Shannon O’Dell Is Breaking All The “Rurals”

I admit to some ambivalence when I received Shannon O’Dell’s book, Transforming Church in Rural America: Breaking All The Rurals.  I write for small church pastors and leaders, and one of the themes I keep hitting is “small churches don’t have to be big to do meaningful ministry.”

Then I got my copy of Shannon’s book — the story of how a small church became a multi-site megachurch….in a rural county….in Arkansas.  The dream of many small church pastors is to take their small rural church, and turn it into a multi-site, mega-congregation reaching thousands.

Outreach in the Crises of Life

Outreach in the Crises of Life is the title of the workshop I’ll be hosting at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego, November 3-5, 2010.  This will be my 4th year speaking at NOC, and I’m looking forward to addressing this topic of reaching out to others during a life crisis.

I’m convinced that caring outreach is the most neglected opportunity for outreach for any church, large or small.  But small churches particularly can reach out to those who are hurting with caring and redemptive ministry.   And, one of the benefits is that this type of ministry is low-cost, relational, needed, and highly effective.

Life crises include sickness, death and grief, loss, trauma, divorce, crime, moving, job loss, loss of mobility or independence, and a host of other life incidents.  I’ll be talking about when we can offer care to those outside our church, and presenting examples of churches that are involved in caring outreach during a life crisis.  I hope you’ll be able to join us in November.

I know it seems early to be thinking about November, but that’s only 5 months away.  Plan now to join us.  If you’ve never been to NOC, you’ve got to experience it to believe the breadth of resources, and the variety of presenters that equip church leaders to effectively reach out to their communities.  See you there!

Two Churches Die, One Emerges To Reach Out

“I’m the most unsuccessful pastor in Pacifica,” Jonathan Markham observed four years ago.  Markham’s church in affluent San Mateo county southwest of San Francisco was growing spiritually he thought, but not numerically.  Church attendance hovered around 15-20 each week with few visitors attending.  Located near the Bay area, the coastal town of Pacifica boasts an upscale, affluent California lifestyle where churches compete for residents’ attention.  But Markham’s church had failed to attract many from the community.

In an unusual but providential twist, Jonathan Markham was asked to serve as interim pastor of a second congregation which met at a different time.  Attendance at this church ran about 30 each week.  It wasn’t long before Markham wondered if the two struggling congregations he led might become one.  He approached church leaders of both congregations with the idea of creating a new church to reach Pacifica.  By March 2007, both older congregations had disbanded and a new church was born.

This brand-new congregation, New Life Christian Fellowship, opened its doors to the community for the first time in September, 2007.  Attendance shot up into the 80s each Sunday.  But, the real confirmation of their church rebirth came on Easter Sunday, 2009.  The church packed 153 people into its sanctuary, and church members had personally invited each guest.

Here’s how they did it:

1.  One pastor led two congregations. In typical church mergers, two congregations with two pastors have to sort out vision, staffing, finances, and worship styles.  Jonathan Markham was uniquely positioned to guide both congregations toward one dream — a viable, effective church for their community.

2.  Discernment involved each church. An exploratory work group of six people, three from each church, was selected to answer one question posed by Pastor Markham: “Is it God’s will for two churches to die, and another one to rise in their place?”  Markham thought discernment would take six months.  Instead, the group unanimously answered, “Yes” by the end of their first meeting.  The positive responses of both groups created momentum for the new church.

3.  Everything old had to die. After the initial decision to combine congregations, details had to be worked out.  Both groups agreed everything was on the table.  Old church names were scrapped in favor of a brand-new identity.  Meeting space

Ed Stetzer’s new book, Lost and Found

In their new book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and The Churches That Reach Them, Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes provide a comprehensive analysis of who the eighteen-to-twenty-somethings are and what churches are doing to reach them.

Ed outlines the purpose of the book by saying —

“This is a book about who the younger unchurched are and how to reach them.  Yes, that may be a little old school.  Many authors and speakers want to focus on fascinating and important questions like what is wrong with our belief system, how can we do this differently, and what will the future look like for churches? I have asked questions like that myself, and I will do more of that in my next book.  But, in this book, Richie, Jason, and I are asking one simple question: Who are the young unchurched and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ? (OK, that’s two questions.) ” Lost and Found, p. 3.

And, if you think you know everything about this group, think again.  They are amazingly spiritual, open to talking about spiritual matters, bugged by Christians, think about eternity, believe in God, sort of believe Jesus is special, and want to make a difference.

And, just to get you going here, a majority of younger adults wouldn’t like it if your church doesn’t ordain women, or doesn’t welcome homosexuals.  And you thought this was going to be easy, didn’t you?  But the authors give you some ways to address the gender and sexuality issues with this generation.

Based on  three large surveys of 1,000 18-29 year olds selected intentionally to reflect the diversity of their generation, the authors are quick to state that there is no one profile that embodies all 18-29 year olds.  Respondents included whites, African-Americans, and Hispanics in proportions consistent with the greater U. S. population.

