A Church for Starving Artists

In my denomination, churches sometimes request or are assigned Administrative Commissions to walk alongside congregational leaders as they discern what God is calling them to be in the future.  I’ve come to the conclusion that every church needs one.

Because we are in the thick of cultural shifts that make people anxious, because so many of our once vibrant congregations are shadows of their former selves, and because many of our congregations are stuck being a church that no longer works or satisfies, every congregation needs a coach.  A team of coaches is preferable.

Imagine . . .

• A team of people who go in and teach a congregation what 21st Century Church looks like and equips leaders to be that church for their own context and community over a period of at least one year.
• A commission that assesses – along with the congregation – the possibilities for their Future Story and then – once a path is chosen – they coach them down that path for at least one year.
• A cadre of Merry Helpers who encourage, pump up, guide, and pray with a church who wants to move forward but doesn’t know how for at least one year.
• A  M.A.S.H. unit (Ministry After S@*# Happens) that helps with legal, emotional, and disaster relief – whether the disaster is a flood or clergy misconduct for at least one year.

Yes, some of our Presbyteries/Conferences/Dioceses/Associations offer these teams, but most do not.  There are denominational programs that help congregations examine where they’ve been and the possibilities about where they might go.  But many are lacking in terms of follow-through and follow-up.

These days require the investment of community coaching for our congregations. Any church interested in continuing to serve their neighbors and world ten years from now would jump at this kind of assistance, I believe.  Churches interested only in serving themselves will not exist in ten years anyway, so if they refuse coaching, that’s okay too.

Yes, it would be a huge investment of money and consultation talent.  But the mainline congregations out there can indeed afford it if we allot some of the funds from the sale of closed congregations which once thrived on valuable real estate.  Thoughts?

Image source.

Don’t you hate it when people change the rules in the middle of the game?

[Note: I’m a big fan of professional coaches who help sort of work-related shifts and other quirky features of our vocations. This post was shaped by my own coach.  So thank you JH.]

Anxiety is high for many of our pastors and many of our churches.  We have pastors who are doing their best but what they learned in seminary isn’t working any more.  We have congregations who wonder what happened to the full pews of years past.

The truth is that the rules have changed.  And – in addition to anxiety – some of us are angry.

As for pastors, we learned in seminary how to exegete and interpret Scripture, how to visit the sick and bury the dead, how to officiate a meaningful wedding or baptism or communion service.  We learned how to run a meeting.  But now, ministry is less about management and more about leadership, and we don’t know how to lead in this ever-changing culture.  We have no idea how to reach out to digital generations.  We are blamed by our congregations for the low attendance and diminishing coffers.  But we are doing the best we can . . . and if we could Just Hold On until retirement. . .   Maybe it’s five years away or maybe it’s ten years away, but we need to keep our jobs.  But we are tired.

As for congregations, we are dizzy from global changes.  There are fruits we don’t recognize in the produce department of the grocery store, much less characters we don’t recognize on reality television.  The world is spinning out of control according to news reports about Ebola and human trafficking and gun violence and chemical warfare.  There are videos of beheadings, for Pete’s sake.  So, with the world whirling around us, can’t we just sit in familiar pews, singing familiar hymns, praying familiar prayers and hear a comforting sermon?  We thought we only had to be Good Church Members.  Now we’re told we have to Disciples. What does that even mean?  We’ve been in the church all our lives.  And now we’re tired.

As JH pointed out, some of us react to these rule changes with anger – which is connected to grief.  It’s simply where we are.

So, here’s my quandary:  what do we do with both our tired pastors and tired congregations?  They are good people for whom the rules have changed.

I have my thoughts, but would also appreciate yours:

• Let’s respect and love those who have served faithfully, working with them according to their generational proclivities.
• Let’s ask questions that point to our future:  How can we retire well? What legacy do we want to leave for our church?  What do we want for our congregation ten years from now?
• What are we willing to give up for the sake of the Gospel?
• What are we afraid of giving up?
• Where is the joy in our ministry right now (whether we are the pastor or the congregation)?

Yes, the rules have changed.  And – honestly – I for one am not sorry about this. This is a great time to be The Church and a great time to serve The Church. But we need to learn some new ecclesiastical, cultural, and spiritual rules.  It’s going to be okay.

