NAC Coverage

Later this week I will be heading to Anderson for the North American Convention of the Church of God. There is much nervous anticipation about this year's event because of all the changes. Because of these significant shifts this is truly an historic year for our "campmeeting".

As has become a tradition over the past few years I will once again be providing daily blog reflections on the NAC. Last year I also offered Twitter updates during the General Assembly, but this year I will be expanding my Twitter coverage throughout the entire NAC. If you are looking for on-the-ground reports and reflections be sure to follow @chogblog. (For anyone else twittering during NAC I would encourage you to use the #nacchog hashtag for easy searching and compilation).

Also, one other NAC announcement: If you will be in Anderson be sure to attend the second annual CHOGBlog Get Together:

Sunday evening
9:30pm
at Starbucks
(4235 Scatterfield Road, Anderson)

I look forward to connecting with you over the next week!

New look Church of God Ministries website

Church of God Ministries today unveiled a revamped website (www.chog.org), with a fresh new look and improved navigation. The site is titled "Official Site of the North American Church of God: Transforming culture by being the body of Christ".

The re-design is a welcome change, as the previous website was hardly attractive, difficult to get around, and too narrow for today's computer monitors. A new consistent menu system at the top of each page will make it easier to find what one is looking for, and the site is generally much more colorful and appealing.

I also noticed the introduction of a section surprisingly called "Chog Blog" (I knew I should have trademarked that name!). There are 14 different blogs listed with RSS feeds. It would be great to have more of our national office staff blogging, let alone Twittering, etc. But, unfortunately, I am not sure they get the blogging thing, as the execution is way off the mark. Almost of all the blogs represent topics or departments - far from the personality-driven nature of blogs. And, both technically and in terms of usability they are not following standard blog formats. So, it will be frustrating for people to work with.

Other new "eCHOG" features include discussion forums and CHOG Tube.

I know that websites are always evolving, and I am sure this one will as well. On my wish list, for now, is better handling of RSS feeds for news stories. It's there, but not properly setup for easy syndication.

What do you think of the new website design?

Church planting discussion

My recent post on "The future of church planting" has generated a number of comments from at least a few individuals. I'd encourage more to jump in on the discussion.

The recent economic climate has impacted church planting in the Church of God. Instead of seeing this as a hopeless situation, I wonder if we are ready to use this as an opportunity to explore new models that could have even greater, long-term impact on Kingdom and church growth?

The future of church planting

It was only back in September that I shared my enthusiasm over my attendance at the Church Multiplication Association (CMA) conference in Kansas. As I indicated, although relatively new on the scene, CMA has been a tremendous bright spot in the Church of God. Apart from the rapid, loosely-organized expansion in our early days the church planting efforts today coordinated through CMA have been the strongest ever. I can speak from personal experience of CMA's effectiveness, as we have several churches in our district that have been and are being planted with their assistance and guidance.

CMA's strengths have been in their visionary leadership and abundant financial resources. Robin Wood and Gary Kendall have done an amazing job of creating a system that develops not just more churches, but the right kind of churches. This has been fueled by an incredible amount of money that was being funded by some very prosperous and generous business people.

But, the economic downturn of the past year or so has changed much of this. The business interests of the well-heeled donors have been hit hard, in fact, so hard that the bulk of CMA's revenues of dried up. This has resulted in dramatic reduction of CMA staff, and elimination of funding support to its many new churches. Of course, this has halted the ongoing startup of new church plants, and the momentum and energy associated with that.

This should be of considerable concern to us, as church planting has demonstrated itself to be the most effective means for Kingdom expansion. Of course, we don't need CMA to plant churches, but the reality is that our track record for church planting outside of CMA has been far from stellar. What is needed is a culture of church multiplication that permeates our congregations. Ideally, all churches should be working strategically toward establishing new congregations within the varied people groups around them. For the most part this is not happening.

CMA's value to Church of God has not only been in the actual planting of new churches, but in reinvigorating this essential aspect of church growth within our movement. Of course, we could argue that Church of God Ministries should be leading the charge on this, and the Church Multiplication division, under John Newton, has tried their best; but limited funds, especially after the recent cutbacks, has hindered this further.  Sadly, even their annual church planting bootcamp held at the North American Convention was canceled this year due to insufficient registrations.

Obviously, the matter of church planting and even the current state of CMA deserves our prayer attention. The future of church planting is closely linked with the future of the church itself.

