We have a lot in common!

My blog has an avenue for feedback. Last week an anonymous writer commented:

“This is embarrassing. You seem to know what you are talking about on the blog, but it feels like our church is falling a part. What is your plan to start building bridgepoint again? Since you have been here things seem to be dropping instead of getting better. Please help save my church not tear it apart.”

I don’t know who this person is, but this I do know: We have a lot in common. It may seem like the person making such statements is on an opposing side, but I don’t see it that way. This is a person who cares deeply about BridgePointe. If they did not care about their church they would not be reading their Pastor’s Blog, taking the time to comment, or asking  if there is a plan for BridgePointe. We actually have more in common than the commenter may think. We both deeply care about BridgePointe, as well as my Staff and Advisor Team.

I am also appreciative of their honesty in wanting to understand a particular plan for building BridgePointe. That’s a lesson for me to know that I need to step it up in communicating as the Lead Pastor. That’s why I am looking forward to our first Vision Sunday, October 2, where I can articulate more clearly the course I am setting for BridgePointe. I can give you a preview now.

1.     Be driven by strategy:  Draw people close to God

We will provide opportunities for movement in people’s relationship with God through 3 markers:

·      First, our worship service will provide a safe place for people to discover faith.

·      Second, our Growth Path will provide opportunities to develop faith. Next Steps include Inside BridgePointe, Basics, baptism, volunteering, Life Groups/Starting Point, and Deep End Workshops. These steps are being currently ironed out.

·      Third, our Compassion Ministry will provide opportunities to demonstrate faith. Under the direction of Pastor Keith Norman, local avenues are being designed for us to give ourselves away in meeting the practical needs in our community. His Local Team’s first meeting is in October. Internal counseling programs are being designed, as well as a Global focus planned for the future.

2.     Be driven by quality:  Seek ongoing improvement.

This is an ongoing task but there are 3 primary areas we are focusing on this year.

·      Relocate BridgePointe’s Sunday’s meeting place to a more permanent facility that would allow us 7 days of ministry opportunity.

·      Bring significant upgrades to our children’s programs so they are a major feature of BridgePointe on Sunday mornings and also design a Middle School program apart from High School.

·      Create a Volunteer Revolution to ensure that Sunday morning programming is operating at optimum potential and effectiveness.

3.     Be driven by unity:  Work together as a team.

·      Establish creative means to communicate effectively and regularly with the church family, from updated printed materials to a new web site.

·      To increase cohesiveness, organization, and team identity among the major ministries at BridgePointe.

·      To afford the Advisors and staff the time and opportunity to connect with new leadership from a new Lead Pastor.

In a nut shell … closer, better, together. There is nothing more important to me as a Lead Pastor than for BridgePointe to know where we are going and how to be a part of it. So in the end, I’m grateful for opportunities that allow for more clarity. We all genuinely care about BridgePointe. That’s a great start … but it’s only a start. Let’s talk together, work together, pray together, dream together, and build together. My office door remains open so I can answer questions, communicate more effectively, and work together to build BridgePointe’s future.

We have more in common than you think.

Philippians 2:1-5  Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:1-5

The Right Questions

It was like drinking from a firehouse! That’s what I felt like when I darkened the door of graduate school in Southern California. My head was spinning with new insights and knowledge. I had never read so much nor learned so much at such a fast rate. The abundance of knowledge did something to me. Returning back to school awakened me to just how myopic my paradigm and world had become. It was a great reminder to me as a Pastor that knowledge is out there ... and plenty of it! It dripped from every book, leaked from every discussion, and rained from every lecture. I had professors who were so smart I thought the classroom would tilt.

It was clear that there was no shortage of information, data, facts, or smart people. I simply realized that somewhere along the line I had stopped asking questions … and the right questions.

It happens to everyone who settles for the status quo in life, and yes, even the status quo in church. “That’s not only a personal challenge but also a corporate challenge for the local church”, according to Tony Morgan, Executive Pastor at West Ridge Church, right here in Georgia. “Sometimes it’s not about the size of our faith as much as it is the barriers that need to removed in our ministries in order for us to be effective in our mission.”

He has shared his top ten questions he feels churches need to address and consistently revisit in order to maximize their ministry in today’s culture. Here are the questions:

1. Is your church creating a buzz in your community? If people aren’t talking about what’s happening at your church, they’re not inviting their friends. What are you doing to create dialogue and make people think “I need to check that out and see for myself”?

2. Do volunteers own the ministry of the church? A church cannot hire enough staff to accomplish all of the needs to be accomplished in a growing church. There must be a culture created where the volunteers are empowered, believed in, and inspired to be a part of the greatest enterprise on earth.

