Emerging Pastor

Theological training today prepares you for many things. It prepares you as a critical thinker. It prepares you meet peoples Spiritual and emotional needs. It prepares you for understanding the whole person and their welfare. What a good theological education doesn't prepare you for is the fear in peoples eyes when you want to involve them in a ministry.

We joke around our church saying if you visit two weeks in a row you will be on a roster, I'm not trying to get people onto a roster, I'm trying to get them into a small group.

At our vision casting confrence (VCC) we (by that I mean the church leadership) commited to developing three areas in 2008, number two with a bullet is small groups as a means for personal spiritual growth and development. It's the reason I'm employed by the church, to create this small group culture. Also at the VCC we promised to undertake a church-wide study to kickstart our small group program.

So I've been spruking this for some weeks, I have sign up sheets, new leaders ready to take up the reigns, training planned but so far it's a little like pulling teeth to get people to sign up. This Sunday again I made an announcement during the service about what this is all about (them and God) and said I'd be at the back of the church after the service to help people find a group that's good for them.

As people filed out of church a few wouldn't meet my gaze, some rushed past and others made excuses. But the worst were the ones that had fear in their eyes that I might talk to them and display some interest in their spiritual well-being.

I've decided that the best way to overcome this is to use rule number 1. My rule number 1 for all ministry situations is to have people personally invite others. We can put up a hundred sign-up sheets and not get a single commitment to come but a leader extending a sincere personal invitation is in my estimation 90% effective in growing a ministry be it a small group, welfare or worship.

One of the defining moments in my life is when I heard "I have a dream" preached by Martin Luther King jr. No, I wasn't alive to see it, but as millions of people have done, I watched a grainy bit of black and white film that is engraved with the sound and images of history in the making.

Why it had such an impact on me, God only knows. I believe it's because of the deep sense of justice he has placed within me. The words resonate with my heart and cause me to be anxious to be doing something, anything to be involved in God's mission of reconciliation.

In his speech MLK makes reference to one of my most beloved peices of Scripture, it is Amos 5:21-24

 I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
    I cannot stand your assemblies.

 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
    Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.

 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

 But let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Before I came to know Jesus, before I read these words, I heard them in the lyrics of a song that I used to put on repeat all the time. The song is called Pepper by the Butthole Surfers

 Some will die in hot pursuit
 In fiery auto crashes
 Some will die in hot pursuit
 While sifting through my ashes
 Some will fall in love with life
 And drink it from a fountain
 That is pouring like an avalanche
 Coming down the mountain

Like MLK, I refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt, we do not need to drink from teh cup of bitterness and hatred. We can all drink freely from the cup of liberty because we are all called to be free!

The words of Jesus are: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38)

We no longer have to live as slaves to our desires but can have true and lasting liberty.

My friends, we are called to be free!

I've been trying to get a new small group up and running for a couple of months now but I've just been running into barrier after barrier. I've got people lined up, a study area and some exciting ideas to experiment on them with but the venue had been elusive.

The small group I run at the moment used to meet out of our house but recently we have been meeting at another couples place because they have a lovely new little boy and he needs to get some sleep! It's been quite good not having the group at our house every week, not because we don't want people around, we love having people around, but because after 4 years it's good to share the load a little.

So with that and another reason in mind I didn't want to start this new group out of our place. The other reason is I want it to be closer to part of the community we are focusing on at the moment and since a lot of them don't have transport our place would be a little too far.

I chose to meet in the cottage at our church. We have a main church building, a large hall, a manse as well as an old fibro building we call the cottage which houses the office and some space for Sunday school etc.

The cottage is on the same street that we are reaching out to with our soup kitchen so it seemed like a good idea go there and be close to the action. That way anyone curious about the Christian faith and wanted to know more can come along easily.

I've taken a brave step with this group, although I'm the one who started it up and recruited people to come (it is my job after all), I decided that I do not want to be it's leader. Last week I called up someone I have been mentoring in my home group to come and take over the reigns of this group.

If a church is going to develop a healthy small group community then it needs to be able to grow, and if it want's to grow it needs new leaders. I firmly belive that these leaders should come from apprenticing group members in existing groups so I thought I really should model that myself instead of just taking control.