Patrick Nachtigall

I was recently contacted by Church of God missionary, Patrick Nachtigall, to be interviewed for a new book he is writing for Warner Press. This will be his third book (the other two: Passport of Faith, and Faith in the Future), all of which reflect a broad, global perspective that can only come from someone who has lived and ministered around the world. This latest project is a journey across the Church of God at the dawn of the 21st century, and explores issues facing us in all six continents, and the challenges that threaten to pull our movement apart. His interest in talking with me is because of my district leadership role and interest in new forms of communication, including this blog.

Based on the details Patrick shared with me, this should be an profound book that will be a must read when it is launched next year.

Watch for it!

WARM reflections

Last week I was in Phoenix for the annual Western Area Regional Ministerium, a gathering of Church of God ministers from across the western United States and Canada. This is the last surviving geography-based ministers' fellowship - at one time there were a number. Attendance at WARM was down this year, indicative of the economy and that this is an "off" year, away from the typical locus of Portland.

While I enjoyed the fellowship and the events (particularly the presentations of Milfred Minatrea), this was another occasion for me to reflect on the nature of gatherings in the Church of God. As many have pointed out, we are a movement that has historically found its identity and vitality in the relational connectedness found in gatherings. The reality, however, is that our social dynamic has changed, and to the dismay of those who cut their teeth on them, the role and popularity of events such as campmeetings and ministers' fellowships is diminishing quickly. The long decline of the North American Convention is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

There is much to affirm about our relational ethos, and we should be concerned about the growing disconnectedness that is emerging. But, it may be time for us to acknowledge the need for new wineskins to draw together the diverse cultures of our movement, let alone the even larger Body of Christ. This should also be an occasion for us to consider what really does unite us in Christ - is it our common social bonds, or should it be around the common mission to which we are called?

These are issues we must address as we define ourselves in these shifting times.

Geographic diversity

A recent Gallup Poll caught my attention as it correlates well with what I've been noticing in the Church of God: There are considerable differences across various regions of the United States. This is not only true in a general, religious sense, as with this poll, but the result is also reflected in how churches respond to their culture within those regions. Where religion is central to life the church tends to operate with ideological and theological security. Where religion is at the periphery the church cannot assume its place in society and must engage the culture in order to thrive, let alone survive.

As someone who has always lived on the geographic fringes of the continent and the Church of God I can easily see this phenomenon, and frequently see the glazed eyes of those in other parts of the country who cannot imagine anything other than the relative success that the church enjoys there and the methods that are employed.

(CLICK HERE TO SEE LARGER IMAGE)

While not perfect (i.e. factor out the Dakotas and Utah, for example) this map also somewhat reflects prevailing strength and attitudes in certain regions among Church of God people and congregations.

The reality is that despite our common heritage there is considerable diversity across our movement. And, that's not bad. If anything it reflects the magnitude and scope of the Kingdom of God and that despite our differences we are united in Christ.

What does concern me is that we are not always willing to recognize these differences, or create structures or programs to take them into account.

What do you think?

Church of God goes YouTube

One of the many things that caught my attention during my recent blogging drought was the announcement that Christians Broadcasting Hope (CBH), our mass media arm, has begun producing videos on YouTube, the web's leading repository of videos. It can be accessed through their user page at: www.youtube.com/user/CBH4hope.

My first reaction to this news was one of skepticism. How can the Church of God expect to gain a voice in the clutter and wasteland of YouTube?

While the initial offering of videos online is hardly impressive, what does impress me is the fact that we are at least exploring new media to get out out message. CBH has, for years, been one of the most innovative divisions of Church of God Ministries, and this further confirms their willingness to harness communication technologies for the sake of the Kingdom.

Dialogue in the Church of God

Those of you who subscribe to my blog may be surprised to see a post actually appear!

Without making any excuses, life has been extremely busy over the past few months. Blogging has taken a back seat to other priorities in my life and ministry. Not that I haven't had anything to write, just not the time to formulate them on the computer.

There are a number of important issues and matters confronting the Church of God at this time and I want this blog to be one voice encouraging constructive dialogue. Certainly, my blog is far from being that "important", but it is part of a new medium that can stimulate discussion and invigorate our relationships.

