They Devoted Themselves…
…and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." Acts 6:4
@toddrhoades over at Monday Morning Insight tweeted about an article on The Christian Post by Thom Rainer about how pastors use their time. I think it’s worth highlighting some of the results as way to lay down a benchmark to help churches determine if their expectations of the pastor are reasonable and for pastors to gauge their effectiveness.
The study was a comparison of pastors who were considered effective because their congregations were in the top 5% in conversion growth over against a similar number of pastors whose churches did NOT have significant conversion growth. This seems to me to be a good measure of pastoral effectiveness. If a church isn’t growing, it’s dying. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but true nevertheless.
The study tracked how pastor used every hour of their 168 hour week. This would include everyday activities like sleeping, eating, etc.
I’m going to include the bullet points from Thom’s article in total here from his post so I don’t miss anything in translation. I will, however, highlight some of the things that really struck me.
- Pastors of effective churches sleep slightly over six hours per day. Pastors of comparison churches sleep almost eight hours per day.
- Pastors of effective churches spend twenty-two hours in sermon preparation each week versus four hours for pastors of comparison churches.
- The effective church leaders spent ten hours each week in pastoral care compared to thirty-three hours for the comparison group pastors. Pastoral care included counseling, hospital visits, weddings, and funerals.
- Effective church leaders average five hours per week in sharing the gospel with others. Most of the comparison church pastors entered “0” for their weekly time in personal evangelism.
- Comparison church leaders spend eight hours a week – more than an hour each day – performing custodial duties at the church. The typical custodial duties included opening and closing the facilities, turning on and off the lights, and general cleaning of the building.
- Leaders of effective churches average 22 hours a week in family activities. The comparison church leaders weren’t too far behind with 18 hours of family time each week.
Here’s my takeaway on a picture of more effective pastors. They work really hard on their sermons. This is a solitary task and hard to gauge how “productive” it is from a lay leader perspective. How often have pastors heard, “you’re locked up in that study all day! What are you doing in there?” I humbly submit that the quality of the “product” on Sunday better be worth the time spent in preparation. I know I have some work to do in that department.
Effective pastors use their limited time wisely in terms of pastoral care. Between family (22 hours/week) and sermon preparation (another 20 or so hours), that’s a full time job! Running from house to house, hospital to wedding to funeral is time consuming. Clearly being integrated and involved in the life of the church is important but care has to be taken to be sure that time is invested wisely. Question for lay leadership: What is your expectation of your pastor and visitation? Who is best able to fulfill the function of encouraging and building up the church? Where are the other shepherds in the church?
Effective pastors don’t fix toilets, change light bulbs, cut the grass or clean up the sanctuary on Monday. ‘Nuff said on that one.
Back to family. How many good pastors have left ministry because of a failure in their family? Either their own failure, or a spouse who became estranged, disconnected or burned out causes them lose their calling. Effective pastors know they have to protect themselves and their families more than gold and silver. There IS no effective ministry when the pastor’s family is falling apart. Question for lay leaders: Do you protect the pastor’s family by guarding their family time? Do you give enough time away for family rest and recreation?
Oh yeah, effective pastors have a heart for the lost and spend time each week talking to people in the community about Jesus. I interpret that to mean a couple of things: 1. These effective pastors are personally responsible for the evangelistic growth of their churches. They also provide the necessary example to the church membership. They set the bar on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Once again, I have some work to do!
That’s a lot to chew on! Those of us who propose to lead from “up front” most likely have work to do on all of these areas. I know I want to lead a church that is effective in converting the lost. It’s on me when we’re not fulfilling that function. For lay leaders: Do you want an effective pastor who is able to do the main work that God has called him to do? Or do you just need a “pulpit filler?”
Thanks again to @toddrhoades for pointing out this excellent resource!
Keeping Open House
This seemed like good Monday advice for believers: Jesus said,
"Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Matt. 5:14-16 The Message
We shine most clearly and illuminate the wonderful grace of God when we learn to “keep open house.”
When I think about holding “Open House” here’s what comes to mind:
- Obviously, am I literally opening my home to others? Who has “put their feet” under my table lately?
- As a pastor, am I doing what I can to make sure that God’s house – the church – is open to folks who are looking for God?