Image source.

One of the quirks of being a parish pastor who is also a parent is that we take our children with us to work on the biggest day of each work week.  This is in no way the same as “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” or “Take Your Son to Work Day.”

Imagine that you are a surgeon scheduled to insert a pacemaker or you are a caterer with a big wedding or you are an administrative assistant with a major report due.  And there’s the expectation that your children will be with you – maybe down the hall or maybe right beside you in a Pack N Play.  There are not many professions that assume that the professional will bring his or her children along.  But that’s what clergy parents of young children do on a regular basis.

I look back to those Sunday mornings when I packed up my sermon and liturgy, the lesson plans for a new members’ class, a diaper bag, and  snacks (in case there were needs after worship that ran into the kids’ lunchtime.)  We piled into the car and drove to church, among the first to arrive and the last to leave. What was a one or two hour stint for most children was about four or five hours for our children who – as the pastors’ kids  – were expected to be well-behaved, friendly, and poised, even as preschoolers.

Our own PKs are long grown now and it’s been a while since I felt the utter exhaustion of Parenting While Pastoring on a Sunday morning.  (I remember the unspeakable joy when FBC was old enough to drive and the kids could arrive and leave like regular people.)  But, for some reason, as I was driving alone yesterday to preach, I remembered B who was the paid nursery worker in our congregation when the kids were tiny.

B. made it possible for me to do my work on Sunday mornings because she was already in the nursery ready to welcome my kids to a safe place.  And the congregation made it possible for her to be there because they paid her for arriving early and leaving late so that The Pastors’ Kids could have a place to hang out while their parents prepared for Sunday School and Worship.

So thank you to all those – paid nursery workers and generous friends – who helped raise our children on Sunday mornings.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

And if your pastor has young children, note that they could use some kudos and some grace for doing something rather extraordinary every Sunday.

Previously on Church . . .

It’s been my dream to write Church – The TV Show (most likely broadcast on cable due to language and content) but it’s increasingly clear to me that I will never be able to get very far with it.

Where I am so far:  Pitch written.  First season charted out.

Why I can’t go farther:

• I cannot possibly create story lines better than real life.  And I can’t share real life because of confidentiality. . . and for fear of lawsuits for those who believe I’m writing about them even when I’m not.
• I have hoped this would be a project that would make watchers say, “I could be part of a church like that.”  But instead, I fear that too many will say, “Why would anyone put up with that?”

Church.

Most of us in professional ministry Have Stories.  Riotous, colorful, outrageous, true stories.

Mine include cancer in unspeakable body parts, jaw-dropping misconduct, national secrets, epic romance, splashy worship, shameful racism, Lucille Ball-esque pratfalls, and unspeakably beautiful deathbed moments.  Reports are out that Amy Poehler’s next show is church-centered.  Because she is a genius, it will be funny and amazing.  But it will not really be about Church as most of us know Church.

Maybe some of us should just create an oral project and hit the road with it.  Or maybe we should pitch to  The Moth the idea of spending a whole weekend telling amazing church stories.  My first one would be “The Call Story in GYN Stirrups.” Some of you already know this story.

It’s a shame if we can’t share with people what Real Church is all about.  Yes, it’s infuriating and shameful and ridiculous.  But it’s also breathtaking and transformational and gorgeous.  And the stories are rarely told.

This post is offered in memory of KB – my co-writer for Church.  We shared episode ideas for over a decade and many of us miss her terribly.

My post brain-candy reflections from a Strategic Leadership class
have me wondering about the next generation of New Church Planters. According to Pew, most Gen Y-ers (ages 18-33)  can be characterized this way:

• More connected to friends than traditional political or religious institutions
• More in debt but hopeful about their financial futures
• Less likely to be married, often because of financial concerns
• More racially diverse

And although 16% of Gen Y-ers are outliers (and these characteristics do not describe them) the other 84% of this generation – according to Professor Rich Honack – are known for:

• Being less career motivated than their Gen X siblings and Boomer parents
• Serving an average of 1 1/2 years on each of their first four jobs after college
• Being globally connected
• Being short-term planners with no long-term vision
• Oversharing
• Inventing Gap Years
• Being disinterested in having a driver’s license or a mortgage
• Being financially at-risk (42% live with their parents for financial reasons)

Again, this does not describe all Gen Y’ers, of course, but sociologists seem to believe they’ve tracked some commonalities among most of them.

