chicago, IL has for years had as their slogan "Turning Irreligious People Into Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus."  And they have been really successful in getting lots of people into their doors, but who are those people?  Are they really "irreligious" or are they just bored/disenchanted with the churches they grew up in?  No one knows because frankly, those aren't stats you can accurately collect from the outside, and if someone does know, they aren't gonna tell.

Truth is, despite lots of books and articles and conferences, no one can actually prove they are truly reaching the unchurched.  Mostly because we can't really define who those people actually are.  Some are "dechurched" meaning that they grew up in a church, probably were baptized, were in a youth group etc... but at sometime they drifted away.  So perhaps it has been 3, 5 or 10 years since they went to church, but they aren't truly unchurched.  They know the basics of the faith, they have just dropped away.  These are the majority of the folks the typical megachurches appeal to.  Folks who know who Jesus already is, are comfortable with him and simply just haven't found the right package to plug into.

Yet for the past generation there have been many dechurched who have had kids who didn't get connected to the church again.  Those folks, those kids, might actually be labeled accurately unchurched.  They haven't grown up with the faith, the story isn't as familiar, they won't recognize worship of any kind.  These things are literally new to them.

So how do we reach those folks?  Well certainly we can't reach them by having flashier versions of things they have left behind (and I don't mean to make a pun on those terrible books).  I know folks who grew up in traditional (read: Organ, Piano, Orchestra) music and contemporary (read: Praise Band, preacher in flip flops and Hawaiian shirts) worship environments and have left both behind.  They aren't looking for just a better version of this and frankly folks who didn't grow up with any of it certainly aren't.

What will reach folks who are truly disconnected with the church?  Well, the answer is hard...
1) We have to go to were they are.  This is what new worshipping communities are trying to do.  In Fort Worth we are trying to build something like that at www.kyriefortworth.com
2) We have to engage them and listen to what they are interested in, start with asking them what their needs and questions are.  We can't assume we have something they need if we don't ask them what they need.
3) They won't understand our worship, scriptures, traditions.  Doesn't mean we shouldn't utilize them, in fact, being who we are is probably attractive, so long as we teach them who we are in a manner that isn't condescending and our people actually know why we do things. (not a safe assumption).
4) Individuals are going to have to ask and invite other individuals to come.  It can't be advertising, great websites or facebook pages.  Not even blogs are gonna do it.  Individual relationships will.

The good news is, individual relationships spread and spread exponentially.  One person talks to two, those two talk to two (4), those four talk to two (8), those eight to two (16), sixteen to two (32)....and so on.  Exponential growth.  But it requires empowering individuals to talk to individuals.  Hard work.

But that is, if we are interested, how we can reach the unchurched.  But first, we have to find them...

Cowtown Lutheran Has been on Hiatus

In case you didn't notice, Cowtown Lutheran has been on hiatus recently.  This is because I have been in an intensive summer class on leadership and haven't had time to blog.  I will return next week after the papers have been written and turned in. 

I am sure you all will be waiting with baited breath. ;-)

Evangelism Series Blog 4-Why would visitors find a home with you?

Last week I opined that many of the visitors who voluntarily find their way into your community are most likely "homeless Christians" in search of a home.  These are not random seekers who just "happen" into your place of worship, but are folks on a journey, looking for a home.  So why would they find a home with you?

In my ministry career so far, the congregations I have been a part of have welcomed over 150 new adult members (affirmation of faith, adult converts/baptisms, not including infant baptism) into their community.  Thinking back over these folks, their conversations with me and their reasons for joining, I have come up with a few reasons why these "homeless Christians" found a home with us.  In order of approximate % these are...

1) Invited/Referred by a friend/acquaintance, came here, the worship was good and I was genuinely welcomed (80%):  These folks first darkened the door of our congregation because a friend, relation, former pastor, recommended they worship with us.  After several invitations (some ranging into the 10-15 range or more) they attended and when they attended, the worship was good, the sermons relevant, the music done with quality and ultimately the welcome genuine.  Someone took interest in them, got their name and invited them to return.  On folks like this, if we get their contact info, we have a 60-70% retention rate.  This is frankly the lowest financial cost (but significant personal investment), highest return way of growing.  These folks quickly connected, found ways to contribute and made the church their home.

