I am troubled by the info from the previous two posts. Here in Dallas, it is easy to think that churches are thriving, because very many of them are serving the same type of people. But, just like Blockbuster Video, we must either adapt (without compromising key doctrines) or we will be obsolete.
To finish out the conversation, another author who is struggling with these same questions came and spoke at DTS recently. Here's a link to videos of his lectures:
http://www.dts.edu/media/search/?q=Frost
If you are of a mind, watch them, and let's chat.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Repost (2)
Here's "part 2" if you will of the previous repost. More thoughts to come.
The Shrinking 40%
from LeadingSmart by Tim Stevens
In the book, The Forgotten Ways, author Alan Hirsch identifies a problem that I’ve been wrestling with for several months now.
He says that the way we do church is working with fewer people all the time. What does the way we do church mean? It means the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1700 years or so and that most of us are a product of is becoming quickly ineffective in today’s world. I’m not talking styles of worship, high church or low church, mainline or independent, protestant or catholic. I’m talking about all of those churches combined. Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship.
Let me explain it this way…
The Shrinking 40% - these are people for whom the “come to us” model works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40% of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model. For some communities on the left or right coast—this may actually be 20% or less. Hirsch believes it might be 35% for America overall. For our church in northern Indiana, we are still relatively insulated from the coastal influence—and we believe it could be around 40%. Whether the correct number is 40% or 50% or higher—there probably isn’t a place in America where this number isn’t shrinking.
The Growing 60% – these are people who believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus, and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. Research indicates “young adults today are less church-connected than prior generations were when they were in their 20s. But…they’re just about as spiritual as their parents and grandparents were at those ages.” An even newer study published a couple weeks ago indicates if the current trends continue, “the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships,” this according to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group’s survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they’re “really more spiritual than religious.”
Here’s what I think we should do about the Shrinking 40% — I think we should still create amazing church services and knock the ball out of the park on everything we do inside the box. Why would we not? It’s working for a huge percentage of our community! We should do whatever works to attract them, introduce them to Jesus, help them grow in their faith, and motivate them to make a difference in the world.
But I don’t think we can ignore the Growing 60%. Up until now, I honestly don’t think I ignored them. I just didn’t think about them. I’m a statistics guy, and it is the statistics (that I talked about earlier) which are waking me up to a missional problem. Now that I’m aware of the Growing 60% –I can either ignore them (and in reality tell them to go to Hell), or I can do something about it.
I don’t even know what that means. I just know that as churches we have to figure out how to deliver the gospel of Jesus in a way that doesn’t require them to come to the box. Because attracting people to come to the box is only working for a Shrinking 40%. And the Growing 60% will never be reached that way.
It’s not either/or. It’s finding the genius of the AND.
We are creating a conversation about this in November. You should join us. But don’t wait until then—tell me your thoughts now.
The Shrinking 40%
from LeadingSmart by Tim Stevens
In the book, The Forgotten Ways, author Alan Hirsch identifies a problem that I’ve been wrestling with for several months now.
He says that the way we do church is working with fewer people all the time. What does the way we do church mean? It means the model of Christendom that has been followed for the past 1700 years or so and that most of us are a product of is becoming quickly ineffective in today’s world. I’m not talking styles of worship, high church or low church, mainline or independent, protestant or catholic. I’m talking about all of those churches combined. Just about every church in America can be described by three words: “Come to us.” That is it. We put on amazing services and do everything we can to communicate truth to the people who make the effort to come to “the box” for worship.
Let me explain it this way…
The Shrinking 40% - these are people for whom the “come to us” model works. We can put on great weekend services, and 40% of the people in our community are still attracted to, or at least not repelled by, that model. For some communities on the left or right coast—this may actually be 20% or less. Hirsch believes it might be 35% for America overall. For our church in northern Indiana, we are still relatively insulated from the coastal influence—and we believe it could be around 40%. Whether the correct number is 40% or 50% or higher—there probably isn’t a place in America where this number isn’t shrinking.
The Growing 60% – these are people who believe in God (whatever that means for them), have a respect for Jesus, and are on a spiritual journey, but they don’t consider the church (as we know it) as a resource to help them take steps. And it is likely they never will. They pursue their spirituality through culture, friendships, music, TV personalities, their own study of the Bible, self-help books and more. Research indicates “young adults today are less church-connected than prior generations were when they were in their 20s. But…they’re just about as spiritual as their parents and grandparents were at those ages.” An even newer study published a couple weeks ago indicates if the current trends continue, “the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships,” this according to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group’s survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they’re “really more spiritual than religious.”