So here’s my question:  How will Gen Y-ers impact the establishment of new worshipping communities in the coming years?

Note:  words like “establishment” and “worshipping communities” are not often typed beside words like “Generation Y.”  But as I work with students preparing for professional ministry, many of them are interested in – and perhaps called to – starting new congregations.   What will that look like?

• Will Gen Y pastors want to leave after 1 ½ years on the job?
• Will the transience of twenty-somethings allow a new church to become stable?
• Will Gen Y-led congregations always struggle financially?
• Will older generations want to be part of such a different kind of church?

I find these questions more exciting than anxiety-inducing but they mostly speak to the changing landscape of our churches.  What are your thoughts about Gen Y-ers in spiritual leadership?  What do you look forward to as batons are passed?

Image of artist Justin West who – at age 23 – is considered one of the most talented in his generation.

I’m taking a Nonprofit Strategic Leadership class this week, and one of the Big Take Aways from yesterday’s teaching:  Don’t Invite the Budget People to Strategic Planning Meetings.

Some of my best friends are budget people, but I get this.

Think of all the congregational committee meetings you’ve attended during which this conversation has happened:

Church Leader #1:  If we don’t make our nursery safe and clean, young families will not want to leave their children there during worship.

Church Leader #2:  We can’t afford to replace the carpet and paint in there.

Church Leader #3:  We need to reach out to the immigrants who’ve just moved into the neighborhood.

Church Leader #4:  We don’t have the money to support any new programs.

In the words of Professor Rich Honack:  Strategy says “Do it or die.”  Budget says, “We can’t do that.”

Honack suggests that – when a nonprofit organization is engaged in strategic planning – we should leave the budget people outside.  It’s not that we don’t want to be fiscally responsible.  It’s just that funding our ministry is not where we start.  We cast a vision first and then we figure out how to pay for it.

All you pastors in the throes of Stewardship Season: what do you think about this?

Image from an art project by a group of Presbyterians interested in social justice.

“Every day is about innovation.”  Shahid Khan at Chicago Ideas Week 10-18-14

I’ve been doing a 21st Century Church road show for about ten years now – asking church leaders such questions as:

• Why does your church exist?
• If your church vanished who would notice/care?
• What does your congregation worship more than God?

That sort of thing. The power point slides get tweaked with every presentation, but it’s basically the same message, and invariably, people come away feeling either overwhelmed (“We can never change like that“) or self-satisfied (“That’s exactly what I’ve been talking about but nobody else in my church gets it“) or energized (“Yes! This is what we’ve been looking for.“)

Every congregation and denominational and religious institution these days seems to be in the throes of Reorganizing or Transforming.  So here’s my own small idea for how Presbyteries/Associations/Dioceses should reorganize and transform themselves:

• Offer a broad plan in which each congregation is assessed in terms of their spiritual, financial, and transformational health.  There are lots of organizations that can do this for us and denominations should pay for it – except for a minimal fee from each congregation to ensure buy in.  If a church selects not to participate, we close them.
• Provide skilled/healthy/spiritually energetic coaches who will walk with each congregation as they move towards innovations according to the needs noted in their assessment. (Note:  The next steps might include closing the church which is often a healthy and wise choice.  Remember that all churches planted by the apostle Paul have closed.)
• Re-assess spiritual health and transformational successes after three years, again, with Middle Judicatories assisting congregations as they call new, more innovative pastors and train church members in new, more innovative leadership for a 21st Century Church.

For much too long, we have been leading our congregations using methods learned in seminaries for a different culture.  The results have been crushing.

The price of failing to innovate for the 21st Century is exorbitant, but we can do better.  God has called to much higher things.  Who’s with me?

Image is two versions of Las Meninas – first by Velasquez in 1656 and then an innovative version by Picasso in 1957.

The truth will make you free, (but first it will make you miserable.)

