fr o m th e pu bli sh er
10 Foundation Stones of the Church N o . 6: communion
THE
CHURCH ESTABLISHED IN ACTS 2 identified two sacred observances: baptism, which was discussed in week 1 of this series (May 2020), and Communion, termed “the breaking of bread” in Acts 2:42, that this article discusses. The word sacred is used to describe baptism and Communion for a reason. These rituals are often labeled as “ordinances,” but they are much more than obligations to adhere to, for they possess an aspect of holiness that connect us to the blood of a sacrifice. This blood is connected to both cleansing and the forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22), meaning it is essential to personal faith. These two rituals have much similarity and some key differences. Baptism initiates the believer into a new life in Christ, the source of salvation, while Communion keeps a believer in contact with Christ.
The centrality and essential nature of blood for covering sin is illustrated by God making suitable coverings from animals for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Mosaic law taught that life is “in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11), and so blood is a physical representation of the giving of a life. Animals’ lives were taken to cover the shame of Adam and Eve, and that act was prophetic of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. Baptism is that first point of contact with Christ’s blood that frees us from the shame of our sin. Baptism connects us to the death of Christ, the event where his blood was poured out (Romans 6:3-4), and so baptism connects us with his blood. For baptized believers, Communion is a recurring point of contact with Jesus’ blood, as evidenced by Jesus’ words at the Passover meal (“This is my blood of the covenant, which is
In both of these sacred observances, Jesus infused a supernatural quality into what would have been viewed as a very ordinary thing. Being immersed in water or eating and drinking two regular parts of a meal might seem trivial but, in fact, in baptism we pass from one reality into another reality, and via Communion, we remember and reconnect with that new reality. Where does it come from? The Passover in Exodus occurred 1,500 years before Jesus’ time on earth; it was the last plague before Pharaoh released the Israelites from centuries of captivity. Jesus took the Passover observance and—in the upper room on the night he was betrayed—revealed its true meaning (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The Israelites thought the Passover was a time to look backward, but abundant evidence shows it was actually about looking forward. The Lord told Moses, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:13) . . . blood from sacrificed lambs was applied to doorframes (Exodus 12:21-22). John the Baptist connected Passover at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Communion, then, is the central and most important part of a church service. What am I supposed to do? Communion carries specific instructions, plus it’s the only observance that comes with warnings (1 Corinthians 11:27-31). At Communion, Scripture says, a believer is supposed to conduct a spiritual self-examination or inventory. In this examination, a believer looks backward, first at what Christ did, and then personally at what the believer has done or is doing. Communion always will include repentance, because the believer always has more work to do. Communion needs to be regularly observed because believers need frequent contact with the blood of Jesus Christ. Acts 20:7 indicates the early believers celebrated Communion on the first day of the week. Communion helps to keep me anchored in an intimate personal relationship with Jesus.
Let’s look at a day in the life of Jesus. Jesus heard about John’s death, and then the 70 returned with thousands of people following them. Jesus preached to the crowd from a boat, and then he sought out a quiet place, but the crowd followed him. He preached, taught, and healed all afternoon and into the evening until everyone was hungry and tired. So, Jesus and his apostles fed the crowd from a child’s lunch. Jesus sent his apostles to Capernaum in a boat, but he stayed behind. A storm came up and the apostles couldn’t get to shore. The disciples saw someone approaching, walking on water—it was Jesus. Peter got out of the boat and went toward Jesus. Jesus helped the boat get back to shore, where a crowd was waiting for their next miraculous meal. Then, in his “bread of life” sermon (see John 6:4858), Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (v. 54). This caused many of his thousands of followers to leave him, but not the Twelve. Jesus’ closest disciples didn’t initially understand, but in time they did . . . and now we do, as well. As we gather every week, we cannot let this critical and sacred act of Communion slip down lower and lower on our priority list! Jesus made us his priority! We must respond by making him our priority by remembering him through the celebration of Communion.
Jerry Harris is publisher of Christian Standard Media and senior pastor of The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest. @_jerryharris /jerrydharris
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As with Passover, Communion was designed to be taken in community. Communion and community are basically the same word (see 1 Corinthians 11:33-34). During Communion, something deeply personal occurs while, at the same time, something wonderful rises up out of the community of believers. It’s our purest moment of unity. It is something upon which we all can agree. Jesus died for me and I need to live for him! Maybe we have trouble living for him because we don’t regularly remind ourselves to do that in “communion.”
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poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”— Matthew 26:28).
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In Every Issue 2-3 | from the publisher
e2:EFFECTIVE ELDERS
What COVID-19 Taught Rural Churches Jim Estep
Copyright ©2020 by Christian Standard Media Printed in USA
8-9 |
6-7 | from the Editor
10-11 | POLISHED 5 Lessons from a Flea Megan Rawlings
in the midst of the pandemic
20 26
T H E F I N A N C I A L I M PAC T O F COVID-19 ON CHRISTIAN CHURCHES Kent E. Fillinger
DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS DIFFERENT APPROACHES Chris Moon A S P E C I A L T WO - PA R T A R T I C L E stories about how churches responded
32 33
T H E WA I T I N G P L AC E THE CHALLENGE Justin Horey
looking to the future
44 50 54
5 BIG SHIFTS Randy Frazee
REBUILDING FROM THE RUBBLE Kim Harris
FOUR OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERY CHURCH IN THE NEW REALITY Dave Ferguson
spotlight
62
CRESWELL CARES Crystal Kupper
12-13 | HORIZONS Meeting Needs of Street Kids in Kenya Laura McKillip Wood
14-15 | MINISTRYLIFE Why Wait? Michael C. Mack
16-18 | METRICS
94-95 | INTERACT
Beyond the Pandemic Kent E. Fillinger
75-91 | THE LOOKOUT
96
| THE FINAL WORD
f r o m th e edi to r
The Pandemic's Leadership lessons G R E AT
LE A DER S H AV E A BLEND OF humility—they know that they don’t know everything—and a curiosity to discover answers. They are constantly learning from a variety of sources, beginning with God’s Word, but also through books, mentors, failures, crises, and personal struggles, to name just a few. Perhaps John F. Kennedy summarized it best: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” The pandemic and all of its interconnected effects have provided a wellspring of important learning opportunities for us. In this issue, our writers highlight many of these. Here are four I believe are especially worth considering. 1. The Lord’s Purpose Will Prevail. No human leader knows what the future holds (Ecclesiastes 8:7), but the Lord gives us hope for that future (Proverbs 23:18; 24:14; Jeremiah 29:11).
Shutdowns, reopenings, more shutdowns, and much waiting associated with this hokeypokey pandemic has revealed impatience in many leaders and, among some, a lack of trust in God. He is working in our times of waiting . . . but we must recognize that his purposes for all of this may not align with our human plans (Proverbs 19:21; see also Psalm 94:11; Isaiah 55:8-9). A top priority of leaders, therefore, is to spend time with God to see his vision and discern his purposes before moving forward. We need to pray bolder, God-sized prayers and have bigger imaginations for the “immeasurably more” God can do. 2. The Nimble Will Survive. Nimbleness and flexibility are keys to survival and success, especially in seasons of struggle. Organizations unfettered by bureaucracy and tradition for tradition’s sake are better positioned to shift strategies when needed. Kent Fillinger’s
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3. Those Who Are Ready and Willing to Change Will Thrive. I recently researched the term status quo and was surprised by the number of references in articles to religious people and establishments. Perhaps that’s due to how secular writers perceive our orthodoxy, our belief in a God who does not change (Psalm 55:19; James 1:17), our reliance on Scripture, the ancient practices in which we engage, and other such matters of our faith. Yet, we must be willing and ready to make adjustments in nonessential matters of form. We can remain orthodox in biblical functions while not becoming irrelevant, unduly formal and traditional, inflexible, and unwilling to change how we do ministry. Churches more committed to sustaining the status quo than reaching lost people will struggle, especially in fastchanging times. 4. There’s No Going Back . . . or Maybe There Is. The response of some churches to the pandemic, an economic downturn, demonstrations over racial justice, and more have reminded me of the 1970s song, “The Way We Were.” Barbra Streisand sentimentally sang, “Can it be that it was all so simple then, or has time rewritten every line? If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me, would we? Could we?” Can we go back to the way we were before the pandemic hit? Can we return to our memories of a pre-COVID-19 ministry world and turn back the calendar to that “normal”? Many leaders say no. They suggest we must get used to a “new reality.” But perhaps this is an opportunity—a “divine appointment”—to go even further back than February 2020 . . . back to the basics in how we
practice our faith and carry out Jesus’ mission . . . back to all believers seeing themselves as a kingdom of priests/ambassadors/ministers rather than as members being served by professional clergy . . . back to oikos ministry that naturally occurs in and out of Christ followers’ homes through personal relationships . . . back to a focus on going out to make disciples rather than “going to church” . . . back to the church as Jesus envisioned and built it. If we had the chance to do what the New Testament church did again, tell me, would we? Could we? @michaelcmack @michaelcmack @michaelcmack /authormichaelcmack
We’re now in month three of our fourmonth prayer campaign called “ASK.” If you haven’t done so yet, please join us in asking the Lord to raise up workers for his “harvest fields.” To join, subscribe for free to our “Daily Reading with The Lookout” email at ChristianStandard.com/newsletter. Each day (Monday–Saturday), we include a short but specific prayer prompt.
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survey findings seemed to bear this out. Independent Christian churches fared better, at least in giving, than the average denominational church. (See “The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches,” p.20.)
e 2 : ef f ecti v e elder s
what covid-19 taught rural churches BY JIM ESTEP
S TAT E
BY S TAT E , county by county, the COVID-19 pandemic led to limitations, shelterin-place orders, and essentially a shutdown of “normal.” In rural congregations—which are often smaller, singular in focus (worship), and fairly stable in ministry programming—this became an impetus for reflection, reevaluation, renewal, and a reenvisioning of ministries across the country.
Theology of the Church
We all need to do some fresh theological reflection on what it really means to be the church and to do church. Our experience during those difficult weeks and months demonstrated that the church is wherever or however the people gather, whether in a virtual gathering, on a streaming Facebook feed, or in a parking lot. We are focused now on the assembly of the faithful, which is perhaps a more biblical understanding of church as ekklesia, the assembly.
Missional vs. Attractional We all know the church is made up of people— At the advent of the 21st century, two domiit’s not the building or the worship service—but nant models of church emerged. our everyday theology would say The attractional model of minisotherwise. Whether we like it or try says, “Come join us! We have not, our default theology turns excellent opportunities and prochurch into a place or time. (“We grams.” It is the model the majorare going to church.” “What time ity of churches in North America does church start?”) If this is what have used, particularly in rural church is, what happened when areas. It is a centralized approach COVID-19 called for sheltering to such ministries as evangelism, in place and limiting corporate discipleship, and worship . . . usugatherings? Many believers in Jim Estep serves as vice presially at the church building. rural congregations contend that dent of academics with Central health and government officials Christian College of the Bible, The missional model, by contrast, Moberly, Missouri, and as event shut down the church. Actually, director with e2: effective elders. says, “Go, minister where you the officials locked the church /e2elders are.” Essentially, it is a decenbuilding, but they didn’t shut @e2elders tralized model of doing ministry down the church.
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Self-Awareness of Opportunities
tithing to congregations that had no online app for giving.
Perpetual Practices
It is amazing how churches, especially rural ones, have risen to meet the spiritual challenge of the pandemic. Here is a list of innovations that became common during COVID-19: • Daily “3 p.m. Bible Studies” with the pastor • Morning and evening devotions and prayers via video chat platforms • Elders, staff, and other leaders continuing to meet using virtual meeting platforms • Calling members to check in with them, using a rubric to guide the conversation, and making note of any needs that could be met by the church
Rural congregations often consider themselves immune from cultural trends, and they often ignore contemporary ministry inclinations. But no congregation (rural or otherwise) was immune to the impact of COVID-19. We all became self-aware of our real ministry capacities and capabilities.
• Daily “Pastor’s Thought” and church updates via social media
COVID-19 provided great impetus for the church to break with status quo and innovate their ministries. One meme read, “Just like that, all pastors are televangelists.” Even if our congregation had a streaming worship service, we began to seek out better ways of presenting our worship on the internet. Churches became very self-aware of opportunities that had otherwise been overlooked or dismissed under more normal circumstances. For example, congregations have provided instructions for routine practices that were previously assumed, such as taking Communion.
• “Church in a box,” wherein the church staff resourced the church to have worship in their homes or in small gatherings
We all make use of technology, even if it’s just a sound system or recorded music, but lack of a digital or social media presence became devastatingly obvious to many congregations, especially those who denied or even objected to its use. Imagine the impact on
• Small groups gathering midweek via Google Hangouts and Zoom • Family ministers using streaming video to share lessons with youth
• Drive-in worship services, with cars honking their “amens” and raising hands with hazard lights The pandemic was the catalyst for all these new ministry endeavors. Question . . . why would we stop them when the pandemic ends? COVID-19 exposed some unseen opportunities that can now be continued. Effective ministry is reaching people in ways never before considered. Why would we go back to status quo having learned so many new good practices? As Central Christian College of the Bible president David Fincher said at the pandemic’s peak, “Don’t be afraid to nurture the seeds you’ve planted over the past few weeks.”
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wherever God places the believer(s). Which model was more effective during the COVID-19 pandemic? The missional churches fared far better, while the attractional churches were challenged to become more missional! Many attractional rural ministries experienced the stresses and strains of social distancing and restrictions on gathering, but the missional churches did not encounter as many restrictions on ministry. Rather than the church “gathered,” the missional church was “deployed” during this time. People worshipped in their homes and served in their communities. Could we perhaps retain the missional elements we learned during the pandemic, thereby building a missional element on top of the attractional model, or will most rural churches go back to church-as-usual?
Po li sh ed
5 Lessons from a Flea BY MEGAN RAWLINGS
TH E BL AC K DE AT H was caused by bacte-
rium and was initially spread by fleas. Starting in Asia (most likely), it spread to Eurasia and North Africa in the mid-1300s, and eventually the plague killed up to one-quarter of the world’s population in about four years. At least 100 million people died. And to think, it was spread by a pest barely visible to the eye. I will spare you the details, but the symptoms of this virus were devastating, and death usually occurred only weeks, sometimes days, after the first symptoms. It was not uncommon for the ill to be left to die by the side of the road. Mothers deserted their children, and family members abandoned the sick. But some people—the Christians—stayed and died trying to help those who were infected.
Today, the world navigates a new pandemic. While it’s unlikely the death toll will remotely approach the number who perished of the Black Death in the 14th century, the idea of loving others more than yourself remains spiritually vital. Christians have a significant opportunity today to apply five lessons from history to help strengthen the church.
Megan Rawlings is the founder and CEO of The Bold Movement. She is an extrovert, pastor’s wife, and lover of the Scriptures. /tbmministry @tbm_ministry @tbm_ministry @theboldmovement theboldmovement.com
1. Whether the Church Grows or Declines, We Must Remain Faithful During the bubonic plague, which I’ve just described, church attendance saw a substantial drop. Aside from the obvious, there were two main reasons for this: (1) people were frustrated that prayer did not heal the way they thought it should, and (2) many of the clerics and ministers died of infection. These
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2. We Must Put the Needs of Others Before Our Own, but Let’s Not Neglect Our Health
weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone.”
4. The Church Is Better Together During a second-century plague in Rome, Christians experienced significantly lower death rates than everyone else despite the fact Christians were the ones caring for the contagious. Christians were placing themselves in danger of being infected, but in doing this, they were saving the lives of the sick. When Christians made themselves vulnerable, the church grew like wildfire. Their courage was recognized and even desired by others. Christian communities formed a tighter bond as they worked together as the hands and feet of Jesus.