Yet, despite the challenges facing us, I am more and more convinced that we struggle with dialogue. We are a very diverse group of people and increasingly do always not share uniform convictions and perspectives. This is making it difficult for us to resolve some of our current challenges, and threatens to fracture us, even when one of our core beliefs is centered on unity.

More so than ever we need to be intentional about our interactions and discussions. Face-to-face communication is still the best, but we also need to find ways to hear each other across geographic, demographic, and even theological divides. Electronic communications such as blogs, Facebook and online groups (such as ChoGtalk) are new tools that can contribute to this dialogue.

I am personally committed to continuing this blog for this purpose, and look forward to sharing some thoughts that have been developing and accumulating in recent months. Also, for shorter bursts of inspiration and insanity I invite you to follow my ChogBlog Twitter feed.

May the dialogue continue!

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.

Relfections on financial challenges

The announcements of layoffs and budget cutbacks at Church of God Ministries have generated considerable concern in recent discussions in which I have been involved. The news is somewhat unsettling, although not everyone is panicked. Some see this merely as a necessary adjustment that organizations need to regularly go through as they rationalize their activities, especially in a time of economic downturn. I am not convinced it is that simple.

These financial challenges, as Dr. Duncan pointed out in his recent letter, have been developing for quite some time and are reflective of much more profound challenges facing us.

First, I believe this is indicative of the bigger struggle that we continue to have over becoming a "denomination", even though we tend to deny that this remains an issue. C. E. Brown's suggestion that there is a difference between "organizing the church and organizing the work of the church" is true, but we nevertheless remain uncomfortable with intentional structure and organization, even to the point of this attitude being detrimental at times. The debates earlier this year over our hyper-congregationalism illustrates this. Sadly, however, we tend to divide on this issue at the extremes, and fail to see more reasonable solutions that both respect the dynamic nature of the church, and insure cooperation and accountability. The result of all this internal tension is a relatively low level of commitment to national and, in some cases, district organizations.

Second, these struggles with centralized organization are not just limited to the Church of God. There are also some broader trends at play here. The wisdom of centralization is increasingly questioned and dismantled across many sectors of our society, including government, business and religion. Our information age has spawned a new approach for cooperation: non-hierarchical networks. For example, at one time it made perfect sense for centralized, denominational missions organizations as missions endeavors were very complex and costly for individual congregations. But now, churches want to get personally involved in missions, even sending their own missionaries and establishing direct contact with churches and ministries in other lands through regular communication, direct giving, and missions trips. Merely sending money to a national mission organization does not have the appeal it once did. The lesson in all of this could be that an organization like Church of God Ministries may have a greater role in facilitating networks than actually delivering services. As simple as this sounds, it would be a radical change.

Third, the challenges we face can also be attributed to the lack of a coherent, consistent, and compelling vision for our movement. This is not any one particular person's fault (or responsibility), although it does reflect our current lack of and distrust of strong leaders. All of this reflects a steady erosion of purpose since our founding almost 130 years ago. Our movement was based on some very clear ideals, and was later reinforced by a church-historical eschatology. Since that time we have become much more geographically and sociologically diverse; our theological positions have been refined; there has been a great urge to identify with mainstream Evangelicalism; and there are other voices and groups effectively proclaiming aspects of our message. Certainly attempts have been made to cast a new vision for the movement, but none have captured widespread enthusiasm or acceptance.

In light of these reflections I believe that this is a critical time for Church of God Ministries to continue the process of reinventing itself. Or even better, for our movement to define itself and then reinvent Church of God Ministries to serve that purpose. Obviously this is a grand challenge, and not one that can happen in a short amount of time. But, it needs to happen, and we must be committed to it now.

More budget woes

Continuing on the recent layoff announcements at Church of God Ministries, General Director Ronald Duncan recently sent pastors an email with a more detailed financial update and a revised budget for 2009 set 25% lower.

Certainly the financial stresses in Anderson are real. From communications I've had with people at our national offices, the last few weeks have been difficult. In keeping with the broader financial challenges experienced across the country right now, there is considerable anxiety as to whether the near future will bring any more bad news. Duncan revealed some of this concern with comments like:

"The manner in which we collectively view these reductions will affect the future of our movement. Some may view these reductions as failure. I certainly have reflected on this point of view. There is an element of these reductions that certainly feels like failure—failure of our congregational system of polity to support and fund the decisions of the General Assembly, failure of Church of God Ministries to adequately challenge and provide the necessary motivation to inspire support for the budget, failure of our leaders and congregations to deal with the gravity of the situation, and failure on my part to provide the leadership necessary for success. ...