Here’s what I think we should do about the Shrinking 40% — I think we should still create amazing church services and knock the ball out of the park on everything we do inside the box. Why would we not? It’s working for a huge percentage of our community! We should do whatever works to attract them, introduce them to Jesus, help them grow in their faith, and motivate them to make a difference in the world.
But I don’t think we can ignore the Growing 60%. Up until now, I honestly don’t think I ignored them. I just didn’t think about them. I’m a statistics guy, and it is the statistics (that I talked about earlier) which are waking me up to a missional problem. Now that I’m aware of the Growing 60% –I can either ignore them (and in reality tell them to go to Hell), or I can do something about it.
I don’t even know what that means. I just know that as churches we have to figure out how to deliver the gospel of Jesus in a way that doesn’t require them to come to the box. Because attracting people to come to the box is only working for a Shrinking 40%. And the Growing 60% will never be reached that way.
It’s not either/or. It’s finding the genius of the AND.
We are creating a conversation about this in November. You should join us. But don’t wait until then—tell me your thoughts now.
Repost (1)
I came across this post from Tim Stevens' blog, Leading Smart. It seemed worth reposting. There is a revolutionary new way that churches are going to have to become soon in order to stay relevant. I'd enjoy your thoughts about this and the following post (also from Tim Stevens).
We Have A Statistical Problem
It’s a problem that is on my mind when I go to sleep, and I’m thinking about it again when I wake up. It is huge.
First, an illustration: Back in 1986, Mark Beeson came to town and started this church we call Granger. At that time—the church had all of 5 people (the number in the Beeson family). By our best guess and memory of demographic reports from 25 years ago—about half of the local population attended church somewhere. Mark and Sheila went after the other half—the people who were unchurched. And we built an entire ministry around that mission.
And it worked. Better than we could have imagined. We couldn’t baptize, disciple or minister to them fast enough.
Now, more than two decades later over 5,000 attend regularly, 8,000 attend at least once a month, and we have a well-established community impact ministry happening throughout the city. Conservatively, more than 10,000 people have given their life to Christ and untold thousands of next steps have been taken by Christ-followers at all stages of their spiritual journey.
And yet, today, as we look around our community, the stats haven’t changed a whole lot. Even with all that impact, there is still about 50% of the population that doesn’t attend church (maybe even a bit more now).
How is that possible? How is it, when we’ve gone from 0 to 8,000 – that we aren’t even making a dent in the unchurched population?
I think it’s because of three other conditions…
The church in America, as a whole, is in decline. That means if you combine the stats and impact of all the churches in our region, we are cumulatively involving fewer people and having less of an impact with every year that passes. That is a statistical fact that describes our country—and a subjective, yet intuitive reality about our local region.
The culture is becoming more varied by the day. With rare exception, churches tend to reach people like themselves. At Granger, we are reaching a subset of our local culture—and doing it VERY effectively—but that subset is a smaller percentage of the population with every year that passes.
Culture is not only more varied—it is changing. More people are exploring spirituality now than ever before—but fewer are doing it through the context of a physical church.
Pick any well-known large impact church and ask the same question.
Willow Creek – is the percentage of people in the region who are fully devoted followers of Christ higher than when the church started? The same? Or actually less?
Saddleback – same question.
New Spring Church – same question.
North Point Church – same question.
Name Your Favorite Large Church – same question.
I don’t pretend to have studied the demographics in each of those areas, but in general, my sense is there is something about the “come to us” model that isn’t working to expand the gospel. Yes, it’s working for who it’s working for. But it’s not working to curb the decline of the American church overall. And that, my friends, is a statistical problem.
Some popular authors and speakers are saying it’s time to give up on church as we’ve known it. Leave the “attractional model” behind and become “missional” instead.
I don’t think it’s an either/or. I think there is an AND in the conversation that we are missing. Like I said, it’s been on my mind 24/7 in recent months. And, it is having a gargantuan impact on our thinking at Granger about the future.
It’s something I’ll be writing more about in the coming days, but for now, what are your thoughts?
