New Paradigms In Ministry And Church Alict August 2009

New paradigms in ministry : Transforming the Church

ALICT 2009

Dr Dion Forster

http://www.dionforster.com

http://www.dionforster.com/

Outcomes:

By the end of this session you should be able to:a. Share a basic understanding of the doctrine of

the Churchb. Explain the mission of the Church.c. Identify and understand some of the deficiencies

in contemporary Church structure and practice that detract from God’s mission for the Church.

d. Engage critically with a variety of perspectives on Church to bring renewed effectiveness and faithfulness to your ministry in the Church.

1. Prolegomenon – the Church

Questions for group discussiona. What is the Church? (Theology!)b.What is God’s mission for the Church?c. Can you please list some practical examples of

things that Churches should do to fulfill God’s mission in the world?

The Power of focus…

Watch this video…

VERY DIFFICULT! So please count carefully, how many times is the ball passed between the players (Count, concentrate, and let’s see who wins!)

1.a. What is the Church?• ekklesia – c.f. Matt 16:18 – literally an ‘assembly, group

of people’ >> Denotes ‘a people’, a ‘set aside’ group of people.

• The early Church Acts 2:42-47. – Met in homes / the marketplace– Gathered around ‘discipleship’, not ‘discipline’

• The word Church refers to two entities:– The Church (capital ‘C’) – the Church Universal– The churches (small ‘c’) – denominations, congregations,

cell groups…– Which Church do you think God sees as God looks at a

city?

1.a. What is the Church? Cont…• How can you identify ‘the Church’? The marks of

the Church are:– One / Holy / Catholic / Apostolic

• The word ‘Church’ is an English form of the Greek kuriakē, meaning "of the Lord” (The Church is most likely a shortening of kuriakē oikia ‘house of the Lord’) >> denotes ‘a place’ (no longer ‘a people’)

• The Church as a ‘place’ and ‘institution’ only came into being after the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine in the 4th century.

1.b. What is God’s mission and purpose for the Church?

• The missio dei ‘God’s mission’ (please refer to Forster 2008a:71ff. ‘What is Christian Mission?’)

– ‘He sent his Son for this purpose and He sends the Church into the world… for the same purpose’ (van Sanders in Forster 2008:71)

• What was Jesus’ mission? – cf. Lk 4:43, 4:18-19 - The Kingdom of God! – Is 11:6-9, Rev 21:3-5a. God’s eternal shalom a

‘peace that passes all understanding’

1.b. What is God’s mission and purpose for the Church? Cont…

• The Church’s mission is to fulfill Jesus’ mission! – ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I

send you’ Jn 20:21– …to “proclaim the Gospel of Christ for healing and

transformation”, and to work towards a “Christ healed Africa for the healing of the nations”.

• Where we miss the boat…– Saviour AND Lord (salvation AND discipleship) cf.

Matt 28:19-20


• Ask yourself a few questions:– What constitutes most of the activity and preaching

in your Church? – Does your Church do the same kind of things that

Jesus did?


– Do you find the kind of people that Jesus welcomed in your Church (i.e., people on the margins of society)?

– When you listen to the people in your Church, or your minister’s sermons, do they sound like the kind of things that Jesus would say?

– Is your Church actively establishing God’s Kingdom in your community?

– Are we ‘One’, ‘Holy’, ‘Catholic’, and ‘Apostolic’?


• Brian McLaren… What are the ‘big issues’ in

• No wonder the world is giving up on the Church…

Our church… Our world…

Music Poverty

Dress Hunger

Buildings AIDS

Status Global Warming

Etc…


I believe that Jesus Christ started the New Testament Church… He started it as a community of men and women with a mission, a new purpose for their lives. He gathered them, invested in them, and then commissioned them to go and live what he had lived among them.


If we think of the Church as a celebration service that only happens in a building on Sundays, then Jesus doesn’t fit the model. We certainly won’t be able to call him ‘Pastor Jesus’…. If the Church is more dynamic than that; if indeed living like Jesus is how we should be and do Church, then thinking of Jesus and his band of followers as a Church community helps us have a more dynamic concept of what Church is all about.

Floyd McClung in reference to his book ‘You see bones, I see an army: Changing the way we do Church’ (2008, Struik Christian publishers: Cape Town).

The changing landscape of Christianity and ‘the Church’…

Bullhorn…

Revolution or evolution?