- And ( I saved this for last ‘cause it’s hardest) is my heart open to others? Have I made myself available with my whole self? Mind, heart, soul?
When the world can truly see a loving, generous, gracious God through our light, they’ll believe.
Keep open house this week.
Church Boosts Attendance by Giving Millions in Prizes
I often meditate on what churches need to do to become more attractive to the community. In a dramatic gesture, one church appealed to their neighbor’s “desire to acquire.” I can certainly see the draw but I’m feeling squeamish about the methods. What do you think?
A large church in Texas found a method to boost its attendance at last week’s Easter services in a big way — by giving away millions in prizes. It’s too soon to know the long-term outcome, but the strategy takes church outreach to a whole new level.
But here’s the question: Is using the lure of materialism to bring people to hear the gospel (which calls people to rise above materialism) an appropriate tool for evangelism?
In the News
Want to fill all the pews for your next church service? Try giving away nearly $4 million in prizes, including cars, flat-screen TVs, bicycles, guitars, furniture and other big-ticket items. And give 1,500 people who don’t win the big prizes gift bags with certificates for $300 worth of free goodies and services.
Bay Area Fellowship, the largest church in Corpus Christi, Texas, employed just such a strategy last Sunday for the Easter services at its seven sites. The church averages about 7,000 worshipers each Sunday, but after it announced the giveaway, more than 23,500 people attended on Easter.
Not all of the items were brand new, but they were in good condition. All the cars were "previously owned" but had low mileage. Among them were two BMWs, a Jaguar, an Audi A4, a Jeep and an assortment of other brands. The items were all donated by church members or interested outsiders.
Every attendee was registered, and all the names went into a drawing for the prizes. Some people won big prizes, many received the gift bags and some won nothing at all.
Cynthia Garcia, who won a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta at one of the services, admits it was the advertising about the prizes that "kind of got me here." She was shocked when she won, but her son Stephen, 19, was excited, jumping into the car and saying, "Now she’s going to bless me with it." As a college student, Stephen had been without a car to that point.
The Garcias say they plan to keep attending the church — and not just because they won a car. "I’ve never had so much fun in church," Cynthia Garcia said.
Critics of the strategy view it as promoting consumerism and bribing people to come to church. In a letter to the editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, one critic, Zandy Benefield, wrote: "How can a ‘church’ compare its multimillion dollar giveaway to the ‘ultimate gift’ of God’s gift to the world of his Son, Jesus Christ? As a Christian, I am sickened by the thought of raising over $4M in less than two weeks, and buying cars, TVs, guitars, furniture, etc., as well as $300 gift bags … which seems like a bribe to attend their church on Easter Sunday. If the money had been donated to local charities like the Food Bank, Metro Ministries, Women’s Shelter and others, I would applaud them. However, I feel this borders on blasphemy; obscene at best."
During the services, however, lead pastor Bil Cornelius used the prizes as a metaphor for receiving eternal life. The real giveaway, he told the crowds, was Jesus dying on the cross. "I really want to make sure you get the ultimate giveaway — a ticket to heaven," Cornelius said. "We have some really nice stuff, and I’m glad to give it away. But I hate to break it to you: None of this stuff is going to last. Heaven is forever."
The church reports that hundreds of people received Jesus for the first time during its Easter services.
The Bay Area Fellowship’s Web site says the "Ultimate Giveaway" will be continuing for another weekend of services.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Easter eggs and more than $1M in prizes at S. Texas megachurch. Caller.com
23,500 attend church’s Easter services featuring 16 free cars, millions in prizes. Caller.com
Letter to the editor. Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Web site of Bay Area Fellowship
The Big Questions
1. How can using a strategy that hooks people’s bent toward possessions be justified as a way to bring them to Jesus, who said, "None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions" (Luke 14:33)?
2. The church in the United States and many other parts of the free world exists in a consumer society, which is quite different from the society in which Jesus and his disciples lived. Should the church simply become comfortable with consumerism and use its allure to deliver the gospel? Explain your answer.
3. How important is it for the church to be "culturally relevant"? In what ways is the gospel countercultural? At what point does the drive to be culturally relevant go too far and become pandering?
4. What is the biblical view about possessions? Is there more than one view of possessions in the Bible? If so, what are they?