So now I have a leader, a venue (and the keys!!!), and people to start with and I'm really looking forward to where God is going to lead us!

I guess it happens in all churches, some sort of emergency comes up with a key person and that creates a cascading effect in a ministry.

Two Sundays ago I was asked to swap my rostered week for worship leading, I was supposed to be in the 27th but the leader for the 20th couldn't make it so they wanted swap. This worship leader however didn't just want to swap with me, they wanted to swap their entire team. So with a good deal of effort the entire worship team I was rostered on with swapped to this week. So how did it go? It was brilliant!

Not to overstate it, but I usually take a bit of time getting the song selection right for a service. There are many considerations, service length, special events etc but this one had to be actioned with economy of time. So on Tuesday morning I was on the train with a friend who had the "Presenter" software we use for our powerpoints and we just riffed right through a song list.

I know some places like Hillsong put a great deal of production into their services, taking quite deliberate actiosn to make sure the music and message are connected, I believe the term is "building a platform of praise for the speaker". I agree with the approach in general that the two (well all elements of the service) should complement each other but there comes a fine line sometimes between architecting a service and emotional manipulation (not that I'm accusing anyone of that!)

Why do I mention that? Because God really had his hand on the song selection. This weeks and the next two weeks services are based around missions and the song list really captured this theme brilliantly without even trying. The start and finishing song are two very missiony outward focused works and the rest of the songs allowed me to dig deep into what it means to be a Christian when I was meditating on communion.

If your interested, the song list was:

• Tell the world
• Always and Forever
• Salvation belongs to our God
• Nothing but the blood (old hymn)
• Create in me (another old hymn)
• Send me

In the beginning, we read, God created the heavens and the earth. These places are described as worlds without form, function or present reality, places to be developed and defined.
The Pentateuch, or Torah, is God’s story of how this was accomplished, and how it was all completed according to his will.

In this article I discuss the statement: “The holiness of God is demonstrated in the Pentateuch clearly in both the ethical and cultic demands of the law” It's not a dry and crusty question but something of relevence for our faith today because God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Happy reading!

This weekend marks a momentous occasion. Ready for it?

We have added a new addition to our family, his name is Denny Crane! (yes, with the exclaimation mark!)

Named after one of my favorite T.V. characters (played by... the brilliant... Will...iam... Shatner), little Denny, the Shetland sheepdog is bumming around our appartment scratching at everything in a desperate search for food. Not that he needs anymore food, he's a little porker.

As a rule I have chosen not to use this blog as a forum for non-ministry related things so here comes a really tenuous segue.

Denny is a sheepdog, and pastors are called to be shephards. Told you it was tenuous :)

As a pastor, you are called to be a shepard, literally someone who guides a bunch of often clueless people around life and into safe pastures for the next life. It is truly one of the greatest responsibilities a person can have. If by chance you are an athiest reading this or someone who just generally disagrees, you can not disagree with the fact that when someone who has a degree of authority in your life abuses the trust you have given them, it can have quite serious repercussions.

To take the biblical sheparding analogy to it's logical conclusion, if the shepard fails to watch over his sheep then the wolves get in and hurt and kill. They seek to get in and devour.

Now I'm not saying that the pastor needs to be coddling people, holding their hand through every trivial decision or signing off on whether they should get that car loan or not, but they have a responsibility to guide, guard and protect the spiritual well being of those God has blessed them with.

Denny Crane!

In one months time we start up our church wide bible study. I've nevery had to organize something on this scale before and it really is a learning curve. I'm trying to get 150 people (half of which are in groups) into groups which means creating new groups, get the study completed and to the printers and create a whole bunch of new leaders to lead the new groups.

Besides having a study to do, I think that getting the right leaders is the most important step here. A good leader can turn lemons into lemonade where a bad leader will just end up cutting people and squeezing the lemon juice into the wounds.

So how do you choose a leader?

This isn't a question of is a leader born or made, but really about picking the right sort of person for the role. My first stop was to ask the existing group leaders who they thought would make a good leader. I'll blog on this a little more later but I have something I call the group health check. It's a bunch of areas that I feel important for a group to be working in such as developing community, getting stuck into Scripture and reaching out together into the greater community. One of the other items on the list is "Are you identifying a leader to take over from you?" If we are aiming to grow our groups then at some point the group will need to divide and start over but that can't happen unless there is someone to take the other half.