The sick cannot heal the sick. Make sure you are resting, eating healthy, exercising, and talking to friends Christian communities or family. Maintaining your physical health is an impor5. Quarantine Does Not formed a tighter tant first step to serving othMean We Take a Break ers. Are you physically prebond as they worked from the Gospel pared? Call individuals in We have been told to social your Sunday school class or together as the hands distance and stay home as small group and invite them much as possible, but God to walk around the high and feet of Jesus. has given us the technology school track with you (while to continue carrying out the maintaining six feet of sepaGreat Commission. God will ration, of course). Focus on never forget us, nor will he others, and your troubles place us in a situation where we can’t share will diminish. It’s interesting: trusting God at his gospel message. If we do not give hope to his word allows us to experience the peace he the dying world by promoting God’s message, promises. then we are no better than the lost.
3. All Christians Are Not on the Same Level of Maturity . . . and That’s OK When Wittenberg found itself in the midst of a plague, Martin Luther was asked by a clergyman if he had biblical grounds to leave the infected area. Luther responded, “It takes more than a milk faith to await a death before which most of the saints themselves have been and still are in dread. . . . Since it is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are
Charles Spurgeon said, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.” Use this time as an opportunity to change the world through the work of the Holy Spirit.
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reasons shed light on why biblical literacy is critical today. God always answers our prayers, but not always the way we want. COVID-19 might cause an irreparable decline in inperson church attendance. People may grow comfortable in their new routine and choose not to return, or they may stay away because they are scared. But remember, numbers do not determine success. We need to continue hosting Bible studies, preaching the gospel, and mentoring and teaching others.
horizons
Meeting Needs of Street Kids in Kenya BY LAURA MCKILLIP WOOD
A N T HON Y
BL I N K E D H A R D. His head spun. He fingered the bottle of glue in his pocket; the effects of huffing it still lingered, dulling the memory of the night before, when a man from the neighborhood found him alone in the dark and took advantage of him. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. Nobody cared that he had nowhere safe to go, no one to feed him or provide for his needs. I’ll never be anybody, he thought. He shook his head as the dizzy numbness took over his thoughts.
The Hope
The Need
One day, Tyler went to lunch with his dad, who had served for years as a pastor. Tyler poured out his frustrations. When he finished, Tyler’s father asked, “Have you been praying about this? I mean, have you really given this to God with Amy?”
Kenya has roughly 500,000 street boys like Anthony. Left to fend for themselves, they live in garbage dumps and on the streets in makeshift living areas called “bases.” As Americans, we struggle to imagine a society that shuns young boys without families, but in Kenya these boys are viewed as useless nuisances. People call these children chakora, which means “trash digger.” Not only does the community reject them, but churches won’t allow them into their facilities and try to ignore their existence. Most of the street children in Kenya are boys. Homeless girls often end up working as house slaves or prostitutes, and, therefore, fewer end up on the streets. That does not mean their plight is any easier. When girls live among the street kids, they usually bring babies with them, the products of their mistreatment.
When Tyler and Amy Maxwell met in college, they believed God had a plan for them. Amy became a teacher, and Tyler planned to go to seminary to study counseling. As they started a family and their life circumstances changed, they found themselves trapped with debt and unsure how to begin ministry. They discussed intercultural work, but their first few inquiries with mission organizations did not pan out.
Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, now lives in Papillion, Nebraska. She serves as an on-call chaplain at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. She and her husband, Andrew, have three teenagers. /laura.wood2 @woodlaura30 @woodlaura30 lauramckillipwood.com lauramckillipwood@gmail.com
Tyler and Amy began praying together earnestly. Soon, they put their house up for sale, planning to move in with family so they could save money and pay down their debt. Despite their prayers and efforts, they did not find a ministry opportunity until one night when Dustin Fulton from ACM International (the Alliance of Christian Missions) called and asked them if they knew of a husband and wife team willing to go to Africa to work with street kids. The next night, the executive director of ACM International visited their home. “We talked for six hours at the kitchen table,” Tyler said. The couple felt God was
A Rough Start The couple’s first ministry proved difficult. Between culture shock, language learning, and relationships with teammates, Tyler and Amy decided to move to a new city. They were unsure where to go, when they heard of a Kenyan man already working with street kids. “John was a street boy who was high when he went to church for the first time,” Tyler said. John met a man who discipled him, and eventually he ended up on staff at the church. When Tyler and Amy met John, he was working with 40 boys; John was providing the boys with an opportunity to bathe and eat, and he was also teaching them about Jesus. “John is an amazing individual who has a sixthgrade education,” Tyler said. “He is exceptionally smart and wise, and we’re very blessed. God has put him in the position, and we recognize him as the founder. When he stands in front of the boys, they just close their mouths and listen.” Tyler and Amy joined forces with John and started a work called TRU Africa.
Teamwork John and the Maxwells do not work alone. John’s childhood friend, also a former street boy, was certified to coach soccer in Europe. “Coach,” as he is affectionately known, teaches the boys to play soccer. This physical activity gives the boys an opportunity to do something healthy while learning cooperation. Advella also grew up on the streets. She already had one baby, and when her sister died of AIDS, she took on the role of raising her sister’s two preschool children. She participated in the ministry before becoming a volunteer. Now she works with moms in the community, helping to strengthen their ability to parent and provide for their children. Whenever possible, she helps reunite moms with their children. Other team-
When the Maxwells joined the team, Amy began teaching art to the boys. During their art lessons, the boys sit still and pay attention. “In their life on the street, no one asks how they’re doing, what’s bothering them,” Amy said. “They’re not known as street boys in class. They’re known by their names. Art gives them an outlet and a way to express themselves and be seen. They’re seen as having something to say, being unique. They are God’s masterpieces, important creations that God has made.” In addition to these activities, the Maxwells and their teammates provide meals, baths, and clothing to about 450 boys on the street. They help some of the boys get vocational training and maintain a home where a number of the older boys live. The ministry is focused mainly on the street boys, but the number of girls and babies attending the program is growing. Two families are currently raising support to go to Kenya and begin working with them.
What About Anthony? Some of the boys absorb the care given them by these loving ministers of the gospel and accept the love that God has for them. They move past their difficult beginning and become healthy members of society. Anthony was at his lowest point when he approached John. “I want to change. I don’t want to live like this anymore,” he told John. Together they made a plan for Anthony to get sober. John gave him jobs, which Anthony did faithfully. Anthony learned to be a plumber at a trade school, and now he works as a gardener and volunteers at the ministry. He is active in the church. “Now when you look at him, you’d never know,” Tyler said. God’s love, expressed through people who rolled up their sleeves and helped him do the hard work, has changed Anthony’s life.
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mates cook for the boys, work with them in the home the team established, and fill other roles that demonstrate the love of God for these overlooked and mistreated children.
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opening the door for them to go to Kenya. Within a year, their debt had been paid by a generous donor, and they had raised the funds to go.
Mi n i stry Li f e
Why Wait? BY MICHAEL C. MACK
A F TER
OUR W EDDING IN 1990, Heidi and I moved into a 40-unit apartment building in Cincinnati. We wanted to lead an investigative Bible study to reach out to people who lived there, so I asked Glen, a minister at our church, to tell me how to start. “I don’t think you should do a Bible study . . . at least not yet,” he said.
“Then what?” I asked. “You wait. Wait until the time is right.” “How will we know when the time’s right?” “I don’t know. Just pray. The Holy Spirit will let you know,” he said.
That wasn’t the answer I was looking for. My The tilt of my head and subconscious furrow of pragmatic nature wanted a specific date and my brow must have given away my concern; I time and a 10-point list of action steps. But was eager to start this study right we did what Glen suggested— away and allow God to use us to making friends, praying, watching Michael C. Mack is editor of reach lost people. Why wait? for the Spirit to move. We found Christian Standard. After serving churches in Ohio, Indiana, out where people liked to gather, Idaho, and Kentucky, he and and we hung out with them: at the Glen smiled. “Take some time Heidi now live in Pewee Valley, swimming pool, in the front lobby, and build friendships with people Kentucky. in one another’s apartments. We first,” he responded to my silent @michaelcmack looked for opportunities to start question. “Pray for the people @michaelcmack and build friendships as we rode there, ask God to prepare the way @michaelcmack the elevator, did laundry, and for this and to make their hearts /authormichaelcmack helped people who were moving receptive.”
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in. As we got to know people in the building, they invited us to parties and game nights and we gladly accepted. We drank water and soft drinks while they drank beer and shots (and went to a separate room to smoke joints)—and we found we got much better at the games as the night progressed! We asked them about themselves, listened, loved them, and didn’t judge them. But we lived as Christians before them. A year and a half later we were still befriending, praying, and watching. I thought Glen was crazy. We wondered if the Holy Spirit would ever “let us know.” One evening Sherry, the apartment building manager, stopped me. She told me that Sigma, who lived in the building with her boyfriend, Vic, had been approached by a member of a cult and invited to attend their Bible study. Sherry asked me to talk to Sigma about this cult. Sigma and about six other people from our building were sitting around a table by the swimming pool. I answered Sigma’s questions about the cult and warned her about the dangers of getting involved with them, even in their Bible study. In the midst of our conversation, Marty interrupted. Marty was a longhaired guy who wore black AC-DC T-shirts, and I’m pretty sure he was the pot provider for the apartment building. At least he smelled like it. “So, Mike,” he asked, “why don’t you think Sigma should attend a Bible study?” I started to reply, but Marty cut me off again.
“Why don’t we just start our own Bible study here?” “I would do that,” someone else said. “We can meet in my apartment. . . . And I’ll make food!” Another person chimed in, “How about if we meet at different people’s apartments each week? Whoever hosts can provide food. We could invite other people from the building too!” I sat and listened as they planned the whole thing. Then Sherry looked at me and said, “This sounds great, but we need someone who knows the Bible to teach this thing. . . . Mike, would you lead it?” A week later we started a study on who Jesus is. The first week, Vic asked, “So, how do you become a Christian?” The group gathered the next morning as I baptized Vic in the apartment building’s swimming pool. Vic woke up half the building and gathered a larger crowd when he let out a whoop as he entered the cold water. Sigma gave her life to Christ after we studied with her for about a year. Eventually everyone in that group turned their lives over to Jesus; many did so after Heidi and I had moved from the building. Glen knew something I didn’t know at the time but that I’ve learned many times since: nothing of real significance will be accomplished apart from God’s leading and power. I may have lots of plans and ideas, but God’s purpose always prevails, and his timing is always perfect.
metr i cs
Beyond the Pandemic HOW THE CHURCH CAN RESPOND TO THREE URGENT NEEDS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES BY KENT E. FILLINGER
THE FULL IMPACT OF COVID-19 goes well
beyond the number of confirmed cases, the death toll, and the unemployment rate that many are tracking. The pandemic has exacerbated several preexisting problems like anxiety, depression, suicide, child abuse, drug abuse, and others. These often overlooked “killers” are affecting scores of Americans today, and some experts say these conditions have reached epidemic proportions.
Mental Health Issues Millions of Americans struggled with depression before COVID-19. But studies have found a link between social isolation and depression. A quarantine combined with the escalating uncertainty caused by the pandemic fueled feelings of hopelessness and helplessness that are hallmarks of depression.
Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, assistant U.S. secretary for mental health and substance use, said in late May, “The increase in the number of suicides, fatal drug overdoses and instances of domestic abuse will be broad, deep and long-lasting.” Knowing the facts about each of these can lead to better decisions and provide new direction for churches that have a heart to help the hurting and a vision to meet the needs of their communities.
Kent E. Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting, Indianapolis, Indiana, and regional vice president (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan) with Christian Financial Resources.
/3strandsconsulting 3strandsconsulting.com
A March 25 American Psychiatric Association (APA) report noted that more than one-third of Americans said the pandemic had a “serious impact” on their mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Illness said calls and emails to its help line jumped 40 percent in only two weeks when coronavirus-related shutdowns started in mid-March. A May 21 APA report said that among parents with children under 18, almost half (46 percent) rated their average pandemic-related stress level as an 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point
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New prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications in the United States rose 10.2 percent to 9.7 million in March 2020 from 8.8 million in March 2019. New prescriptions for antidepressants rose 9.2 percent to 29.7 million in the same period. The available information did not include data on whether dosages for existing prescriptions increased during that time frame. This means more than 1 in 10 Americans (12 percent) are now likely taking either anti-anxiety medications or antidepressants. It’s wise to note that these medications are powerful drugs that can quickly become addictive or create a psychological dependence. Overdose deaths involving anti-anxiety medications (benzodiazepines) more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2013, according to a 2016 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Ideas for How Your Church Can Respond • Talk openly about mental health issues to reduce the stigma often associated with them. • Partner with a Christian counselor in your area to teach biblical principles for dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. • Provide financial resources to pay the way for some to meet one-on-one with a counselor to get additional help. • Participate in or even host a K-LOVE Crisis Response Training class (see www.crisisresponse.org for more information).
Child Abuse A June 4 Wall Street Journal headline caught my eye: “Child-abuse reports are falling, and that’s
bad news for children.” That headline might sound like a mistake to some. But a decrease in the number of child-abuse reports is not the same as a decrease in child abuse. The reduction in reporting is the result of the pandemic forcing nationwide school closures in March. No school means that teachers, day care workers, and others who are required by law to flag abuse they suspect is occurring are no longer around children to keep a watchful eye. Without monitoring of this type, child abuse often goes unchecked and unreported. Pediatricians and emergency-room doctors across the country say they are seeing an increase or at least a steady flow of severe child abuse and neglect, including reports of infants beaten and killed, children admitted for drug ingestion, older siblings hurting younger kids, and children falling out of windows. During the 2008 recession, hospitals reported a surge in infant head-trauma abuse cases as unemployment numbers increased, thus revealing a strong correlation between financial stress and violence/abuse of children. Dr. Robert Sege, a child-abuse pediatrician in Boston, said, “Most child abuse and neglect happens when families reach the end of their rope.” Ideas for How Your Church Can Respond • Provide a “Newborn Night for New Parents” where parents in your community can receive free childcare to have a night off to rest, relax, and retool. • Have your children’s ministry offer a free workshop for young families on how to balance their budget during a pandemic. • Offer free financial coaching to parents who have lost a job or experienced a pay cut. • Lighten the financial burden for young
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scale. Officials warned that stress levels could worsen if there is a second lockdown.
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families in your community by offering to pay one bill for them (up to a set dollar amount). • Partner with a local child-abuse prevention organization to educate people on how to identify abuse and to report it properly.
Marriage and Family Planning When the COVID-19 quarantine began in March, I saw many social media posts predicting a baby boom nine months later. I doubt this will actually occur because during the 2008 recession we saw young millennials defer marriage, homeownership, and childbearing because of economic insecurity. That appears to be the case again this time. A May survey by the Guttmacher Institute found that more than 40 percent of women reported that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they changed their plans about when to have children or how many children to have. The changes in fertility preferences were more common among women who have no children than among those who already do (45 percent vs. 38 percent). Overall, one-third of women (34 percent) wanted to get pregnant later or wanted fewer children because of the pandemic. In addition to this shift in thinking, many fertility clinics closed during the initial wave of COVID-19, which delayed procedures that were planned and pushed back the timeline for many potential pregnancies.
Finances are the number-one reason why people say they don’t get married. Only one-quarter of Americans making less than $25,000 a year are married, compared with 60 percent of people earning more than $125,000. Ideas for How Your Church Can Respond • Spotlight some couples who have weathered the storms of marriage in a sermon to help singles and married folks benefit from the lessons these couples have learned (avoid the pitfall of idolizing or overidealizing marriage). • Offer a free workshop on how to reduce debt or create a budget. • Start adjusting now to a new form of ministry (from a strategic focus of primarily reaching married couples with children, a shrinking demographic, to ministering to couples with no children).
Next Steps If you feel overwhelmed or depressed from reading through these statistics or ideas, I encourage you to take the following steps: 1. Prepare by talking to local health or government officials to see which of these issues (or other ones) have most affected your neighbors because of the pandemic. 2. Pray for discernment and ask God to give your church leaders and staff direction on how your church can best respond to meet one new need in your community.
The U.S. birthrate was already at a record low prior to COVID-19, and the pandemic is expected to push it even lower.
3. Pick one need or issue your church will focus on and select a strategy or program to use in response to this need.
COVID-19 also interfered with many weddings this spring as the lockdowns prompted couples to postpone their nuptials due to health concerns and gathering restrictions.