2) Came by invitation to a youth event, VBS, other outreach event (10%): A lower, but still effective way of inviting folks to be a part of the community. A youth attends an event with another youth, their parents get interested and they connect.  The problem here is, that these are high cost (both financial and time commitment by members) for a much lower return.   In Wisconsin, we grew our VBS from 10-15 students to 70-80 within 3 years.  Great stuff, but ultimately the return of folks who were not DMLC members who became members as a result was fairly small.  Still worth doing, but tough, and in the future they will expect significant programming and events.

The rest are a very small number, but they are...
3) Saw the Pastor at a Public Event: (3-5%)  These folks are interested in finding a church, they go to a public event and see a Pastor praying or speaking and think "I could go to that church."  Of course at the end of the day, this leads back into #1.  If they don't find good worship and genuine preaching and teaching and welcome, they won't stay.

4) Googled "Lutheran Churches", saw your website and decided to visit or moved into the area and was looking for an ELCA congregation: (3-5%)  These folks are looking for a new church home.  They are ELCA Lutherans, they are at home with their worship.  While it needs to be done well, these are really easy folks to make feel at home.  But there are VERY few of them.  So don't count on these folks to build your membership.  They can be great members, but if you don't have #1, even these might not stick around very long.

So assuming that folks would even darken the door of your community, why would visitors find a home with you?

-Quality Worship & Relevant Preaching
-Genuine Welcome and Investment in knowing them
-Attention to their kids, and a connection to the community.
-Reasonable Level of Programming (but within reason, most of us can't afford the showy programming, so don't try to compete when you can't)

Ultimately, the connection to the community is the most important.  It is the driver of visits and that of connection.  If a visitor doesn't make a connection with members or a group within the parish soon, they will quickly drift.  While programming is important, at the end of the deal I think quality worship and preaching is most important in driving return visits.  But ultimately, connections is why visitors will find a home with you.

Evangelism Series Blog 3-Visitors, who are they?

So who are those who visit your church?  Who actually darkens the door of a sanctuary these days who isn't a member.  First, a memory...

I was a 22 year old college grad living in Philadelphia during the summer of '99.   I didn't know anyone in Philly, but my company was headquartered there and as such, we spent 3 months at the headquarters learning the culture of the company and how to work Microsoft Excel to the limit. (it was well known that several of our consultants helped Microsoft debug a bunch of their Excel versions)

Being a good ELCA Lutheran, I decided to strike out and attend church one sunny summer morning figuring the place to start was in Mount Airy, the home of the Lutheran School of Theology in Philadelphia.  So I attended worship at the church on the campus there.  Immediately I was recognized as an outsider.  It was clear this community had not had many visitors regularly.  But I was welcomed warmly and invited to worship with them and attend coffee hour etc...  It was a lovely time I had there and I worshiped again with them multiple times.

My question however is, am I a typical visitor to a church, or an anomaly?  At that point I wasn't particularly religious (I was working in finance after all) although I was a committed Lutheran.  So one couldn't call me unchurched, but perhaps I was a homeless Christian?

I have a feeling that many of the folks we have visit our congregations on a Sunday morning are "homeless Christians."  They aren't truly unchurched, frankly the majority of them have religious upbringings and are searching for a new "church home" (ever see that lingo in your visitors brochure?).  I have a feeling, backed up by research from many places, that the majority of visitors in the USA know the story of Jesus, they just haven't, for many reasons, found a place to call "home."    

Over the last few years there has been much hand wringing and self-deprecation in my tribe (the ELCA) about our inability to do evangelism these days.  Frankly, we aren't alone.  The reality is, most of the people who show up on Sunday mornings in your pews aren't unchurched, neophytes to the Gospel.  They have been exposed to the Gospel story, but have either left the church of their home, and become homeless, at some point because of...
1) Age, 20 somethings typically don't do institutions.  They are too mobile, and that is growing into 30 somethings.
2) Experience, they got turned off by some experience, typically of hypocrisy or they found church "boring"
3) Mobility, many Americans move multiple times in their lives due to jobs,family, etc...