5. Assuming some of the unchurched people who came to services because of the advertised prizes continue to attend the church, how difficult will it be to teach them a biblical view of possessions?
Confronting the News with Scripture
We will look at selected verses from these Scripture texts. You may wish to read these in advance for background: (hover the cursor over the verses to see them in a popup window.)
Cleaning Up the Cross
This is a picture of a bunch of cut nails I’m going to share with the church at our Good Friday service as part of an “experiential” lesson on the cross.
When I took the nails out of the box, I noticed that there was a gunky, greasy film all over them. “Can’t have that!” I thought. “The church folks will get their hands all dirty on Good Friday!” So, I got out some degreaser and, like a busy beaver, cleaned every last one of those dirty nails.
As I scrubbed and polished, each nail became shiny, like pewter. I thought, “Wow, those are pretty!” The church is really going to appreciate these shiny nails!
Then it hit me. I’ve cleaned up the cross again. I’ve taken something that is horrible, scandalous, blood-encrusted and stomach churning and turned it into a near meaningless shadow of itself.
It’s not necessary to wallow in the blood and the mess of the cross all the time. Jesus didn’t remain there. He died, was buried, and rose again. But to remove the gut wrenching truth of the cross from our hearts and minds is a mistake.
At least for this season let us allow the depth of the “offense” of the cross fire our imaginations, change our hearts and shape our lives.
It Happens in the Best of Families
In Honor of the First “Sacrifice” of Spring
Me ‘n Arlo – We see the world the same way.
The Last Ten Minutes After Church
At my church I do the traditional pastor-stands-at-the-door-to-greet-everyone at the end of the service. When I came to GBCC, I noticed that the sanctuary tended to clear out pretty quickly. Within 15-20 minutes of the end of the service I was almost the last one left in the whole building.
Over the past year or so I’ve noticed a most welcome change: No one leaves right away! This is good and not so good. It’s great that we’re hanging out, catching up and sharing more with one another. It’s maybe not so good if our guests aren’t a major part of those chat sessions!
Prompted by my weekly study from Group Publishing, I want to encourage you to consider what happens during the last ten minutes of church. We make a big deal (and rightly so) about first impressions. Folks are gauging and judging the church by their initial experiences. But what about that golden opportunity to connect again after the worship gathering?
In my weekly study, this example was cited:
But those last 10 minutes might be more important than the first 10 minutes! One woman shared a great story with us. She and her family were greeted by a woman as they wandered outside the church looking for the nursery. The woman showed them to the nursery, making pleasant conversation along the way. When they got to the nursery she told them she’d enjoyed meeting them and left. Good first impression. Then after the service, that woman and her husband were at the nursery waiting for the couple who would have to come back and pick up their child. The woman introduced everyone, and they stood and visited for several minutes before everyone said goodbye. That couple returned to the church-they had been welcomed and then cared about. The following week when they all saw each other, the church members invited the new couple over for lunch with another group from the church so they’d all have time to visit longer. The last 10 minutes and beyond was going the extra mile and it made a difference! (And as we’ve said over and over in this series, it was free!)
Vignettes like that should be told over and over again by newcomers to our churches. That they not only received a warm greeting on the way in but got a blessing on their way home.
Here’s what anyone at a church can do:
- Go and search out that visitor you greeted at the beginning of church and thank them for coming to worship.
- Invite them to go to lunch with a group. That way it’s less intimidating for everyone.
- Plan a once a month lunch to do just that.
- Have printed resources that share other gathering opportunities (small groups, play groups, etc.) to give to visitor at the end of the service.
Every church needs to work on visitor retention. It’s a major component of growth.
What’s your church doing to connect in those last ten minutes?
Annual Chili Cook Off Today
Yep. That’s right. It’s time to throw down for the title of “Chili Master.” In honor of the day, here’s some chili humor:
Come on down to the Great Bridge Church and check it out!
The Word on New Credit Card Laws
Given our focus on Stewardship for the next month, I found this Bible Study to be a perfect addition. It’s rather long. I suggest you print it out and meditate over it for a while!
