Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

The Collision of Church, Politics and Facebook

I've noticed something new happening on my Facebook wall: the collision of my friends, their faith, and their politics. This is not the first national election since the advent of Facebook. This is, however, the first election since Facebook has gone mainstream. Four years ago my Facebook friends were either tech-oriented or youth-oriented. Now many of my Facebook friends couldn't tell me the first thing about their IP addresses and, like me, are getting to the age where they have to think a moment to even remember their street addresses.

Four years ago I knew that many of my congregants possessed widely different political viewpoints. But unless these same church members were part of the same small group or family, they didn't know one another's political leanings. Fast forward to 2012. Now a majority of us are connected to one another via social networks like Facebook. I maintain a special friend list just of Church Requel members and check it every day. Many of them do the same. I LOVE being connected to one another this way...

Except when it comes to politics. A wise man once said that politics and religion, like oil and water, don't mix. What I'm witnessing is probably the same thing you are seeing. Many of my friends' walls are filled with reposted snarky and one-sided photos, which are considered funny to one side while hurtful to the other side.

Making Church A Summer Attraction - Fun, Family, Focus

For most of us summer is for barbeques, for vacation, for getting away from the routine, for family and friends. For most pastors, summers also means church doldrums. Let's face the truth that church attendance usually drops in the summer months.  Our competition is not another church or pastor, but everything else that is going on in the summer months.

This year at Church Requel we decided to go with the flow.  No, we didn't shut down and tell people to come back in the fall.  We did decide to make the most of the summer trend.  We did our best to turn church into a summer attraction.  We did this with fun, family and focus.

We are having fun at Church Requel this summer!  Each weekend we've celebrated something. A birthday. A balloon launch. A baptism. Our only limitation has been our imagination.  We talk about the Sunday night party that happens every week at Church Requel.  People come early and stay late because of the festive atmosphere.

We are enjoying and becoming our own family.  More of us are single than are married.  This wasn't intentional on our part. It just seems to be the way it's worked out.  We like to say that we are a motley crew of misfits. Somehow, though, we've found a place where we all do fit together - in God's family at CR. Each week this summer - after our singing time and before our communion time - we greet one another.  That sounds typical enough, but doesn't begin to describe what happens.  We've been playing the song "Centerfield" by John Fogerty as part of our Summer Singles baseball theme. When the music comes on, people don't just shake hands with someone next to them.  They get out of their seats, into the aisles, and they hug just about everyone they can.  I usually have to stop it after two to three minutes or they would just do it all night.  They have become a family.

We are focused in our teaching.  At the beginning of the summer I explained our summer singles theme.  Each Sunday night we would have a single sermon - not connected with another sermon.  We are not in a summer series of sermons.  I told our congregation: "If you miss one, come back the next weekend.  You won't be behind."  Each sermon has one single big idea, which I give away right at the beginning of the talk.  I give them big ideas focused on encouraging their Christian faith.  I tell them lots of stories - personal stories, Bible stories, their stories.  They listen with amazing focus! Everyone likes a good story.  The stories themselves always tie back in to the big idea: the focused, single theme of the night.

Our summer has not suffered as much of a decline as we have seen in the past. Our morale is better than ever.  As best as we could accomplish, we have turned Church Requel into a summer destination on Sunday nights. We will be going into our back-to-school, back-to-routine in better shape than ever. But I don't think we'll go back to any kind of a routine at church.  Unless that routine happens to include fun, family, and focus!

5 Power Tips for Preaching From An iPad

A recent sermon on my iPad

I'm in the middle of delivering my sermon from my shiny new iPad. I'm focused on making the point and communicating God's truth from His Word to His people. Then my preaching device sings a loud "ding!" Up pops a notification badge: "Want to get away from it all? Cruises for as low as $399!" It took every ounce of self-control not to break out laughing. The funniest part was watching some of my older parishioners looking around to see which kid in the congregation was playing a game. I never told them the kid was me.

For the past 15 months I've been preaching from my first-generation iPad. It truly has been a gift from God, a tool that helps me be even more effective as a communicator. I use my iPad rather than paper notes for 3 reasons. First, it saves me time and money. Connecting the word processor from my laptop to my iPad through iCloud means no more printing and cutting. Second, it provides me the opportunity to make last minute edits right on my iPad.

Third, and this is the most important reason, it gives my parishioners permission to use their smart phones and tablets to follow the sermon, published in their YouVersion Bible apps. When they see their pastor opening his Bible on his iPad, they know it really is ok. Just yesterday Pastors.com reminded us how much Apple is changing the church. As a pastor I can choose to lead these changes rather than react to them.