Is the Church dying or just changing?-

Dr Dion Forsterhttp://www.dionforster.com

Recap on the Church…

• The Church is not just an institution – rather, it is a gathering of faithful disciples.• The Church refers to:

– The Church Universal– The churches / denominations / congregations

• The character, or marks of the Church are:– One– Holy– Catholic– Apostolic

• The Church has a mission:– God’s mission – missio dei– Jesus mission – to establish God’s Kingdom– We need to relate to Jesus as Saviour AND Lord

The question is….

‘Is the Church dying… or is the Christian faith merely changing?’

• How well is your Church doing in achieving God’s mission?• What are some of the struggles / difficulties / problems

that we face as the Church?• What are we getting wrong? Were do we miss the point?• How could your discipleship help to change this situation?• What can you learn and gain from your time here at ALICT

in order to renew the mission of the Church?

2. A few facts about Church membership and attendance.

a. The two most common narratives for the modern Church are decline or split… (blog post on the mainline Church from the Archbishop of Canterbury).

b. I don’t mind Jesus, but I don’t trust his wife [bride]… (comment by a skeptical friend).

c. I no longer go to Church… It just doesn’t seem to meet my needs anymore. The pastor knows nothing about my life and work, and the Church seems to do so little to actually change society. I’m tired of programs and courses. I need something different! I still serve the Lord, but I now belong to a Christian group at work (a Christian who no longer attends Church).

d. 60% of all Churches in America will die out by 2050 (Peter Brierley in Gibbs & Coffey 2005:20)

e. The long and the short of it is… Jesus needs new PR!

2. How secular people feel about ‘the Church’

George Barna The major changes in spiritual practice over the past

half century have been largely window dressing. Pick a trend – mega churches, seeker churches, satellite campuses, vacation Bible school, children’s church, affinity group ministries (e.g., ministries for singles, women, men young marrieds) contemporary worship music, big screen projection systems, EFT giving, cell groups, downloadable sermons, sermon outlines in bulletins, Alpha groups. Al of the above have simply been attempts to rely on marketing strategies to perform the same activities in different ways or places, or with particular segments of the aggregate population.

A decline in Church attendance

Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation…. Ruth Gledhill’s report on Church attendance in the UK (2008).

Reasons for decline in membership and attendance

• Martin Wellings• A ‘Spiritual’ understanding (when the ‘heart

grows cold’)• A cultural understanding (related particularly

to secularization)

• Pragmatic reasons for Church decline• No new members joining• Existing members leaving the Church

Church attendance by age

Church attendance by age (under 15)

What are some of the effects of Church decline?

a. A diminished capacity to transform society and influence change (we’re loosing our saltiness, and dimming our light)

b. A loss of credibility (we’re loosing our ‘voice’ – in England, Australia and most of Europe the Church’s narrative has almost no place in mainstream society)

c. Diminishing financial resources to fund missiond. The declining Church adopts a ‘lager’ mentality

(defensive of it’s position, combative of other positive contributions from secular or other religious institutions etc.)

THE CHURCH IS IN A GENERAL DECLINE (BUT, THE SAME CAN NOT BE SAID OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!)

(GRAPHS FROM PROF. JURGENS HENDRICKS,) STELLENBOSCH

Enough about the rest of the world… What about South Africa?

% Christians in SA: 1911-2001

YET, the reality in South Africa does NOT reflect the Kingdom of God!

• Only12% - committed… attendance is only about 3% - 5%... Let’s be honest, most Churches plan to fail….

Something is wrong with this picture!

• 79% say they’re Christian, but somehow the churches are not helping them to BE Church…

• All is NOT lost! If they SAY that they are Christian, we should help them to become what they say they are!

• The Gospel, and the Christ of the Gospel, have NOT lost their power!

• BUT, we need a ‘new kind’ of Church to do this… Our current models are not working… Here’s some data on our decline.

Christian Marketshare Mainline Denominations 1911-2001

Church membership in population groups 1911-2001

Whites

Coloureds

Christian Marketshare AIC, Pentecostal, Other 1911-2001

Pent/Charismatic

What makes the AIC and American style ‘Independent’ Churches so popular?

• They are evangelical (even if their gospel is not entirely good news).

• They offer hope (particularly in addressing the most serious FELT needs of people):– Prosperity doctrine offers hope in poverty– Healing miracles and ministry offer hope in sickness– Contextually African (in AIC’s)

• They have a strong entrepreneurial leadership… (see the sigmoid curve) whereas we face significant pressure to maintain our ‘culture’ (e.g., uniforms, orders of service, hierarchies)

• They are ‘market oriented’ (changing in accordance with needs and pressures from outside), we are internally regulated (not responding to outside pressures and needs).

