Seven Habits of Effective Churches

Thom Rainer wrote the original on this, I've edited for our Lutheran New England context. I also altered # 7, which originally focused on social media, but I include that in #5.

 

Though this list is by no means exhaustive, here are seven of the more common habits.

  1. The church takes time during each worship service to pray for the community. Prayer is powerful; and the church members become more focused about their communities.
  2. A single member leads a team that is accountable for the outreach ministry of the church. If no one has leadership responsibility, it does not get done.
  3. A regular report is provided to church members about outreach and ministry efforts in the community. What gets reported gets done. Have you noticed most churches provide financial reports to the church members? That says the money is important. We need at least equal emphasis on the importance of outreach ministries. 
  4. Churches have regular “mystery” guests come to the worship services. One church leader told me that his church asks someone in the community to be a mystery guest every quarter. Those guests are always first-time guests, and they share their experiences with leaders later that day or week. The church members thus get to see their congregation through the eyes of a community member.
  5. The church gives obsessive attention to their websites & social media. A church website is the new front door for churches. It’s almost always the first place prospective guests go. These websites should be designed in a very guest friendly way.
  6. The churches are intentional about scheduling ministries, events, and activities for reaching the community. One pastor told me that his church always focuses on one key community outreach ministry per month. The church’s attendance is less than 80, but it was under 40 two years ago.
  7. Churches are intentional about connecting with their community leaders - school principals, police, town elected officials, and they report on those conversation to the whole congregation.

183 Done!

Tonight, I completed my 183rd congregational visit.  I've now been to all of the churches of the New England Synod.

During the election process nearly two years ago, I was asked how I would spend the first year.  I said, I'd visit all of the congregations of the synod.  Done!  Mission Accomplished!

But, in actuality, Mission just about to begin!

The Grand Canyon and the Gospel

Last month, Lisa and I took a vacation to Arizona and California.  We rode an RT1200 BMW motorcycle through the hot winds of the southwest.  The expansive landscape alone was healing, but the Grand Canyon took our breath away as it does everytime we visit.

How long did it take for the Grand Canyon to assume it's current form?  Answer: About 17 million years.

I found myself staring at the stars in the evening.  The desert is a great place for astronomy.

How big is the Milky Way?  About 100,000 light years in diameter, containing 100-400 billion stars.

While on our staff retreat with the Deans of conferences, I took the staff for a visit to the Madison boulder near camp Calumet.

The Madison Boulder was deposited about 25,000 years ago, when the glaciers retreated and left it behind.

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All of this has been a part of a spiritual experience for me in recent months.  The end result, for now as this is an ever unfolding process, is a reminder that we live in vast arenas of time and space.  The ground of all being and life, the God of the Universe, has a perspective on life that in my prayer and meditation I am seeking to enjoy.  Yes, this mystic side of my spirituality is very much rooted in a cosmology that is very expansive and eternal.  Infact, it's giving me a new perspective on eternity.

Yet in our day to day living, it is easy for us to forget the vast scope of time and space.  In many ways, we human beings have been recovering from Copernicus discovery some 500 years ago, that the universe does not revolve around us.  

Knowing that I am a very small part of something much much larger is actually quite helpful when I get wrapped up in the small insignificant problems of life.

 

"I lift you high in praise, my God, and I bless your name into eternity."  Psalm 145

Countdown continues Visit number 180

Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church worships in the Grange Hall in Groton, MA.  Now this congregation knows hospitality!  It took 5 minutes to share the Peace with one another.  This was also the occasion of my 180 church visit.  I now have 3 to go, before completing the goal of visiting every congregation of the New England Synod.  A task that, if all goes as planned, I will complete on May 21.

The Effective Small Church

Join me for this conversation about making the small church more effective
The Effective Small Church
On May 6 at 7 p.m., Bishop Jim Hazelwood will be joined by pastors Anne Deneen (St. Paul - Gloucester, Mass.; right) and Julie Reuning-Scherer (Our Savior's - Newington, Conn.) for a webinar called "The Effective Small Church in New England." 
 
Bishop Hazelwood and Pastors Deneen and Reuning-Scherer will talk about what makes a small congregation (defined as one that worships 70 or fewer people each Sunday) a powerful one, using examples from their experiences. The discussion will include: 
  • The unique aspects of being a small church
  • The challenges and opportunities a small church faces
  • Financing a small church and its ministries
  • Governance in a small church
  • Pastoral care
  • Getting more people involved
Click here to register for the webinar. Bishop Hazelwood will host the talk. If you'd like to ask questions of the panel, you can submit them through the GoToWebinar platform during the talk, and the Bishop will read them!
 
The Synod House in Worcester can also host a limited number of people in its conference room during the talk. If you're interested in attending, please email Andy Merritt atamerritt@nesynod.org. 

Philadelphia Freedom...Here we come

Philadephia Seminary has invited me to come down and engage in another conversation with Nones.

I'll be catching the train down on Thursday, and returning Friday.  But, you don't have to come out of your comfy little apartment, you can watch it live on this fancy new thing called the internets.

Twitter hashtag for this event will be #phillynones.  I'll try to check my phone for comments and questions.

Click here for more info.

Interested in learning why people don't go to church?