We Have A Statistical Problem
It’s a problem that is on my mind when I go to sleep, and I’m thinking about it again when I wake up. It is huge.
First, an illustration: Back in 1986, Mark Beeson came to town and started this church we call Granger. At that time—the church had all of 5 people (the number in the Beeson family). By our best guess and memory of demographic reports from 25 years ago—about half of the local population attended church somewhere. Mark and Sheila went after the other half—the people who were unchurched. And we built an entire ministry around that mission.
And it worked. Better than we could have imagined. We couldn’t baptize, disciple or minister to them fast enough.
Now, more than two decades later over 5,000 attend regularly, 8,000 attend at least once a month, and we have a well-established community impact ministry happening throughout the city. Conservatively, more than 10,000 people have given their life to Christ and untold thousands of next steps have been taken by Christ-followers at all stages of their spiritual journey.
And yet, today, as we look around our community, the stats haven’t changed a whole lot. Even with all that impact, there is still about 50% of the population that doesn’t attend church (maybe even a bit more now).
How is that possible? How is it, when we’ve gone from 0 to 8,000 – that we aren’t even making a dent in the unchurched population?
I think it’s because of three other conditions…
The church in America, as a whole, is in decline. That means if you combine the stats and impact of all the churches in our region, we are cumulatively involving fewer people and having less of an impact with every year that passes. That is a statistical fact that describes our country—and a subjective, yet intuitive reality about our local region.
The culture is becoming more varied by the day. With rare exception, churches tend to reach people like themselves. At Granger, we are reaching a subset of our local culture—and doing it VERY effectively—but that subset is a smaller percentage of the population with every year that passes.
Culture is not only more varied—it is changing. More people are exploring spirituality now than ever before—but fewer are doing it through the context of a physical church.
Pick any well-known large impact church and ask the same question.
Willow Creek – is the percentage of people in the region who are fully devoted followers of Christ higher than when the church started? The same? Or actually less?
Saddleback – same question.
New Spring Church – same question.
North Point Church – same question.
Name Your Favorite Large Church – same question.
I don’t pretend to have studied the demographics in each of those areas, but in general, my sense is there is something about the “come to us” model that isn’t working to expand the gospel. Yes, it’s working for who it’s working for. But it’s not working to curb the decline of the American church overall. And that, my friends, is a statistical problem.
Some popular authors and speakers are saying it’s time to give up on church as we’ve known it. Leave the “attractional model” behind and become “missional” instead.
I don’t think it’s an either/or. I think there is an AND in the conversation that we are missing. Like I said, it’s been on my mind 24/7 in recent months. And, it is having a gargantuan impact on our thinking at Granger about the future.
It’s something I’ll be writing more about in the coming days, but for now, what are your thoughts?
Big (Mouth) News
So those of you who have followed our blog from the beginning (the "Faithful Six," as I prefer to call you), know that Calla has been anxious to lose a tooth for quite some time (note the Kids Korner section of our blog). Anxious? Nay, desperate. Well, the time has finally come. She worked it and worked it with her tongue, and it came out yesterday. She was quite excited. Or, at least she was as excited as Calla gets.
Just to highlight the difference in our girls, Hannah has yet to lose a tooth without much weeping and gnashing and peril. Calla, on the other hand, went into the bathroom, pulled it out, and yelled, "I'm bleeding! Cool!"
I'll let you decide which child is more like which of her parents...
Just to highlight the difference in our girls, Hannah has yet to lose a tooth without much weeping and gnashing and peril. Calla, on the other hand, went into the bathroom, pulled it out, and yelled, "I'm bleeding! Cool!"
I'll let you decide which child is more like which of her parents...
Looking in to the Future...
Hannah has been doing ballet for quite a few years now. So many years that she is at the stage where she is ready to go on pointe. If you don't know what that is, you are an uncultured slob. Just kidding. It is the thing where ballet dancers flit around on their toes and everyone in the audience thinks, "That looks like it hurts." But, it is a big milestone for dancers, separating the men from the boys, so to speak. And, if you go on pointe without your muscles and your ability being properly developed, it is apparently a really bad thing for your muscular development, and maybe even a sin, though the Bible is a bit unclear at this point. So, to make a long story short, Hannah's studio had an evaluation of all the eligible dancers, and here is the recommendation that she got:
I'm particularly proud of the label "quick learner." She got that from my side of the family...
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