So, what’s the point!?

• Addressing FELT needs• Meeting people within THEIR context• Offering (some) solution

A map of the world (land area)

The spread of wealth (a representational map)

The most impoverished places in the world (a representational map)

Christians in the world (a representational map)

A map of the world (land area)

But, is there enough for all of us?

Sustaining the world!

• Brown, Lester 2008 (Plan B 3.0 – Mobilizing to save civilization)





Military spending (a representational map)

AIDS deaths in the world (a representational map)

The spread of wealth (a representational map)

The most impoverished places in the world (a representational map)

Christians in the world (a representational map)

What’s wrong with our method?• We can be sure that it is NOT the Gospel that has lost

its effectiveness (the MESSAGE, and PERSON of Christ remain valid and effective)

• However, we can be sure that the delivery, engagement, and support mechanisms have lost their impact.

• So what we need is to find a way of engaging the world in an ‘incarnational’ manner (addressing the needs of the world, from the perspective of the world), not in a transcendent manner (pressing the concerns and needs of the Church onto the world).

• We need a new ‘narrative’ for the Gospel. The existing still has value, but only for those ‘in the system’ (it would seem), we need a narrative that engages those outside of the system..

The life cycle of an institution (sigmoid curve).

The life cycle of an institution (sigmoid curve).

3. So, how do we turn this around?

• Face the facts! Denial will not serve the cause of God’s mission.

• Do our best to understand God’s mission for OUR context.

• Gain insights and expertise to help us in retooling the DNA of the Church for the churches.

• Have the COURAGE to make some changes (for the sake of the Gospel!)

• Make the most of your time here…

The SAME mission in an ever CHANGING world

"The gospel must be constantly forwarded to a new address because the recipient is always changing his place of residence.” Graham Gray, Bishop of York

Questions, input and discussion1.Please share one thing that has challenged

you, perhaps something you’ve learned today, a new insight, or something you’ve resolved to do.

2.Please affirm one thing that our Church is doing well!

3.Please highlight one thing that you would like to help change in our Church during your ministry.

4.Any other inputs?

Some suggested reading• Forster, DA, 2007 An uncommon spiritual path. The quest to find Jesus beyond conventional Christianity.

AcadSA publishers. Kempton Park.• Forster, DA & Bentley, W (eds) 2008a Methodism in Southern Africa. A celebration of Wesleyan mission.

AcadSA publishers. Kempton Park.• Forster, DA & Bentley, W (eds) 2008b What are we thinking? Reflections on Church and Society by

Southern African Methodists.• Gibbs, E & Coffey, I 2005. Church next: Quantum changes in Christian ministry. Inter Varsity Press.

Leicester, UK. • Barna, G, & Viola, F. 2008 Pagan Christianity? Exploring the roots of our Church practices. New York.

Tyndale Publishers. • Viola, F 2008 Reimagining Church: Pursuing the dream of organic Christianity. David Cook Publishers.

Colorado• Brian McLaren ‘Everything must change’, • Rob Bell ‘Velvet Elvis’, ‘Sex God’, Jesus save the Christians• McClung, F. 2008. You see bones, I see an army: Changing the way we do Church. 2008 Cape Town.

Struik Christian publishers http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/01/church-with-mission-or-missions-without.html

• http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/week-in-review-catching-up-from-within.html• http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/HPH09March.ppt• http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/emerging-church-conversation-is-church.htm• http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/four-helpful-and-sound-categories-for.html l

http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/01/church-with-mission-or-missions-without.html

http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/week-in-review-catching-up-from-within.html

http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/HPH09March.ppt

http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/emerging-church-conversation-is-church.html

http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/four-helpful-and-sound-categories-for.html

http://www.spirituality.org.za/2009/03/emerging-church-conversation-is-church.html

it’s not just ‘tools’just ‘tools’…

A town called Middelburg…

let’s recap…

what was Jesus’ mission?Jesus’ mission?

what did Jesus come to do?what did Jesus come to do?

the church’s mission is Jesus’ the church’s mission is Jesus’ mission mission – the body of Christ

your mission?your mission?

βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦβασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ

(the kingdom of God – the authorityauthority or ‘reign’ ‘reign’ of God)

WWJD?

the questionquestion is…

WWYD?