Here are 5 power tips I have learned in the last 15 months for how to preach with an iPad.

1. Use the power of the iCloud. I've read that many pastors preaching from an iPad write their sermons on their computer's word processor, save their document as a PDF file, then email it to themselves, then open their email app on their iPad, and then open their sermon document with a PDF reader app like GoodReader. There is an easier way! I write my sermons using Pages on my MacBook, then drag the file over to the iCloud in Safari. When I open Pages on my iPad, voila! My sermon is waiting and ready to go.

2. Use the power of Pages. One huge advantage for pastors using Pages on the iPad is that it is a fully functioning word processor. I have the ability to make last-minute edits right on my iPad. In the photo above from my sermon on June 24th, you'll notice that the first paragraph begins with, "Dismiss the children..." I wrote this note to myself in the tech meeting an hour before our worship service began.

3. Use the power of YouVersion LIVE. I believe that the YouVersion Bible app is the greatest development for pastors since the Gutenberg printing press. The YouVersion Bible is now installed on over 50 million devices and the installation curve is growing exponentially. I want all of my parishioners to install the Bible app, and read from it throughout the week. When their wait-in-a-line moment happens and they grab their smart phones, I want them to read their Bibles rather than playing the latest version of Angry Birds. I can help smooth the way if I also use the YouVersion app on my iPad when I'm preaching. This is also why I publish every sermon I write for YouVersion LIVE.

4. Use the power of wider margins. I use 2-inch margins when I type my original sermon document. Then, when I use this same document in my iPad Pages document, I can use the two-finger zoom gesture to make the font size up to 30% larger in portrait mode (my preference) or up to 70% larger in landscape mode. This is so much better than actually typing my original sermon document in a larger font.

5. Use the power of the P-R-E-P-A-R-E checklist. After that first experience of my iPad chirping away during my sermon I have developed my own PREPARE acrostic checklist to make sure I have remembered to configure my iPad for preaching mode.

Church for the Nones - Impossible Beauty

Reaching, attracting and retaining people to a new church is a difficult thing to accomplish. In Mansfield, when people are asked what church they attend, more people check "none" than any other choice. Those are the people we at Church Requel are aiming for. We are a church for the "nones." A difficult thing to accomplish becomes a nearly impossible thing to accomplish, if the target audience are people not attending church anywhere else.

Transitioning someone from "unchurched" to "churched" is a slow, sometimes frustrating experience - but when it happens, it's really a beautiful thing! 

We are a church for the unchurched. George Hunter coined the phrase, church for the unchurched, with his book by the same name back in 1996. He described a church returning to its apostolic origins, reaching a mission field in its own back yard. America, Hunter pointed out, had become one of the greatest mission fields in the world. Rather than being a country sending out Christian missionaries to other nations, the U.S. was a country in need of missionaries.

In the two decades since Hunter described the unchurched, unchurched people have changed. Twenty years ago an unchurched person in America had a memory of church and, when tough times came into their lives, they often became spiritual seekers looking to the church for answers. Today most unchurched people don't even have a memory of the church having answers. They have been disconnected from the church so long that it doesn't even occur to them to seek out the church or its teachings.

Ed Stetzer, who writes often about these trends, puts it this way:

Churches that once targeted seekers are finding that portions of subsequent generations do not have any religious memory at all--and it is harder to appeal to their seeking. They are the "Nones" - those who, when asked about religious affiliation, check "none." In a post-seeker context, churches will have to create new models to lead their people to engage their neighbors who might not find appealing an invitation to church.

This coming Sunday Church Requel will be baptizing 3 adults, who one year ago would have checked the "none" category. All three have a distant memory of the church from their childhood. As adults, for many reasons, they joined the majority of people not attending church anywhere.

This Weekend: Breakfast and Romans 8!

Hey everyone!  Pastor Mark here with your weekly blog update about all the cool things happening at Church Requel.  Mary Kay is off to Celina today and tomorrow, visiting with her siblings and taking care of some estate chores for her mom - so pray for her as you think about her.  I remained in Mansfield because I'm cooking breakfast for all the guys tomorrow - see below.  I'm hoping this finds you enjoying and making the most of your TGIF Friday!