So my first port of call is to those people that are being mentored and trained in existing groups including my own.

While all the leaders haven't come in this way, it's a principal that should really be held too as much as possible.

I came across this today from another blog. It's the words of an african pastor who lays out the true cost of following Jesus.

The thing about Christianity is we are not supposed to be living normal lives. We are supposed to set our sights higher and connect with the will of our Heavenly Father and live the life he wants us to live. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation, people who share the good news about what God has done for us. We are not called to stay home, accumulate wealth and live comfortable lives.

We are supposed to be a people who take up their cross daily, who suffer shoulder each others burdens and do God's will on earth as it is in heaven.

I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power.  The die has been cast.  I have stepped over the line.  The decision has been made.   I’m a disciple of His.  I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.  I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.  I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.  I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.  I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.  I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.  I am a disciple of Jesus.  I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me.  And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me —my banner will be clear.

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Recently some people have been talking to me about keeping their group on track. Every small group seems to walk on a thin line between becoming a social group or a study group. It's not a new problem and in fact it's one that pops up in my group from time to time.

Nothing is wrong with either of these if that's what your looking for in a group, but the purpose of Explore: groups is to find the balance between Community, Scripture and Outreach.

A pure study group (Explore: Scripture) will sit down bible in one hand, commentary in the other and purposefully dig down into Scripture to find out exactly what it means and how it applies to their lives.

A pure social group (Explore: Community) will sit down with coffee in one hand, biscuit in the other and purposefully dig down into the lives of everyone there and discover how they are travelling.

Like I said, nothing particularly wrong with either of these but that's not the purpose of Explore: groups at our church. Explore: groups exist to create community, that's getting to know each other and how God is working in ourlives as well as balancing that with getting a God's eye view of life and how we are meant to live it.

If you find your group polarizing towards one extream or the other and you don't know what to do about it might I suggest these two approaches.

Firstly, talk to your group about what they think the point of it all is. You may discover that they too and unsatisfied with the direction of the group or maybe they want to drag it all away across to one side. In that case you might have to raise up a new leader and move on somewhere else.

Secondly, to try and achieve balance and really find the time to explore the real issues of life and faith why dont you use the mullet strategy. That's business at the front, party round the back :)

The mullet strategy requires some dicipline and commitment from your group to show up on time and get down to business. For my group, business is the study and the party is community. When we start off with community we often run out of time and end with community. It's not bad but we all miss out on learning together.

When we adopt the mullet strategy in our group something kinda weird happens, the community time doesn't take as long. That's not because we are rushing against the clock but because a lot about our lives and week have already been shared in the context of the study.

So not only do we get the time to share about our lives, but we have talked about how God works through it as well and that's pretty great! I always leave more refreshed and feeling more connected not just to God but to my fellow groupicans as well.

So why don't you try for a bad hair day too?

The topic of being a servant leader seems to be strictly a Christian concept these days. Sure, there are some management books that still advocate it in the workplace but I cant remember the last good one I read.   

This is an article I wrote last year to teach small group leaders about the concept. Basically it's a short essay on how Moses was an effective leader who learnt how to be a servant of his people by first becoming a servant of God. Afterwards there are a series of reflection questions to help draw out the concepts into your own life.

I hope you get a lot out of The leadership qualities of Moses.

So, what does a Small Groups Pastor do? When I decided to take up the role at my local church I sat down with a blank sheet of paper and asked myself exactly that, what am I supposed to do?

I was given a job description that goes along the lines of "grow the network for small groups" and that's about all. It wasn't laid out as a matter of numerical supremacy, the directive is to in the first instance get as many people in our church as possible into a small group for their own spiritual development, then see where it goes from there.

My sheet of paper blank, my brief in front of me, I prayed and asked God to lead me on with a vision for the small group ministry in this church that would be valuable and effective in developing the spiritual lives of those inside and outside the church. No mean feat!

