The church received a donation from a local company to put up billboards around the town.  The billboards read the following:

Kinetic Church Billboard

The term ‘ballsy’ got a lot of attention but so did their methodology.  They received a lot of accolades as well as a lot of criticism mostly from the local Christian community.

This has been discussed a lot on the blogs when it happened a few months ago.  But now I come to you with the question: what would your church do?  And it’s a good exercise to think about.

I think a lot of churches would view themselves as a victim and soak up the attention and the tragedy.  I think it’s similar to the way that a lot of Christians would respond: poor me.  But how are we supposed to respond?

Jason Gardner begins by carefully examines society and in particular the nature of young people and their relationship to adults over the last 100 years and looks at the changes that have occurred in a measured rather than in a sensational or rose-spectacled way.

He then looks at how the church has mirrored society in its treatment of the young, the contradiction of expectations and the polarisation of church communities. Not just in terms of youth congregations and ageing churches, but in terms of how churches create niche groups by age and how leadership delegates youth management responsibilities (appoint an underpaid, under respected youth pastor to reach and deal with ‘youth’, so the leadership does not have to).

I won’t spell out all the recommendations, but to say that the proposals that Jason Gardner outlines are challenging to the church but necessary to avoid a greater distancing of the generations and ultimately the breakdown of the church. With the external challenges faced by young people in particular, and different role that the church fills in society it is so important that churches can be the one place that generations can be side by side working together for Christ and the Kingdom. Through analysis, practical examples and suggestions, this book makes a positive contribution to achieving this aim.

On a side note, of particular interest to me were his points on parenting, one of which suggested that as parents feel guilty about spending inadequate time with their offspring, the time that they do spend becomes child-focused which does ring true. This can lead to the parent-child relationship being about fulfilling a child’s needs rather that the parent preparing the child for adult life. Maybe I should feel like it isn’t such poor parenting by getting my son to help with the DIY rather than doing something he would choose to do. This isn’t a parenting book, it is just one point that I found interesting.

Mend the Gap by Jason Gardner is available through IVP.

Totally Calum Best MTV poster advert

If there is stuff on the news about celebrities and their relationships on the news, I can explain it as a boyfriend/girlfriend type thing without the need to discuss what they may or may get up to, but this is a bit different as there is purely about sex.

You can see more info on the MTV site. Pretty poor TV by all accounts, but why the advertising stuck in our faces?

There are a lot of conferences and training events out there that compete for the attention of the church staff.  There are denominational events, those put on by the church’s affiliation or events surrounding a subject like worship or leadership in church.  And the staff person must decide which events are most valuable while remaining a good steward of the church’s budget.

We are called to come together and meet as Christians and we also understand that iron sharpens iron. And when thousands of people commit to coming to these events year after year, it also becomes a place of commerce for many vendors.  Is that ok?  I happen to work for a vendor like this but I also know my own heart and I pray often about my motivations.  At what point are these vendors and event organizers trying to create revenue rather than equipping leaders? My answer is: the vendors wouldn’t come if there wasn’t money to be made.  My bosses wouldn’t let me attend or buy booth space if the end goal was to spread love.

It’s obvious that the makers of technology like projectors, video cameras, and computers are interested in sales.  It wouldn’t make sense for them to give their products away, would it?  And before technology was heavily involved in the church did we have the same scrutiny of stain glass makers and the people who make wooden pews?  We are called to be IN the world not OF the world.  So even though we participate in events that are consumer related and we’re treated like businesses by vendors we are still the church.

What are your experiences and what is your feedback?

Because when a church gets a website for free, it evidently has no value. Things with no value get replaced or reimplemented on a moment’s notice, on staff whim, or as soon as the person leading the effort is called away.

The comments on this piece numbered 85 when he closed commenting, and on Church Marketing Sucks comments are still coming in, so it is obviously a topic that people have strong opinions on.

The criticism around this says that the website creation should be a gift without reservation to the church and what they do with it is their business, but this misses the point of the article. Churches that invest nothing in the original design and building of a website are not likely to invest the relevant resources ongoing to develop compelling and relevant content for the site.

And when someone else offers to take over the site, the old design is too easily abandoned (as it costs nothing) and replaced, when in fact the time spent on the redesign could have been better used on content. Michael Boyink suggests that churches that pay for the site in the first place are more likely to commit the relevant resources to get the most out of their investment.

In order for us to join we need to accept the rules of membership and enter a process of interviews and presentation in front of the church meeting. This is all pretty daunting, and not something we are used to, but we guess is normal in medium to large churches which need to be well-managed. The rules are long and overly detailed but it was a relief to read that, ‘membership ceases upon death’, because the thought of having to continue to attend church meetings while deceased was worrying us.

We are regular long-time Christians who are used to the ways of the church and still find this process of acceptance hard. Have you ever found the organisation or setup of your church a barrier to new people? For instance a Salvation Army church that I visited one summer on a project had a captain and a handful of members but most regular attenders did not enter into membership because it would have meant accepting the rules of that particular denomination which would have meant being tee-total. The setup was a barrier to some people, though it did not appear to matter in this case, as the church was one of the most community active churches I have ever seen.

Listen to a few podcasts both Christian and non-Christian and you’ll know what I’m talking about. There are some great ones that sound like professionally produced radio talk shows with bumper music, interviews, and guest performers. There are some with rantings about current events recorded with poor quality and the buzzing sound of a refrigerator in the background. The point is that the podcasting work ranges from high quality to low quality. God calls us to do everything with excellence and that’s not always the policy in church.

There are a few things we need to make sure are included to provide quality and will ensure that people will continue to listen. In other words, if believers say the words that will save lost souls but there is no one there to hear them, does it still make a sound? Obviously I have a preference to what I like to listen to and what I don’t.

1. Introduce yourself, your purpose, where to find your podcasts on ever podcast. Some people will listen out of order or even listen to your last podcast first depending on whichever topic interests.
2. Mention your church website or blog, mention some way to continue the community of your podcast even after it’s done. Mention what the next podcast is going to be about.  Mention other podcasters who share your views or opinions.  The more excitement there is about your subject, the more listeners.  Even contact another podcaster and tell them that their podcast was mentioned.  It’s not a competition it’s a community.
3. If promoting a church or a church ministry of a church, mention the contact info or directions with service times. At very least a website so people can check it out.

What am I missing?  What would you add to this list?

The reason I was drawn to this blog in the first place was because it appeals to my love of teaching.  I’m not the authority on a lot of things but God has given me experiences enough to help many in the field of technology and church.  I am a believer and I want to help others get the Gospel message heard by as many as possible. 

I won’t bore everyone with my bio.  But in case you are wondering, I’ll post it and you can read it if you’d like. Enough of the small talk.  I’ll get to my first blog now.

I work for Apple specializing in churches and technology. I write a regular article for TFWM on Podcasting and I play keyboards for my local church as well as record and perform with Lincoln Brewster. I also run the Facebook group ‘Apple Church Network’.

Thanks Chris, we are looking forward to your writing.

Leaving aside theological (and other) considerations, who will feed your pets when Jesus returns?

Found via: Faith and Theology