Then join the conversation - Live on campus and Live streamed online - at the inaugural event of the "EXPLORING" series - presented by The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

Exploring questions of Life and Faith:
a conversation with a panel of smart people
who don't go to church

Bishop James Hazelwood

Featuring the Rev. James Hazelwood, Bishop of the ELCA New England Synod

Thursday, April 10, 2014

• 6:30 pm - walk in registration
• 7:00 pm - program begins
• On campus and Online
  • Live on the LTSP campus or Live-streamed to your computer!
  • Free with registration!
  • Audience participation!
  • Light snacks will be served to the campus audience.

Register online today - click here - or call 215.248.7302

To see the live-streamed event, go to Ltsp.edu/ExploringSeries on Thursday, April 10 at 7 pm EDT! Be sure to register for the event, either to attend on campus or online, so you can receive updates and attendee information before the event!

The Countdown continues.... 5 to go

This past weekend I visited three of our congregations in maine.  I'm nearing the finish line as I visited all of our congregations in Maine, new hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island.  I have five left to visit in Massachusetts, and we have set the schedule.  I'll complete the trek at Faith in Gardiner, MA in late May.

This has been a tremendous experience of meeting people and seeing the congregations of the New England Synod. (Pictured above is Emmaus Lutheran in Falmouth, ME)

10, 9, now 8 to go

This week I completed a visit to every congregation in Connecticut.  Rev. Owen Sanderson (pictured below) came to Hamden, CT in 1959 to start anew congregation.  He has been there ever since, and still serves as pastor well into his 80's.  (In a week, I'm off to Maine to visit 3 congregations in the Portland area - the countdown continues)

13, 12, 11 to go

I now have 11 churches to go in my mission to visit all of the congregations of the New England Synod.

Last night I Met Shirley.  She attends Christ the King in Windsor, CT.  As a part of my visits to congregations, I like to do and Q&A session.  Shirley asked, what kind of a motorcycle do you ride.?"  I said a Suzuki V-Strom.  She said, "Oh, I used to ride a Honda." She looks like a biker, doesn't she.

Maybe this summer I'll ride up to Windsor with an extra helmut and give Shirley a ride.

Two Cheers for the Lectionary

Have I written on this subject before?

This is kinda like the guy at dinner who says, have I told you the one about ...  You think, I know I've heard this before, but It's not worth stopping him.

Anyway.

So the story is told, who knows if it's true, that when Harry Emerson Fosdick, the famous mid 20th century preacher was asked what he thought of the lectionary, he responded by saying, "Two Cheers for the Lectionary."  My interpretation of this statement is bascially, the lectionary is fine but don't marry it.

Some people believe that to deviate from the lectionary, is the surest path to liturgical hell. Well, off I go.  

First the positives of the lectionary.  One.  It does force you to read a variety of scripture passages thus preventing the preacher from picking his or her favorite lessons. That's good.  Two.  It does help a faith community view the scriptures in connection with the cycle of the liturgical year i.e. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, etc.

Now the drawbacks. One. My first gripe is that four scripture passages are too many.  I have yet to hear a sermon or read one that does a good job of bringing all four together in one homily.  I have heard it done, but each time - it's a train wreck. In addition, most reading of scripture aloud in the assembly of worshippers is done so poorly, one wonders if it really is Holy Scripture.  If you are going to use the lectionary, fine, but pick one, two at most. This is one of those less is more kinda things.  Two. The number of times that the scripture in the lectionary dices and slices a text is frustrating at best.  I suppose the narrative lectionary is an option here, but that feels like I'm listening to an epic reading, as if I need to sit through an oral reading of Gilgamesh.  It's just too much.  Remember the average North American has the attention span of a ten year old, and no matter what you do, the longest a person can pay attention is 7 minutes. (This is why when asked about a speech most people can only remember the beginning and the ending, but the middle is gone.)  Third.  The lectionary has its own bias.  For instance how many Lament Psalms are in the lectionary?  Walter Brueggeman has pointed out there are none - except Ash Wednesday.  What does this tell us about our grief denying North American culture?  How many times is the book of Daniel represented in the lectionary?  Once, and only on St. Michaels Day.  How often is Isaiah used vs the other prophets. etc.

Summary. The lectionary has some positives, but I'm hard pressed to stand up and say, "three cheers for the Lectionary. Hip Hip  Hooray."  No, I'm with Harry on this one.

My suggestions.  Hey, it's an experiment.  Try it, if it fails, count it up as a good learning tool.

Use the Lectionary during those times of year which benefit from it.  I'm thinking Advent, Christmas, Lent & Easter.  But, pick only two scriptures.  The rest of the year consider short series, such as four parables of Jesus or three weeks on Psalms, showing the difference (and please pick at least one lament), the life of Moses or The life of St. Paul you never knew. One could even have a series in October on three key scriptures to udnerstanding Martin Luther.  If you want to have real fun, and be really bold and adventurous you could do a series on four controversial passages of scripture.   Hey, try it for a year.  Just test it out.  See what works, and what doesn't.  

What's the worse that can happen?  I've been accused of Hersey so much that I'm getting used to it, and liturgical hell kinda sounds like a comfy place to me.  A nice fire at my feet might warm me up this winter.

Smile, remember what I wrote a long time ago about the difference between a serious faith and a sincere faith.