None of us likes to be told that we need to change something that we do not believe we need to change.  It’s torture, actually, hearing that something we are doing is wrong. The shame can be excruciating.

So . . . imagine that you are a pastor who believes that you are a pretty good preacher only to have your personnel committee tell you that you need to take a preaching class.  Ouch.

Imagine that you consider yourself an approachable person who is easy to talk with, but a person you trust shares privately that – actually – there are quite a few folks who find you “too busy” or “too disinterested” or “too sarcastic” or “too cranky” to come to you for pastoral care.   Ugh.

Imagine that you see yourself as a strong administrator after many years of professional ministry, but your staff shares that they are frustrated at the ineffectiveness of your administrative duties.  Really?

We will not take seriously or believe people we do not trust if/when they bravely share that there is Something we need to alter to improve our skills.  We like to believe that we are good at what we do, that we know what we are doing, and that we are aware of our strengths and our growing edges.  But what if the truth is that we are not as good as we think we are or we could use some coaching or we overestimate our gifts and minimize our weaknesses?  Our congregations suffer – that’s what.

Everybody needs a Nathan – someone whom we trust who can speak the truth to us.  Yes, it hurts.  But we need to hear it.  Our community depends upon it.

Image is David and Nathan by Marc Chagall.

Fortified by consuming five kinds of meat yesterday due to Chicago Ideas Week and Course Horse festivities (goat, chicken, pastrami, lobster, and salmon) I’m inspired by ideas about death, food, entrepreneurship and more. Because I’m (quite literally) weighed down, my own ideas this morning will be short and sweet:

Communities willing to try new ideas with fearlessness are thriving communities.

This is a fresh idea: Placing a cross covered with blackboard paint outside the front doors of the church building the week before All Saints’ Sunday and inviting people to write the names of people they miss.

This is a rehash: Doing what we do every year on All Saints’ Sunday and a) light candles, b) read names, or c) ignore All Saints’ Sunday altogether.

This is a fresh idea: Doing a Story Corps project with your congregation during Advent this December by inviting them to share memories from Advents and Christmases past.

This is a rehash: Doing Advent and Christmas The. Way. We’ve. Always. Done. It. whether we like it or not, whether it’s spiritually transformational or not.

The ideas above come from two of my brilliant colleagues who share their faithfulness by being fearless:

• They do not fear “failure.” If it doesn’t work, we don’t do it again. Not a problem.
• They do not fear upsetting those who Never Want Anything To Change because it reminds them of their childhood (even though new people neither know nor care about the decades-old customs.)
• They do not fear being intentional about connecting faith and customs. Many of us keep doing the same things over and over again without asking how our faith is deepening, how our discipleship is expanding, how our service is increasing.

Ideas are good, especially when they come from inspiration outside the walls of our church buildings. We can all become better followers of Jesus by learning from the interesting people that haven’t passed through our doors. Check out the ideas of these engaging people I’ve learned from this week: Jennifer Brokaw, Rebecca Soffer, Mitchell Davis, Marty Stewart, and Ranjana Bhargava. Tonight: Peter Thiel.

Image from Chicago Ideas Week 2014.

I’ve been reading through the annual reports of our presbytery’s pastors, and one of the questions we ask  is:  Who is your pastor?

It’s extraordinarily interesting.  Sometimes it’s the Executive Presbyter. Sometimes it’s a pastoral colleague. Sometimes it’s a spiritual director or an interfaith colleague or a friend from seminary. But everyone needs a pastor – someone we can call in times of crisis, spiritual drought, and life transitions.

This holds true for everyone.  Everyone needs a spiritual caregiver.

One of my goals as a parish pastor was to ensure that every person had at least three persons to call.  As the pastor, I would probably be one of them.  But if I wasn’t available, it was important that everybody had at least two others who could tend to their spiritual needs.

This is also true on the Presbytery/Middle Judicatory level.  My hope is that – if I’m not available to answer the questions, offer a reference, or explain a process to church people – there are at least two other knowledgeable people who can be called.  This is what “equipping the saints” looks like.

May we all be on the call list.

Image from Ghostbusters.  Word on the street is that the Ghostbusters III movie will feature female ghostbusters.  I suggest Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, and Kristen Schaal.