"Throughout the Church of God’s 127 years, finding the financial support for the congregational, state, and national ministries has been a constant challenge. We seem to be dealing with an old, yet unresolved, question: Are we living and teaching principles of stewardship from the New Testament? Our future in both the near-term (one to two years) and our mid-term (three to five years) will be affected by how we respond." [emphases his]

I will offer some of my own thoughts on the future in an upcoming post, but for now let me say that I agree with Duncan that this is a critical moment in the history of our movement, at least from an organizational perspective. The current financial realities and trends indicate that there is not a common consensus across North America as to what our cooperative ministry should look like within our polity, in light of our doctrinal convictions, and in response to the challenges of ministry today.

Ultimately this will be resolved. Either by necessity or design. Hopefully, it will be the latter.

Church of God Ministries reduces staff by 25%

General Ronald Duncan sent out a notice today that in order to cut expenses Church of God Ministries is reducing its workforce by approximately 25%. This is in response to the continued decline of giving to the basic World Ministries Budget.

Obviously these are tough financial times in our world, a fact that makes these cuts prudent. The decline in giving, however, began well before the current global crisis.

There will be many opportunities to sort through all of this, including analysis of why, and how we should respond for the future. For now, however, prayer for the families affected by these layoffs should be our priority.

I noticed that this information is not yet available on the Church of Ministries website, so I will include the text of his email for those of you who did not receive it.

Dear Fellow Servants of the Church,
 
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that Church of God Ministries has found it necessary to release eight current employees in an effort to reduce our overall expenses to within our projected income. The elimination of their employment, combined with seven other full-time and four part-time positions that have been vacated over the last few months that we have chosen not to fill, represents a reduction in our workforce of approximately 25 percent. This is one of the numerous steps we are taking to ensure compliance with the Ministries Council’s Ends Policy that specifies Church of God Ministries submit a balanced budget with no deficit.

It was especially difficult to let these valued and high quality employees go who have dedicated their work to the service of the church.  Those losing their jobs included a team director, three ministry administrators, a graphic designer, an educational administrator, a church and donor relations consultant, and a part-time ministry assistant. To help them through this difficult time we are offering them a separation package. The terminations are effective November 28, 2008. Please pray for these individuals who have lost their jobs.

During the 2008 General Assembly, I proposed a baseline budget process to better align our budget with actual income. This resulted in a 10 percent reduction of the Basic portion of the 2008 World Ministries Budget. This baseline process guides our efforts towards the development of the 2009 and 2010 budgets. Regrettably, giving to the Basic Budget has continued to decline.
 
A detailed financial analysis this month of our income streams, expectations, and anticipated expenditures has led us to a difficult place. Our Leadership and Management Teams have worked diligently to cut expenses, find efficiencies, and increase revenue. In early December, I will share with you the 2009 and 2010 budgets and enumerate the additional reductions related to ministries (either reduced or deleted) we find necessary to realign our budget.
 
Our vision and mission remain the same-to transform culture by being the body of Christ. Please continue to pray for the church and our efforts here at Church of God Ministries as we coordinate the collective ministry of the Church of God at the national level. The Lord is good and greatly to be praised-even in these difficult times.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Ronald V. Duncan
General Director

 

New conversations

It has been interesting to see the prolific growth of blogging within the Church of God. On my blogroll are listed as many as I am aware of, but I'm sure there are many others as well. Blogging is certainly representative of a new, decentralized media that permits a wide range of voices to contribute to important (and even unimportant) discussions.

But, blogging is only one example of the new conversations that are occurring across our movement. The latest involves Internet social networking, best represented currently through Facebook. New webs of communication are facilitated here. An example of the power of social networking conversations can be seen in a brief post that one of my "friends" started last week on Facebook. The topic was entitled "Church of God (Anderson) If we're so right...?" Within 8 hours over 32 responses had been shared, created a relatively vigorous discussion.

With whom are you talking?

Coaches event

Over the past few days I was in Phoenix for the second-ever Coaches event, designed specifically for coaches involved in either SHAPE or CTI (Coaches Training Initiative). Church of God Ministries has invested heavily in this event (along with Lily Endowment funds), believing that these are probably some of the most significant transformation agents for congregations and pastors. Approximately 100 were in attendance this year.