3. Do you exceed the expectations of your first-time guests? Whether we like it or not, our guests are consumers before they’re convinced they should become learners, worshipers, or servants. That means they’re walking into your doors for the first time with high expectations that reflect the quality of their community and culture.

4. Are you attracting the very best talent? This isn’t just about staff, but about the kind of volunteer team being developed. Quality attracts quality. Ministry success begins with gifted people who are committed to the vision. Are you getting and keeping the best?

5. Are people having fun? You have to give people hope, encouragement, and lots of chances to laugh. This is centric to understanding how people relate and the type of environment they are attracted to. We live in a fast-paced, stressful culture. If people can’t find health and balance in your church, they’ll find it someplace else.

6. Does your church and volunteers know, embrace and champion the church's vision and values? People need vision. They need targets. They need tracks on which to run. Resources will follow vision. If you aim at nothing you’ll always hit it.

7. Do people accept change as normal? Believe it or not, even churches can develop a culture where change is both expected and embraced. And change is certainly critical in a culture that is continually morphing. Has the church settled for the status quo of what they are used to and personally prefer at the expense of something more effective?

8. Are you addressing the real issues of real lives? People are looking for more than a three-point message that exegetes the Biblical text. They’re trying to parent their kids, save their marriages, deal with losses and illnesses and addictions. They’re trying to find purpose and fulfillment in their lives. Is your message relevant to their lives?

9. Are you as committed to developing effective systems as you are to innovation? As churches grow, they need to move from a purely entrepreneurial approach to one that also values the development of effective systems, strategies, and structures for programming, policy, staffing, technology, and finances.

10. Is your church building a church, or a church of leaders? No one person can do it alone. It takes a team of empowered leaders to take ministry to the next level. Is the church structuring itself to multiply and release the leadership potential in the church? And, are you creating an environment where high-capacity leaders are welcomed?

As Lead Pastor of BridgePointe, I am committed to challenging what we do and why we do it. We have to boldly be willing to ask the questions in which we fear the answer. There is no shortage of knowledge, answers, or solutions to our challenges. We just need to be willing to ask the right questions.  

Unchurched Harry and Mary

You’re in the car, in an unfamiliar area, on your way to see a friend who has invited you to dinner. Your MapQuest directions aren’t exactly helping and now you’re lost. So, you get out your phone and call him. He picks up and you explain to him that you’re lost. Question: What is the first question he is going to ask you? That’s right: “Where are you?” Before he can guide you he needs to know where you’re at.  

The same is true if we are going to lead our unchurched friends to spiritual truth. You have to understand where they’re at. Certainly each individual has his or her own unique story. But there are some commonalities that reflect the average unchurched American living in Post-Modern, Post-Christian culture, according to Lee Stroble, author of “Inside of the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary.” His fifteen reminders just might be the directions we need to connect with a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or family member far from God:

1.     Harry has rejected church, but that doesn’t mean he has rejected God.

2.     Harry is morally adrift, but he secretly wants a moral anchor.

3.     Harry resists rules but he responds to reason.

4.     Harry has legitimate questions about spiritual matters, but he doesn’t expect Christians to have all the answers.

5.     Harry doesn’t just ask, “Is Christianity true?” Often, he’s asking, “Does Christianity work?”

6.     Harry doesn’t just want to know something; He wants to experience it.

7.     Harry doesn’t want to be somebody’s project, but he would like to be somebody’s friend who is accepted unconditionally.

8.     Harry may distrust authority, but he’s receptive to servant leadership and integrity.

9.     Harry is no longer loyal to denominations, but he is attracted to places where his spiritual needs will be met.

10. Harry isn’t much of a joiner, but he’s hungry for a cause he can connect with.

11. Even if Harry’s not spiritually sensitive, he wants his children to get quality moral training.

12. Harry and Mary are repelled by arrogance, but attracted to people who are humble and real with life.

13. Harry is proud that he’s tolerant of different faiths, but thinks Christians are narrow-minded.

14. There’s a good chance Harry would try church if a personal friend invited him.

15. Harry and Mary need you to start faith dialogues about a Creator whose ways are designed for their good, not church or religious tradition.

You don’t have to agree with their thinking, but you need to understand it. This will help you understand why I teach the way I do on Sunday mornings at BridgePointe. If we are to be a church that creates a safe place for our unchurched friends to explore faith, we must meet them where they’re at. This does not mean we alter spiritual truth, but it does mean that we consider how we translate it. You know you are off to a good start when you genuinely want to understand, before being understood. It is then that you will begin to connect with your unchruched Harry and Mary who are far from God.