4. Plan and budget for your new ministry outreach to ensure the time and resources needed are available to make an impact in your church and community.
by Kent E. Fillinger
The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches
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As I write this in late June, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to morph daily as it impacts the world, economy, and church in innumerable ways. During the week of June 7, I conducted a COVID-19 Church Impact Survey to take a “snapshot” of how churches fared during the initial three months of quarantine (March to May) and what they anticipated would be happening over the next three months (June to August) as many started to regather for in-person worship services. A total of 334 church leaders from 39 states responded, providing a balanced cross-section of all-sized churches from various locations. Survey respondents consisted of the following: • Megachurches (averaging 2,000 or more in weekly worship attendance): 6 percent • Emerging megachurches (1,000 to 1,999 weekly): 14 percent • Large churches (500–999): 17 percent • Medium churches (250–499): 19 percent • Small churches (100–249): 23 percent • Very small churches (99 or fewer): 20 percent (One percent of the respondents did not provide their church size.) These churches canceled their onsite worship services an average of 10.7 weeks overall during the preceding few months. Seventeen percent of the churches said they would be closed for an unknown length of time with no specific date set for regathering. Larger churches canceled in-person services for a longer period than smaller churches. For example, at the time of the survey, megachurches had suspended services an average of 12.8 weeks compared with 9.3 weeks for very small churches.
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How Financially Prepared Were Churches to Survive COVID-19? Almost two-thirds of the churches overall (63 percent) said that “finances were not a major concern” during the pandemic. Smaller churches were more likely not to feel a financial crunch than larger churches. About three-fourths (73 percent) of small and very small churches said finances were not a major concern, but only one-third (33 percent) of megachurches reported the same. Fifty-eight percent of the churches in our study were debt-free. Unsurprisingly, these debt-free churches were more likely to report that finances were not a major concern than churches with debt (76 percent compared to 51 percent, respectively). An average of 56 percent of the megachurches and emerging megachurches said it was “tight financially” compared with only 25 percent of small and very small churches and 36 percent of large and medium churches. Only 22 percent of debt-free churches said finances were tight, while almost half of the churches with debt (46 percent) said it was tight financially. Only 7 percent of churches surveyed said they canceled or delayed budgeted expenses during the shutdown period. By comparison, an April State of the Plate (www.stateoftheplate.info) national survey of many denominations—mostly Protestant—found 40 percent of churches had postponed spending on projects or purchases. Again, larger churches were more likely to have canceled or delayed budgeted items. Of the churches we surveyed, emerging megachurches were the most likely to report cutting or postponing expenses and medium and small churches were the least likely (15 percent versus 3 percent, respectively). In our survey, two very small churches said they might have to close due to the effects of the pandemic, while one emerging megachurch and one large church said they had to make major cuts (such as staff pay cuts or layoffs) because of COVID-19.
A total of
334 39
church leaders from
states responded, providing a balanced cross-section of all-sized churches from various locations.
Growing up in Ohio, snow days and church cancellations were a common occurrence. My experience was that church giving suffered when churches closed for weather. So, I was eager to see how closing for a pandemic affected church giving. Church giving fared extremely well during the closures. Almost two-thirds of the churches overall (63 percent) reported that giving from March to May either met or exceeded their budgets. By comparison, the State of the Plate survey found the opposite to be true for churches. Their study revealed that 64 percent of churches had below-budget giving due to the pandemic. A May 13 Barna report showed more than one-third of pastors (37 percent) reported lower giving, while 38 percent said giving remained the same and one-quarter (25 percent) confirmed an increase in weekly giving. The State of the Plate survey found that 30 percent of surveyed churches experienced giving that was 30 percent or more below budget. By comparison, only 4 percent of churches in Christian Standard’s survey saw offerings dip 30 percent or more. So, while the three surveys were snapshots taken at different times, the numbers seem to indicate that Christian churches fared better than the average Protestant church. The small churches in our study fared the best financially, with 73 percent of them either meeting or exceeding their budget during the initial phase of COVID-19; that compared with 56 percent for emerging megachurches and medium churches, which saw the lowest percentage in this category. Just over one-quarter (28 percent) of churches reported that giving during the closures was about even with their budget, while 20 percent said giving was 1 to 9 percent above budget, and 19 percent of churches said giving was 1 to 9 percent below budget.
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How Did Church Giving During the Quarantine Compare with Pre-COVID-19 Budgets?
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How Did Churches Respond? With no on-site services, churches had to find new or different ways to collect weekly offerings. Mailin giving and drop-off giving at the church were the top two new methods added by churches during COVID-19. Forty-one percent of the churches added mail-in giving (which included several churches providing their members with stamped envelopes to speed the process). Forty percent of churches encouraged their members to drop-off their weekly offerings, with some churches even installing special offering lockboxes outside their building. Online giving, however, was the real driver behind giving success at churches during the closures. Most churches noted they already had online giving in place prior to the pandemic, which made it easier for people to quickly transition from offering plate to online portal. Sixteen percent of the churches in our survey added online giving after the pandemic started. (This was the same percentage LifeWay reported.) Several churches created instructional videos to help their congregation understand how to set-up online giving accounts. Churches that saw their giving decline during March–May noted that in many cases a good percentage of older adults were leery or unwilling to give online. In some cases, the churches said their folks made up for their missed giving once the church regathered for in-person services. I am curious to see the long-lasting, positive benefits of increased online giving during the pandemic. After all, online giving helps to ensure a church has a steady flow of funds that is not reliant upon someone being in the church building to give. Almost half (45 percent) of churches said they mentioned the church's financial needs more often during the closures to encourage people to keep giving and to give more to help meet special benevolent needs in the community. A slightly smaller number (38 percent) said they anticipated continuing to talk more about financial needs during the months of June to August. Many churches noted an increased level of communication with their congregations during the
closures. Churches sent more emails and letters, posted more social media videos and content, and used Zoom calls to encourage giving, as well. Several churches even called every member on the phone. A few churches created video stories sharing how their giving and generosity were impacting folks in the community. During the closures, numerous churches (41 percent) cultivated new and additional givers, while more than half (51 percent) anticipate cultivating more new givers in the months to come. The government provided a financial outlet for many churches to seek help with their finances during the pandemic through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the CARES Act. Overall, 61 percent of the churches in our June survey received PPP funds. Our churches were more likely to receive PPP funds than churches included in either the April State of the Plate survey (35 percent) or an April LifeWay survey (40 percent). Among the churches we surveyed, 2 percent applied for funds but did not receive any, while 37 percent did not apply for PPP funds. The larger the church, the more likely it was to receive PPP funds; 95 percent of megachurches received PPP funds compared with only 16 percent of very small churches. Among the rest—emerging megachurches, large and medium churches—73 percent received PPP funds. Churches with debt were more than twice as likely to receive PPP funds than debt-free churches; comparatively, it was 76 percent to 31 percent. From March to May, 15 percent of the churches tapped into some of their cash reserves to help survive the shutdown, while 1 percent used all their cash reserves and 3 percent accessed a line of credit and used borrowed money. Similarly, 17 percent of churches anticipated using some of their cash reserves from June to August. Megachurches were the most likely to report plans to use some cash reserves (29 percent), while very small churches were the least likely (10 percent).
The May Barna report found that despite the array of challenges COVID-19 has presented, the vast majority of pastors (95 percent) were certain their churches would survive the pandemic. (Of that 95 percent figure, 67 percent of pastors were “very confident” and 28 percent “confident”). Just 4 percent were “unsure,” and 1 percent was “not very confident” about their church’s survival rate. The Christian churches in our survey echoed the same optimism about the future financial health of the church for the remainder of the year. Overall, 83 percent of the churches surveyed said they were optimistic for their financial future. Fifteen percent said they were uncertain about their financial health for the remainder of the year and only 1 percent reported being pessimistic.
Kent E. Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting, Indianapolis, Indiana, and regional vice president (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan) with Christian Financial Resources.
/3strandsconsulting 3strandsconsulting.com
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How Do Churches Feel about Their Financial Future?
Urban, Suburban, and Rural Church Leaders Share Their Experiences by chris moon
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“There’s a lot of things you face like that out here in rural Missouri,” said Rick Mosher, minister at Licking Christian Church. For other churches, particularly in urban areas, it sometimes is hard to see how or when ministry life will return to normal. Rates of infection are much higher, and local restrictions on gatherings have been slower to ease.
no two churches are the same,
even in how they have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, the virus has left a mark on Restoration Movement congregations and pastors across the country. For some churches and pastors, especially in rural, conservative areas of the country, the pandemic seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. The major difficulty was figuring out how to get the internet to cooperate during a brief closure.
Near downtown Cincinnati, Echo Church decided by June it would not even attempt to formally regather as a congregation until after Labor Day—a full three months after a lot of churches in other parts of the country began to assemble again. “A lot of [the congregation] were not comfortable to return yet,” said lead minister Kelly Carr. Christian Standard talked to church leaders from across the spectrum—from big cities to suburbia to small towns—and heard various stories about the impact of COVID-19. Pastors had to find their own, unique ways to respond to the virus as their congregations coped with a strange new normal.
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Trying Times “Being in California, being in LA County, I guess there is more of a heightened sense of fear and concern among people because that’s just what you hear,” said Guy Fox, lead pastor of Diamond Canyon Christian Church. California’s governor and the mayor of Los Angeles made frequent headlines—locally and nationally—in their response to the virus.
Not seeing people was one of the toughest things for Fox. And even when he saw people, it was from a distance. But there’s been a silver lining. The church discovered it was over reliant on its Sunday service to drive engagement. The church has begun looking for other ways to plug people into the life of the church. “I think, in a way, that was a good wake-up call,” Fox said.
Fox’s church had been planning an online campus. The pandemic put those plans on the fast track, and by summer the church made the move to hire an online pastor. The church resumed in-person services in June. Fox had heard only 15 to 40 percent of a congregation typically returns at first. He thought his church of 500 people would break that mold. It didn’t. “We started right at 30 percent,” he said. It’s indicative of the difficulties pastors have in managing the pandemic. “It’s been very trying,” Fox said. “You secondguess yourself a lot. This is something no one has been through. There’s no model. There’s no history. I’ve prayed more for wisdom than I ever have before.”
Daily Connectivity On the opposite end of the country, Steve Brooke wanted to make sure he didn’t lose connection with his new congregation, Legacy Christian Church, which sits between Tampa and Orlando. He started as pastor with the church in December, and the congregation had been in a season of growth—with attendance approaching 400— when the pandemic struck. Brooke remembers asking, “Lord, what in the world are you doing?” When in-person services were shuttered, he committed to “meeting” with his church daily on Facebook Live. The daily gathering at 9:01 a.m.— a nod to the church’s address at 901 West Beacon
Guy Fox diamond canyon christian church
Steve brooke legacy christian church
Brooke said all of a sudden he wasn’t just offering a Sunday message but a daily one. “No joke, not only our church family tuned in, but then people from around the state, around the country, and even around the world started listening in,” he said. Those messages came alongside the church’s livestream on Sundays. And his “901Pray” gatherings continued even after the church resumed meeting in person—first through drive-in services and then in the building.
In an urban part of the midsized city of Fort Smith, Arkansas—the heart of the Bible Belt— lead pastor Tim Beasley said Central Christian Church’s attendance had just crossed the 500 mark when COVID-19 closures hit. During the lockdown, the church began livestreaming its service, and “we’ve discovered we had a new venue [online] that we didn’t know existed,” Beasley said. Beasley said his father, who passed away in April, attended church essentially for the first time during the final weeks of his life—totally online.
Brooke said the heavy emphasis on maintaining a daily online connection paid off with the congregation
Central Christian Church returned to in-person services in June, but only about 25 percent of the 500-person congregation showed up.
“It was a big eye-opening thing with them,” he said. “It was a thing to do when the world around them was crazy. It was that one thing during the day that really helped ground them.”
Reactions to the pandemic have been mixed. Beasley said a 93-year-old man attends every service—and typically removes his facemask by the third worship song. No one bothers him about it.
Brooke said Legacy continues to be showered with blessings—despite the pandemic. “God has provided unique opportunities that we may not have had otherwise, or maybe we would have tried too hard at manufacturing otherwise.”
“I think our folks are ready to get back to life as normal,” he said. But it is not unanimous. Beasley said he received an email expressing concern after photos from a youth event circulated on social media showing students who didn’t appear to be social distancing. Beasley is concerned about whether the church has lost ground. Would 500 people return to the Sunday morning services if the virus suddenly disappeared? “If there’s any angst, it still hasn’t landed yet,” Beasley said. “I think time will tell. Will we ever be back where we were, or will we be starting from scratch?”
tim Beasley central christian church
OCTOBER 2020
No Angst . . . Yet
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Road—featured streamed video messages based on a Scripture passage. Some of those messages reached 45 minutes in length.
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Kelly carr echo church
‘The Church Is Their Family’ Some urban ministries aren’t yet wondering when things will get back to normal. They’re still puzzling over when they’ll resume in-person worship. Echo Church—about a mile from downtown Cincinnati—got a lot more pastoral during the pandemic closures. In that way, the dispersed nature of the church played to Kelly Carr’s strengths. “The pastoral side of ministry is definitely my strong suit and passion,” said Carr. “That’s what we’ve had to lean in on.” Her church is a young one, comprised mostly of millennials with young families. Regular phone calls have afforded the opportunity for some deeper conversations with congregants than time ordinarily would have allowed. Carr’s next step is to make the call about when to resume services. “We have to be aware of what the trends are to know what’s safe and what to decide for our congregation.” Like so many churches, Echo has taken its services online. The close-knit, 60-person church has embraced the technology. The idea of gathering again in the large, old Methodist church building the congregation rents has been slow to catch on. “We still have a contingent of people who don’t feel comfortable gathering there,” Carr said. The church instead established three regular backyard church meetings for members to attend. But even these are carefully managed. Nearly everyone in the congregation knows someone who has been infected with the virus, although the church itself has remained healthy, Carr said. Efforts to be safe do come with costs. Church members miss seeing one another. “A lot of people in our church are not from Cincinnati,” Carr said. “The church is their family.”
Getting Back to Normal Church life is different away from the city. Licking, Missouri, population 1,500 or so, didn’t see its first case of COVID-19 until June. “No one in town really seems upset about it,” said Rick Mosher, pastor of the 100-member Licking Christian Church. The church stopped meeting in person for about six weeks, only because the governor temporarily put an end to such gatherings. The local government issued no shutdown orders for churches. “We’re in a very conservative, rural county,” Mosher said. “We’re in a part of the country where half the people still think it’s fake. I’m not exaggerating. We have people around here who make Fox News look liberal.” Mosher said the church learned during the pandemic how to stream its services online, but only after upgrading its internet service. Rural internet can be spotty. The church also added online giving as an option. So there have been some silver linings to the pandemic, Mosher said. But like many pastors, Mosher found himself at a bit of a loss during the closures. There was no bulletin to print each week and no Sunday school lesson to prepare.
Rick Mosher Licking christian church
andy bratton kalkaska church of christ
People weren’t moving around as much. The church even went six weeks between board meetings—a rarity. “In some ways, it was a little extra time off. In some ways it was a little depressing,” Mosher said. “It’s hard to describe. It was different.” When the church did reopen, it switched services to its gymnasium so families could sit six feet apart. The only person who wasn’t happy with the arrangement believed the church should have been meeting in the sanctuary instead. “I don’t really think it’s going to have a long-term negative effect on church attendance,” Mosher said.
An Odd Season
ings again,” he said. “People aren’t going to feel comfortable.” His community isn’t homogenous in its feelings toward the virus. Some days, Bratton walks into a store and sees no one wearing masks. On other days, everyone is wearing them. Bratton, in his fifth year leading the church, had always felt obligated to attend everything the church had going on. His calendar has eased considerably. Bratton is spending more time on the phone with those in the congregation, and the conversations can go deeper than in the past. “I personally probably thrive better one on one,” he said.
Not all small towns are the same, of course.
And there has been a more difficult adjustment.
In Kalkaska, Michigan, Andy Bratton said he expects plenty of time to pass before any sort of normalcy returns. The minister at Kalkaska Church of Christ—a 400-member congregation in a town of 2,000—said his church returned to in-person services in mid-June.
