Not ready for prime time newsletters

I wrote this article for the church newsletter but after talking with Estee about this, we agreed it might be too technical for the newsletter. So instead of trashing the work I have done here, I want to post it here for thoughts as well as keeping it somewhere I can access later.

What do you think, is this too technical or too critical?



     We want to share with the church what has been shared with the Administrative council and long range planning committee because the following deeply impacts the way we at SUMC will “do” ministry. We are relying heavily upon the Rev. Gil Rendle (a consultant for the Texas Methodist Foundation as well as an elder in the UMC) who teaches about systems.

     A church is a system that is made up of three basic parts - inputs, throughputs and outputs. At SUMC we might say the inputs are the resources we have (members, money, building, etc.) and throughputs are the things we do with those resources (create ministries, develop programs, conduct worship, etc.). The resources and ministries of SUMC are very important to the mission we are called by God to accomplish.

     However, collecting resources and building ministries are not the end, rather they are the means to an end. We call this “end” the outputs or our outcomes. Too often churches do not know what their outcomes are and so instead the church focuses on the inputs and throughputs. Consider how many times you have been in a meeting and the conversation has focused on how much/little money or volunteers you have. Or perhaps you might have thought that SUMC would grow if only a certain ministry existed. These are not bad conversations, but when allowed to be the only conversation then we never talk about what the outcomes God expects from SUMC. So when SUMC sets goals for the year, the goals reflect a desire to “grow” and that growth often looks like gathering more inputs (people and money) and throughputs (ministries), but the goals do not reflect any desire for outcomes. Popular goals of a church are to have in increased worship attendance or creating an age specific ministry. The funny thing is that getting more resources and ministries is easy work compared to achieving the outcomes that God desires. Jesus never took the time to try to get more resources or ministries but took a lot of time trying to transform peoples lives. SUMC is not in the “business” of accumulating inputs and throughputs, if anything we are in the “business” of the output of transformation. 

     We are inviting everyone to prayerfully consider what outcomes God is calling SUMC to achieve. We encourage you to think beyond inputs and throughputs and focus on outputs. Here is an example to consider that might help direct your thought. If we were no longer counting worship attendance but counted only those people who are more peaceful or more joyful because of their time participating in SUMC, would you be counted? 

Picking up pole vaulting

Setting goals in a church has, historically been for me, about setting goals that are reachable so that the church can celebrate "what we accomplished together". Churches don't do well with bad news and not meeting a goal is generally seen as bad news. It is as if we are unable to hurdle every goal then we lose. 

The metaphor that I think about is that of a hurdler. When a hurdler does not leap over the hurdle then finishing the race is in real jeopardy. See video to the right for a fun nine seconds as an example.

I want to encourage our churches to view goal setting not as a hurdle that is to be jumped over in order to win the race, but more like pole vaulting.

Pole vaulting requires that the bar be placed too high for anyone to jump over without assistance. Additionally, in pole vaulting if the vaulter comes up short there and does not make it over the bar, then they do not loose, they only register the highest vault. Knowing they will be higher then they would ever by on their own, vaulters also prepare a place for landing BEFORE they vault. They know, even if they vault over the bar, they will come back down and they ensure the fall will not injure them for the next vault. Pole Vaulters know that they will only become better if they raise the bar higher and higher. 

Arguably the best vaulter of all time, Sergey Bubka, only was able to achieve the 6.4 meter (over 20 feet) world record by elevating the bar time and time again. 

Personally I am tired of hurdling and am looking forward to vaulting. If the church is going to do anything in the next generations it has to trade in low achievable goals for goals that we may not be able to reach but will continue to try. 

A Coalition of the what!

There is a thought out there in business and even in the church that leaders and institutions ought to focus on those who are "willing". Willing to go along and try a new thing out. Willing to change. Willing to be a part of something. Willing to do. From former presidents use of the phrase coalition of the willing to even those who advocate for businesses to focus on the company fans, putting your emphasis on those who are "willing" is not really the description I would use to speak of the mission of the church.

Too often the church sets up events and programs in order to attract those who are 'willing' to come to it. We ask people to be in leadership who are 'willing' to give of their time. We even have been known to change the form and function or date and time of a ministry in order to coincide with the leaderships level of 'willingness'. But the fact of the matter is if we are looking for those who are willing then we will surely drive the church into the ground.

Rather than looking for the willing, perhaps the church is at its best when we are looking for the faithful. I know people who are willing to pray but it seems the world needs people who faithfully pray. I know people who are willing to serve but the world needs people to faithfully serve.

Faithfulness does not always mean one is willing.

Jesus was not willing to die as he prayed in the garden but he was faithful and found himself at the cross. Rosa Parks was not willing to give up her seat because she was faithful to the cause of justice. Some people are not willing to take a new job but remain faithful to the cause of providing for their family and so they take a job they hate. Some people are not willing to support a political candidate but remain faithful to their political party and vote for her/him anyway.

What the church needs is not to focus on being willing but being faithful. When we are faithful to the Culture of God, the world is changed.

If we are just willing, then change may never come.

What if we are the ones the dead have been waiting for?

I am not sure I understand but if Jesus is supposed to come back, but the Church is the body of Christ then could it be that we are the ones the dead have been waiting for?

Are we the ones who are charged with embodying Christ in such a way that the kingdom of God (culture of God) will be made known? Why do we stand looking up to the heavens waiting for a superman/Jesus hybrid to "save" us?

It seems like God has more faith in humanity than humanity has in itself. Christ had no plan "B" as it were. He entrusted and had faith in the disciples to continue on.

What if the body of Christ is already here for the second time? What if the body of Christ is here and now?