2009

As the year comes to a close it is an opportune time to reflect on all that has taken place over the preceding 12 months.

For me, personally, this was a very full year. Besides the demanding nature of my work, our family was preoccupied with the illness and death of my father this summer. And, more recently my step-mother also died after a relatively short, and sudden, illness. Despite the emotional intensity of it all God's strength has been very real. The prayers and support of the church, including a number of you who follow ChoGBlog, is also very much appreciated.

2009 was a significant year for the Church of God. While the limits of my time and energy prevented me from blogging on many of the events, there are several things worth noting from this past year. In particular, the fallout from the financial challenges of 2008 really began to take hold this year. Church of God Ministries is in transition, with numerous personnel changes and adjustments, most notably the departure of Jeannette Flynn. A highlight for us was the North American Convention which saw a number of changes that stemmed the attendance decline, at least for this year.

Looking ahead to 2010, this remains a critical time for our movement. I am concerned that we are increasingly lacking a clear identity and vision that is owned across the very diverse North American church. Discussions in this direction need to continue, and I am committed to using this blog as one vehicle to encourage and stimulate dialogue that will strengthen our respective and cooperative ministries. I am praying that things will settle down in my life to allow this to happen, and as I continue work on my book project.

May God continue to lead and bless you during this coming year!

Missions and administration

Today's announcement by Church of God Ministries regarding new administrative practices for missions projects reminds me to complete my two part reflections on the state and future of missions in the Church of God. I will get to that shortly.

But, today's announcement does reveal the changing landscape which is forcing changes upon our national organization.  In short, CHOGM has decided to begin, in 2010, assessing an 8% administrative fee on a number of missions projects (excluding Living Link) to cover the real costs of implementing these projects. This is a common practice among charitable organizations, but one that we have avoided thus far through the general World Ministries Budget. With giving to the latter in decline CHOGM has little choice but to search for ways to pay for the admininistrative engine that runs behind the scenes.

In principle, I don't have a problem with this decision as donors have to accept the reality of administration, and the overall decline in unrestricted giving has left no obvious alternatives. Of course, not everyone will be as understanding of this decision, which could see even less interest in support of these centralized projects. This should result in new discussions concerning the giving to the CHOGM and its role in missions.

More reason for me to get on to my next blog post...

Church of God and social networking

In an effort to bring greater connectivity and communication across our movement, Church of God Ministries is further leveraging technology by launching a new social networking site this week. MyCHOG is a dedicated social network, very similar to Facebook or MySpace, but built on the Ning platform. It allows participants to network within a closed environment, free of all the fluff in the larger, open systems.

The execution of this new site is well done, and already several hundred people have joined based on minimal promotion. I am sure it is hoped for MyCHOG to be a new place for Church of God people to keep connected. My only question is whether people already into social networking are prepared to add yet another stream to their daily routines. (Hopefully, new social networking aggregators will include Ning!). I suppose if MyCHOG lives up to its intent it could be a valuable and desirable place to hang out online.

This is not the first social networking foray for Church of God Ministries. Earlier this year they launched a Twitter account (@ChoGMinistries) which provides a networked way to disseminate information. (By the way, don't forget to follow @chogblog on Twitter too!)

These are interesting times, and it is appropriate and necessary for the Church of God to find new and effective ways to conduct its ministry, especially since some of our former methods (i.e. campmeetings and magazines) have largely lost their appeal in this age. This certainly fits with the innovative spirit of a "movement".

The future of missions - I

This year's North American Convention was unique for several reasons, one of which is the celebration of 100 years of global missions for the Church of God. This was evident in the overall theme and in the large number of foreign leaders and missionaries in attendance. We do have a rich missions heritage, and one that should be celebrated.

Since then I have wanted to offer some personal reflections on the some of the key issues facing us today concerning missions. This will end up being a two-part post.

My particular interest in this topic arises out of a very late night discussion that I had with several missionaries at the NAC. One evening I was invited to a private gathering in the missionary residences where a number of missionaries and their friends were gathered. It was great time to connect with several missionaries whom I know and to hear their heart for the ministries in which they serve.

What caught my attention that evening and during some other private conversations was the frustration I was hearing. While our missionaries are deeply committed to their calling and specific work there was a common thread of disgruntlement with what they consider the missions bureaucracy in Anderson. One told me of serious questioning as to whether they would continue past their current term because of this.

Certainly all is not negative, but it was obvious to me that the concerns I heard in that living room were ongoing, unresolved frustrations that were weighing heavily on their hearts and impacting their morale. I cannot be sure that all of their grievances are legitimate, but when I hear them expressed consistently by a number of missionaries the validity of their comments is increasingly confirmed.

In short, the frustrations seem to revolve around their impression that our national leadership is out of touch with what is really happening on the mission field and not really responsive to the input and perspectives of the missionaries. This impacts such things as strategic decisions and funding.

As we enter a second century of global missions, what are some of the issues we must deal with? I will attempt to address some of them in my next post.