“The hardest part for me has been preaching to a computer monitor or preaching to a very small crowd. It’s not that they’re a small crowd . . . they’re spread out over our worship center.”
Only 140 people showed up. Bratton said he doesn’t expect attendance to bounce back until next year. “Until there’s a vaccination, I think people are going to be a little leery about being in gather-
And yet, Bratton recognizes times inevitably will change. “Every season in ministry is just odd,” he said.
Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colorado.
the wa i t i ng pl a ce WHAT DOES CHURCH LOOK LIKE WHEN YOUR DOORS ARE CLOSED? by j u s t i n horey
Trying to summarize how churches are resuming in-person worship after the 2020 quarantine feels a bit like a tribute to Dr. Seuss: Some are meeting, some are not. Some are indoors, some are out. But while reopening plans vary across a wide spectrum, churches that have decided to postpone in-person worship, even as local municipalities began to lift restrictions, have much in common. Most of them are large, with attendance of 1,000 or more. Many of them minister in cities with left-leaning political ideologies. And all churches—regardless of their reopening plans—are eager to minister face-to-face again. Despite their desire to meet, these three congregations have decided to wait.
CONTINUE THIS STORY ON PAGE 34
the c ha l l eng e WHAT DO IN-PERSON SERVICES LOOK LIKE UPON REOPENING? by j u s t i n horey
In Manhattan, Kansas—“The Little Apple”—a church of about 1,000 regular attendees has resumed in-person worship with no serious complications. Though the average Sunday attendance is lower than its pre-COVID-19 norm, Crestview Christian Church has found reopening to be a blessing. Elsewhere, three other churches found that resuming inperson worship wasn’t so simple. One church reopened successfully but the state forced it to “reclose,” another church opened partially, and the other reopened but then closed again after a church employee tested positive for the virus. These are their stories.
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communi t y c hri s t i a n c hu rc h NOTTINGHAM, MARYLAND
Community Christian Church had been streaming its 11 a.m. Sunday service prior to the shutdown in March, but senior minister David Robinson and the leadership team quickly realized the church’s existing online experience needed to change during the COVID-19 quarantine. Previously, Community’s livestream included just the Sunday sermon, without any worship music. The church quickly added worship to its online services this spring, along with Communion and an online host to interact with participants in a live chat. Still, Robinson said the services lacked a fun quotient—something of a hallmark on Sunday mornings at Community Christian.
“It isn’t a religious freedom thing here in Maryland,” Robinson said. As a result, Community Christian has not faced a lot of pressure to reopen. The church’s leaders still prayerfully considered the decision and consulted with other churches. “From the beginning of this pandemic, we sought out a ton of counsel.” The church also surveyed the congregation about the possibility of reopening, and the results were split almost evenly between the four options presented.
“ Fr o m t h e “[At first] it didn’t feel right to So far, Community Christian have fun with a livestream,” has chosen not to resume inb eg i n n i n g of Robinson recalled. But one person services—but not just Sunday morning, at the end of for the reasons above. Perhaps thi s p a n d em i c , his sermon, Robinson crummost significantly, the church’s we so u g h t o u t a leaders believed that social disbled up the last page of his notes and playfully threw the tancing and other restrictions to n of co u n sel . ” paper ball at the camera. That on gathering in Maryland would week, he heard from numerous have meant that in-person serchurch members who loved that lighthearted vices just wouldn’t be the same as before the shutmoment, and a tradition was born. Now, the down. church regularly looks for ways to make the online services playful. Most livestreams also Attendance at Community typically averend with custom animation drawn by an artist ages about 1,000. Based on reports from other from within the congregation. churches of similar size, the church expected a fraction of those attendees to attend if on-site When other states began relaxing restrictions services resumed this summer. on restaurants, churches, and public gatherings in May and June, Maryland was slow “My understanding is the larger the church, the to change its guidelines, and the residents— lower the percentage of people who resume atincluding churchgoers—generally didn’t push tending in-person services after the COVID shutfor change. down,” Robinson said. CONTINUE TO PAGE 36
MANHATTAN, KANSAS
After a 12-week shutdown, Crestview Christian Church resumed in-person worship on June 14. The congregation plans to keep offering on-site services of some type no matter how infection rates or government regulations in Kansas might change. Lead pastor Devin Wendt said, “I don’t see us ever closing again. Our goal is to stay open, even if we have to limit size.” Wendt’s attitude is not one of defiance. Rather, he said Crestview has sought to “honor and respect the local government authorities” since the beginning of the pandemic. The church is still committed to doing so, but Wendt believes Crestview will continue to offer live services of some kind—even if that means reducing capacity in the building and adding services. Like most other churches in the country, Crestview stopped offering in-person services in March. Wendt said he and the other leaders in the congregation felt it was “the safest thing to do at the time.” But as the Riley County Health Department began easing restrictions for public gatherings, Crestview was able to communicate directly with county health officials about its plans to reopen. Together, the church and local officials agreed on a plan for Crestview to resume services with limited capacity. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Wendt was already part of a large, interdenominational group of Manhattan church leaders who met regularly for prayer. The roughly 20 churches in that group discussed their reopening plans with one another and worked out similar—but not identical—strategies and methods for inperson gatherings. As of this writing, all but one of the churches in the group have reopened
without interruption. (One large church in the area reverted to online-only worship for two weeks but has since resumed in-person Sunday services.) Crestview is strongly encouraging people to wear face coverings when they enter the building and when they walk around the facility, but not when they’re seated. Wendt estimated that 95 percent of the attendees are complying. Of course, some on both sides of the mask debate are displeased with the church’s policy, but, Wendt said—now more than ever—“we have to live in the tension of truth and grace.” Attendance at Crestview is down from prior summers—averaging about 40 percent of typical summer attendance most weeks—but the church is still offering a livestream for attendees who prefer to stay home. On-site, Wendt noted that the church is welcoming a surprising number of visitors. Roughly 10 percent of the worshippers on the first week after the shutdown were first-timers. Crestview has not been immune to complications. A minor COVID-19 outbreak around the Fourth of July holiday significantly reduced attendance, and the pandemic also forced the church to suspend work on the construction of its new worship center for three months. Sunday attendance has rebounded since Independence Day, and the building project is underway again—though the grand opening is now tentatively slated for early 2021.
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Ultimately, the largest single factor in Community’s decision was not the quality or the numbers—but evangelism. Since its beginning in 2006, Community Christian has focused on reaching people who weren’t part of any church. Right now, the church is actually reaching its unchurched neighbors more effectively than ever before!
“What’s happening in Maryland,” and “What’s the feeling at the church?” Community Christian Church has not banned in-person meetings altogether, though Sunday services are all online.
U l ti m a tel y ,
“I personally have friends that I’ve been inviting to church for years and they wouldn’t show up—but they’ve watched the online service,” Robinson said.
the l a r g est
When local schools reopen their campuses for in-person classes, restaurants remove the strict regulations for indoor dining, and indoor and outdoor sporting events are taking place in Maryland, then, Robinson said, Community Christian may resume in-person worship on Sundays. But Robinson holds that plan, and all others, very loosely right now. “If people start clamoring, that may change,” he said.
the q u a l i t y o r
s i ngl e fa cto r i n Com m u n i t y ’s d e c i si o n wa s n o t the n u m ber s— b ut eva n g el i sm . Ri g h t n ow, the c h u r c h i s a c tu a l l y r ea c h i n g i ts u n ch u r c h ed ne i gh bo r s m o r e ef fec t i vel y t h a n eve r befo r e!
Robinson said the church’s decision on when to reopen will be based largely on local and regional factors. He said the Community team has been considering desires and expectations of those around them throughout the pandemic; they have asked themselves questions like, CONTINUE TO PAGE 38
“We are encouraging people to meet in small groups with social distancing,” Robinson said. The church has encouraged people to host socially distanced “watch parties” on Sundays, and the congregation has offered drive-through food drives through its food pantry. Instead of the usual summer baptism party—which normally includes face-painting, food trucks, and other fun stuff— Community held a modified outdoor baptism service on the church campus, which allowed people to watch and celebrate. Robinson said nearly everyone wore a mask.
GROVER BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Grover Beach is a popular tourist destination on California’s central coast. Though the city has had very few cases of COVID-19, Oak Park Christian Church switched its Sunday services online in March. On Easter and Mother’s Day, the church offered drive-in services. With local case counts still low, and after conducting Gloo’s “Returning to Church” survey with the congregation, Oak Park’s leaders decided to reopen on Sunday, June 5.
Oak Park Christian wasn’t the only church in the area to reopen. Almost all of the smaller churches in the county resumed in-person worship, though a few congregations of 1,000 or more remained limited to online services. Then, on July 19, all churches in the county were ordered to stop gathering by the governor’s office.
The reopening at Oak Some seniors in the Park had gone smoothly, Mos t v i si to r s church said they needed but California’s posimore time to feel safe tive cases increased sighi s to r i ca l l y h ave before returning, but a nificantly during July. b e e n o n e- t i m e substantial majority— Even before the state anroughly 60 percent of the nouncement that churchg ue st s co m i n g to congregation—returned es in counties on the wor sh i p wh i l e o n for worship after the “watch list” had to stop shutdown. Senior pasgathering, Gunderson va ca t i o n . Af ter tor Mike Gunderson said had said, “I think this is the church took several going to be a drawn-out the s h u td ow n , measures to protect atthing.” He was correct. Gund er so n n o t i ced tendees on Sundays: only As of this writing, Oak one quarter of the usual Park is planning to offer tha t m o st v i si to r s seating capacity was online worship excluavailable, all handouts sively through the end of we r e l o ca l s. (including Communion) August. Beyond that, neiwere placed at each seat ther Gunderson nor the prior to each service, and the church encourchurch have announced any plans. aged (but did not require) face coverings. Thankfully for the people of Oak Park, the What’s more, Gunderson reported the church church is working to equip everyone in the was welcoming a larger-than-normal number congregation “to feed themselves spiritually of visitors when it reopened. At Oak Park, most and lead their families” with resources, vidvisitors historically have been one-time guests eos, and even old-fashioned phone campaigns coming to worship while on vacation. After the to keep people connected. shutdown, Gunderson noticed that most visitors were locals. CONTINUE TO PAGE 39
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bow valley c hr i s t i a n c hu rc h CALGARY, ALBERTA
Bow Valley Christian Church is one of the largest Christian churches in Canada, and like most congregations in that country, it stopped gathering for in-person worship services in March. “All of us really want to get back together,” lead pastor Steve McMillan said, but as of this writing the church had no plans to resume its oncampus services.
“There is a very real physical danger” of being together, he said. Paradoxically, he concluded, “We can love our neighbors by not gathering.” Prior to the pandemic, Bow Valley was “fairly well set up for streaming,” so the church has not faced serious technical challenges. In fact, while acknowledging that attendance “is super hard to measure” because there’s no way to know how many people an online “view” truly represents, McMillan believes the church’s ministry is effective right now. Bow Valley’s livestream allows it to connect with people the church has never reached before; McMillan called the online audience “a pre-evangelistic mission field.”
The Canadian government, the province of Alberta, and the city of Calgary have all strongly encouraged churches to delay reopening. Authorities are not enforcing limits on religious gatherings, but they have issued what McMillan called “strict and detailed” guidelines. Calgary was in Phase 2 of its Of course, after months of reopening plan and some local online ministry, Bow Valley We ca n l ove o u r congregations had chosen to reChristian Church is offering sume in-person meetings at the much more than Sunday worne i g h bo r s by time of his interview, but Mcship services on the web. The Millan said churches had been church hosts prayer times on no t g a t h er i n g . issued 12 pages of instructions Facebook and shares brief worfor possible gatherings. There ship videos with its social meis currently no capacity limit dia followers. The youth profor places of worship in Phase 2, but the 2-meter gram has had “great success on Zoom”—setting distance requirement remains. McMillan sumall-time records for attendance—and most of marized the guidance by saying, “If you can avoid the church’s community groups have embraced meeting, don’t meet.” digital ways of connecting. Bow Valley even launched more online groups for new attendees this summer. McMillan and Bow Valley Christian believed it was “most honoring of the government and health experts” to stop meeting back in March, McMillan said the congregation is tentatively and they feel it is still “permissible but not benplanning a soft launch in September, but neieficial” today. Furthermore, McMillan said the ther he, the church, nor his city are in any decision to forgo gathering sends a positive meshurry. He said, “We do have the support of the sage to Bow Valley’s non-Christian neighbors congregation.” that the church is genuinely concerned about their health and well-being. CONTINUE TO PAGE 40
BELOIT, WISCONSIN
Central Christian Church had been working on what executive pastor Erik Henry called “a better online experience” for months before the coronavirus pandemic began. The church planned to launch its new and improved online experience for Easter 2020, but COVID-19 accelerated those plans.
Still, despite average attendance numbers less than half of the usual, Central decided to continue with outdoor worship. After one month, attendance at the main campus had dropped to just 10 percent of the usual number. “We’re still figuring this out,” Henry admitted.
Henry said the church created “a makeshift Rather than continuing with the same style of online service” in March when the shutSunday service at all three campuses, Central down began, but quickly decided to offer an outchanged the format of its door service at its main Sunday worship to more campus just once a month. One t h i n g we d i d actively engage the online The other two campuses congregation. It was wellplanned to keep meeting w r o n g wa s to tel l received by the church, weekly—but still outdoors. o ur p eo p l e “t h i s i s but only briefly. Government leaders in w hat we’r e d o i n g After Easter, leaders beWisconsin expect schools gan noticing a steady to reopen in September. fr o m n ow o n . ” decline in online attenIf that happens, Henry We sh o u l d h ave dance, and some in the said, Central may plan to congregation were eager resume indoor worship s a i d , “We’r e g o i n g to meet in person again, as well. Even so, he said to t r y t h i s. ” so Central offered an outthe church will expect to door “unity service”—one see smaller-than-normal at each of the church’s crowds on Sundays. Henthree campuses. The largest of these services ry also expects that Central’s plans for Sunday drew approximately 40 percent of the pregatherings will be subject to change for the COVID average. The other campuses attracted foreseeable future. just 35 percent and 25 percent of the normal attendees. “One thing we did wrong,” he mused, “was to tell our people ‘this is what we’re doing from Henry has observed a similar trend with other now on.’ We should have said, ‘We’re going to churches. try this.’” “The smaller the congregation, the better the regathering will be because there’s a larger relational draw,” Henry said. CONTINUE TO PAGE 41
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christ’ s c hu rc h of f l a g s t a f f ARIZONA
Flagstaff, Arizona, is a college town. It’s also home to a large regional hospital, and it is located not far from the 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation. Based on those considerations, pastor Chris Reed said, “It makes sense to not put people in jeopardy” by meeting in person. The Flagstaff Medical Center has treated COVID-19 victims from all over Northern Arizona during the pandemic, and a number of local healthcare workers attend Christ’s Church of Flagstaff. Reed and the team at Christ’s Church “didn’t want to create more demand for medical services” by reopening too soon and contributing to the outbreak. Sadly, the Navajo Nation “has been hit hard by COVID,” Reed said, and many Native Americans are part of Christ’s Church. In light of the outbreak on the reservation, the church felt it was best not to risk additional exposure for its Native American members. After more than four months of streaming its Sunday services, Christ’s Church had planned to resume in-person worship on July 12, but a surge of new cases of coronavirus in the weeks leading up to that date persuaded the church’s leaders to postpone the reopening. At the time of this writing, local schools are not planning to meet until at least October. Rather than setting a date for on-campus worship, Reed said Christ’s church is going to “wait and see” about reopening. The congregation is “taking it a month at a time right now,” Reed said. As of midsummer, the church had taken its first small step toward inperson services by allowing staff and elders to attend the live broadcast of the Sunday service.