‘Send us tractors, not tractsSend us tractors, not tracts’Gustavo Gutiérrez

How How do you do it?

There are as many approaches as there are contexts… But here are some pointers.

Jesus’ methodology (Luke 10:2-9).

• When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.’

• ….Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you,

• …Heal the sick who are there and

• …tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.’

Remember this!?

•S – spiritual gift: 1 Cor 12:7 "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good", and v.11 "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one just as he determines".

•H – heart: 1 Samuel 12:20 says "... honour the Lord with all your heart."

•A – abilities:

•P – personality:

•E – Experiences: Romans 8:28 that "In all things God works for the good of those who love him".

•Rom 9:20-21 "What right have you, a human being, to cross-examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: Why did you make me this shape? Surely a potter can do what he likes with the clay?"

“You will never find your passionyour passion until you understand what breaks breaks

God’s heartGod’s heart”Lloyd Reeb

Your S.H.A.P.E

God’s Power

The world’s needs

Where effective and authentic ministry takes place.

the hermeneutic circlethe hermeneutic circle

The hermeneutic circle – theological reflection (your most effective tool…)

Preaching the truth without love is like giving someone a good kiss when you have bad breath. No matter how good your kiss is, all the recipient will remember is your bad breath!

- Ed Silvoso

3. So, how do we turn this around?

We must change from:• Living in the past to engaging with the present• Market driven to mission-oriented• Bureaucratic hierarchies to apostolic networks• Schooling ‘professionals’ to mentoring servant leaders• Following celebrities to encountering saints• Dead orthodoxy to living faith (orthopraxy)• Attracting the crowd to seeking the lost• Belonging to believing• Generic congregations to incarnational communities.• NB! NB! NB! Please read Church Next by Eddie Gibbs,

and Reimagining Church by Frank Viola

Some differences between established and emergent Church movements

Mainline / Established Church Emergent

Centralised leadership / Professional clergy (separation between clergy and laity)

Organic, egalitarian governance. No separation between laity and clergy

Limits certain functions to ordained / sadly renders laity largely passive (pew warmers)

Makes all members functioning Priests

Has a ‘go to Church’ perspective Has a ‘be Church’ perspective

Prioritizes programs (frequently to educate members on efficiently and effectively maintaining the status quo)

Prioritizes relationships within the community (both within the Christian community and incarnating those values into the broader community)

Depends on tithing and planned giving / requires large budgets (mostly spend on buildings and pastoral staff)

Requires less funding, is frequently self supporting (either bi-vocational or marketplace ministry driven)

Separates Church (ecclesiology), mission (missiology) and social transformation (corporate Soteriology)

Intertwines ‘belonging’ and mission. Balances personal and corporate Soteriology


ALICT 2009

Dr Dion Forster


http://www.dionforster.com/

Roughly speaking, Generation Y is defined as -

20001977

831

< Birth Date between >

< Current Age >

What’s happening to the human race?

How do we reach them? • Traditional marketing does not work• They program their media so they are off the radar• Your message must appeal to M’s sense of community

and trend: – Belonging/community (facebook, myspace, twitter)

• Media has replaced the playground • They spend less face time with friends and family, but interact

electronically• Appealing to M’s sense of community, making them feel like they

belong– Being part of a trend

• Unlike other generations who had (trends) thrust upon them (like WWII, Viet Nam, 9/11), Y needs to feel that they matter

• They will tell everyone they know, now!

How do we send the call to generation Y?

• Traditional outreach programs must be employed– Schools & Universities– Community centers

• Combined with the new media– Mobile devices – cell phone, PDA, etc (Companies like Infreeda)– Using new messaging tactics

• SMS messaging• Voice messaging• Facebook• Twitter• Mixit• QIK

Why Social Networking?• Connect with friends and acquaintances (NB! Remember that

the message is CAUGHT not just TAUGHT – relationships are central to ministry!)

• Establish new relationships…networking • Establish virtual friendships with others that share common

goals, interests, or struggles…create support networks• Share your content and message with a large number of

persons instantly (twitter / facebook / QIK / Youtube)• Show your support/raise money for a specific cause

Get your message out!