The book divides into three main sections:

1. Polling. This is the data and rationale of the survey including who they are, what they believe, and how they feel about God, church, religion, and Christians.
2. Listening. Four characteristics of this group emerged as the authors surveyed and talked with them.  Young unchurched adults want community, depth, responsibility, and connection. More on these later.
3. Reaching. This is the longest section of the book, and spotlights real churches who are effectively reaching significant numbers of young unchurched adults.  Surprisingly, the authors discovered that the young unchurched attended both alternative churches with really cool names, and more traditional First Church-types that blended generations in nurturing, mentoring, and serving connections.

The book is crammed with statistics, examples, characteristics, and stories about the young unchurched.  Several times I found my stereotyped assumptions of this group exploded by solid research.  For instance, a higher percentage of adults under-30 believe there is a God, than adults over-30.  And, those under-30 exceed their older counterparts in spirituality and openness to spiritual things.

Not surprisingly, the young unchurched are not all unchurched for the same reason.  The book helpfully categorizes the younger unchurched into four groups:

1. Always unchurched. (Never involved)
2. De-churched. (Attended as a child)
3. Friendly unchurched. (Not hostile or angry at the church)
4. Hostile unchurched. (What it sounds like)

Those categories create a starting point in building relationships with younger adults who are unchurched.  They are not all alike and a cookie-cutter approach will not be effective.  Actually, programs are less effective because this group, regardless of their unchurched orientation, is seeking relationships.

And it is the relational aspect of the book that is most encouraging to me as a small church pastor.  Reaching young adults is not about having a rock band (although some churches do); or about alternative worship (although some churches do that, too).  Instead this generational group seeks relationship, community, and even cross-generational connections.  As a matter of fact, the authors discovered that the majority of churches effectively reaching younger unchurched adults were doing so in a cross-generational context.

Lost and Found is not a how-to book for reaching young adults.  It is rather a here’s-what book — here’s what this generation is, here’s what they want, and here’s what churches are doing to reach them.  Stetzer says they intentionally titled the book, Lost and Found in order to showcase churches that are finding these lost-to-the-church young adults, and finding them effectively.

If you want to gain some eye-opening insight into the world of 18-29 year olds, get some handles on who they are, and read stories of churches reaching them, Lost and Found is the book you need.  Buy it, read it, talk about it; but better still, talk to some young unchurched adults yourself.  Learn some basics from the book, then have coffee with a college student home on break, or a young married couple just starting out, or young adult in their first post-college job.  Lost and Found can give you the background you need to start those conversations with young adults in your community.  I imagine that’s what Ed, and Richie, and Jason would really like to have happen.

Be clear about your outcome

When our church led the way in building the new $3-million community center in our town, we did not expect the outcome to be new members for our church.  We did expect the community center to become a gathering place for the community.

When we helped start the local Boys and Girls Club by hosting them in our building, we didn’t expect to get new members for our church.  We did expect to provide a safe after-school program for underserved kids.  

When we worked to establish a community music school that is headquartered at our church, we didn’t expect it to increase membership either.  We did expect it to provide quality music instruction for children. 

When we partnered with artists and educators in our community to start Soundcheck, the monthly teen open mic night, we didn’t expect it to bring new members to our church.  We did expect Soundcheck to be a venue for artistic expression, and to increase arts awareness in our town.

Because we understood going in to each of these projects that there probably would not be an immediate payoff for our church in increased membership, our congregation was not disappointed when no new members joined from any of those programs.  

Be clear about your desired outcome before you start a project.  Don’t try to sell every project as a membership project.   Churches can be on mission to transform their communities, too.

101 Outreach Ideas for Small Churches

I’m playing around here and this is the rough draft of  101 Outreach Ideas for Small Churches.  Any others you want to add?  I’d love to hear any stories you have about any outreach ideas you’ve used.  I’m working on a book, and would like to include real stories from real churches.  Time for your 15-minutes of fame!  Here’s a start —