During this time, Reed and the other leaders at Christ’s Church have been asking themselves, “What do the people really want from an online experience?” Assuming that non-Christians don’t want to watch a “regular” church service on the internet, the church’s online services have been more conversational than on typical Sunday mornings, with two pastors sharing a message instead of a traditional sermon. Those leaders are also asking themselves, “What can we give our people that they can share with people in their lives?” In addition to the Sunday service, Christ’s Church has continued to focus on offering relevant ministry for children and youth. Reed described the church’s current children’s ministry as a “parents ministry,” with a focus on empowering parents to teach the lessons their kids would be learning on Sundays. Once a month, the church also sends a package to every child in the congregation so they know someone cares and is praying for them. Reed believes these changes are important now and for the future, because he expects that Sunday services won’t include children’s programming when they first resume. It’s not easy ministering to more than 1,000 regular attendees without seeing them face-to-face. Reed said, “We’re all tired of it and want to get back to normal, but that’s not going to happen.” He expects the church to “come back slowly, when we do,” but he doesn’t yet know when that will be. In the meantime, Christ’s Church is focusing on new and creative ways to fulfill its mission of “helping one another follow Jesus so that we can experience life as it was meant to be.”
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APOPKA , FLORIDA
Journey Christian Church was one of the first megachurches in Central Florida to resume oncampus Sunday services. After the initial shutdown, Journey offered in-person worship on May 30 and 31. Senior pastor John Hampton said, “We looked at the best information available to us at the time”—both from local health officials and a congregational survey that showed overwhelming support for the decision. Initial attendance numbers at Journey’s two campuses were much smaller than the survey results had indicated. Just 30 percent of the congregation returned for inperson worship that first weekend. By week three, the number had dropped significantly. After three weeks of inperson worship, a staff member at Journey tested positive for coronavirus.
who contracted the virus. (That individual is young and was recovering at the time of this writing.) Having lived through a shutdown and a temporary reopening, Hampton said he and Journey’s leaders have learned a lot. “I’m really grateful for both experiences,” he said.
H avi n g l i ved thr o u g h a sh u td ow n a nd a tem p o ra r y r e open i n g , H a m p to n sa i d he a n d J o u r n ey ’s l e a d er s h ave l e a r n ed a l o t .
“As soon as the state pulled back the restrictions and stay-at-home requirements, cases in Florida went crazy,” Hampton said. Indeed, the outbreak in Florida became national news. At Journey, there was no outbreak— just a single reported case—because the church immediately “re-suspended” its in-person worship. Hampton said the church is not aware of anyone being infected by the church staffer
Back in May, Hampton recalled, church leaders expected cases to continue dropping. They hoped to use the summer months to “establish a new rhythm” of Sunday services so the congregation could adjust to changes like face coverings and required physical distancing before school resumed in the fall.
Now Hampton is reluctant to offer specific plans for the future. At Journey Christian, the uncertainty about inperson worship hasn’t gone away. The staff and congregation are looking forward to the day when they can worship together, face-to-face, but church leaders have not committed to a particular date. In fact, Hampton admitted in midsummer, “It feels as uncertain now as it did in mid-May.”
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keep i ng a l l u nd er a ‘ banner of g ra ce’ For larger churches in the United States and Canada, the desire to resume in-person weekend services has been tempered by many other factors—from concerns about spreading the coronavirus to large groups, to simply not wanting to open and then close again. (As Steve McMillan said, “We can’t go back.”) Thankfully, those churches of 1,000 or more typically have the resources and technical ability to offer quality ministry online, both on Sundays and throughout the week. One thing they all have in common is what David Robinson called “a banner of grace”—acknowledging that while they’re doing what they believe is best for their congregations and their cities, not one of them is criticizing another church for opening sooner or more fully.
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uncer t a i nt y a nd un d er s t a nd i ng While churches all want to meet in person, many are facing significant challenges as they move toward “normal” Sunday services. Most are reporting attendance far below their preCOVID-19 averages—some as low as 10 percent. Still, many congregations are committed to meeting together even if those meetings are different or less frequent than they have been in the past. As the pandemic enters the summer and fall months, church leaders and members alike are learning to live with uncertainty and extend grace when plans change with little notice. As is often the case in times of crisis, they are seeking to do as Jesus taught: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
Justin Horey is a writer, musician, and the founder of Livingstone Marketing. He lives in Southern California.
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5 BIG SHIFTS What Will the Church Look Like Post-COVID-19? BY RANDY FRAZEE
Before I share my perspective on what the church will look like after the coronavirus, let me offer a couple of disclaimers. First, I missed the “Pastoring through Pandemics” class in seminary. Who would have thought we would ever need that? Second, I do not claim to be a prophet. (As a matter of fact, I lead a non-“prophet” organization.) And besides, if I were a prophet, I would have bought more toilet paper! The coronavirus has created the single greatest disruptive inflection point for American society in our lifetime. It has called us to a critical pivot in the way we do ministry, not to mention the way all people do life. Churches that didn’t pivot early on most likely lost serious momentum. It is important we not allow our churches to follow the example of the taxi industry over the last decade or so. When Uber entered the market in 2009 and 200,000 Uber drivers were deployed overnight, the taxi industry did not see it coming . . . it was totally unprepared to respond. Uber disrupted the industry . . . forever. As of 2019 there were 3.9 million Uber drivers. Likewise, COVID-19 has
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been disruptive to the church. The sheer length of time people from around the world have experienced life without “building-centric” church will definitely cement certain new behaviors into our culture. The church doesn’t want to go the way of taxis. Whatever seismic shifts have taken place because of the virus, our reactions will need to be customized to our context. Keep that in mind as you read these predictions . . . these five big shifts I see occurring as a result of the coronavirus.
MONO >> MEGA >> MULTI >> MULTI/MICRO The history of the American church started with the “mono-site”—a single church in a community. With the rise of suburbia and mega malls, we shifted from “mom and pop” neighborhood churches to “mega-sites” along freeways. In 1990 came the birth of the multisite church—“one church in multiple locations.” With the rise, speed, and cost-efficiency of technology and now COVID-19, we are entering the era of the “micro-site.”
If we can reach hundreds and thousands of people through the front door of the church building, we can reach out to tens of thousands—perhaps even hundreds of thousands—by utilizing the screens of modern technology. The vision is that people will gather in smaller groups, called “micro-sites,” to watch services online and then mobilize to “be the church” right where they are.
Many of us have already morphed from one church building to multiple church buildings in many locations. A post-coronavirus paradigm calls us from “one church in many locations to one church in thousands of locations.” Many of us were compelled to use this phrase when the virus broke and in one week churches shifted everything to online. Now, it’s time we view this as possibly our greatest opportunity. As soon as we put a TV in our first multisite location and people showed up, we knew this day was coming. And here it is!
These new sites will meet in homes (meaning real estate the church does not build, purchase, or maintain). Jesus’ idea of “love your neighbor” becomes much more effective and tangible in homes filled with neighbors. In these smaller settings, those who gather enjoy a richer connection with each other, and spiritual conversations go much deeper than they can in a few short minutes in the church lobby after a service. Those who live together in a neighborhood will have frequent and spontaneous interactions that create more connectedness, not only with each other, but also with unchurched neighbors. This paradigm is the petri dish for relational evangelism.
Remember, buildings and screens are just tools to accomplish the mission. Here’s my hunch: The front door of the church building lacks the potential of the church’s “screen” door.
I anticipate as we move forward—possibly in the near future—large, live gatherings of churches will occur less frequently . . . perhaps only monthly or quarterly.
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LIVE SERVICES + ONLINE >> ONLINE + LIVE SERVICES On February 3, Barna released a State of the Church Report that ranked “online church” as the last concern of church leaders. Within a month, the coronavirus caused nearly every church to close their doors, forcing them online. Suddenly, church leaders everywhere were asking, “What does digital ministry look like?” It is more than just adding an online presence. This major change represents the second big shift. We need to move from live services with an online experience to online services with a live experience. The shift may seem subtle, but it isn’t. We have always bent our resources toward our largest audience. For years that has been a live worship service on Sunday that falls sometime between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Not any longer. For many churches during the heat of coronavirus closures, the online audience was much larger than the attendance they ever experienced in the building. For our church, the difference has been by a factor of 10. “Online” is now our largest audience with the greatest potential reach for the future. The new priority will be to create our services with the online audience as our primary target rather than as an add-on. Many approaches will attempt to take advantage of this shift. The leaders at the church I serve are preparing our online service two weeks in advance to allow time for the team to insert interactive and engaging elements in the service. The online viewer is not looking in from the outside any longer. The service is now being designed for them. The sermon is about 15 minutes. The overall service is around 45 minutes. The lengths of both of these seem to be what engages the online audience best. We are watching and adjusting as we observe the trends.
For our in-person attendees, we provide live worship with live teaching on the same topic the online audience receives. However, I see a day soon where the teaching component will be video-based even in the live, building-centric service. This model has been proven over the last 30 years by use of the multisite video venue experiment. People have shown they are more than willing to receive content via a screen, if it is done well. Over the last five years, many churches have begun using an “At the Movies” series with teaching segments embedded into the movie. There is no live teaching. Many churches have reported this series as their best attended Sundays next to Easter. As one who teaches live four times on Sunday, this is a welcomed shift.
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The primary metrics we have used in church since I started full-time pastoral ministry 30 years ago have been the ABCs: Attendance, Buildings, Cash. These will no longer be sufficient drivers in our new normal. I see the shift bending toward the DEFs: Dollars, Engagement, Formation.
We still will need financial resources to provide spiritual goods and services to people, so “Cash/ Dollars” remains an essential measure for the church. Engagement is the first newcomer. Passive consumers in the seats will not be an adequate or even a helpful measure moving forward. We all know the total number of views can be deceiving, because many viewers may join in for less than 60 seconds. In this new normal, we must look at how long worshippers stay with us. Fortunately, technology provides this information. We must also measure what action people take. That means our preaching and services must provide a tangible call to action and next steps for people. Again, technology can easily track this. This leads to another newcomer in our triad of essential metrics moving forward: Formation. Are people growing in their journey to become more like Jesus? Online ministry must go beyond a Sunday service to include (1) spiritual assessments to help a person discover where they are currently and (2) customizable growth tracks to take them where they need to go. With this change, church moves from a once-a-week experience (on a good week) to a seven-day-a-week relationship. Additionally, I consider the number of people involved in missional small groups—whether they come to your building for worship services or watch online—to be a better metric moving forward than mere weekend attendance. Until we start to count differently, we won’t act differently. Even as pastors, the “scorecard” drives our behavior. Outreach Magazine’s list of the 100 largest churches in the United States, as historically formulated, has become irrelevant overnight. Active, engaged, online members will be counted moving forward, not just “butts in seats” at the physical building.
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METRICS: ABC s >> DEF s
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BUDGETS: 90/ 10 >> 10/ 90 That leads me to church budgets, which (over time) likely will see a complete reversal, moving from 90/10 to 10/90. By that, I mean most churches use 90 percent of their cash to pay for staffing and buildings and “export” 10 percent for needs and ministries external to the church. That paradigm is likely to flip-flop, though probably not overnight. I project it will initially shift to be more of a 50-50 scenario—that is, 50 percent of giving used to fund church operations and 50 percent exported by and through the micro-sites.
" Until we start to count differently, we won’t act differently.
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Our children’s ministries will shift from a Sunday school model to more of a home school model. Children’s programming has been the major holdout in adoption of this new paradigm. Parents are overwhelmed and feel insecure when they consider bringing the high-energy, complicated, buildingcentric programs to the home. But during this pandemic, I believe the code has been cracked and there is momentum in the home school direction. Publishing houses and innovative organizations like Orange are providing highquality, effective, family-friendly resources to use in a home setting. Many parents experienced a little taste of it (perhaps reluctantly at first) and found it to be not only doable, but that it also provided a meaningful connection with their child.
ing. With parents in the driver’s seat, the experience moves from “herding” to Deuteronomy 6. The new curriculum will focus not just on content but also on tangible experiences that reinforce the content. The truth is, the best Sunday-morning children’s worker cannot match even an average parent who strives to impress upon their children biblical principles daily when they “sit at home, walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). I think this shift is most promising; it might even curb the tide of children who leave the church “out the back door” when they grow up.
Let’s be honest, our current building-based children’s programming involves lots of “herding.” When we consider the time it takes to check-in children, feed them, take them to the restroom, and sign them out, there isn’t much time for teach-
People ask me, “Do you think God caused this virus?” I tell them, “I don’t know, but one thing I am sure of: God will use it to expand the kingdom.” So, I encourage pastors and leaders everywhere, let’s go with it and see what God might be up to. Let’s make sure we are uber ready to take on the challenge of the new paradigm that is upon us. Randy Frazee is the lead pastor of Westside Family Church in Kansas City. He is the author of numerous books, including The Connecting Church 2.0 and Real Simplicity, which he co-authored with his wife, Rozanne. /RandyEFrazee @RandyFrazee @RandyFrazee randyfrazee.com
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SUNDAY SCHOOL >> HOME SCHOOL
rebuilding from the rubble what if God doesn't resto re his chu rch to 'bigger is better' ?
by Ki m H arris
OCTOBER 2020
As a church leader, I started to closely follow the health and community recommendations for mitigating the spread of coronavirus in early February, when cases were first diagnosed in the U.S. At that time, reports from countries already suffering serious effects from COVID-19 cited churches as environments particularly vulnerable to spreading the virus— places where cases clustered, resulting in church building closures. In March, our church’s executive team responded quickly to state guidance for limiting gatherings. Our church had offered online services for years, so switching to an exclusively online format was a relatively simple task. Less simple was everything that happened after that.
Our leadership listened attentively to conflicting predictions about how long we should expect to keep our services online only. Recommendations varied from “you can return to normal life in two weeks” to “don’t expect to meet again until 2021.” When states started implementing stay-at-home orders, the tone of our leadership conversation changed. The question was no longer “when do go back to normal?” but “what if there is no more normal?” Pastors and other church leaders all over the country engaged in this same conversation. How do we have church as we’ve always known it if people cannot or will not meet together? What about church camp? What about Christmas Eve specials? What about worship nights and fellowship dinners and women’s conferences? What if we offer all of these things—same as always—and no one comes? For our church, those conversations continued after we resumed in-person gatherings at the start of June with only about 30 percent of our regular physical church attendance. We met in person for six weeks before some of our locations had to suspend services again due to local COVID-19 outbreaks. Our leadership team read the blogs, listened to the podcasts, participated in the Zoom think tanks, and talked and talked and talked to one another about how to effectively pastor our people amid so much uncertainty.
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As I sat on the back deck on one of the cooler evenings in July, I compulsively picked up my phone for my routine post-dinner scroll through Twitter, my only connection to the world outside my COVID-19 bubble. I assumed my timeline would again be filled with petty debates about the efficacy of different mask fabrics, some sort of hashtag challenge designed to drown out the contentiousness in the world, or a friend from high school selling skin-care products. I expected to sigh after five minutes or so, set down my phone, and swear off social media for the 15th time since March. Four months into the coronavirus crisis in the United States, I was exhausted by the relentless noise of constant news updates, conflicting recommendations, and perpetual keyboard fights every time I looked at a screen.
@BethMooreLPM
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OCTOBER 2020
So, having been raised, most of us, to think bigger is better when it comes to kingdom work, & fruitfulness always looks like advancement, & growth can always be measured in size or numbers, what shall we do when we’re called by God to rebuild from rubble, but glory won’t = grandeur?
It was after one such day of talking and brainstorming about how to restore our church to what it had been just a few months earlier that I found myself on my deck, tiredly looking through Twitter when I came across this 10-tweet thread from Beth Moore (slightly edited).
As church leaders, we look at our empty church buildings, and our hearts echo the ache of Israel in Lamentations 1:1: “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” We mourn the empty baptisteries, quiet campgrounds, and the stillness in our sanctuaries. Every single metric we have used to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of our ministries has been destroyed and reduced to a mountain of rubble. In that rubble are alarming statistics about overall disengagement with church and faith practices of professing believers since the beginning of the pandemic. In their June “State of the Church 2020” report, Barna Group reported that 32 percent of previous churchgoers had not streamed a single service during the first three months of the pandemic. Among millennials, 50 percent said they had not watched an online service since in-person gatherings ceased. Beyond weekend services, the coronavirus debris field also included church programs and dreams.
