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McKnight on staying put …

Occasionally when I travel to Philly to work with ETREK and Biblical Seminary I discover a meeting I would enjoy staying around for. I noticed a flier announcing Scot McKnight would be at Biblical and participate in a "workshop" of sorts with John Franke and Dave Dunbar. Scot posts on the event noting the audio for the event will soon be posted at the Biblical website. His reflection on what he dubbed his favorite question,

Here’s my favorite question — and it was asked about five times in five
different ways: How do you make an already-formed church into a
missional church? (I didn’t have the chutzpah to suggest that Reformed
churches, since they are always reforming, should have the least issue
with this, but the simple fact is that many Reformed churches are more
tailored for 16th Century Europe that 21st Century postmodern West.) My
answer: be missional yourself, surround yourself with some other
missional folks, stay in loving communication with your leadership, and
only break away if it becomes intolerable or insufferable. Why stay?
Simple: there is nothing so compelling as a missional group.

Happy Birthday … Keep on loving …

My mother often told me on my birthday I would not be one year older until the clock hit the time I was delivered. This morning we called Kimberly (she is first on the left of the three women in my life) and I repeated my mother’s logic.

Me: "Kimberly, you will not be 22 until 7:20 p.m. this evening."

Kimberly: "You will have to call me during Bible Study this evening then."

The best thing to do was take her to lunch - Jason’s Deli. We enjoyed soup and salad on a rather cool April day. Cloudy and overcast but fun to sit with our oldest and chat away. I always liked John Mayer’s "Daughters." I pray my daughters love more and better than their Daddy. Going out with the reminder for other Dads who may be staring in the face of a young adult and remembering days now long gone …

Fathers, be good to your daughters

Daughters will love like you do

Girls become lovers who turn into mothers

So mothers be good to your daughters too

McKnight on Biblical …

Scot McKnight gives good reason to consider Biblical Seminary,

Just in case you don’t know, Biblical is an innovative,
missionally-shaped seminary with solid theological roots in the
Reformed movement and clear commitment to the Scriptures as the story
into which we are called as Christians to live. I can’t say enough for
the quality of people teaching there and studying there. I loved it.

Afraid you might not follow the link …

I am afraid some who stop by may not click through to the link to John Frye’s hosting of Dan’s thoughts. So, at the risk of offending some and hopefully stirring more I copied the text and make it available here. Should it inspire you to read more, go over to John’s site and look for the posts with the real long letter like - TPFKATP …

Dan McDonald is a friend of Bill Kinnon and Dan pastors Grace Toronto
Church. Dan has jumped into the People Formerly Know As conversation.
Here are Dan’s thoughts on People Formerly Known As The People Formerly Known As The Congregation"

"I
raise a glass to the People Formerly Known as the People Formerly Known
as the Congregation, who, upon hearing that their disaffection had
created a tsunami-like publicity wave that was about to become a
Zondervan marketing campaign and then a new para-church ministry (40
Days of Anti- Purpose?), quietly realized that it was no use. Even
their defiance had become hip. Soon CNN would be calling, and Larry
King would be asking them for an interview. Sigh.

"And so, with
heavy hearts, they looked around for the most authentic expression of
Christianity they could find. It wasn’t in the Christian bookstores. It
wasn’t in the radio programs. It wasn’t even in the TV shows; Lord, no.
Oprah didn’t quite make it. Benny and Jimmy and the TBN gang had too
much hair spray and too many white suits and ever-white teeth. And it
was no longer in the blog weave known as TPFKATWhatever, which was now
hopelessly popular, cool, hip, and with it.

"So they dragged
themselves down to the local church. Not the magnet Uber-church that
took up 15 acres of land, but the local church with the faded sign and
the musty carpet. And there, they found something bizarre.

"Second-rate
music, draggy announcements, bad children’s stories, dated PowerPoint
templates, and something else…. real parents who were teaching
children about Jesus with joy in their hearts. Ushers who loved to
serve. Snacks teams that laughed as they missed the last part of the
service just to feed a hundred people. Guitarists in tears over a
cheesy illustration by the young pastoral intern, who was so nervous he
had forgotten to button his shirt properly and was speaking for 58
minutes because by gosh, since he only got to preach twice a year, he
was going to tell them everything he had learned in the past 6 months.
And patient singles, couples and parents nodding dutifully to him,
knowing he was nervous and helping him feel loved and prophetic and
useful. and finding that in those 58 minutes were some very helpful
things for them, because a Voice was using this intern in his
inadequacy.