Breakfast for the Men Saturday at 9am!  Tomorrow morning will be a lot of fun for all the guys at CR.  Come over to my place (1216 Butternut Court) tomorrow morning for all the breakfast fixins'! I'm planning on making 2 batches of scrambled eggs - one with all the veggies and one plain, bacon, toast, orange juice and coffee.  Yum! Yum!  Fathers, bring your sons (and yes, daughters are welcomed too!)  We'll enjoy good food and good fellowship and make some plans for 2012.

Sunday Night - Back to Romans 8! We took a break last weekend for the annual meeting.  Sunday night we'll get back to our "I KNOW" sermon series with our study of Romans 8:29-30.  We'll talk about the idea of God's choosing - known as God's election. What does it mean when the Bible talks about predestination?  This is a study you definitely won't want to miss. (Want a head start? Here's the YouVersion sermon notes.)  We'll also have a great children's sermon with a special gift that all the children will receive AND give away!  We'll sing together, pray together, and share communion together.  As was our custom last year, we'll take communion all at the same time at the end of each worship service during Lent.  Sunday night should be special - don't miss it!

Women Start James Study on Wednesday!  Ladies, I have good news for you - your new study materials arrived at the Pierce home yesterday.  What new study is this, you ask? Starting Wednesday evening, you'll be studying the book of James with master teacher, Beth Moore.  This video Bible study is an 8-week immersion into the idea of mercy!  James, Jesus' brother, started out as a skeptic.  You'll learn how one glimpse of the resurrected Savior turned this skeptic into a believer.  Topics in this study include: joy, hardship, faith, reversal of fortunes for rich and poor, wisdom, gifts from above, single-mindedness, the dangers of the tongue, humility, and prayer.   We will be passing out the books this Sunday night - just another great reason why you'll want to be in Church Requel this weekend!

Courage For The Small Church Pastor

This week I'm preparing a talk for my congregation from the great text found in Joshua 1:9. "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."  As so often happens God is allowing me to learn these great truths of His Word through the pages of my life as each day turns anew.

I know that this divine encouragement was given to the great army general, Joshua. Especially as we honor our veterans this week I am reminded of the courage of each of our men and women who have served their country despite their fears.  However, on this day, God is reminding me of the courage necessary for church planters and small group pastors.

I remember those intense days of three years ago on Thanksgiving 2008, when Church Requel was given its first breath of life.  Because of the horrible local economy, I lost my middle management position as an executive pastor of a megachurch.  I remember thinking - as my father had taught me repeatedly - that this setback was not the problem it appeared to be, but rather an opportunity to do something new and something different.  Rather than look for another pastoral position with an existing church, we would start a new church with a few friends and see how God would bless it.

Currently I'm reading The Strategically Small Church by Brandon J. O'Brien.  I have so identified with O'Brien's first chapter where he talks about reimagining ministry success.  He writes about the ministry career arc many of us expect to experience.

At some point in your life you sense a clear call from God to enter the ministry.  It makes a better story if this happens after years of success in a lucrative secular career or a period of profound and sinful rebellion.  After a time of preparation - whether in seminary or through a careful perusal of church planting materials - you take a position in a small church. Over the next several years, your ministry grows. You see people reconcile with God, lives are changed, and you feel confident you are squarely within God's will.  You've found your calling. Either your church plant grows rapidly or you move from church to church - usually (and fortunately) to increasingly larger, more vibrant congregations.  Soon your peers recognize your success and a publisher asks you to write a book about your story.  You share it at conferences.  You have arrived.

I'm embarrassed to admit it - but these words struck home with me.  Even the part about changing from a lucrative secular career in my life's first half described me perfectly.  Three years ago - coming from a large church management experience - I expected that by now we'd be about halfway through that paragraph.  Yet, no publisher has called to ask me to write about our story.  And the only conferences that call are the ones who want me to pay to attend so I can hear other pastors' success stories.

Youth For Christ's Rich Rader Interviewed at CR

This past weekend we had the privilege of having Rich Rader come to Church Requel.  He told us a little about his ministry with Youth for Christ and the opportunities for partnership that exist between our two ministries.  Here is the entire interview.  Enjoy!

Rich Rader Interview from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

Lent: According to Patty

Some of the greatest joys in my life are the relationships I've formed within the family.  And none are more joyous than the one I share with Patty Hawk Chappie.  She is my wife's younger sister.  When you see Mary Kay and Patty side by side, you know they're sisters.  Some have even asked me if they are twins.