What shall we do, having developed ravenous appetites for upsizing, if God has in mind to downsize? What if the way up in this church era is way down? What if God DOESN’T restore everything back to big? Beautiful? Loud? Let’s make this very personal: Can you be faithful? Can I? I mean, what shall we do with our Instagram if this turns out not to be pretty? The exiles faced this prospect when they returned joyously, singing their pilgrim songs, to rebuild the Temple—wouldn’t it be grand?—but what they found was an enormous mountain of rubble. The word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel, “Not by strength or by might but by my Spirit.” This is one of the best parts: the word of the Lord comes through the interpreting angel to Zechariah, “What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (Zechariah 4:7) Do you know how that mountain was going to become a plain? By those exiles lifting up one rock after another from that rubble. And from that rubble the Spirit would slowly raise walls to dwell within again. There would be those who would despise it because it wasn’t like before. But for those who did not despise the day of small things, the ceremonial bringing forth of the capstone would not be lost on them. They should’ve been dead but were alive. It should have all been over, but God had given them a new beginning. And they would shout, “Grace! Grace!” So, what shall we do when the pandemic and every other earthquaking, economy-shaking thing has had its way with us? When budgets are blown & members have flown & deep pockets have left in a huff & gone home? What happens when the day of the big shots is done? Wave bye-bye. For those willing to be faithful with the rubble, for those who don’t need to be big shots, for those who are capable of downsizing and no longer care to be controlled by the deep pockets, for those willing to find their souls again, it won’t be by might. It won’t be by power. It will be by the Spirit of God alone. God’s paring us back. And when we see evidence of real, live fruit—not manufactured fruit, not plastic hype— & lives are transformed—not by programs & systems but by the gospel of Jesus Christ—we will know that it was Grace! Grace!
OCTOBER 2020
By his Spirit, God might build something different, something new, something we don’t even recognize. Whatever it is, he won’t build it by our strength or by our might. Many of the Israelites who came back to Jerusalem had never seen the temple—after all, the exile had lasted 48 to 70 years (depending on how scholars date its beginning and end). They likely didn’t have a clear picture of what the temple should look like when they set out to rebuild it. It mattered little, since they couldn’t rebuild the temple by themselves. They sought God’s direction in what to do with every single brick until all those individual bricks eventually formed together to make a wall. I don’t know what church will look like next week, next year, or in five years. I don’t know how we’ll hold conferences, churn out more content, or continue to make payroll. Moving forward, I don’t expect the lives of church leaders to be easy
or simple. At the same time, I don’t imagine moving massive bricks day after day was terribly pleasant, either. But we look at what God did through Nehemiah, Ezra, and thousands of other Israelites, and we consider it a miracle and a testament to God’s power. The Israelites didn’t know their role in God’s overarching story when they went home at night with bloody hands and tired backs. They just knew those bricks were heavy and God was faithful. There are heavy bricks in front of us. These bricks are made from disappointment, disengagement, and disagreement. We’ll have to move stones filled with inflated expectations and bruised egos. There is no formula and no blueprint. There are no real experts. There are only raw materials in front of us, and they are the same materials God has used to write his story throughout all of history—his people. God’s people have always faithfully committed to the day of the small things without knowing if what they were building would be grand and magnificent or small and unassuming. And when we, together, raise that capstone to the top of whatever God builds, through his power alone, we’ll cry “Grace! Grace!” that he invited us into the small brickwork of his miracle in our generation. God, show us the bricks. Kim Harris serves as multisite director of communications and engagement at The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest.
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We can argue forever about how we got here. We can curse the darkness of conflicting science, governmental response, and young people who already had one foot out the door. We can disagree about which experts were right, what recommendations should and shouldn’t have been followed, and the best narrative to believe. We can run every single play in every single church playbook to restore our former greatness. But when God calls us to rebuild his church, it won’t be from our playbooks or our plans, but from his Spirit alone.
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FOUR OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERY CHURCH IN THE NEW REALIT Y
BY DAVE F E RG U S O N
On March 12, 2020, I made two different versions of a video, knowing only one of them would be sent to our entire church. In the first video, I said we would stick to our normal schedule with 26 services at 11 locations across Chicagoland. In the second video, I introduced a new reality by telling everyone our church facilities were closing and we were moving everything online. After I finished recording the videos, my wife and I headed to O’Hare International Airport to fly to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We were planning to see our youngest son, Caleb, compete in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. We were very excited about the possibility he might become an All-American. About halfway to the airport, Sue got a call from our oldest son, Josh, who lives in Cincinnati; Josh told us that, according to Twitter, the championships had been canceled because of COVID-19. We immediately called Caleb, already in North Carolina with his team, to tell him we were so sorry to hear about the cancellation. It turned out, he hadn’t heard the news. Twitter knew before the athletes. We turned the car around and headed home. Within a day, the church sent out the second version of the video and said goodbye to normal. We closed all of our physical locations and transitioned everything to online.
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As someone who provides leadership for Community Christian Church (a large multisite church in Chicago), NewThing (an international church-planting network), and Exponential (a church-planting conference in the United States and Europe), I thought and prayed a lot leading into what we now call the new normal. God and a mentor steered me to a verse and a motto, respectively, that I want to share with you. The verse is, in essence, a challenge: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, English Standard Version). And this is the motto: “Where fear sees a crisis, faith sees opportunities.” Over the last several months, I’ve tried to view the many crises we’ve faced with faith in search of the opportunity.
HERE ARE FOUR OPPORTUNITIES I BELIEVE ARE AHEAD FOR EACH OF OUR CHURCHES IN THE
NEW NORMAL .
• a challenging economic environment • a culture that is hyperconscious about safety
1 . I N N O VAT I O N In working on this article, I reread On the Verge, which Alan Hirsch and I wrote a decade ago. I rediscovered these words: If you really want to see innovation happen, find a crisis. It is in the middle of a crisis that we come to the realization that an end is near or a new future is being born. On the verge of a crisis, we are also on the verge of our greatest moment. It’s at that moment that we must decide: innovate or die. We definitely have found a crisis. Several of them! A health crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus. A civil rights crisis that erupted with the killing of George Floyd. An economic crisis that has seen record unemployment. Those all must be factored into what makes up the new normal. Additionally, here are some brutal facts as we entered this new normal. These come from a 2018-2019 National Congregations Study about U.S. churches:
• a society that moves seamlessly between online and offline • a society that will no longer wait to resolve racism The quote from On the Verge is something I wrote as we were exiting the economic crisis of 2008-09. I’m not prone to quoting myself. (Candidly, I don’t remember writing it.) However, as I read those words, it was like I was hearing from a braver, more daring version of myself challenging me to not miss the opportunity to innovate. The organizations I lead are leaning into innovation. For example, Community Christian no longer has a “blueprint” for how to do church; we now have a “playbook.” It’s normal for a large, multisite church to have a blueprint—one specific set of plans—for how to teach, worship, lead small groups, and do kids and student ministry; the leaders typically seek to build the church according to that blueprint. I believe the new normal will require more adaptability and flexibility from churches.
• Less than half of all churches were receiving donations electronically.
We now have a playbook that includes three new “plays” we can run as a church. Play 1 is church online if we have to “shelter in place.” Play 2 includes a micro church expression we call “3C Communities,” for if the church can meet only in groups of 50 or fewer. Play 3 is a “touchless service” that can be used for large gatherings in our facilities when health precautions and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines must be obeyed.
Because of this, some churches simply will not survive. (See “The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Christian Churches,” by Kent E. Fillinger, on page 20.)
If you ever wanted to try something new, now is the opportune time for innovation! We aren’t going back to normal. The new normal will require innovation.
• About one-third of all churches had no savings. • Only one in five streamed their worship services.
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Those that do survive will refuse to get stuck in the past. Instead, these churches will innovate by anticipating these four new realities:
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2 . D I G I TA L I Z AT I O N Any church of more than 50 people has no chance of thriving in the new normal without taking advantage of this second great opportunity: digitalization. Google searches for words such as God, prayer, and church are at record highs. People are going to their computers hoping to find spiritual guidance. The good news is that many churches are moving toward digital. According to Barna, before COVID-19, just 2 percent of practicing Christians said they attended a church that used only a video or livestream sermon. By May 2020, 9 out of 10 pastors (93 percent) reported they were streaming worship services online. At that time, 56 percent of pastors said their churches would “definitely” continue to provide digital worship services after social distancing guidelines ended. Only 1 percent would “definitely not” continue digital services. I believe all of our churches must seize on the opportunity to move from analog to digital in two important areas:
ONLINE WORSHIP SERVICES: As we entered into the new normal at Community Christian, we went from having only a few hundred to many thousands joining us for online worship. At the time of this writing (early July), our church had not met in person for almost four months and yet we continue to see record engagement online that far surpasses our normal attendance. This is part of the new normal. From this point forward, some of the people in your church will exclusively engage with your church online. And most of your people will float back-and-forth from your online platform to physical locations.
ONLINE SMALL GROUPS: Within two weeks of this new normal, our church shifted all of our small groups from in-person to online (mostly via a Zoom platform). During that time of change, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of people meeting in small groups! All online! Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer behind the Alpha Course (a basic introduction to Christianity), told me he once was totally opposed to Alpha small groups meeting online. When the pandemic hit and Alpha groups were forced to meet online, the number of people in these groups tripled at his home church, Holy Trinity Brompton. Gumbel now says, “Online groups may be better!” Why? Because you don’t have to drive to and from a church building. You don’t have to arrange for childcare. You can make coffee exactly the way you like it and drink it from your favorite mug. It all happens from the comfort of your home. Digital is not optional. Resources must be reallocated. It’s not expensive and most of it can be accomplished for free. If you don’t personally know how to do this, ask a high school student to do it or have them teach you. Your church is either a dot.com or dot.dead! Welcome to the new normal.
OCTOBER 2020
3 . M O B I L I Z AT I O N Not long after I got back from my trip to the airport, all of Chicago and the whole state of Illinois were issued “stay at home” orders. I called my friend, mentor, and missiologist Alan Hirsch to discuss how I should lead my church into the new normal (minus buildings and programs). “Dave, I used to have church leaders play a simulation game in order to help them imagine how to mobilize their entire church for the mission of Jesus,” Alan said. “The simulation game would go like this: I want you to pretend that you are the Archbishop of Canterbury and you oversee all of the Church of England. There are 44 dioceses and 12,500 churches. But suddenly one thing has changed—you do not have any church buildings. What would you do?’’ Alan said, “Dave, we are living out that simulation game. . . . What will you do?” Many churches will naively assume the pivot from analog to digital is the only shift that’s needed. To gather our church folks in large and small groups on the World Wide Web is not the mission. Rather, the mission is to take our church to the whole wide world. We must take advantage of the opportunity! Here are two ways we can mobilize our people for this mission like never before:
Every church with an online presence has a great opportunity to mobilize their people for “watch parties,” which simply means a group of people who meet online or in person to experience a worship service together. These can take place with anyone, anytime, and anywhere! Facebook is specifically designed to make hosting an online watch party easy. These parties are a unique opportunity for your people to invite friends and neighbors from their circles of trust and influence. Remember, over half of Jesus’ teachings happened in an outdoor setting, so why not encourage your people to host a watch party in their backyard, driveway, or garage?
MICRO CHURCH: In this new normal, our churches have an incredible opportunity to mobilize people for mission like never before (in our lifetime) through micro churches. Three factors have combined to make it possible to launch micro churches of 20 to 50 people supported by digital content from local churches and led by volunteer leaders. These three factors: an increase in spiritual interest by people at large, a desire by many for smaller groups (for health reasons), and access to great digital biblical content. For a generation we have admired the small and reproducible expressions of lay-led churches in the East, and now the cultural climate and conditions make it possible for us to do this in the West. This is a huge opportunity to mobilize the people of God, and it could lead to church-planting movements for which we have long prayed.
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WAT C H PA R T I E S :
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4 . C O L L A B O R AT I O N Here are three important reasons to join arms with other churches and collaborate: • Your church needs other churches more than ever. • Other churches need your church more than ever. • Churches working together are the best way to advance the kingdom of God. There are about 35 churches in the five NewThing Networks in Chicago. Churches in this diverse group have vowed not to compete, but rather, to collaborate and work together to advance the kingdom. Watson Jones of Compassion Baptist, a NewThing church on the southeast side of Chicago, reached out to other network churches about an opportunity. He explained that 70 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Chicago were occurring in the African-American neighborhoods that made up only 29 percent of the population. Upon closer examination, it was discovered that older adults in those communities were the main ones contracting the virus. Why? Because they were on food assistance that would not allow for food delivery, so they were making multiple trips to grocery stores where they were repeatedly being exposed to the coronavirus.
Watson said his church was launching a new initiative called “Chicago Delivers” to pay for food delivery for qualified older adults in those neighborhoods. He asked if other churches in our network would contribute funds and collaborate on this effort. Our answer was immediate—Yes! In this case, collaboration was a do-or-die issue. Don’t miss the opportunity to collaborate with other churches.
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I N T H E L AT E 1 9 8 0 S , R E M S A N G ,
" It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel f ine." How prescient. A new future is being born, a new normal is beginning, and it holds huge opportunities for churches who will approach it with courage and bravery. ď §
Dave Ferguson serves as lead pastor of Chicago’s Community Christian Church, a multisite missional community. Dave is also an award-winning author and the visionary for the international church-planting movement NewThing and president of the Exponential Conference. @daveferguson daveferguson.org
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The word grandma used to be very scary for Jayme Walker Hill’s foster daughter.
“Any time I would talk about my grandma,” said Hill, her foster daughter would share from her own life experience, saying, “My grandma was mean.” “We would try to avoid that word, but she would still cry and be very fearful around older women.” Hill and her husband soon learned that their new foster daughter had been abused by her former adoptive parents, an older couple. The girl, now 19, operates at about the mental level of an 8-year-old. But this isn’t a sad story about abuse and neglect. It’s a story about how Hill’s foster daughter—and hundreds like her from around the state and world—have found their healing and their families in a small town in western Oregon. This is a story about Creswell, a dot on the map but a giant in the history of international adoption. And the more you study Creswell and its current ties to orphan care, the more you’ll run across Creswell Church of Christ, an oddly shaped church at the top of Holbrook hill. This is a story, then, about a country congregation that lives out its orphan-centered history and faith in the biggest ways possible.
creswell CARES
by Crystal Ku p per
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J U S T L I K E T H AT, C R E S W E L L’ S R E P U TAT I O N FOR
caring FOR THE PARE NTLESS WAS BORN.
Nestled in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Creswell is a growing city of about 5,400. It’s known as a basketball town; uber-successful Gonzaga University men’s coach Mark Few grew up here, as did Luke Jackson, a first-round NBA draft pick in 2004 (the Jackson family, coincidentally, are longtime church of Christ members). But before Creswell was winning high school basketball championships, two seminal events occurred: Creswell Church of Christ was founded in 1903, and Bertha and Harry Holt moved into town 34 years later. The Holts were farmers from South Dakota who opened a sawmill in Creswell and farmed a few miles south with their six children. After the Korean War, the couple, who were already in their 50s, saw a documentary about abandoned war orphans in South Korea. It devastated them. So they made a big move, adopting eight of those orphans. But before that was possible, both houses of Congress had to change federal law. Finally, in 1955, it all came together, as Congress passed the Bill for Relief of Certain War Orphans, or the “Holt Bill.”
Before long, four Korean boys and four Korean girls became Holts and American citizens. The nation couldn’t get enough of the 16-member farm family, with Look and Life magazines among the horde constantly clamoring for photos and updates. Just like that, Creswell’s reputation for caring for the parentless was born. It only grew when Bertha and Harry founded Holt International a year later; today it is one of the most established and well-known adoption agencies in the country. The organization has placed more than 40,000 children from Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe with adoptive families. It also works worldwide through child-sponsorship opportunities, family-preservation services and child homelessness-prevention efforts, affecting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in total. As the years passed, spurred on by the Holts’ legacy, everyday joes taking care of kids without families became a normal part of Creswell life. The town’s residents started adopting, fostering, volunteering for orphan-related causes, and doing whatever else they could to help the parentless. Creswell Church of Christ soon fell in step, with blended families filling the pews each Sunday.