Jeannette Flynn to leave Church of God Ministries

Since the North American Convention blogging has been a low priority in my life due to the sudden illness and death of my father. There hasn't been the time to formulate my thoughts into posts on issues that arose during the NAC. My intention was to get back to blogging this week, and today's news certainly provides a perfect opportunity to do so...

Church of God Ministries announced today that Jeannette Flynn has resigned from her position as Kingdom Ministry Team Director, effective October 31, 2009. This is significant news since Jeannette is one of our most significant, current leaders, not only in COGM, but across the movement as a whole. She is deeply passionate about her ministry and inspires others as well with her powerful leadership and communication skills. Her contribution to our North American ministries has been profound, especially in light of some of her initiatives which include SHAPE. While she will be stepping aside from this prominent role I am sure her influence and ministry will continue to strengthen the Church of God for years to come.

The big question for me in all of this is: What impact will this have for Church of God Ministries?

In short, I believe that her leaving will have a very dramatic impact. Jeannette is a unique individual and leader, and cannot be simply replaced. Programmatically, she has been the key ministry leader at COGM, especially since taking on the combined role of two previous ministry team directorships. I suspect, with good reason, that part of her decision to leave is simply out of exhaustion from her expansive responsibilities and oversight. This will need to be a time for General Director, Ronald Duncan, to revisit the internal operations of COGM and to develop a more realistic leadership structure. Certainly, trying to find someone to take on this position as it currently stands could be a daunting task due to the magnitude of the responsibilities involved.

In addition to the future of COGM, I pray especially for Jeannette during this time of transition in her life and as she seeks to discover the next phase of ministry God has for her.

North American Convention - Reflections

Heading home from Anderson is a good opportunity to reflect on this year's North American Convention which concluded yesterday. In the past week I have summarized some of the daily highlights, but there is value in reflecting on the some of the bigger, overall issues concerning the NAC.

I think the most significant observation about this year's NAC is the positive, optimistic spirit that prevailed throughout the event. This is especially noteworthy considering the fears that negativity arising out of the event changes might cast a dark cloud over the week. The prayers leading up to NAC made a difference.

Obviously, the biggest story leading up to this year's NAC was the venue change from the Kardatzke Wellness Center to Madison Park and Park Place churches for the worship services. I think it is fair to say that the change turned out well. Sure, there were inconveniences, but these were mostly due to the closure of 5th Avenue than because of having to travel across town each evening. Madison Park in particular is a wonderful venue for a worship gathering. The layout of the room creates a much more intimate setting than what we have had in the past. And, the comfortable seats are great!

And, to everyone's surprise attendance was up significantly this year: by 14%! That is incredible considering the pre-event grumbling and the current state of the economy. I wonder, however, if that increase tells the complete story. Did that many more people really travel to Anderson this year, or is that more people from Anderson came out to the services? I suspect that the latter is more the case. Sure, there was some extra influx because of all the missionary families in attendance, but some have speculated that the lack of local cable TV coverage of the service may have brought out more locals, as did the support of the local congregations at which we were visiting.

i believe that one of the other factors making this NAC a success was the 100th anniversary celebration of global missions. Each service highlighted how God has been working through our missionary endeavors, and the preaching kept this focus alive for us, instilling the urgency of God's mission going forward. This was an invigorating theme that gets the church to move beyond itself and its self-absorption. We need more of this.
 
As I have previously indicated a positive spirit prevailed across the NAC this year, and that bodes well for our movement. But, of course, we cannot rest on the good vibes we experienced. The Church of God continues  to struggle to find its identity and voice. Certainly, this event is step in the right direction, but let us not forget that only a very small proportion of our constituency was in attendance, especially from the geographic fringes. This speaks to the future of the NAC itself. Can we genuinely assume that this event can set the pace for the entire church across North America?

I support the move of this year's General Assembly to re-examine the viability of the NAC and to present a new roadmap for the future. I just hope that there will be courage and openness to consider new models that will better serve and draw in the diverse movement that we have become. Hopefully my previous proposal will be one idea examined.

North American Convention - Wednesday

It's hard to believe that the North American Convention is over for another year. The final day began with the final session of the General Assembly, which wrapped up well, with no real surprises.

Once GA is over things start really winding down at the NAC. A number of people begin the trek home, and the afternoon activities are less intense than in the previous two days. At one time most people were sure to stay through to the Wednesday evening service, as this was the climax of the entire event. Increasingly, that is less and less the case.

Despite the growing exodus the evening service was still reasonably well attended, with many locals showing up. Tonight there was an African focus, utilizing music, guests, and a former missionary to Africa, Don Riley, bringing the message. As usual this final service ended with a candlelight celebration (and using real candles again after a number of years!).

I will provide some closing comments and reflections on the entire convention in another post, but let me say for now that this last day at the NAC had a different feel to it. In other years it has not been uncommon to be exhausted by Wednesday, desiring to return home as soon as possible. With the renewed spirit experienced in this convention, there was almost a feeling of sadness that it had to end so soon. In some ways we'd like for it to keep going. That's a good sign for the Church of God!