A New Front Door

• Percent of Americans who have:– Watched a video online – 56%– Looked for a place to live – 39%– Looked for Spiritual Information – 35%– Read a journal of blog – 32%– Tag online content – 26%– Post comments on article or photo – 22%– Download a podcast to listen later – 19%

Pew Internet and American Life Project

What are some examples?• Social Networks – Facebook, LinkedIn, mySpace• Microblogging – Twitter, Friendfeed• Instant Message – Skype, MSN Messenger• Photos – Flickr, Picasa• Feed News Reader – Digg, Google Reader• Blog – Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress• Bookmarking – Delicious• Video – QIK, YouTUBE

Growth in social networking

• There was an estimated 276% increase in Facebook users ages 35 to 54 in the last 6 months of 2008 to reach a total of 7 million (according to an article in the New York Times Magazine.)

Overview of Facebook

• Social networking site aimed at networking with colleagues, classmates, and acquaintances

• Set up personal profile/home page• “Friends” are requested/accepted• Visibility of your data is dependent on your

privacy settings

Features of Facebook• Status updates (“the wall”)• Sharing of photos and videos• Create notes (aka blogs)• Email and chat functionality within site• Create Events and send invitations• Show your support for a cause and generate interest and

donations• Show your interests through membership in groups and pages• Advertise and promote your business and your product

The 3 C’s of new media

• Current information at your fingertips• Collaborative tool to rally people

together• Carrier of viral content

Place in Media Mix

Newspaper

POS

Cinema

Bill Boards

TV/Radio

Viral

UGC

ElectronicGames

SMS

Newspaper

POS

Cinema

Bill Boards

Web

Web

Traditional Emerging

Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

• Paradigm 4 - God wants us to take light into dark places, and get salt out of the salt shaker. (Matthew 16:18-19)

“Upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it…” (Matthew 16:18-19).

Building the Church is what Jesus does… Taking his Kingdom and gospel all over the earth is what we’re commanded to do… - Ed Silvoso

• Paradigm 4 - God wants us to take light into dark places. (Matthew 16:18-19) cont….

• We’ve got the WRONG methodology!






I will pay you a salary NOT to preach…






A quick recap…

Who Are the Players?

“You Can’t Save Souls

In An Empty

Church…”

Quick Poll: What is currently the fastest way to build a

community of followers on the internet?

What Is Twitter?

• Micro-blogging platform• Text and links ONLY for a maximum of 140

characters• Everything happens in real time• It’s the FUSE that explodes all your social

media efforts

Why Is Twitter the Fuse?

• It’s the easiest to learn• Messages are delivered in real-time• 100% deliverability• Send people INSTANTLY to other places in

your network• Viral by nature

Getting Started With Twitter

• Get Your Own Name

• Write a catchy, clear Bio

• Customize Your Look and Pic

Getting Started With Twitter

How To Build Your Twitter List

1. Follow THE RIGHT people

2. Become a valued Tweeter

3. Leverage the power of retweets

4. Ask lots of open-ended question

5. Synergize your network (The Biggie!)

Tip #1: Follow people who recently followed your mentors and colleagues

Tip #2: Follow people who are active at the time you follow them (60/30 Rule)

Tip #3: Join in on the conversations before following (up to 70% reciprocation)

Tip #4: Follow at the right times and on the right days on the right days

–1pm – 3pm and 8pm – 11pm –Weekends Rule!

Tip #5: Be Consistent!–Follow 30 – 50 per day at first–Increase to 10% once you hit 500+–No more than 150% following to

follower ratio

Step 2:Leverage the Power of

Retweets

How To Get Retweets

• To get retweeted, you must FIRST retweet

• Keep your tweets short

• Ask for Retweets by DM

• ALWAYS shrink your URL (tinyurl.com)

Step 3: Go fishing!(The Secret Power of Open-

Ended Questions)

Conversation Starters

• “What was your favorite holiday as a child?”• “Which do you use Mac or PC?”• “Which super-hero is most like you?”• “What do you think sucks most about ____?”• “What are you having for lunch today?”• “Do you prefer crunchy or smooth peanut

butter?”






REMEMBER the reason for Media is ministry!

Strategic moves

• Move towards the message (@heinwine)– Twitter– Blog– Content (video, e-print)

• GIVE IT AWAY!– Consulting, speaking, secondary sales

One last example…An example from QIK.com

Setting up QIK:http://www.qik.com/video/581960

Ministry and new mediahttp://www.qik.com/digitaldion

http://www.qik.com/video/581960

http://www.qik.com/video/581960

http://www.qik.com/digitaldion

My Social Media System

Social Media = A Party

Your Blog = Your Home

‘Rich media’ = The conversation

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5


ALICT 2009

Dr Dion Forster