H A R RY H O LT & C H I L D R E N , 1 9 5 5
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GROUNDBREAKERS
F A M I LY T R A D I T I O N Dave Stram became pastor at the church in 1982. A few years in, a family who adopted through Holt International started attending, giving the Strams an up-close look at what life with an internationally adopted child might look like. The connection grew stronger when one of the Holts’ “original eight,” an adopted daughter, began attending Creswell Church of Christ. The Strams were moved to action, and in 1995, they brought their daughter Kayla home from Thailand through Holt International. Bertha, the matriarch of the Holt family—she was known as Grandma Holt—had seemingly boundless
energy, Stram recalled, and a never-ending love for Christ’s littlest. “She wrote all these letters to children every day, and she got up early in the morning and went for a jog,” Stram said, noting that Bertha set a 400-meter dash record as a nonagenarian. “She also had an amazing discipline for reading the Scriptures.” Harry passed away in 1964 after a heart attack, but Bertha remained active in the adoption world until her heavenly homecoming in 2000. Stram prayed at her bedside the day before she passed, and Kayla, alongside other Holt adoptees, placed a rose on Grandma Holt’s casket. The legacy of orphan care weighed heavily on Stram when he retired from pastoring in 2012 and became Creswell’s mayor the following year. When visitors came to City Hall, he always made a point of showing them a gigantic quilt depicting scenes from Creswell’s history. “One corner featured Harry and Bertha Holt, and I would talk briefly about their legacy of adoption and how the international adoption movement really began in Creswell,” Stram said. “I would take the opportunity to talk specifically about our spiritual heritage of reaching out to children around the state and world.” Creswell Church of Christ’s next (and current) pastor kept up the tradition. Pastor Doug Allison and his wife have adopted all four of their children domestically. To them, it just made biblical sense. “You have the [Great Commission] of go and teach and baptize, and you have the [Great Commandment] to love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself,” Allison said. “You also have James 1:27: ‘Pure religion is to take care of orphans and widows.’ Taking care of children who have no parents is too obvious.”
B E R T H A H O LT O N H E R 8 0 t h B I R T H DAY, 1 9 8 4
Blended families were a part of Creswell Church of Christ each Sunday, but Allison knew his church could do more.
an apple cider workshop at their farm. Yet another hosted four siblings from an Eastern European orphanage to help them find an adoptive family.
During only his second sermon, the pastor asked his new congregation one simple question: If Creswell Church of Christ shut down that very day, what would the town of Creswell miss? Several awkward seconds of silence followed. No one knew what to say.
The number of “regular” foster and adoptive foster families kept growing, too. In 2015, Jayme Walker Hill heard about this church that loved taking care of orphans, and the idea intrigued her.
So Allison and his flock got down to work. “We went around to all our members—which wasn’t difficult, because we didn’t have very many at the time—and said, ‘What do you think Creswell needs? What are the biggest problem areas? What’s the biggest ministry that’s just sitting there?’” Allison recalled. “The answer was families with kids, and kids with no families.” The church developed a formal 20-year vision to help Creswell become a better place, one child and family at a time. A flurry of kid-centered initiatives resulted: an intergenerational reading program at the local elementary school, a weekend food bank for the town’s neediest children, a kid-focused clothing service, free home renovations every spring for hurting Creswell families with children. And as the months turned into years, another subtle trend emerged: Creswell Church of Christ’s growing number of weekly attendees—about 175 now, including children—could be very creative in their orphan care efforts. “We began to be Jesus with skin on to these kids,” Allison said. One family adopted several children from Ukraine and local foster care, then began a life skills/livestock program for foster children and former orphanage residents. Another invited those kids to
“I was constantly hearing from people in the community about how accepting this church was, and how their vision and goal was to make Creswell better,” Hill said. “That’s exactly what [my husband and I] were trying to do.” The Hill family started attending and soon had two permanent foster daughters, young women with such extreme physical and mental needs that the state essentially deemed them unadoptable. One often claps or stands in the middle of the sermon, “but Doug doesn’t bat an eye,” Hill said. “She’s able to be herself, and if she has a seizure in service, everyone is very kind.” The older one—once so afraid of elderly women because of her one-time adoptive mother—now calls the pastoral care minister “Grandma.” Other congregants lavish her with stuffed animals (her favorite) and Sunday trips to the ice cream parlor. Creswell’s reputation is still crossing borders. Hill’s county caseworker is “always dumbfounded” by the high number of foster families there, she said. “It makes me feel like I’m in the place I’m supposed to be,” Hill said, “like there’s a kindred spirit here, and there’s an ability to continue that legacy of the Holts. Each Sunday, I look around and see all these adoptive and foster families, and I know this is obviously where we should be.” Let the little children come, indeed—and let them come to Creswell.
Crystal Kupper is a freelance writer, military wife, marathon runner, mother of four, and native Creswellian. Inspired by the Holts, she and her American Ninja Warrior husband, Nickolas, adopted a daughter from Armenia in 2016. /crystalkupper
@guyanasgroupies
@crystalkupper
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STEPPING UP
HOW
“YOU WILL NOT FEAR THE TERROR OF NIGHT, NOR THE ARROW THAT FLIES BY DAY, NOR THE PESTILENCE THAT STALKS IN THE DARKNESS , NOR THE PLAGUE THAT DESTROYS AT MIDDAY.”
TSF RESPONDED TO THE PANDEMIC
PSALM 91:5-6 BY DOUG CROZIER On March 10, I was flying home from Detroit after a great weekend at Michigan’s 2|42 Community Church. At the airport, I noticed people scurrying around using wipes to clean their chairs and more people wearing masks than I had ever seen. There was a very uneasy feeling throughout the flight back to Denver. As it turned out, it likely was the last plane I’ll board until late 2020 or even early 2021. Over the three days that followed, everything changed, and the coronavirus shutdowns began on March 13.
OUR INITIAL RESPONSE As a church lender, my first reaction to churches closing was to wonder how they would survive. Over the next several weeks, our team at The Solomon Foundation showed why we are the fastest-growing church extension fund in American history. We immediately responded to the pandemic in the following ways:
MARCH 12:
We e s t a b l i s h e d a COVI D -1 9 t a s k f o r c e .
This task force continues to monitor all the state coronavirus numbers to evaluate if, when, and where staff may travel. TSF restricted travel by our employees except for our two essential construction team members. Our task force had the final say on all COVID-19-related decisions. As CEO, I delegated this responsibility so I would not unduly influence the decision-making process.
MARCH 13:
Everyone stayed home to test our systems for working remotely.
Because in Colorado we have this phenomenon called “snow,” we are always prepared to work from home; our team must do so a handful of times each year. We operated remotely from March 13 through June 1. At that juncture, we began to bring our team back to the office with restrictions.
MARCH 14:
We p o s te d a p u b l i c COVI D -1 9 s t a te m e n t a n d sent it to everyone in our database.
Our task force did a great job drafting a full response to the situation that we shared with all of our customers.
MARCH 17:
We h e l d o u r f i r s t Z o o m c a l l w i t h pa s to r s f rom 120 churches.
We have hosted these calls every Tuesday since then; the largest number of participating churches was 278 (that was for our third call). This experience has been so beneficial and informative that we plan to continue these weekly gatherings to help our church partners and our team continue sharing with and learning from one another.
MARCH 25:
We h e l d o u r f i r s t o n l i n e i n ve s to r s m e e t i n g .
Over my 35-year career, I’ve learned the importance of communicating with stakeholders. In a crisis, overcommunication is a good thing. Our meetings have been transparent and informative. We initially held these every other Wednesday, but now that has changed to once per month. Our goal has been for open communication and dialogue with our ministry partners. That typically has involved face-to-face meetings. A typical year for me includes 150 flights and traveling more than 125,000 miles.
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SPONSORED
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ROAD TRIP After staying home for almost three months, I decided to plan an eastern car trip and a western car trip. On June 18, Julie and I left on a 33-day eastern road trip during which we visited 41 ministry partners in 16 states throughout the Midwest and South. (As of this writing, we are planning to embark on the western trip in mid-August; the plan is to travel more than 7,500 miles and visit up to 40 ministry partners.) Here are my takeaways from the eastern trip:
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The church is doing better than most would expect. My overall impression is our independence as a group of churches has allowed us to be flexible and adaptable. Our tribe is willing and eager to share ideas and concepts. Church leader groups are constantly conducting Zoom calls to help one another, which is why our movement is growing and will continue to grow.
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Our churches are adapting to change. Dealing with change is not fun for many. Adapting to change is even more difficult as it has a lasting effect on people’s lives. We saw many incredible (and miraculous) things during visits with ministry partners.
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Creativity is flowing throughout our movement. Before the pandemic, about 220 of TSF’s approximately 300 ministry partners had an online presence. By the time the coronavirus crisis was about a month old, all but about 15 to 20 churches were online. I saw larger churches helping smaller churches, and the partnership was amazing.
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Pastors are stretched, depressed, and concerned about the future. Some of our pastors are feeling isolated and anxious. Our visits helped them personally and professionally. TSF has retained Dr. Wes Beavis to be available to help pastors and their spouses walk through depression, anxiety, and other challenges in today’s COVID-19 era. In addition, Ken Idleman, our vice president of leadership development, is available to listen and talk to pastors and their spouses during this time.
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Pastors need encouragement. We became encouragers and enabled pastors and their spouses to confide in us. We had many candid and direct conversations with these leaders during our eastern trip. Many pastors minister in close proximity to racial crisis hotspots in our country. I have dedicated myself to becoming a better listener and, as a result, I have learned a lot!
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God’s people have stepped up to increase giving. The number of churches who have seen increased giving during the coronavirus pandemic has been overwhelming. When a crisis occurs, God’s people step up! “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
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TSF’s reputation has been enhanced. Our goal to be a ministry partner rather than a lender has paid dividends for us during COVID-19.
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Churches have found new ways to serve. The future look of the church will be different after this pandemic passes. Many churches are researching specific programs and services to add to meet the needs of their communities. This is a great example of the Great Commission playing out before our eyes . . . mainly due to COVID-19.
“COUNT IT ALL JOY, MY BROTHERS, WHEN YOU MEET TRIALS OF VARIOUS KINDS , FOR YOU KNOW THAT THE TESTING OF YOUR FAITH PRODUCES STEADFASTNESS . AND LET STEADFASTNESS HAVE ITS FULL EFFECT, THAT YOU MAY BE PERFECT AND COMPLETE, LACKING IN NOTHING.”
One stop we made on our eastern road trip was at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, site of the important revival in 1801. When you think about the challenges people faced during our nation’s expansion, the current pandemic seems rather minor. Yes, coronavirus has been a legitimate crisis, but we can learn many valuable lessons during a time of crisis from those pioneers and what they had to do to survive during the great westward expansion.
JAMES 1:2-4, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION Doug Crozier serves as chief executive officer of The Solomon Foundation in Parker, Colorado.
how to use
Each week has a lesson aim, lesson text, and supplemental text.
Tabs indicate the week of each lesson.
Each week features three sections: Study, Application, and Discovery. Use the Discovery questions to study, discuss, and apply the Scripture passages in a group or class.
1
t i m o t hy
BUILD CHRIST'S CHURCH
TEACH , BY EX AMPLE AND WORD, T O S AV E P E O P L E .
lesson text:
1 T i m o t hy 4 : 6 - 1 6 supplemental text:
L u k e 1 :1 - 4 John 20:29 -31 Acts 2:36-40; 10:34-48 Hebrews 10:39; 13:22
s t u dy
teach by mark scott When public ministry and private life are out of sync, we call that hypocrisy. Paul called Timothy to make sure these two things were perfectly integrated. For a Christian leader, ability should not go beyond one’s character. Teaching oneself is the prerequisite to teaching others (cf. Ezra 7:10). The Navigators have accomplished much for the kingdom in helping disciple new believers. They believe that after trusting Christ, a person needs assurance of salvation. That assurance does not come by singing endless verses of “Kumbaya.” It comes from receiving Christian teaching. One final way we “build God’s church” is by teaching. Point Out These Things 1 Timothy 4:6-10 Following several congregational directives (1 Timothy 2:1–4:5), Paul returned to speak more directly to Timothy about his ministry. These three paragraphs are filled with 12 imperatives. Timothy had much to model and much to teach. First, he was to point these things out to (place upon) the church. These things could refer to the previous verses (1-5) but more likely it is the substance of what follows (i.e., godliness, hope, and salvation). Timothy would be able to consistently point things out to the church provided he continued to nourish (train or bring up) himself on the truths (word) of the faith and the good teaching that he had followed.
Teach These Things 1 Timothy 4:11-14 While there is no substitute for Christian orthodoxy (correct beliefs), it is best undergirded with Christian orthopraxy (correct conduct or practices). Timothy’s C H R I S T I A N S TA N D A R D
Living above reproach would embolden Timothy’s preaching (announcing the king’s message) and teaching (giving formal instruction). These disciplines would come from Timothy’s public reading of Scripture (cf. Nehemiah 8:1-10). This gave objectivity to Timothy’s content. Every preacher knows which words in the sermon are the preacher’s and which words are God’s. But the preacher’s prayer is that through all “the words” will come the Word. We are not told of Timothy’s specific spiritual gift or gifts, but he was told to not neglect it, but to fan it into flame (2 Timothy 1:6). Contextually we would assume his gifts were in the areas of preaching and teaching. Evidently these gifts came to Timothy when the elders laid their hands on him. This occasion might have taken place during the missionary journeys (Acts 14:19-23; 16:2-3), and it was rather typical when leaders were being set aside for some ministry tasks (Numbers 27:18-23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Acts 6:6; 8:18; 13:3; Hebrews 6:2). Living the right kind of life and being vetted by the right people credentialed Timothy to teach. Watch These Things 1 Timothy 4:15-16 Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Proper critiquing of one’s self provides a good sanity check (Psalm 139:23-24; 2 Corinthians 13:5). So, as Timothy pointed things out to the church and taught the church, he needed occasionally to look in the mirror. Being diligent (immersing) in these matters and giving oneself wholly to them was appropriate and good. People would notice Timothy’s progress as a result. Giving 110 percent in ministry can be noble, but it can also mask insecurity and pride. The only cure is to watch your life and doctrine closely. Life and doctrine sum up our lives. How we live and what we believe define us. Mapping one’s spiritual progress and paying attention to one’s doctrine will ensure salvation for ministers and their churches. The best sermons are still caught and taught. - 77 -
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WEEK OF October 04
Timothy would also succeed in pointing these things out to the church by eliminating distractions (e.g., godless—meaning impious—myths and old wives’ tales). The way Timothy would remain undistracted was by training (as in working out in the gym) himself to be godly. Paul then made a parenthetical comment about godliness; he said it is more valuable than physical training because it has eternity written all over it. Paul ended this section with one of the five “faithful sayings” (1 Timothy 1:15; 3:1; 4:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:7-8). Paul had placed his hope in the living God, who is a Savior—potentially of all people and of course to those who chose to believe. Paul’s example of laboring (working to the point of sweating) and striving would encourage Timothy.
teaching would be more readily accepted by him living an exemplary life, i.e., a life not looked down upon (held in contempt). Timothy’s example (from a verb meaning “to strike with a blow and to leave an impression”) was to be evident in five characteristics (or two broad sweeps and three virtues): speech (word), conduct, love, faith, and purity (holiness).