At college we are encouraged to discover our philosophy of ministry (we all have one even if we don't articulate it). I believe my philosophy of ministry centers around the concepts of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. You have probably heard of the former and not the latter.

Orthodoxy is all about having right beliefs where orthopraxy is all about putting those beliefs into practice.

To effectively lead this ministry and grow and develop it I need to have both the right concept of it's goals and model the right steps to see it happen.

As I sat down with my pen and paper I jotted down everything that God was telling me about the priorities of the ministry. I reflected on those for a while and saw that they grouped themselves into three categories:

• Community
• Scripture
• Outreach

I'm going to expand on those each in separate posts but I want to focus now on rebranding a ministry.

I have the brief and my focus areas but how do I do it? How do I get a church excited in small groups again?

Taking a leaf from all those marketing people I used to work with, I've gone with rebranding the ministry. The vision of the church is to move people from complacency to being compelled in their faith so my part in that is to get people to explore their faith in a new way.

So "Explore: groups" are born. Each small group is now focused on:

• Explore: Community
• Explore: Scripture
• Explore: Outreach

This is not just marketing but a re-imaging of how a small group ministry can run in the context of our church.

But where do you go from here? You start investing this in the leaders and modeling it to them.

Well, theologian is giving her a little too much credit but I have been a BIG fan of hers since she released Jagged Little Pill all those years ago. She has been exploring spirituality for a long time and is on a journey to find God in her life and I can connect with a lot of her searching.

On the train this morning I decided to listen to one of her later albums called Under Rug Swept. The second last song on that is Surrendering and as I was listening to it I heard a love song between God and myself. Now I am crazy, but discounting that, it was wonderful to hear a duet between God and myself emerge from the lyrics. I officially repeated the song 9 times on the way to work and just revelled in it.

I've reprinted the lyrics below for you to read but you really need to listen to the song to get the full effect. Two pieces particularly that stand out for me are:

   You were taken with me to a point 
   A case of careful what you wish for 
   But what you knew was enough to begin

   And so you called and courted fiercely 
   So you reached out, entirely fearless 
   And yet you knew of reservation and how it serves

Which describes the first steps I took in my relationship with God, cautious and careful, not wanting to be fully exposed or hurt. But he called me and courted me fiercely, not letting my fear stand in the way. He built a relationship with me and showed that he was trustworthy and that I could surrender myself to him without fear.

It's not uncommon for God to speak to me through music in this way. I've always felt that the whole "Christian music" scene divorces Christian culture from the mainstream in an unhelpful way. I believe that there would be a tone of music on God's iPod that comes from the mainstream and quite a bit he would exclude from the Christian stream.

I believe that we need to go through a process of redeeming music, supporting and holding up music that examines life honestly and not box it as unhelpful just because a Christian didn't write it.

Here's the lyrics...

You were full and fully capable
You were self sufficient and needless
Your house was fully decorated in that sense

You were taken with me to a point
A case of careful what you wish for
But what you knew was enough to begin

And so you called and courted fiercely
So you reached out, entirely fearless
And yet you knew of reservation and how it serves

And I salute you for your courage
And I applaud your perseverance
And I embrace you for your faith in the face of adversarial forces
That I represent

So you were in but not entirely
You were up for this but not totally
You knew how arms length-ing can maintain doubt

And so you fell and you're intact
So you dove in and you're still breathing
And So you jumped and you're still flying if not shocked
And I support you in your trusting
And I commend you for your wisdom
And I'm amazed by your surrender in the face of threatening forces
That I represent

You found creative ways to distance
You hid away from much through humor
Your choice of armor was your intellect

And so you felt and you're still here
And so you died and you're still standing
And so you softened and still safely in command

And I salute you for your courage
And I applaud your perseverance
And I embrace you for your faith in the face of adversarial forces
That I represent

Self protection was in times of true danger
Your best defense to mistrust and be wary
Surrendering a feat of unequaled measure
And I'm thrilled to let you in
Overjoyed to be let in in kind

I salute you for your courage
And I commend you for your wisdom
And I embrace you for your faith in the face of adversarial forces
And I support you in your trusting
And I applaud your perseverance
And I'm amazed by your surrender in the face of threatening forces
That I represent

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