Un-Christian?

The Barna Group has a new study out that delves into the attitudes of "outsiders" (those who not define themselves as Christians) and Christians between the ages of 16-29. None of the results were too surprising to me and they echo the themes in "They Like Jesus but Not the Church" (and I will post the article I wrote for my personal blog later), but one of the most surprising things they discovered was that even Christian youth and young adults agree with the "outsiders" that the biggest problem with Christians is that we act un-Christian!

I hope you will take a few moments to read through the article and then help us think through what it means as a Christian church to reach out to people who do not trust us even when they are open to our message.

Worship Evangelism—Time to Get Real

“Perhaps the most common complaint was that worship services were boring. It was not just that these gatherings were not interesting; they were not worshipful. They did little to help people meet God. However, I did not hear this as a call for more entertainment, but for more participation.”
William Hendricks, Exit Interviews: Revealing Stories of Why People Are Leaving the Church

“I don’t think numbers and numerical growth are most important. What I see the Scriptures telling us is that a successful church is where people’s lives are being transformed and becoming more Christ-like. You’ll never get a quality ministry by focusing on quantity first. Quality must precede quantity.”
George Barna

One of the questions addressed in the first chapter is “What is “real” worship?” One of the problems with worship throughout the years and especially in the last few decades of our entertainment driven culture is a lack of knowledge on the true purpose of worship.

Now I opened this blog (and have even subtitled it) by stating that we are reaching out to a particular group, but before we can determine how to shape worship for this group we have to determine what it is we are shaping. Now I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear yours first. How would you define “real” worship?

Worship Evangelism

As I’ve returned to Worship Evangelism after setting the book aside for a few years, I am aware of a couple of things. First, a lot has changed since the early/mid 90s. Even Sally Morgenthaller is backing off some of her premises (see the article to the right Worship as Evangelism) because she feels that the idea that we evangelize through worship was used as an excuse to avoid getting out in the world and making a difference for Christ. Second, reading this book now after nearly two years of working closely with the C&C service, I see her predicting many of the challenges we have faced (and are facing) since 2001 in that service. And finally, I still think her theological reflections on worship are still very, very valid.

I hope that you will take the time to get a copy of her book and read it. But I do plan to share some of what I feel are the highlights of her book—especially those that relate to what we should seek to do in any service and especially what I pray we would do in this new service.

So come join me in this journey and please feel free to share your thoughts, questions, ideas, etc.!

Open Invitation

To everyone who visits this site! You have an open invitation to share your thoughts, ideas, and passions.

Re-Creation

Okay--so far no takers on a name for the service. So I thought I would start the creative juices flowing with a reflection on the name I choose for this blog: "Re-creation"
Re-Creation -- to create anew or again. We use the word to mean have fun, amuse ourselves, play team sports or video games. But at the heart of all this fun is the importance of taking time away from work to allow God to re-create us. This is what Sabbath should do -- it should allow a space for God to continue God's creative work within us.
As I think about a new service at Trinity to reach 20-somethings or simply other people that our traditional and contemporary services don't reach, I believe we are talking about an opportunity for God to re-create how we do worship at Trinity. But not only that, my prayer is that whatever we do will allow a place for God to resurrect/re-create lives through worship, study, and service. And finally, (and this came out of a discussion about the service with Brad) I think this service should have a good dose of fun involved with it. Now I don't mean it will be a spectator sport but rather a community that works, plays and worships together--a family and let's face it the family that plays and prays together is the family that stays together.
Now I don't know if this should be our name, but it surely reflects my thinking about what we need to do with this service.
What do you think?

Service Name

Well maybe this isn't the first thing that needs to be done, but I thought it would be a fun place to start. Here is my vision for the service--"A place where twenty-somethings can come together to experience God and grow as disciples of Christ while making a difference in the world." Probably too long for a real vision statement but this gives you an idea.

Any ideas on names for this endeavor? Remember we want the service to be authentic, intimate, fun and challenging. Any ideas on how to communicate this idea to others?

Welcome to the New Blog

Hey everyone! This is my newest blog where we will have a place to brainstorm and discuss a new service for Trinity. Initially, I am inviting a few people that will be part of the leadership team to comment but you are welcome to invite anyone with a passion for reaching the un-churched and most especially those between 20 and 30.

To open things up and to get us all operating with some common assumptions, I've asked you to reach Worship Evangelism by Sally Morgenthaller. This is a great book which gives us a theological grounding for what we do in worship while also giving some practical tips for reaching a new generation.

In addition, I will share articles and summmaries of books that will be helpful as we plan this new service. But I also want this to be a place where we can share ideas and brainstorm.

So welcome to Re-creation--it is my prayer that the result of this discussion will be a new service that is authentic, intimate, powerful, and fun.

So let's get started . . . .