In my last post about Lent, I mentioned my "wonderful and Catholic sister-in-law."  Patty is a loyal reader of ChurchRequel.com and she wrote a beautiful comment about my latest post.  It was so good I thought it deserved it's own post.  So here is Lent... according to Patty.  This is what she wrote on Facebook:

Enjoyed reading your blog Mark! Lent is a always such a spiritual reflective time for me! ( BTW- I gave up more than chocolate! I also have a revitalized commitment to do for others). I love the traditions of Lent (not in the Bible), focused on remembering Jesus' teachings, resistance of temptation, his sacrifice (gift) to us and renewing our lives to try to live what Jesus taught us in the Bible. It is the very essence of Spring!

And here is what Patty wrote in the comments of the Church Requel blog:

Welcome to Lent Mark! In response to your above reference to chocolate... if you have already given it up and it is of no self discipline or matter of sacrifice then "No... it doesn't count!" The idea is to remember what Jesus did for each of us and to do things for Jesus! So giving up things as well as doing things that Jesus spent his whole life teaching us to do as his followers, spending time in reflection and prayer...THAT is what happens during Lent! It is important to spend a special time to refocus on our spiritual commitment and place. One may argue that everyday we should focus on prayer, self discipline and doing for others...no doubt I agree! But like all things... daily things done without a revitalization become lost in the shuffle... "Why do we do this everyday without thinking?" Lent is a special tradition if you will... a time to remember,reflect, reconcile, pray, renew and celebrate... and to be ever so humbled by Jesus' death and resurrection for each of us. This is nothing I know you don't already realize. It has always been a HUGE part of our Catholic Faith, and I have been deeply touched by and thankful for that. Another tidbit about Lent... the ashes used on our foreheads to make the sign of a cross are from the palms we get on Palm Sunday and have in our homes throughout the year. I also agree with the extra time spent with my fellow church community... it is a wonderful gathering together for extra services, stations of the cross, socializing at Fish Fries, sharing in the joy of new members of the church being baptized at the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening before Easter. I hope your Lent is full of spiritual witness,growth, reflection, and community...You always did have good ideas!!! I enjoyed your article... thanks!

Patty, thanks so much for your input and your reminder of the true meaning of Lent.  As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm observing Lent this year in my own personal devotional life by reading through the gospel of Matthew and the commentary from N.T. Wright in Lent For Everyone from YouVersion.com.  And... no orange marmalade! :-)

Lent: More Than Giving Up Orange Marmalade

Let's just talk straight for a minute.  You can tell a lot about a person's Christian background by this issue of Lent.  If you asked me about it as a kid, I would have made some reference to the trap in the dryer... or my belly button.  As an Evangelical, Lent wasn't something for us.  The whole concept of ashes on the forehead or giving up chocolate was foreign to us.

Now I'm the pastor of a new church - a non-denominational church, yet I find myself with the same biases of my childhood.  And yet...

Here's the thing.  Lent is actually a REALLY GOOD IDEA!  Let's think about it for a moment.  40 days to prepare for Resurrection Day.  A time of personal sacrifice to remember what Christ has sacrificed for us.  A period of reflection and refocus upon our faith.  Additional times of community with fellow believers.  The opportunity to practice our faith in a more public way - acknowleding our Christianity to the world around us.  What's there not to like?

As a pastor of a new congregation, I recognize that in many ways I set the pace for our church.  So I'm going to participate in Lent this year... even if it's mostly in my own private way.  I've added a new Bible Reading Plan to my daily routine, a daily devotion by N.T. Wright.  YouVersion.com has added 3 new plans just for the season.  I plan on fasting a meal or two per week - and during these times I plan on spending some extra time in prayer and focus. 

And just to make my wonderful (and Catholic) sister-in-law happy, I'm going to give up chocolate - though I'm not sure this really counts, since I've already been on a diet this year. 

Hmmm.  It occurs to me that an abstention for me would be more like giving up orange marmalade.  I eat it every morning... diet or not.  I LOVE orange marmalade.  Ok.  No orange marmalade until April 25th.  Each time the waitress - trained by years of experience - places the orange marmalade before me - I'm going to say a quick prayer of THANKS to Jesus - then push the marmalade away!

I'm also going to participate in our church's plan to give away 100 free meals the day before Easter!  Our version of almsgiving.  Each weekend our parishioners (and me) will be bringing in groceries to the weekend church service.  A fine Lenten tradition - as well as a Christian thing to do all 365 days of the year.

So that's my plan for Lent.  Additional Bible readings and devotionals.  Some fasting.  Some prayer.  Refocus.  Feed the hungry.  ...And no more orange marmalade.