"And that Voice, the Voice of the Shepherd, touched
the PFKATPFKATC. And they remembered why it took them so long to become
the PFKATC. Because despite the second-rate production values, the
Spirit was here. He promised to be wherever two or three are gathered
in His name. Excellent it wasn’t- Cheesy it was. Authentic? Go ask the
snacks coordinator if her joy is authentic, and she’ll think you’re
from another planet. You can’t DREAM UP this kind of second-rate cheese
combined with this much first-rate joy in our culture any more; it has
to be authentic.

"So they- the PFTATC, that is, decided to be
radical and do a crazy thing. They called up the People Presently Known
as Pastors, and found a bunch of peope equally frustrated, tired,
restless, and hopeful. And they talked. And the PFKATCongregation
realized the PPKATPastors hardly read blogs, because they are so busy
dealing with the complaints and needs of the People Still in Their
Congregation. The pastors were stunned that these people cared so much;
they had assumed the leaving was because the PFKATC cared too little.

"And
lo and behold, they each found out something wondrous and true, and
that is this: that the people presently known as pastors mostly got
into the pastorate for people like the PFKATC, because you care so much
about the kingdom. And so do we.

"And so I raise a glass, as a Person Still Willing To Call Myself a Pastor, to You, the People About to Be Known Again As The Congregation.
I know church isn’t what it should be. That’s my fault- and yours. I
stamped it with my pathologies, and so did you. Don’t try to bail on
your responsibility just because I got paid to do this full time. Guess
who paid me? This sucker is OURS, first to last. It’s wounded, and
weak, and corrupted, and full of hypocrisy- I agree.

"But the
funny thing is… it IS the body of Christ. A messed up, messy,
ego-saturated, hypocritical institution on earth. With idiots like you
and me running it, what did you expect? Oh yeah, and one more thing -
it is also His Bride. The glorious, triumphant, sinful yet forgiven,
cleansed, spotless Bride against whom the Gates of Hell shall not
prevail.

"If you turn your back on His Bride, you turn your back
on Him. And since you are His, you won’t do that. You will come back
and help make the Bride beautiful again. Because you care. There is
enough piss and vinegar and sadness and passion and real,
Spirit-groaning hope in these blog threads to start a new Reformation.
It’s high time we started. Who’s got the nails for the Door? I’ll bring
the hammer.

"And drink a glass to you all.

"Welcome back.

"Cheers."

Dan

* * * * * * * * *

Bill Kinnon commented, "Dan made me laugh and skewered me with the truth."

Dan,
I, too, thank you for your wading into these PFKA waters and bringing a
perspective that can easily get lost in the turmoil of "doing church"
in the 21st century.

Weeds and rants …

It always sneaks up on me. I look at those flower beds and they look like just a few weeds need to be pulled. Six inches of rain mixed with plenty of sun and those few weeds multiplied. In the middle of a number of projects I am trying to get some seeds in the ground - Thanks to Micah and Kristen.

Working in the yard always gives me time to think. Sometimes flashes of inspiration long for my Moleskine. Other occasions bring notions worth ranting about. This evening’s weed pulling conjured a rant. You would think weeds would always lead to rants.

Ideally when I pull weeds in the spring I want them never to return. I have put forth the effort. Taken time from other things I would much rather be doing. Pulling these pesky plants up by the roots should certainly put an end to their return. Remnants remain. If I give into my idealism I would immediately quit pulling weeds. In fact, I would pull the flowers, not plant the vegetables and throw grass seed in its place. Why bother? Forget the beauty of the flowers and the flavor of those home grown vegetables. These kinds of thoughts remind me of babies and bathwater. But, I have it in my mind it should be this way. Nothing can change my mind.

My mind soon wandered to the connections with what I do - pastor. A recent series of posts have gone around the blogs I read. John Frye kicked it off with a post titled - The People Formerly Known As the Pastor (TPFKA"TP"). Too many could identify with much of what John wrote. His friend Mark and I have had conversations about their time in ministry together. Jason noted the sentiment of this post was why he was "ready to leave." Undoubtedly he is not alone.

Personally something gnaws at me. Thinking through the many points of agreement with John’s post left me thinking there is something more going on. I  often wonder if my tendency to temper my own idealism reveals something of a softness or a desire to "protect" myself. I want to think the one thing that keeps me from bailing beyond the sense of doing what I am "called to" is the realization many of we are who pastor cannot ignore our own complicity in the situation. Bailing often leads to an us vs. them blame sort of game.

Today I was sent a link to a new twist on the series of TPFKATP and TPFKATC. John gives us some thoughts from Dan who is working on getting his own blog. John notes on his blog an interest in encouraging and mentoring young pastors. The balance he offers even when much of his original post represents his own personal experiences gives me hope one day we will all return to stumbling together rather than assuming anyone has arrived at just the right place.