These homeless Christians that are visiting you aren't, despite the rhetoric of "seeker sensitive" worship and such, truly unchurched.  Heck, if the Southern Baptists (see previous reference) aren't baptizing the "heathens" in their previous numbers, then who is?  The people visiting?  They are "homeless Christians" looking for a home, probably because they are...
1) Away from home due to a job.
2) Just about to have a baby and think they need a place to raise their kids (or at least get them baptized)
3) Wondering if you truly are welcoming to them despite the fact they are divorced, gay or otherwise marginal.

These are the people who are showing up at your door, wondering if they can come in.  They aren't truly unchurched, they are "homeless" and wondering if your church will provide them refuge.  A place to come to the table of grace and be received.

The communion table as a "soup kitchen" for "homeless Christians."  Is that an acceptably image?  There are many of my Lutheran brethren who would say no.  The table is only for those who have this as their home.  It is a dinner table for a family.  My contention would be, the table is a "soup kitchen," everyone who steps forward gets fed the banquet of grace.  But we must be realistic, those who step forward will probably understand at least partially, what that table means.  It is our job to take them from "homeless" to "home."

So given that, why would they find a home in your church?  That is the next weeks question.  And perhaps we  will now change the rhythm of this series.  Because having identified that most of the folks you will see visiting your church aren't really unchurched, but homeless, how do you reach that growing percentage who don't know the story of the Gospel?  The children of the homeless.

 So in the next three weeks, these are the topics I will address...

1) Why will these folks find a home with you?
2) What about those who truly are unchurched, how do we reach them?
3) Why does evangelism matter in the end?

Evangelism Series Blog 2

First off, a shout out to our council who met tonight, had a great meeting in which we spent a good portion of the time around scripture, especially 1 Corinthians 5-7 (how do we live as free people).  Great conversations about mission and ministry, how we use power and how power can be both a positive and negative in community.  


But on to the purpose of the Blog today.  The question that has been posted is...Do signs, advertising, mailers actually work in generating visitors?


My short answer is that I don't know definitively and nobody else can guarantee they know all that much either.  But what I do know is that your local Mega-Church (or wanna-be) is probably spending 15-20x's what you would ever consider to spend on these tools.


Signs:
These I believe are worth your investment.  Initially expensive, probably costing you $15-30K for a good one, especially if you want it to have an electronic message board.  But the benefits are significant for the 1) self-esteem of a community (nothing is worse than a business/congregation that doesn't announce its presence boldly) and 2) at least make the community aware that you exist.  My congregation in Wisconsin had an unfortunately reality in that our parking lot, not our building, faced the main road in town.  However, by having a good sign, which we could change the message on regularly, at least allowed us to get our message out.  If 3,000 people drove by daily (conservative) that would be almost 100,000 views a year, which drives the cost of the sign down quite quickly.  If you are in a bigger city (as my current parish is) multiply those looks by a factor of 5 or more.


Advertising:
We are currently debating this in our current congregation.  Local phone books will run you into the hundreds of dollars per month for a good placement and ad with more than just your phone number.  Does this generate leads and visits?  Probably not as many as you wish, but then again, some of your local churches must be budgeting $10K a year for their ads.  So I guess they must feel it is worth it and according to this, they are probably right.  However, how much are you paying for each potential visit?  My thesis would be that only those with significant budgets are going to get much bang for their buck there.  They are moving towards the "major buzz" factor of being omnipresent and connecting to those folks the most, moving into other media as well.  I won't even go into radio advertising or tv as most folks I know aren't even thinking about that market.


Direct Mail:
In theory a good idea, yet another tough sell unless you have lots of money to spend.  Every Christmas and Easter I receive a postcard or two from a church in my neighborhood.  Given that the DMA assumes a  less than 2% response rate for a generic mail prospect list, at say $1.50/mailer, you would have to spend $500 dollars just to generate around 5 interests and do those actually visit more than your website?  An anecdotal example would be that on internship we sent out probably 1,000 postcards inviting folks to a free cookout in our organic community garden.  My gut on that day is that our response rate was closer to 0% than 1%.


So at the end of the day, I guess I am most driven to think about costs and also long term impact.  A good sign will last you 10-15 years (unless you are a congregation that assumes you buy something once and never pay for another one, then it will last you 50).  Even at a high initial price tag, that will have a much more visible impact/dollar than either mail or advertising.  