Nondenominational Second Largest and Fastest Growing

When a small group of friends joined me in my living room on Sunday mornings for church two years ago, and we talked of what kind of church we might start, nondenominational was our default choice.  None of us belonged to any particular denomination.  We all believed, however, that we belonged to Christ's church.  So, for us, nondenominational was simply an accurate albeit nondescript descriptor.

We no longer can fit inside a living room; rather we meet Sunday nights at another local church building.  Since those early days, we have learned that we are part of a much larger movement of "Nons".  (See State of Christianity in America.) My friend, Chuck Clevenger, emailed me another article this morning.  This one entitled, "Where Have All The Presbyterians Gone?" is from the Wall Street Journal.   Journalist Russell Moore notes:

According to the Baylor Survey on Religion, nondenominational churches now represent the second largest group of Protestant churches in America, and they are also the fastest growing.

There was a time when people chose a church on the basis of beliefs and doctrinal statements.  Now there are much more pragmatic decisions:

More and more Christians choose a church not on the basis of its denomination, but on the basis of more practical matters. Is the nursery easy to find? Do I like the music? Are there support groups for those grappling with addiction?

In other words, people choose a church like they do everything else in life: on the basis of what works best for them.  Sadly, we have a word for this.  It's call consumerism.  We could despair about this fact or we can admit that this is the culture we live in and respond to it in a Christ-like way: with faith, integrity, love and preparation. 

At Church Requel our aim is to be a community loving God and loving people.  Each week we take an honest look at what the Bible teaches us.  We work hard to meet the needs that people have for community and for support.  And we rarely, if ever, talk one way or the other about denominations.

Church With No Name Birthed!

It is easy for me as a church planter to be so focused on what we are doing as a church that, somehow in our minds, everything about God's kingdom becomes narrowed down to us alone.  Church Requel.  Of course that's simply not true.  We have the privilege of being one small part of God's bigger plan.  We want to do our part as well as we can, but we also want to support and encourage what God is accomplishing elsewhere through other pastors and other churches.  I'm so glad Ontario Christian Fellowship believes that or we wouldn't be worshiping in their fine facility on Sunday evenings.

It is with that in mind that this morning I attended the very first service of The Church With No Name.  Jeff Barnes, my friend and neighbor, launched a church this morning and I was privileged to be there as an encourager.  More than fifty folks attended this morning's first service, held at the Quality Inn on I71 and Route 97 between Lexington and Bellville.  Jeff has been a senior pastor and a worship leader and today joins me now as a church planter. 

I was thrilled to see so many families attend this morning's service.  They are blessed with many young children, who met in two separate classrooms apart from the adults during the teaching part of their service.

The church doesn't have a name yet.  They are still working on that.  I hope somehow the name includes "fellowship," because that is what I experienced this morning.  These are people who clearly love one another and want to be together.  Already they are planning a picnic this evening and another gathering every Wednesday evening. 

And, for what it's worth, I wish Jeff and his church all the best.  I'd like to think that as I've been down this path as a church planter for the last year that I can really identify with the challenges that Jeff and his church are about to face.  And I can also identify with the many joys he and his new church family will be experiencing together. 

Because we serve the same God and are all about His kingdom and not about our own kingdom, I hope that there will be some ways that Church Requel will also be able to become partners with Jeff and his church known temporarily as The Church With No Name.

Unabashedly Celebrating Mother's Day... And Pink

I've been reading around the web this week and have found that not everyone agrees with the idea of dedicating a church service to Mother's Day on Mother's Day.  The reasons vary but can be categorized into two areas.  First, it is argued, the focus of the church worship should be to honor and celebrate Christ and not mothers - who after all, are still people and not God.  Second, while the intent to honor mothers may be good, many women may actually be hurt by a focus on moms on Mother's Day because a) they can't have children themselves, b) might have lost children in one way or the other, or c) might have had a bad experience with their own mother.  So, some advise, mention Mother's Day in church but don't focus on Mother's Day in church.

Fair warning to anyone coming to Church Requel Sunday evening... we're planning on celebrating mothers on Mother's Day!  What about the reasons given above?  As to the first, our worship will be of our Lord and not of moms.  The truth is that any relevant church service will take contemporary, cultural occasions to point to our relationship with God.  This coming Sunday will be no exception.  The great things we learn about great moms - moms who model, observe, and motivate - are also things we discover about our relationship with God our Father.

As to the second, we certainly must be sensitive to those who are hurting within our congregation.  Attitude (and words... and actions) are all important.  But at the same time we must never be paralyzed by the possibility that someone may be hurt by a sermon topic.  In fact many times God will use a good sermon to provide healing to the hurting.