New Law Aims to Protect Credit Card Users
The Wired Word for March 14, 2010
In the News
On February 22, nine months after it was enacted by Congress with high bipartisan support, the "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009" (CARD) took effect. This comprehensive credit card reform legislation is intended, in the words of the act, "to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes." In short, it aims to curb unscrupulous practices by the credit card industry and to offer new protections to consumers.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner described the CARD act, which was signed into law last spring by President Obama, as "a critical step forward" in protecting the financial well-being of American families.
The new law includes several rules to limit how credit card companies can charge customers but does not have price controls, rate caps or fee-setting limitations. It does ban rate hikes on existing balances, calls for hard spending caps instead of over-limit fees and mandates that payments go toward high-rate balances first, thus minimizing interest charges for card users. For a quick summary of the CARD provisions, see New credit card laws 2010.
The CARD law became necessary because of some unethical banking practices. For example, in some cases, when a person’s overall credit rating went down, banks sometimes raised the interest rates they charged that customer even though the person was current and on time with payments to that card issuer. Some companies also wrote their user rules in such a way that a single late payment threw the card holder into a much higher rate bracket. Other predatory practices were sometimes embedded in legalese in the contracts the card holders were required to sign to receive the card.
Although the new rules are expected to benefit card users, some of that benefit has been offset by banks that raised their interest rates and fees in the weeks before the law went into effect. While the bill was under consideration, credit card companies argued that the regulatory changes would lead to higher rates. Consumer advocacy groups point out that those same credit card companies have fulfilled their own prophecy, using their claims as cover to raise rates and find new ways to exploit their customers.
More on this story may be found at these links:
New credit card rules ease bills for consumers, but fee hikes still possible. Fox News
The Big Questions
1. Almost everyone agrees that the ability to borrow money is important under certain circumstances, such as when loans allow borrowers to take advantage of significant opportunities they wouldn’t be able to pursue otherwise. What guidelines help you decide when a purchase on credit is the wise thing to do?
2. What is a fair interest rate? At what percentage point do interest charges become unscrupulous and usurious? Explain your answer.
3. What cultural factors and thought processes make us as consumers prone to spend money on items we don’t need and that don’t move us toward our goals?
4. If it is true, as most observers say, that careless spending by consumers is the chief cause of their debt, why does that not excuse those who issue credit from making as much as the market will bear?
5. On what points, if any, do the principles of capitalism and the principles of Christianity disagree? On what points, if any, do they agree?
Confronting the News with Scripture
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Exodus 22:25-27
"If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate." (For context, read 22:21-27).
In instructing the Israelites how they were to live as a community of his people, God made clear that the financial arrangements among them were to be based on compassion. Thus, the loaning of money to "the poor among you" was to be free of interest charges. Even if the neighbor’s cloak were accepted as a promissory item, it was to be given back by nightfall, whether the loan was repaid or not. God’s economic system was based on his attribute of compassion. "I will listen, for I am compassionate," God says.
Sadly, most of the economic systems today, including the one in the United States, have separated market exchanges from the human fabric. Most of today’s markets operate without reference to human costs of transactions. In fact, they are sometimes punitive toward those who have less. For example, a person with a lower credit rating is typically charged a higher interest rate on a loan than a person with a higher credit rating. In other words, those who will have to work hard to repay their loans are forced to work even harder to repay them.
Question: How would your spending habits need to change for the "compassionate economic system" to work today?
Nehemiah 5:4-5
"We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s tax. Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others." (For context, read 5:1-13.)
These verses remind us that some borrowing is forced upon us by circumstances beyond our control (the king’s tax, in this case), and that the human cost of such borrowing can be great: "… we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others."
Question: What factors do you think interfere with some lenders’ willingness to consider the human cost when setting high interest rates?
Ezekiel 22:12
"In you, they take bribes to shed blood; you take both advance interest and accrued interest, and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; and you have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD." (For context, read 22:6-12.)
Ezekiel 22 is an indictment against the leaders of Jerusalem for their actions that were leading to the disintegration of the society. Verses 6-12 especially describe specific acts of wrongdoing, including treating parents with contempt; extorting resident aliens; not caring for widows and orphans; profaning the Sabbath; taking bribes and committing slander, murder, lewdness and adultery. And then comes the verse above, which adds the taking of double interest ("both advance and accrued") to the list of terrible deeds. What makes that wrong, God’s prophet says, is that it makes "gain of your neighbor by extortion."
