THINK DIFFERENTLY

Megachurch v. Mini-church

I have so many thoughts about the webinar I attended today, put on by Digital.Leadnet.org, but I’ll save those for another post. There’s a good recap and discussion going on over at Barker Banter and a gem of a recap at Digital. Suffice to say, the mind was officially blown.

I read a newsletter recently from 2002 written by Greg Johnson of the Center for Christian Study. I then promptly sent it out to my leadership team and the leadership team of my church. The whole piece was full of prophetic insight, but my favorite passage discusses what the church has looked like, currently looks like, and will need to look like in order to be effective. Greg Johnson:

1. The church without small groups, which worked fine for congregations of thirty in pre-modern contexts where everyone lived in close proximity, such that shared community life was easier. If small enough, the church essentially was a small group.

2. The church with small groups, where small groups exist as optional extracurricular activities within the church. This is by far the dominant model today.

3. The church as small groups, a more radical community- driven model. Membership is not gained by taking a class or by attending a service, but by maintaining a healthy commitment to a small group of the church. If you’re part of a small group, you’re part of the church and take its vows. If not, then not. No long-term pew warmers as members. The group provides the mutual pastoral care and shepherding in the church, and the Session oversees the groups. Corporate worship is understood as the joining together of the groups of the church into the whole assembly. I’m drawn toward this model precisely because the community relationship, not the individual, is the basic unit of the church. I think American churches would do well to consider this direction as a viable option.

If it’s one thing I learned from the webinar, it’s that Internet campuses are allowing churches to exist as small groups like never before. What, if any, thoughts do you have on that? Let’s hear some flavor.

Update: The full, recorded webinar I keep talking about can be found here. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Center for Christian Study, Digital Life, Digital Pastor, Digital.Leadnet.org, DJ Chuang, Greg Johnson, Internet Campus, Webinar

The Digital Pastor Pt. 2

A little while ago, I wrote on the future role of the digital world in the life of a pastor. It got some attention, appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, and generated even more ideas for me personally.

Since then I’ve done a little more digging, a little more connecting (with very cool people like Rhett Smith, Anne Jackson, and Tony Steward) and realized, as I put it to my senior pastor, “We don’t even know how deep this rabbit hole goes.” With a dozen or so churches with Internet campuses (and many more contemplating the move to the web), the Church is looking at the Internet as a viable option for true Christian community.

The Denver Post wrote a fascinating article on the role of technology in the church. Among the gems in the piece, this one surfaced as particularly poignant:

“Church is not the Internet or a building — it’s people.” If the notion that a virtual community can be as real as a physical one seems crazy, you may be showing your age.

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don’t distinguish between their friends from school and those from Facebook.

These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman’s firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

10 percent. 10 percent! Clearly the Church is facing a change that it must adapt to or face extinction in its current form. American Christians need only look to Europe to see where the U.S. will be in 15-20 years on the coasts; 20-25 years in Middle America. Will the American megachurches of today become the stoic shells of the now abandoned tourist-attraction cathedrals of Europe? They will if the U.S. church does not begin to speak the language of the culture surrounding it. That language, undeniably, becomes more digital by the day.

Rhett Smith points out that the “front door” of churches is no longer a “physical” one:

Do we even realize that the physical building isn’t the front door anymore, but that the online world is the front door? If you don’t have a strong [online] presence, or aren’t telling a good story online, which is the front door–will you be able to bring people from the online world, to the physical front door of the church?

The line between “offline” and “online” is beginning to blur, if not fade altogether. People under 20 don’t view life in “off-” or “online” categories, it simply is “life.” If you (and your church) don’t begin to understand and learn to speak the language of this younger generation, no amount of catch-up and “digital cramming” will help in as little as five years.

Are you seeing these patterns in your church? Do you believe the virtual church can replace the physical church? Or, does technology need to be a means to an end and not the end itself?

I’m attending a free webinar tomorrow where Lifechurch.tv’s Brian Donaldson and Flamingo Road’s Brian Vasil will be taking a closer look at Internet campuses. These are guys who work at churches that are pioneering Christianity’s move to the digital world. It’s a “no-miss” and I’d encourage you, if you have any interest in this at all, to attend as well. Your church will thank you for it (eventually).

Additional Resources:

Rise of the Social Media Pastor on Digital.Leadnet.org

Social Media Pastor Or Pastor with Social Media on Levite Chronicles

Technorati Tags: Anne Jackson, Digital Life, Digital Pastor, Rhett Smith, Social Media, Tony Steward

BeDeviant.com in the Chicago Sun-Times!

This made my day. “The Digital Pastor” appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times’ website today. Very cool.

Technorati Tags: Chicago Sun-Times, Digital Pastor

The Digital Pastor

God is seriously blowing my mind.

I’ve recently come across the term, “Digital Pastor” and I really like it. I really like it.

There was an event that happened earlier today, something called #churchtechcamp. Basically the conversation consisted of asking the question, “What does God want to do through the new digital media?” Things like Twitter, Facebook, Mogulus, Second Life, the iPhone, and more.

Rhett Smith points out that the times are a-changin’ for those who call themselves pastors:

“I love ministry…I was and am a pastor, so I love pastoring. But I also think that technology is allowing us to do things differently in a very easy way…communicate, organize, etc, etc. And hopefully the congregation can do this without having to go through all the traditional, hierarchical church structures that have for too long consolidated “power” in the hands of a pastor, exec. team, elder board, etc.

Instead, I think it will put the “power” back in the hands of the congregation…and the pastor will act more as a facilitator, shepherd for the community. But I think that is a great thing.

And maybe we need to rethink the whole role of pastoral leadership in this country anyways.”

Amen, bro. Amen.

Technology is allowing us to approach life in an entirely new way, the church included. Luther had the printing press. We, as the 21st century church, have the Internet. The question becomes will we allow God to breathe through these new mediums and bring his life-changing reality to people in new and creative ways?

#churchtechcamp made the Twitter blog today (and for the record, that’s a big deal.)

Chris Brogan, a faith blogger (amongst other things), is listed in the Top 100 blogs on Technorati.

LifeShare, a recent web ministry event co-opted by Lifechurch.tv and Carlos Whitaker, blew everyone’s expectations away by linking countless numbers of believers over the internet in an effort to “become the church” online.

If you’re in ministry, are you prepared to engage a culture in a completely new way? Are you prepared (or willing to be prepared and/or prepare others) to translate the message of Christ using a fully digital language? If “digital” is not your native tongue, will your accent betray you to a generation that is desperate to know that God is real?

In the meantime, hit me up on Twitter and we can talk about it. In 140 characters or less, of course.

Technorati Tags: #churchtechcamp, Digital Pastor, Facebook, LifeChurch.tv, LifeShare, Twitter