So come to Church Requel this coming Sunday night (at Mid-Ohio Conference Center at 6PM) and expect a great Mother's Day service.  Oh... one other warning... expect a lot of pink!

Reaching Up, Reaching In, and Reaching Out

When I came home yesterday, my wife had the newspaper out on the counter top with a note written to me and an arrow pointing to the newspaper.  "Read this!  Sounds like Church Requel!"  The arrow was pointed to the spirituality column written by Norris Burkes.  The article was titled, "3 Qualities to Look for in a Place of Worship."  Burkes makes the point that if one is looking for a new church, he or she should consider: #1) a church that reaches up to God in its worship; #2) a church that reaches in to its people in teaching and fellowship; and #3) a church that reaches out to others with the gospel and with service. 

What pleased me especially was Mary Kay (my wife) connecting the dots to Church Requel.  Certainly, as the pastor of this new church, it is my deepest desire that we be a church who reaches up, who reaches in, and who reaches out.  But then, which pastor would not say that about their church?  However, when I read the entire column, I saw what Mary Kay meant about being like Church Requel.  Regarding reaching out, Burkes wrote:

My home church gives 10 percent of its income to the community.  Once my pastor even gave away "spiritual stimulus money" to the parishioners and asked them to reinvest it in the community.

This is indeed a very similar financial philosophy that Church Requel has maintained from its beginning.  We take 10% of all the giving that comes in to the church and place it in what we call the Matthew 25 Fund.  In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about those who fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, visited the sick and imprisoned, and provided shelter to the homeless.  We have not restricted this giving to our local community, but much of it has gone there.  We have given a substantial portion to feed the hungry through the Salvation Army.  And we took on the Christmases of four very needy families.  However, when the Haiti disaster hit, we gave some of our Matthew 25 Fund to Compassion International.

I haven't thought about the concept of the "spiritual stimulus money."  I bet that if we gave money to our parishioners for the purpose of Matthew 25, and asked them to combine their own ingenuity and passion and effort, we would multiply these funds many times over.  What do you think?

Becoming Like Us or Becoming Like Christ

When we think about new people coming to our church, do we think first of transforming lives to become more like Christ? Or do we first require people to become more like us?  Do you know what I mean?  Without even being aware of it, we can communicate to people that if you want to attend OUR church, you must dress like us, act like us, like the things we like, think like us, agree with us.  Check out this 2-minute video clip from last weekend's service that addresses this issue.

The State of Christianity in America

What is the state of the church in America?  Recently, WKRN News 2 in Nashville ran an 11-minute story not only about the decline in church attendance in the U.S., but also included some hopeful indicators for the future of churches in America. What do these facts mean for those of us launching Church Requel in Mansfield?  Here is the video news clip, provided by Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.  For those who can't invest 11 minutes to watch, scroll down for my written highlights and conclusions.

Here are my written highlights from the video of the state of Christianity in America today:

• The church has lost its "home field advantage" in the United States.
• In 1948, 91% of Americans identified themselves as Christians.  In 2009, only 76% of Americans claimed Christianity as their faith.
• Of teenagers in high school who do attend church now, 2/3 will drop out when they move away from home.
• Not all churches are in decline, but the vast majority (70-80%) are either plateaued or are in decline.
• The number of "Nones" are growing fast.  Who are the Nones?  Those people who have no denominational affiliation.  When asked, "What is your religious identity?" 15% of people in America answered "None."  That's twice the number who answered "None" in 1990.  
• The "Nones" are the 3rd largest faith group in America!
• Last April, Newsweek asked: "Can faith answer all or most of the country's problems?"  Just 48% answered, "Yes."  That's lower than any other time the magazine asked the question in the past.
• Nondenominational, independent churches are growing fast.  In 1990, fewer than 195,000 people in American attended these nondenominational churches.  Today, it's 8 million!

So how do we apply this at Church Requel in Mansfield?  Click "Continue Reading" below to find out.

Skit Guys: Lost and Found

Over the past three weekends, Church Requel has enjoyed a video sketch by the Skit Guys.  I am providing the video below for those who have asked to see the whole thing again.  The Skit Guys have been such a great asset for us and I believe could be a boon to any church ministry.  Dramatic sketches bring home the point of the weekend's theme so clearly and can be such a great help to any sermon.  The Skit Guys have many different videos available, all at reasonable prices, to assist those who are responsible for worship services.  Top videos currently include "Love Words," "Idol Worship," "God's Chisel," "The Skinny on Tithing," and "What is God's Will?"  For those who like to perform their own dramas, the Skit Guys also make their scripts available for others to perform.  Here is the Lost and Found sketch that we've watched at Church Requel for the past 3 weekends:

It's About Life Change, Stupid!