101 Outreach Ideas for Small Churches

1. Sponsor a school or classroom
2. Angel Food Ministry
3. Family movie night
4. Super Bowl party
5. Resource center for senior programs, etc
6. Host a music concert
7. Block party
8. community festival
9. Halloween alternative
10. Community heroes
11. Christmas nativity tour
12. community garden
13. art show
14. build a labyrinth
15. free hotdog lunch
16. school supplies
17. parents’ night out
18. mothers morning out
19. partner to raise money for a local cause
20. invite former members back — homecoming
21. themed worship
22. recognize special groups
23. pulpit exchange or joint worship with other congregations
24. community vbs
25. community thanksgiving service
26. thanksgiving for singles, seniors, and others
27. trunk-or-treat
28. day camps
29. multi-generational groups
30. crafting, scrapbooking, quilt-making groups
31. day trips for seniors
32. senior adult programs, lunch
33. talent show
34. church yard sale
35. blessing of the animals
36. free carwash
37. make a difference day
38. martin luther king day events
39. english as a second language
40. computer access 
41. computer training
42. grief workshop
43. grandparents day
44. mothers day
45. fathers day
46. advent activities, booklet, devotion guide
47. milestone celebrations — anniversary, debt-free, etc
48. achievement recognition — ball teams, championships, etc
49. election day activities
50. county or state fair booth
51. tradeshow booth
52. tourism booth
53. homebound ministry 
54. grief ministry
55. nursing home ministry
56. report card rewards
57. skate park
58. soundcheck like event
59. lock in
60. lock out
61. youth service corps
62. door-to-door food collection
63. christmas parties for seniors, kids, families, target groups
64. school recognition
65. college day
66. financial peace courses
67. driving courses that target very young or AARP groups
68. election forums
69. non-profit helping agency fair
70. volunteer recognition and thanks
71. social services, community action partnerships recognition
72. literacy program
73. addiction programs
74. single adult programs
75. single parent groups
76. special needs events
77. health screenings
78. diet and cooking classes
79. book discussions
80. neighborhood inventories and assessments
81. prayer ministry
82. open sanctuary or prayer room
83. daily office
84. taize services
85. community celebration events
86. community unity events
87. community newsletter or bulletin board
88. newborn gifts
89. newcomer welcome baskets
90. graduate recognition
91. community music program for children, seniors
92. helping resource inventory and volunteer directory
93. home blessings
94. weddings and funerals
95. boy scout, girl scout, b&g club sundays
96. second sunday fellowships
97. personalized invitation
98. Easter, palm sunday invitations
99. food, clothing, and cleaning supplies pantry
100. civic club sunday
101. family skate nights

Powerpoint: Small Churches Make Good Neighbors

Here’s the powerpoint I used in my NOC2008 workshop, Small Churches Make Good Neighbors.   I’m using the abbey church model, and discussing the 10 aspects of the ancient celtic abbeys applied to churches today.  The ppt is on SlideShare, so you can view and download the presentation, if you find it helpful.  I am going to edit and add to the notes, but I think you’ll get the thrust of the presentation as it is.  Let me know if you have questions or comments.

When outreach crosses the line

Whatever it takes, right?  I mean, anything that gets people in church is okay, right?  Because, after all, everybody needs to hear the gospel, so the ends justifies the means, right?  Maybe not.  What are the ethics of outreach and when do we cross the line from compassion to conniving?  

I read about one church a couple of years ago which offered a prize of $10,000 to a lucky worship attender.  All you had to do was show up.  At a pre-determined point in the service, everyone would be asked to look under their seat and pull out the little card taped to it.  The lucky winner was awarded $10,000 — just for coming to church.  Is that paying people to come to church?  If so, is it wrong?

Of course, some inner city missions used to do a variation of the same thing.  Homeless people were offered a free meal, but first they had to sit through a worship service complete with hymn singing, sermon, and invitation to receive Christ.  I know this happened because I preached at those services several times.  “We’ll feed you, but first you’ve got to come to church.”  

Years ago I heard a missionary talk about the need to carefully separate caring ministries, like providing food, from evangelism.  Hungry people would do anything to get food, including tell Christian missionaries they had accepted Christ.  My missionary friend said, “We don’t want to make ‘rice Christians’ out of people.” Good insight and maybe we need to apply it to our own US outreach strategies.  

Have you heard of outreach strategies that cross an ethical line?  What were they and why did you think they were unethical?  Have you ever crossed that line, and what made you realize you had?  I’m interested in hearing your stories.  Should be an interesting topic.

NOC08 day 2

Wow, what a great kickoff to NOC08 yesterday. The small church discussion group I led had an overflow crowd and lots of great ideas.

Erwin McManus delivered a powerful and compelling message. McManus said that most of our effort is spent trying to make Sunday worship just a little less irrelevant to the lives of most people. What we should be doing, he said, is engage our world during the week.

Today I am attending some exciting transformational seminars. I’ll post more about today’s stuff on twitter with photos on Facebook. Friend me and keep up with the great resources here at NOC08.

Follow me to NOC2008!

Wednesday I fly to San Diego for the National Outreach Convention — NOC2008!  I’m leading the workshop, Small Churches Make Good Neighbors: 10 Ways Your Church Can Change Your Community.

I hope you’re meeting me there, but if not, you can follow all the action at NOC2008 right here.  I’ll Twitter the event several times a day (see my Twitter posts on the right column of my blog — feed readers have to click thru to see them).  

Also, I’m posting photos of NOC2008 to my Facebook here — 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67147&id=530426756 

— so you can join in the fun!  

I’ll also post the best ideas I come across each day, so stay tuned for lots of good, helpful stuff.  So, Friend me on FB, follow me on Twitter, and keep up here each day.  See you in San Diego!