Question: The problem of "extortion" — which today often takes the form of predatory lending and indefensible interest rates — is too big for the average citizen to do much about personally, and thus, most people welcome the CARD act from Congress. This is a case of government doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. What other broad changes do we need to look to government to assist us with?
Luke 6:34-35
"If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High." (For context, read 6:27-36.)
In these words, Jesus indicates a way of lending that not only does not exact interest but doesn’t even worry about getting the principal back! Jesus’ way here is one of giving freely.
Questions: Is Jesus’ way of lending practical? Why or why not? If it isn’t practical, should we do it anyway? Should we practice only the principles of Christianity that we deem practical? Why or why not?
"There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold." (For context, read 4:32-37.)
Acts 4:32-37 describes the economic system used by one of the first communities of Christians. It was communal, where "no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common" (v. 32). What’s more, "great grace was upon them all."
It appears from later reports in the New Testament that not all groups of Christians adopted such communal arrangements (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 11:17-22), but this group did and found it a blessing.
Question: Why do you think most Christians do not live in economic community with other Christians today?
Questions for Further Discussion
1. What principles of Christianity can help people deal with unprincipled lenders?
2. Deuteronomy 23:19-20 says, "You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent. On loans to a foreigner you may charge interest, but on loans to another Israelite you may not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings in the land that you are about to enter and possess." Why do you think God forbade Israelites from charging interest to one another but did not forbid doing so with foreigners?
3. Which principle should be the primary guide for lending: the goals of the lender or the goals of the borrower? Why?
4. Should the state of the economy affect how much lenders are allowed to charge for their loans? Should they be willing to accept less interest during economic downturns? Why or why not?
5. What aspects of the early church’s "life together" arrangements have you adopted in your congregation?
6. According to Leviticus 25, every 50th year in ancient Israel was to be observed as a sacred "jubilee" year, when land was to be returned to its original owners or descendants and Hebrew slaves and their families were to be freed. This kept houses and lands from accumulating in the hands of a few and prevented ongoing pauperism. How would our society today be different if we were to implement a similar practice?
Responding to the News
It would be useful to talk about what sort of economic learning opportunities your church might make available to your membership.
Closing Prayer
O God, show us how to operate in ways that please you within the economic system in which we live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Friendly Church
We had a lively discussion in our Men’s Leadership Meeting last Tuesday night about attracting and keeping visitors. It is my belief that we would be significantly larger in membership if we could simply turn our one-time visitors into “repeaters.”
Many factors play into how well churches do at welcoming visitors and helping them decide to stay and be a part of the congregation. While most churches think of themselves as “friendly” it’s not actually true. We’re friendly to one another and usually cordial to strangers but that’s not the same thing as friendly.
I was pleasantly surprised to receive Group Publishing’s Study for Pastors in my email this morning discussing this very topic.
They quote the real-life experience of two recent visitors to churches:
"My wife and I visited a church and at the time I only had a Living Translation Bible. They told us "if" we came back to be sure we only brought a King James. Needless to say, we didn’t go back."
- Bob H.
"I was in the "Visitor’s Welcoming Room" and the pastor said, "Are you AG?" I had to ask what that denominational lingo meant. It felt unwelcoming."
- Lisa C.
Wow. Really?
In our discussion last night we spent some time talking about the barriers that churches erect to prevent a good first impression. It starts when people drive into the parking lot. Can they find a parking place relatively close to the building? Are the entrances clearly marked or easily understood? Is anyone available to help visitors find their way inside? Don’t assume that it’s easy to figure out.
Once inside, can visitors find the nursery or children’s area? What about the restrooms? Is there a map or a handout that shows where classes are held? What about the times of services?
Here’s Group’s “To-Do” after thinking this through:
Pretend you’re new at your church and be a visitor. What are your first 10 minutes like? If you’re can’t pull this off at your own church (remember the home blind issue from week one?), visit a nearby church that offers meeting times different from your own church and be a visitor there. What are your first 10 minutes like? Take notes and talk about this with others at your church. Challenge them to do the same thing. What can you learn from other churches that are making those first 10 minutes remarkable? And what messages can you change to make sure the first 10 minutes at your church are amazing?
Think about it!