Students of political history will remember the Clinton campaign phrase from 1992: "It's about the economy, stupid!"  Likewise, for the last decade many in the contemporary church world have worked under the stratagem, "It's about the weekend, stupid!"  Even though some churches would argue that this is not their philosophy, one only has to look at where the vast majority of their resources are spent to know that whether it's stated or not, it's really all about the weekend.

On Monday, Catablog interviewed Tony Morgan, Director of Ministries at West Ridge Church near Atlanta.  Anyone who has followed Tony over the years knows that he is outspoken about the leadership environment of the mega-church environment.  Last March Tony wrote Killing Cockroaches: And Other Scattered Musings on Leadership. In Cockroaches, Morgan argues that church leaders don't have to do everything,  The key, he writes, is to play to your strengths while building a team around you to make up for your weaknesses.

In Monday's interview with Catablog, Tony talked candidly about the very consumer driven culture of the weekend service in many American churches today.  He admits that outward focused churches must start with the consumer mindset, but it must not stop there.

If the weekend service experience isn’t intentional, people who are still consumers will not stay engaged. We can present the Gospel, but they won’t be there to hear it. We can challenge people to become fully-devoted followers of Christ, but they won’t be there to hear that challenge.

That said, there’s a danger if we assume the weekend service is the only component of a discipleship strategy. Primarily, that’s an issue because it’s not God’s design for spiritual growth. Corporate worship and teaching is one component, but it’s not the only component.

Morgan goes on to list four strategic "next steps" his church currently offers, including online assessments, daily devotionals, group connections, and life care support. 

At Church Requel we are at a very early stage in our development, with only four months under our belt since our first public service.  But I think this advice from Tony Morgan is worth remembering.  We are never going to fully accomplish our mission of being a community loving God and loving people if our entire focus is on the weekend. 

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle is famous for (among other things) talking about the need for both the air war and the ground war. Strategically the church needs a fantastic weekend experience where a new person can come and hear the gospel of Christ in a most engaging way.  Everything that goes into that weekend experience would be considered the air war, similar to "shock and awe" in the Iraqi war.  But the war cannot be won without troops on the ground.  There needs to be a follow up, a means of engaging people one-on-one in discipleship.  Church Requel will succeed in its mission only to the extent that we can do both well.

Collide: The Gospel According to LOST

One of my new favorite magazines is Collide.  Its byline is "where the church and media converge."  It is edited admirably by Scott McClellan.  For anyone like me who wants to use the best media tools within the church to tell the gospel message, Collide is a must read.

While reading yesterday I came across this interview with Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia in Houston, Texas.  Chris is also the author of a new book entitled, The Gospel According to LOST.  Naturally with our current sermon series, LOST, I was intrigued.  Here's part of the description of the book from Amazon:

The focus on faith and truth is never more clearly explained than in the words of John Locke as he questions Jack Shepherd asking "Why do you find it so hard to believe?" Jack responds quickly "Why do you find it so easy?" But Locke declares "It's never been easy." This tension between Faith and Reason drives every episode and story line. Locke summed this up as he explained to Jack "That's why you and I don't see eye‐to‐eye sometimes, because you're a man of science…Me, well, I'm a man of faith."

Even though he authored the book, Chris says he doesn't attempt to write entire sermon series out of pop culture, preferring to preach through books of the Bible.  But Chris tells Collide Magazine that he does like to use pop culture references like the LOST television show in his sermons:

I draw from it [pop culture] a lot, in a more natural style, like what I picture Jesus doing when he walked through the fields and said, “Look at the crops. Let me explain to you what’s going here in terms of reaping and sowing.” I think that’s what we’re called to do as teachers, just with everyday life. We have to use the things around us to explain the things of God, and Jesus was so good at that.

Clearly, the gospel dwells within the culture, and so we’ve got to be people that see the signposts and call people into conversations and call them toward truth. Pop culture is part of that, but it can’t be the whole thing. If you teach Lost and you don’t get to the gospel part or to Scripture, you’re just running in the circles of a postmodern narrative, which is not what I feel called to.

Clearly I don't have any problems designing sermon series on top of cultural references.  But anyone who has heard me preach knows that I use the pop culture for a launching pad to get into the Biblical lessons.

