Challenges and changes

The hard drive on my laptop crashed while in San Diego at the Area Administrators' meeting, preventing me from sharing about an extremely valuable conversation that we had with General Director Ron Duncan regarding the challenges confronting the Church of God. And these are much more than merely financial. They touch the core of who we are and how we relate to each other. Again I am impressed with Dr. Duncan's willingness to listen and openness to explore perspectives that challenge our status quo. Our discussions with him are just the beginning of many more that he is planning to have across the church in various settings and with a broad spectrum of people.

One of the opportunities just announced is a special town-hall meeting on "The State of the Church" hosted by Dr. Duncan and General Assembly chair Bob Moss at this summer's North American Convention. This event will be held on Monday, June 29 at 3:30pm at Reardon Auditorium.

Talking about the NAC, also announced are some significant venue changes for the services. Because of the high cost of equipping the Kardatzke Wellness Center in an environment of financial crisis two local churches will host the services instead. The evening services will be held at the relatively new Madison Park Church of God with shuttle service provided. The morning services will be held at Park Place Church of God.

These NAC changes are significant beyond just a building change. They also reflect the continued devolution of this event and its significance in the light of our movement. I really wonder if the NAC as it is can really survive. More so than ever we must be willing to explore new models for connection and drawing our people together.

These are interesting times. And we must be prepared to pray, dialogue and work for God's purposes.

Structure

This week I am at the annual Church of God Area Administrator's meeting, in San Diego. This is a tremendous opportunity for district leaders to gather together for collaborative exchange, learning and fellowship. One of the features of our event is spending a day with a noted, outside resource person. This year John Kaiser, author of Winning on Purpose: How to Organize Congregations to Succeed in their Mission, was our guest. Kaiser is one of the leading experts today on congregational structure.

The whole matter of structure is an peculiar one for the Church of God. As I've highlighted before, our relationship to organizational structure came about more by necessity than by design. The result has been structures that are often ineffective, and even dysfunctional. This can be observed at all levels: national, regional and congregational. Fortunately, we are beginning to recognize the need for change; although our uneasy history with organization makes it difficult.

I encourage you to read Kaiser's book. There are many practical applications that are very relevant to the Church of God and our polity.