If it does not rain tomorrow evening, I will be back out pulling weeds …

Reading …

My friend Mark made a reference to Jim Collins’ monograph, Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer. Right on the front of the little red cover the reader learns the basis for his evaluation lies in his book, Good to Great. Confession - I have not read Good to Great. In fact, for some time I have rebelled at the thought of reading books specifically on "leadership." There was a time I read everything I could get my hands on - with some discerning. I guess it goes back to reading for my DMin. One of my seminars focused on leadership. I recall reading most of James MacGregor Burns, Leadership. I found it interesting Collins’ references this work. The respite from reading books on leadership had more to do with the season of my life - my interests were elsewhere. I really believed everyone was saying the same thing just packaged a bit differently. I also came to believe leadership models did not often address the particularities of volunteer organizations. I still maintain the conviction leadership needs to be shared - flatter than we find in most churches though we, in Baptist circles, practice some form of "congregational polity." That is another post. Thinking about picking up Wikinomics. This one seems to point out the nature of flatter leadership and collaboration as the new shift. I am game. Back to Mark.

I could not find his post to link to but remember Mark pointing out the distinctive leadership issues related to churches (and non-profits) and Collins’ attempt to take this into account with this little monograph. I bit. As if I was not reading enough, I added this 30+ page exploration into the ways leadership along the format of Good to Great may be applied to "social sectors." In a moment akin to, "You had me at hello," I found this statement in the author’s note enough to place the item on the checkout at Barnes and Noble. Collin’s offers,

If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one. Economic growth and power are the means, not the definition, of a great nation.

Yes, I wanted to know just what this leadership guru would suggest was needed to define a great nation. I am not sure I buy the means to greatness for a nation rests with economic growth and power. Great nations may remain great if they follow the warning of the following statement,

No matter how much you have achieved, you will always be merely good relative to what you can become. Greatness is an inherent dynamic process, not an end point. The moment  you think of yourself as great, your slide toward mediocrity will have already begun. (p.9)

I could not help but think of my own denomination. Too often I have grown up hearing how our tribe is the hope of/for the world. Talk of greatness oozes as though everyone else in Kingdom work is not even running a close second. Then I read Paul’s post for today.  Our talk of greatness cannot be supported by our numbers. Maybe his call, along with Ben Coles’, should be heard. Scrap the statistics. Let’s get away from what David Fitch suggests the "church" has adopted as measures of success built upon individualism and efficiency (The Great Giveaway). Most leadership adopted by churches I know give more credence to efficiency. Not that we should be inept and lazy. Not that we should be sloppy. Efficiency plays the spoiler to depth. Numbers represent the superficial. We prop them up with either skewed counting, not considering this unethical in the least, or we work to get the crowd without concern for discipleship, following Jesus. We applaud bucks, butts and buildings as measures of success. Character depth matters little.

 

Great wisdom comes in heeding advice - so says the wise writer of Proverbs. So, on the advice of several bloggers I picked up The Spider and the Starfish. After reading Margaret Wheatley’s Turning to One Another it seemed wise to give attention to Finding Our Way.  My own mantra since graduating with that DMin has been, "never stop learning." Time to pick up some more from those who may be describing an appropriate shift in leadership.

While Collins’ suggests the kind of research necessary to press out his assessment would take ten years, it did not deter him from thinking intuitively about the implications of "good to great" leadership for the social sectors. It is worth a read.

Friday Photo … On Saturday …

Busy week. Jeremy reminded me I missed "Friday Photo." So, here it is on Saturday …

Doesn’t make sense to anyone … and certainly to young people …

I read Rene’s Stumbling Toward Faith not long after it came out in 2004. She linked to a letter written at the YS site for youth workers. Rene wrote,

I’m feeling very vulnerable, adolescent, and easily traumatized today.

(I needed to know that all of this was not supposed to be, including the parts of my life and the  world)

There is little doubt many of us are still reeling from the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

Critique intended to inspire …

Too much energy is given to combating church done any other way than the way "we do it." Paul concludes a very fine post with,

Still, this is not your grandfather’s church.  Shoot.  It isn’t even
your older brother’s church.  Our world is changing.  The church has
been given the task of speaking on behalf of God into the world not of
500 years ago, but the world of today.  Faithfulness is not simply a
calcified commitment to centuries old declarations.  Faithfulness is a
commitment to speak meaningfully to the accountant and school teacher,
the electrician and government official, all who now live in the Year
of Our Lord, 2007.  After 500 years it is proper for the church to
continue to reform out of faithfulness to God and the good of the world.

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