One of the other things I loved about the Collide Magazine interview with Chris Seay was the artwork.  The paintings above were created by talented artist, Scott Erickson.  What you see above is just a sampling of the artwork, so get over to Collide or to Scott's Flickr page to check out the rest of Scott's LOST paintings.

Catalyst Podcast with Rick Warren Worth Listen

I love listening to podcasts and the Catalyst Podcast is one of the very best.   Yesterday I listened to Episode 88 with guest Rick Warren.  I highly recommend listening; in fact, I think I may go back and listen again myself. 

For those of you who do not know, Catalyst's goal is about impacting the next generation of leaders. Through conferences, podcasts and other resources, they attempt to influence “change agents” throughout the church.  I attended the Catalyst Conference this past October for the first time.

Rick Warren has completed 30 years of ministry all at one church: Saddleback Community Church.  Stop and think what a remarkable accomplishment that is!  My prayer is that God may grant me the rest of my life as pastor of Church Requel.  But at age 52, I can only hope that I have another 29 years remaining.

Listening to Rick Warren talk to hosts Brad Lomenick and Ken Coleman was a productive and enjoyable experience for me.  Rick is perhaps the greatest teaching pastor, in my humble opinion, of our generation.  I know that during the conversation he is repeating many of the things that he has taught over the years - but he is so natural at it and is of such good humor with such great humility - that I cannot help but smile as I soak up all he has to say.

Three items may be of particular interest to my readers and congregants.  First is his commitment to the concept of mentoring: both of being a mentor and of being mentored.  Second I found his vision of his next ten years of ministry, what he calls the decade of destiny, to be inspiring.  Finally, his description of "radicalis" was insightful.  Interesting coincidence... Rick's concept of "radicalis" will be familiar to those who've heard me talk about "requel."

The entire podcast takes 58 minutes to play.  For those that want to skip right to the Rick Warren interview, start playing the podcast about 8 minutes into it.  The interview runs 46 minutes.

Is Dropping Facebook Really the Best Solution?

This morning's cover story article from USA Today suggests that some people are dumping social networks like Facebook and Twitter to reclaim both their time and their privacy:

"As the social networking train gathers momentum, some riders are getting off.  Their reasons run the gamut from being besieged by online 'friends' who aren't really friends to lingering concerns over where their messages and photos might materialize. If there's a common theme to their exodus, it's the nagging sense that a time-sucking habit was taking the "real" out of life."

Even with 400 million users on board, there is something to this notion of people dropping out.  In my own case, my youngest daughter, Jillian, perhaps one of the most social people on Planet Earth dropped Facebook a couple years back.  (That was about the time I got on the Facebook train.  But I'm sure that was only coincidence!)  In addition, some of those closest to me, my brother Todd, my best friend Roc, my remarkably ever-youthful Dad never signed up for the social network hoopla to begin with.

But those of us concerned with making an impact for Christ in our world and in our neighborhoods should not be quick to abandon this most useful tool.  With all the flaws that come along with Facebook and the like, there's plenty to like as well.  I now have the ability to stay in touch with my parishioners in a way that was unheard of even 5 years ago.  For example, a quick perusal of my Facebook account this morning reminded me that one of our church attendees is celebrating a birthday today.  (Heather, again Happy Birthday!)  And I can't begin to tell you how many people will choose to send me messages through Facebook instead of looking up my email, or God forbid, actually call me.

Some will be quick to conclude that such "messaging" is the very definition of less faceless friendships.  But I welcome it with open arms and am thankful for the opportunity to be more connected.  I know I have opportunities now through social media technology that I never would have had otherwise. 

Social networking is as old as mankind.  It's only the technology that's new.  And like any new technology, we need to learn the rules about how to use it well.  Sites like Facebook are not going away any time soon.  Why else would Google want to get into the social networking business?  

So what should pastors and church leaders do?  Two thoughts come to my mind as I wrap up today's post.

1. Continue to participate in social networking sites, but don't push anyone else to do the same.  As a leader - lead by example.  Set personal limits in terms of time and participation.  Let others into your life and show them what a growing life in Christ looks like.
2. In addition to joining public social networking sites, offer a private, church-only social networking site to your parishioners.  At Church Requel, we have done this through Church Community Builder.  As wonderful as the public sites like Facebook and Twitter are, there just are some things that are better when offered privately within the church.  Examples of this include small group connections, event calendaring, and online giving.  One of my first decisions as pastor of Church Requel was to sign up for CCB.  I'm convinced it was also one of my best decisions.