.:: keeping the ministry fresh ::.

Excellent quote from a recently elected politician here in New Zealand: ‘(My party) must move with the times, generate new ideas, recruit fresh talent, take risks and listen to New Zealanders.’

Not bad advice for anyone who is involved in ministry leadership! Let me tease this out a bit:

//Move with the times  - the society around us is changing.  It is essential that leaders spend time reading across a range of disciplines; and go for blogs where possible.  Books are great, but often it can be a year between the finished manuscript and publishing and a lot happens in a year.  Also subject yourself to the discipline of writing about where things are heading and how it applies to your area.  This often forces careful thought - not a bad thing.  For my latest piece see: The Bible in the Digital Space (1120)

//Generate new ideas - in my experience new ideas are easy, what is hard is finding the resources to make the great ideas become reality.  And when I say ‘resource’ I am not thinking about money, but something way more important: talented staff (fresh talent). Getting the right people involved in a project at just the right time is one of the most important tasks of leadership.

// Listen - It amazes me how few Christian orgs. I have encountered will take the time to find out what the needs are in the community they are working with and seeking to influence.  As one Pastor once said, ‘The church is answering questions no one is asking.’  It is absolutely essential to find out what the needs are in a community, to learn as much about the community so as to contextualize the offering.  And in listening, be prepared to change the offering if required.  It is essential to keep the ministry fresh.

I wonder, are you curious?

Learning should never end.  Not so much a life sentance of sitting exams, but of cultivating an attitude of curiousity.  Allowing room to explore, to accidently discover new things, to challenge old habits.  Stumble and  bumble your way into fresh discoveries.

Giving the Holy Spirit space to direct and unearth.

So are you curious?  Do you give yourself time to explore?  Or are you locked into a monotonous groove?

Here are my 8 tips to encourage your curiosity : Continue reading »

The Digital Revolution and the Church

I have written a paper entitled, ‘The Digital Revolution and the Church‘, in which I outline the characteristics of the phenomenal internet driven digital revolution presently sweeping the globe.  I particularly focus on how it is affecting human behavior, which offers some insights into how we as a church might need to respond.The opening paragraph reads,

There is a revolution sweeping across the globe, driven by the massive growth of the internet and internet related technologies.  Known as the Digital Revolution it is on par with other great global shifts such as the Agrarian Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. And it is completely changing the landscape of how we communicate, how we influence, how we relate.  This isn’t simply about coming to grips with a new technology to assist us in our work, but requires of us a fundamental shift in our processes, our structures and approaches.  If we don’t respond then as Eric Hoffer states, we will find ourselves, ‘beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.’ 

To read the rest of the paper click here:   The Digital Revolution and the Church (1309)

3D Net Virtually Here.

In what I consider to be a major step towards a three dimensional internet, Google have created a three dimensional virtual space that can be personalized and hosted within any website. It is still early days as the technology is fairly limited (no voice, only text) and quite buggy so be prepared to crash often. But still it is a big step forward.

My thinking is that a ministry could within their website, create a virtual meeting space, (perhaps a worship space?) where community building and networking could happen, people could receive and give support and information about the ministry could be shared. To test this I have set up my own virtual space which I invite you to come and check out. Click here to visit my new island.

Mistaking Achievement as Being Free of Mistakes

Recently I heard an interview with Bill Hybels the trainer of leaders and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. The bit that really stood out for me was when he started talking about churches being on autopilot, not prepared to try different things. Hybels was at his most passionate when he exclaimed how doing things differently will lead to making mistakes, which in his view is an essential part of finding success.

This reminds my of the creation process around one of the great office resources : the Post-It Note created by 3M. In 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher for 3M, had been trying to formulate a strong adhesive, but ended up only managing to create a very weak glue that could be removed easily. He promoted his invention within 3M, but nobody was interested. Four years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M colleague and member of his church choir, was irritated by the fact that the slips of paper he placed in his hymn book to mark the pages would usually fall out when the book was opened. Whilst he was participating in a church service, he recalled the work of Spencer Silver, leading to an epiphany which led to him later appling some of Silver’s weak yet non-damaging adhesive to his bookmarks. He found that the little sticky markers worked perfectly, and sold the idea to 3M. Trial marketing began in 1977, and today it is a standard part of most offices. (Check the latest Post-It Digital notes.)

Obviously we don’t start our day thinking, ‘wow I hope I really stuff up today!’ But we do need to give ourselves the latitude to make mistakes, we need to encourage the attitude that sees mistakes as an essential part of the process. And this involves allowing time to explore, to try different approaches. So we don’t aim to make mistakes, but rather we aim to find solutions; and when we mess up, we see that as an important part of the refinement process.

As a leader, I much prefer those I am working with to try and fail and then try again, than not have a go at all.

The Answer to the Bible Crisis is Catering

Check out the very cool video below..
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Bible Crisis Animoto Style

Like a kid with a new toy I have just discovered a very cool slideshow/video resource called Animoto. Basically you upload the images you want to use, select the music and it does all the hard work to make it look really cool. Once complete you can embed in a range of applications, download it or export it to YouTube. Check it out at: http://animoto.com/ also check out one I prepared earlier called ‘Bible Crisis’

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If you would like to embed this click here.

Creative promotion

I think this is very clever.. with the current interest in all things environmental a shoe maker has created an environmentally friendly shoe that aims,

to better the environment by efficiently utilizing the natural resources of this world. With three guiding elements of “Made From”, “Recycled” and “Reground”

Also check out the very creative promotion strategy below, which incorporates the green emphasis well.

It would be good to highlight creative ways ministry can be promoted.. have you got any examples?

Wanted: Children’s translators

Since having children I have found myself unsettled when the children leave church for Sunday School. I wonder what sort of message we are sending our children? Clearly staying in church is untenable as come sermon time the children would be restless within seconds. But how wonderful it would be if we could all stay together. Then this evening while attending church with my daughter I had an idea.

When I was in China late last year I had the privilege of visiting a packed church service. Through a headset we were given a simultaneously translation. Why can’t we offer that for our children?

The children would be provided with a headset through which to hear a version of the sermon suitable for them. It might be that the sermon is made available before hand giving the children’s translator time to prepare. You could have a translation for 5-7 year olds; 8-12 year olds and so on.

Children would feel included, it would have a novel and appealing feel about it, and I would get to sit through a service with my kids.

What do you think?

Churchianity and that private jet

The latest blog post over at Churchianity is worth checking out…!  Short quote from it:

“There were lots of ‘Praise my Lord!’ at Pastor Peter’s church recently when news came through that the congregation had banded together to buy the much loved Pastor his first private Jet.

Pastor Peter commented,

I Praise my Lord and thank the generous folks for this new Jet. It is an affirmation of what God has called me to do, to preach the Good News of God’s provision to the poor of the world.”

To see the rest of this very cool post click here.