What has made these events so significant are the high caliber of resource people brought in and the timely topics addressed. This year was no exception. For example, David Ferguson (a return guest from last year) led us through a insightful examination of relational leadership. Gary Kinnaman spoke in our evening gatherings, challenging us to adopt beliefs, attitudes and practices that will contribute to bringing about healthy, lasting leadership. Our last morning together featured a presentation on holiness led by Jeannette Flynn (more on this in a future post).

A common theme that permeated the three days concerned the priority on relationships in ministry, certainly a message that is relevant for this time and the Church of God.

Update

Over the past month this blog has been considerably quiet. There just hasn't been much time for blogging.

In addition to taking some vacation time with my wife, there has been much activity within the district I serve. Our annual meeting was held on October 4th, at which time there was overwhelming support for a new structural change and bylaws that will transform our organization and ministry. This will have considerable impact on my workload as we transition in this new direction. The next year will be particularly demanding, but nevertheless exciting.

Today I am traveling to Phoenix for the second Church of God Coaches Event. As I reported last year, this was a milestone event in our history and reflects part of the cultural change among our leadership. Later this week I will post my reflections on this year's version.

Emerging leaders

Those of you subscribing to blogs will be interested in tracking The Sirius Network, a new "expanding group of people within the Church of God and beyond who are committed to creating a culture that nurtures young and emerging leaders". This is the result of work headed by Suzanne Haley of the Leadership Development Team within Church of God Ministries. They are wanting to connect emerging leaders in the Church of God and are tapping into contacts already made through our colleges and at the International Youth Convention. Besides the blog they also have Facebook and MySpace pages to foster the growing use of social media especially by younger generations.

Church planting revolution

The past few days I have been at Indian Creek Community Church in Olathe, Kansas (just outside of Kansas City) at the annual conference of Church Multiplication Association (CMA) for church planters. This has been one of the most significant Church of God events that I have been to in a long time.

For those of you that don't know, CMA is a Church of God - related organization that is leading the way in our movement for church planting. They have helped plant over 60 churches and have experienced tremendous success compared to most typical church planting efforts. Founded by Robin Wood and Gary Kendall, CMA provides a high level of screening, training, and support for church planters.

There are several reasons I consider this event as significant. First, it represents an exciting, new thrust in church planting. Sadly, in recent decades church planting has been hit and miss within the Church of God. While some tremendous new churches were launched, overall it is a small number and we have lacked a coherent vision or methodology.

Second, attending this event put me in contact with some of the most gifted and passionate young ministers in our movement. Seeing the quality of this group gives me great hope for the future!

Third, CMA represents a new paradigm in how we get things done within the Church of God. Despite our struggle with becoming a "denomination" the bulk of our cooperative efforts have been in centralized structures. CMA was not conceived in "Anderson". It is a network that operates within the Church of God, but not within our formal structures. This may go against what we are used to, but is indicative of a trend that is developing around us, and may be more congruent with our polity. Networks have tremendous effectiveness, and probably will represent the future in many other areas of our national life, such as missions. I was impressed to see that Church of God Ministries is not feeling threatened by the growing prominence of CMA, but instead is embracing this work and cooperating with it. The evidence of that is found in the fact that Dr. Duncan brought the Ministries Council to Olathe this week for their meeting, and so that they could experience first-hand what is happening in this "movement within a movement".

Finally, the event itself provided significant opportunities for personal growth and ministry development. CMA brought in some outstanding speakers and practitioners, and offered a wide range of helpful conferences and presentations. The evening worship services themselves were worth the trip. For example, on Tuesday evening I witnessed one of the most profound moments of honesty, transparency and grace confronting personal brokenness among leaders that I have seen in the Church of God.

If you are desiring to experience new vision and hope for the Church of God, I'd encourage you to learn more about CMA and to plan on attending next year's annual conference.

Women in Ministry article

Following up on the recent, lively discussion that resulted from my "Women in Ministry" post, I came across a sermon by Dr. David Sebastian, Dean of the Anderson School of Theology. This brief writing provides a good overview of the some key issues and scriptural passages at the center of the current debate, and is now an included resource for the "Cultivate" Goal comprising the Church of God strategic plan. It is worth reading.

LINK (The document "Women and Men: Guarding Our Sacred Partnership in Ministry" can be found under "New Resources" near the bottom of the page).