But really nothing replaces relational advertising by your community, inviting others to be a part of their discipleship community, following Jesus.  Walking your immediate neighborhood, getting to know them, their needs, dreams and desires.


Here I am linking a long article that tells you two major things.  1) Advertising isn't a complete waste of money but 2) word of mouth from those who have "bought in" is the best.  You need to somehow generate "buzz" about your congregation to create a "ripple effect" in the community to justify that advertising dollar.  Congregations with big money to spend can do that, create buzz through advertising, but many of us don't have that kind of money.  Facebook is a nice alternative to connecting, but again, you are mostly connecting to your already convinced, the good news is, they can invite others to see.


I would love to have a $30,000 advertising budget for my congregation.  But I know that most of you and we probably won't see that happen anytime soon.  Until we reach a size where that $30,000 isn't justifiably turned into a staff position, generating that one-on-one relationship buzz that is most cost effective, we won't compete in that world.  But we have to generate buzz and visitors.  So now we turn to those who do visit, who are they?  Why are they coming to your church?  

Evangelism Series Blog 1

This is the first in a blog series on Evangelism and the topic of “Who is visiting your church?”  In this first post, I have challenged myself to write a statement on what I believe (currently, subject to change) Evangelism is (and isn’t).  As always, these are my thoughts, relevant to my context, you can certainly add or subtract, but this is what I think.  Initially I challenged myself to do so in less than 750 words, but that was too wordy.  So I lowered it a bit, and even at that, it is too wordy, but here we go…

Evangelism’s root word Evangel means “Good News.”  So Evangelism is simply doing “Good News Work.”  Yet the Evangelical in ELCA not withstanding, Lutheran reticence to identify with such labels is well documented.  Although centered theologically on the Cross and Empty Tomb, the Good News, we aren’t sure about accepting such a label.

Much of this reticence is produced by a culture in which Evangelism/Evangelicalism are fraught with negative meaning and images.  Think crazy street preachers, abortion clinic sign holders, gay funeral protesters, clergy sex/financial scandals, hard sell altar calls, get rich quick theology, etc…   Despite the spectacular size of some “mega-churches”, the overall percentage of American’s attending worship continues to decline.  These mega-parishes preach to the choir and many more are sneaking out the back door.

But it is also well documented that these folks sneak out the back door not because they don’t believe in Jesus or that his teachings aren’t relevant.  Many want to be Christian, the Good News sounds good to them but they struggle with where they belong.  Maybe they have slightly more nuanced views on those “hot button” issues or maybe they just don’t want to be so “loud” a Christian.

How can I and these folks claim the title Evangelical?  I suggest three do’s and don’ts...

Do…equip yourselves and others to live out the good news in word and service, especially in relation to Biblical principals of compassion, stewardship and tithing.  Remember God’s preference for the poor and forgotten, the widow and the alien. (see…the Prophets)

Don’t…equate worldly riches with God’s favor and poverty with God’s wrath.  If you have above average wealth and resources (i.e. above the median income in your county), give thanks and follow Biblical principals of stewardship and tithing.  If you are not, do the same.

Do…equip yourself and others to engage neighbors about faith, but only after asking them about their lives, actually listening and learning their joys and sorrows. (see…Woman at the Well)

Don’t…try to hard sell your neighbors on their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, guilt them into church attendance or threaten them or those they love with hellfire, they will stop talking to you.

Do...worship authentically and excellently.  Preach the Law AND the Gospel.  Connect Sunday to Monday. Sing and dance.  Welcome visitors genuinely and follow up with them!  Have multi-generational education to equip disciples of Jesus.  And DO IT WELL!

Don’t…assume worship style and programs will grow your church.  The folks looking for flashy programs and high performance worship can find it and you probably don’t have the resources to do it or even the calling. 

Obviously these are relevant to some and not to others, but they are guidelines I use in evaluating how “Evangelical” we are being in my context.  Basically they are simply principals of Good News living, of discipleship, and because of that they are hard.  Being Authentic to who you are, your context and choosing to be Excellent in that will cause trouble because it isn’t easy and requires tough decisions, but it is Evangelical. 

Next week… Do signs, advertising, mailers actually work in generating visitors?