Stuck! Now what?

We've made so many transitions at New Hope over the last few years. From buttoned up to dressed down, from hierarchy to congregational leadership, from southern traditional (Southern gospel with revivalist hymns) to more contemporary and updated hymns, from older and less men to younger and more men. And over the years, once those settled in we have seen periods of real growth and then the tide ebbs and we recede for a season.

Every time I think we may just get over the hump this time, we seem to find the one soft spot in the field and sink - get bogged down - lose momentum - stall.

Why?

I click through the list of usual suspects in my head.

* Our sanctuary only holds 120
* We are off the beaten path
* We don't advertise regularly
* We do worship with a team of kids/youth haven't had a worship "leader" for two years
* We attract broken and hurting people drawn by our community of love
* We don't do the youth playtime
* We don't do the "Sunday Morning Experience"
* I stink.

Yeah, I could just put out that last one as a stand alone. I'm pretty ruthless about improving though, and I try to seek out godly counsel before heading down any roads that might have the soft spots in them.

But we're stuck.

I really want to know what it is that happens in the life of a congregation that sort of self-regulates the size of it until something or more correctly Some One pushes them through.

To go back through the list with you so you won't think I haven't considered changes.

Sanctuary - we have a $200K mortgage, and no real prospects for a better (bigger) place to meet.

Advertising, worship leader, and so much more - is a money issue.

Socioeconomics - we are blue collar, an enlisted man's church, and have welcomed all sorts of people with needs and problems. Thing is, it is hard to grow those people. They are why they are, many of them because they will not do the hard work to change. But we love them.

Youth and Adults - we made the decision a few years ago to step off the youth group bandwagon and focus on growing healthy disciples. We do less but work harder at what we do and hopefully see people not just coming, but growing deeper.

Worship - yes a worship leader would help, but we're also growing a generation of worshippers in these kids and youth.

Me - you have no idea how much I pray to be more like Jesus and more effective. I'm continually reading, going to seminary, writing and emailing others, trying to make this more than it has been before. I'm never satisfied.

We're healthy as a church.
We love God and each other.
We are meeting our obligations.
We are seeing glimpses of God's grace. We had our last baptism three weeks ago.

But we are stuck.

The biggest battle we face in this is discouragement. yes we know God is faithful, yes we believe we are doing His will, but to coin a phrase "How Long Oh Lord?"

So I close this post, written because I needed to unload, and I begin final preparations for worship tonight. I'll go in knowing I am called to do this, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God's work, and that ultimately He will judge my efforts.

Shalom,

David

It Is What It Is. Is it?

I had a conversation the other day with someone about Valparaiso. We talked about its history, the way the geography slices it up into pieces separated in a way to make each section wholly separate and unrelated - except when the city tax bill comes. That led to further discussion about the other splits in the social fabric.

Older versus younger - we have a number of retirees and a constant flow in and out of young families and singles due to the military base next door.

Richer versus poorer - some of those retirees get by on very little. I know of one older woman whose income is $500 a month. On the other end, there are million dollar homes on the water, boats costing as much as normal houses, and people conspicuous in their consumption.

Military and related versus civilian - Eglin is a huge base with an amazing impact on everything in the area. Many of the people in Valparaiso have direct ties whether military (active or retired) or civilian (civil service or contractor). But there are many who are not in any relation to the base.

Religious versus not - our little town houses several churches, all fairly small, and a larger by far number of people who aren't involved in a community of faith anywhere.

We walked through all those areas together, and I expressed my hope that one day Jesus would allow us to see what Valparaiso could be with people following Him.

"It is what it is", was the reply.

Is it?

Should we accept defeat and just concentrate on loving one another and anyone who happens to walk through the doors at New Hope?

No.

There's very little that ties this forgotten place together except - an elementary school, a middle school, a little league field, and some smaller networks (city employees, businesses, older americans council, DAV, post office) So we will have to work hard and use those networks as our conduits to ministry.

We are commissioning people already in those networks as our ambassadors. Their job is to scout out opportunities for ministry and relationship building. Got two up and running this week. The elementary school - we have a teacher inside who turned us on to two opportunities. teacher move in day - when they come in to get ready; and new teacher needs.

We're going to have 5 teams of three people helping with move in, serve free sandwiches for lunch, and sponsor whatever the new teacher needs to get her class ready. Hope is we get some relationships started and some buzz in the community.

Second opportunity comes from the bank. Lady comes in for a home improvement loan. She can;t afford it. has no insurance either. Loan guy calls me because of a conversation we had. We're doing a home makeover for her while she's on vacation with her sister's help. Again, idea is relationships and buzz.

See we cannot compete with the megas in terms of worship bands, youth programs, facilities etc. So our idea is to work the networks to get our word and work out there and after the investments, to invite and extend Jesus' love.

What do you think? Will it work?

What We Don't Need From New Wave Pastors

Andy McAdams, over at The Mayberry Driven Church has written a great article on where the church is today, focusing on the smaller church in this culture. "The Condition of the Church In America" is worth a read, a clip, and many prayers. I can see Andy's heart for the church in it. Though the statistics are sobering, and the challenge is great, knowing that there are people who get what the life of a small church is about really helps.

Contrast that with the writings of some of the young, successful, and hip new wave pastors lately about their fellow workers for Christ.

I’m sorry I will never understand guys who do this because it is a job, because they are stuck, because they are to big of chumps to get a “real” job. I pray I never become the fat, cynical pastor who has “been around the block.” I will never understand how people who God has called burn out and are always sending resumes out looking for the next great thing. We have the greatest calling in the world and the large majority of pastors I talked to are to freaking busy whining about how hard they have that it is no wonder they aren’t making an impact for the kingdom of God. If that offends you I could care less.

If I have another church planter or pastor call me or email me telling me how hard it is I am simply going to kick the crap out of them. YES, it is hard. What the crap did you think you were signing up for? You are on the frontlines of the battle between good and evil. Did you think it was going to be a cake walk? What fantasy are you living in? When you are making an impact for God, the devil is going to come after you with everything you have.

I am so sick of excuse making pastors. I am talking about the ones who always think everyone else has it better then them and they can’t accomplish what they want to because someone else got “the breaks.” Shut up and do something for God.

You know, I'm not hearing much whining at all among my friends who pastor smaller churches. What I hear most often is an acknowledgment of just how tough the task is and how they are driven on depend more on God.

When we talk, we deal in reality to be sure.

That doesn't make us whiners, or burnt out, or looking for our next gig.

Frankly, the ministry isn't Ultimate Fight Club, so if the new wave would drop the "I'll punch them in the throat", "kick the crap out of them" bravado, they'd seem more Christ-like. At least.

What we need isn't opposition. What we need is support. What we need is your prayers.

Someone said the other day that what happens is we get blind - blind to our faults, but only blind in one eye, because those of others are plainly visible.

Well, I admit I am blind in one eye. Would it be too much to hope that the new wave would admit that they are too?