A p p l i c at i o n
Are We Making Progress? by David Faust
Ronald Reagan quipped, “Status quo is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’” We won’t get out of this mess without God’s help. That’s why we need teachers who communicate God’s grace and truth with reverence and relevance. Progress Requires Intentional Effort Paul urged Timothy to carry out his ministry “so that everyone may see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15). That verse compels me to ask, Would others say I’m communicating God’s Word more effectively today than I did five years ago? Am I stuck in my ways, or am I willing to learn and grow, try new things, and keep sharpening my skills? Abraham Lincoln wryly observed, “I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.” In the New Testament, the Greek word for “progress” (prokope) appears only in 1 Timothy 4:15 and in Philippians where Paul speaks about the “advance” of the gospel and the believers’ “progress . . . in the faith” (Philippians 1:12, 25). The word described the way soldiers chopped down trees and undergrowth, clearing a path so the army could move forward. Without deliberate effort, leaders grow stale and organizations slip into mediocrity. Progress Requires Biblical Wisdom Bulldoze a grove of trees to build a parking lot and some will call it progress while others shake their heads in dismay. Alter longstanding traditions and some cry “foul” while others applaud the disruption. We need God’s wisdom to discern what changes truly lead to progress. Christians should be both preservers and path makers. We have a spiritual heritage to preserve and a trail to blaze. “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14)—that’s being a preserver. Entrusting God’s truth “to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” in the future (2 Timothy 2:2)—that’s being a path maker. Progress Requires Incredible Patience Someone said, “Overnight success usually takes about
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10 years.” A minister friend of mine retired after serving nearly 30 years with the same church—a congregation over 160 years old. During his ministry the church increased in number, added property, built several additions onto their building, and gave more than 20 percent of their budget to missions—but progress didn’t take place instantly. It took decades as he patiently taught God’s Word, invested in relationships with the congregation, and collaborated with the elders to make wise, courageous decisions. In his book Good to Great, author Jim Collins compares organizational leadership to pushing a flywheel. A period of build-up may take years as you keep pushing the heavy flywheel steadily in the same direction, but eventually there’s a breakthrough, and momentum increases once things get moving. Progress Requires Practical Faith Paul urged Timothy, “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16) because effective teaching combines “life” with “doctrine,” blending biblical knowledge and practical application. We pass along “the truths of the faith” (v. 6) not merely to transfer information but to bring about life transformation. Following Christ is a journey of faith that keeps us stretching and growing all the way into eternity. There’s always something new to learn and do—always a next step of faith ahead. Even death won’t end the journey. When Christians die, we move from pain-filled to pain-free, from aging to ageless, from the land of the dying to the land of the living. Now that’s progress! Personal Challenge: How are you sharpening your skills as a communicator of God’s Word? Will you read a book, take a course, attend a conference, participate in a webinar, critically evaluate a video of your own teaching, or ask trusted friends for honest feedback about your leadership and communication style? - 78 -
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D i s c ove ry
by Michael C. Mack 1. What was your biggest challenge last week? 2. In what specific way did you lead well or serve well this past week? Ask three people—two readers and one reteller—to help. Ask the readers to read 1 Timothy 4:6-16 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. (Option: As one of the “readers,” you can use a Bible app on a phone or other device to play the audio of the passage aloud.) Ask the third person to summarize the passages in one minute or less. Remind them to keep it simple. 3. What big-picture message was Paul communicating to Timothy? 4. As a group, go through the passage and find Paul’s directives to Timothy (there are about 12) and determine: • Which are directed toward the development of Timothy’s faith? • Which are directed toward Timothy regarding how specifically he was to carry out his ministry? • Which ones focus both on Timothy’s faith and his ministry? • What does Paul’s use of the word devote (v. 13) tell you about the importance of the practice of “the public reading of Scripture”? 5. How do both the personal reading, reflection, and study of God’s Word and the public reading of Scripture work together to mature us in our faith? 6. What do you learn from this passage about God? 7. What do you learn about the value of godliness/character, especially for those who lead? • Let’s take a few moments for a “progress report.” How would you describe your spiritual progress over the last year? (As people share, take time as a group to encourage them in the progress you’ve observed.)
9. Pick one directive from this passage that you sense you need to start (or restart) obeying. (Pause and encourage everyone to pick one thing.) Which directive did you choose, and why? 10. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .” 11. What new challenge do you anticipate this week? For Next Week: Over the next week, read and reflect on 2 Timothy 1:8-12; 2:3-10; and 4:14-15 as we begin a study of 2 Timothy and the theme, “Serve Christ.” You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
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WEEK OF October 04
8. What spiritual gift do you have that you sense you might be neglecting lately? (If anyone has trouble identifying a spiritual gift, take time as a group to encourage that person by sharing a gifting you’ve observed in that person. Be as specific as possible. For instance, “I believe you have the gift of mercy. When I was dealing with ___, you showed me mercy in the way you ___.”)
a s tu d y o n 2 t i m o t hy
ser ve CHRI ST
E X P EC T A N D EN D U R E T H E C O S T S O F S ER V I N G C H R I S T.
lesson text:
2 T i m o t hy 1 : 8 - 1 2 ; 2 : 3 - 1 0 ; 4 :1 4 - 1 5 supplemental text:
M a r k 1 0 : 2 1 -2 3 L u k e 9 : 5 7- 6 2 2 T i m o t hy 1 :1 5 ; 4 : 9 - 1 0
s t u dy
The Cost by mark scott All things of significance cost something. A football player trains hard to win the Super Bowl. A medical student endures a grueling internship to become a doctor. A lawyer studies day and night to pass the bar exam. Serving Christ also costs something—in fact, it costs everything (Luke 14:25-33). Otherwise we are left with “cheap grace” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship). The “wanna-be” disciples (Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62) were not willing to pay this price. In Paul’s “minister’s manual” (2 Timothy), he told Timothy the cost of serving Christ was steep but should be expected and endured. Suffering for the Gospel—Paul and Timothy 2 Timothy 1:8-12 Shortly before his death, Paul wrote this, his final Epistle, to encourage Timothy. After reminding Timothy of his personal connection with him (2 Timothy 1:3-4) and reminding Timothy of the younger man’s maternal influence (1:5-6), Paul called Timothy away from timidity to courage. This courage would show up in not being ashamed of the testimony about the Lord Jesus or of Paul as his prisoner. These ideas of “shame” and “suffering” bookend this paragraph (vv. 8 and 12). Shame was very well understood in the ancient world. It was the social currency of the day. It is easy to understand how Paul’s opponents could make life hard on Timothy by reminding him that his spiritual father (i.e., Paul) was always in prison.
This gospel caused suffering in an upside-down world. But Paul’s encouraging testimony to Timothy was that he did not care. After all, he knew in whom he had be-
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Suffering for the Gospel—Metaphors and the Master 2 Timothy 2:3-10; 4:14-15 Throughout chapter 2, Paul used several metaphors— son, soldier, athlete, farmer, worker, and servant—to encourage Timothy’s faithfulness. Alongside three of these metaphors Paul placed the Master himself. Jesus became the supreme example of suffering for the gospel. Paul seemed confident Timothy would understand these metaphors if he would just reflect (discern or come to understand) on them (v. 7). Paul had great insight into Roman soldiers because he spent lots of time with them (Acts 24:27; 28:16, 30-31; Philippians 1:12-14). He even knew the parts of their armor (Ephesians 6:14-17). But in this text, Paul referenced their rigor and single-minded pursuit of their job. A soldier could not get derailed (entangled means “interwoven” or “implicated”) by civilian (the daily things of life) affairs. His one passion was to please (“fit” or “be adapted” or “inclined to”) his commanding officer (the one who enlisted him). The other two metaphors receive one verse each. The athlete had to compete according to the rules to win the victor’s crown (wreath). (The Athenian and Ephesian games had rather strict rules of training.) The farmer should be the first one to taste the corn on the cob since he worked so hard to grow it (1 Timothy 5:17-18). But beyond any metaphor was the Master himself. Jesus was the gospel for which Paul suffered. Paul called Timothy to remember him. This meant to not just think back to him but to bring the reality of Jesus’ suffering into the present tense. Humanly speaking, Jesus was the Son of David. But divinely speaking, Jesus was risen from the dead as the Son of God (Romans 1:3-4). Rome could chain Paul, but they could not chain God’s word. He was willing to suffer if the church would be saved. An example not worthy of imitation was Alexander. He was a metalworker, but he made trouble for Paul. Instead of advancing the gospel through suffering, Alexander hindered the gospel through opposition. He refused to count the cost. - 81 -
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WEEK OF October 11
As soon as Paul mentioned the word gospel, he felt compelled to give a short excursus on it. This gospel rescued us and called us to a holy life. This gospel was given not because of anything we have done but due to God’s own purpose and grace. This gospel was in the mind of God long before time began. But this gospel took place in time and space through the appearing (epiphany) of our Savior, Christ Jesus. This gospel destroyed (rendered inactive) death and brought life to its immortal standing. This gospel gave definition to Paul’s work. He was a herald (preacher; one who spoke the message of the king). He was an apostle (one specifically “sent out,” 1 Corinthians 15:8-10; Galatians 1:11-17; Ephesians 3:7-10). He was a teacher (one who gave formal instruction).
lieved. Paul was convinced (fully persuaded) that God could guard (post a soldier at the door) what Paul had entrusted (handed over; committed) to God until that day (i.e., most likely the day of judgment). The cost of suffering for the gospel was high, but the price was worth it.
A p p l i c at i o n
We're All in Hospice by David Faust
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” —Helen Keller
It was my last visit with my friend Jim. We both knew he was on the verge of death after a long battle with cancer. Trying to offer comfort, I opened my Bible to John 21, where Jesus asked Simon Peter three times, “Do you love me?” I reminded Jim how Peter reaffirmed his love for Jesus, and each time, Jesus responded by saying in essence, “Then if you love me, feed my sheep. Take care of my people.” Jim knew how to feed God’s sheep. He loved Jesus Christ. By his own account, Jim once was a cocky know-it-all, but the Lord shaped him into a man of humility and discernment. As a young man, Jim said he was enamored with personal power and comfort, but the Lord turned him into the servant-leader I knew—a friendly, fatherly figure who found joy in greeting worshippers at the church door on Sunday mornings and running the sound system at Bible study on Wednesday nights. Because of his love for Christ, Jim nurtured God’s sheep. Here’s a tip: If you want to learn how to deal with suffering, listen to sufferers—especially the ones with strong faith. As Rick Atchley says, when people have the Spirit of God, “suffering does not define them, but it does refine them.” The author Edward Judson observed, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.” A Choice We Make Every Day At Jim’s funeral, a dozen of his grandchildren stood on the stage paying tribute to him. One of the grandsons, a young man in his late teens named
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Tyler Trent, faced a health crisis of his own. A student at Purdue University, Tyler was a passionate football fan who frequently attended games decked out in team colors. His enthusiastic support for Purdue and his battle with bone cancer (first diagnosed when he was 15 years old) made national news when he predicted the underdog Boilermakers’ stunning 49-20 victory over highly ranked Ohio State on a memorable October afternoon. ESPN, CBS, and ABC featured Tyler’s inspiring story, and he leveraged the publicity as a witnessing opportunity, testifying repeatedly about his faith in Christ. He was named the football team’s honorary captain. He raised millions of dollars for cancer research, received Disney’s Wide World of Sports Spirit Award, and co-authored a book about his life called The Upset before he died at age 20 on January 1, 2019. Shortly before his death, Tyler authored a column for the IndyStar newspaper (December 5, 2018). He wrote: “Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make: to make that day the best it can be. . . . Yet, isn’t that a choice we all have every day? After all, nobody knows the amount of days we have left. . . . We are all in hospice to a certain degree. . . . Why can’t we make every day count like it’s the last?” Personal Challenge: Do something to comfort and learn from someone who is suffering. Visit a hospital patient, write an encouraging note to a shut-in, or phone a person who deals with physical or emotional pain. - 82 -
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D i s c ove ry
by Michael C. Mack
1. What new challenge did you face last week? 2. In what way did you serve others this past week that utilized a spiritual gift from God? Ask three people—two readers and one reteller—to help. Ask the readers to read 2 Timothy 1:8-12 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Repeat the process for 2 Timothy 2:3-10 and then for 2 Timothy 4:14-15. Ask the third person to summarize the passages in one minute or less. 3.
What are the main themes of these passages? (Hint: look for repeating words.)
4. Let’s dig more deeply into these passages. • How does Paul say we should react to the suffering we may face? • How does Paul describe his own suffering? • Paul provided a quick synopsis of the gospel message (1:9-10). What words or phrases are most striking to you in these two verses? • What do Paul’s three illustrations (2:3-7) teach you about living as a Christ follower? 5. What do you learn from these passages about God’s grace and his response to our suffering? 6. What do you learn about yourself?
8. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .” 9. What challenge do you anticipate this week?
For Next Week: Over the next week, read and reflect on 2 Timothy 2:14-26; 3:1-9. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
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WEEK OF October 11
7. You receive a call to serve with these words: “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” How do you respond?
a s tu d y o n 2 t i m o t hy
ser ve CHRI ST
D I S C ER N H O W TO D E A L W I T H P EO P L E A S YO U S ER V E C H R I S T.
lesson text:
2 T i m o t hy 2 :1 4 -2 6 ; 3 :1 - 9 supplemental text:
A c t s 2 0 :1 7- 3 5 R o m a n s 1 2 : 6 - 1 9 ; 1 4 :1 - 8 2 T i m o t hy 4 :1 - 5
s t u dy
How To by mark scott
The “purpose” of the Bible is larger than just functioning as a “how-to” manual for getting along with folks. But one “fruit” of the story of God to redeem the universe through Christ is learning how to deal with people. One person said, “The more I see of people, the more I love my dog.” Jesus called us to love people, but people can drive you crazy. Paul gave Timothy some profound advice about how to stay true to the gospel and still deal with people. Gently Instruct Them 2 Timothy 2:14-26 Every minister needs to remember Paul’s admonition to gently instruct opponents (those who are ill-disposed). Ministers should strive to never snap or “lose it” . . . to “keep their cool” and not “blow their stack.” Here is the rub—ministers often encounter opponents within the church. This section of the text deals with God’s people (from the “elect” of 2 Timothy 2:10). Yes, sometimes even false teachers are “in” the church. The section that follows—2 Timothy 3:1-9—deals with the outsiders. Timothy’s main weapons against his opponents were to continue to teach God’s Word and sound warnings about false interpretations of Scripture, avoid getting derailed by ridiculous and unedifying word games, stay correct with doctrine, live a holy life, kill his enemies with kindness, and lead people away from the devil’s schemes.
However, there are occasions to enter debate, but mostly just when the very heart of the gospel is threatened. Paul called out two people, Hymenaeus and Philetus, for their spiritualizing of the resurrection. While conversion to Christ is a type of resurrection (John 5:24), our bodily resurrection has not happened yet (1 Corinthians 15:3558). To believe otherwise is to shipwreck faith (1 Timothy
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In contrast to his opponents, Timothy was to think of himself as a noble (honorable) vessel—something on the order of gold and silver. Instead of being trapped in word games, Timothy was to be useful and prepared for good works. Fleeing his youthful passions and pursuing (as in hunting down) Christian virtues, he was to be kind, capable of teaching others, and gently lead people to the privilege of repentance (Acts 5:31; 11:18). Walk Away from Them 2 Timothy 3:1-9 It takes the wisdom of Solomon to know when not to get trapped into arguments and when to stand toe-to-toe with an opponent. But it is not cowardice at times to avoid certain people (Proverbs 26:4; Matthew 7:6; Acts 13:51). Some people, including Christians, are gifted at draining others. Having marked out Timothy’s opponents in the church in the previous section, Paul turned to opponents outside of the church in this section. Since Pentecost, believers have been living in the last days (Acts 2:16-17). These days, which lead up to the return of Christ, are filled with terrible times. How bad are these terrible times? They are bad to the 18th power. Paul’s vice list contains 18 words, and half of those words begin with the first letter in the Greek alphabet, “alpha” (which when attached to the front of the word makes it negative). The devil always deals in the negative. Maybe the keys to this vice catalog are the first and last items—lovers of themselves and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. When people are consumed with those, Hell shows up on earth. People who give themselves to these things are to be avoided (turned away from or shunned). If they are not avoided, they can worm their way (gain entrance) into the most gullible (foolish or immature). In this case some of the women in Ephesus were the targets. These women, for whatever reason, were weighed down with sins and evil desires. They were not successful in arriving at the truth. They were being influenced by teachers who were similar to the fake magicians of Moses’ day (Jannes and Jambres, Exodus 7:11; 9:11). Time would prove them for what they were. As harsh as it sounds to a Christian, sometimes it is best to just walk away. - 85 -
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WEEK OF October 18
There is little substitute for continuing to remind and “warn” people. Timothy must call his people back to the gospel and prepare them for anything that would distract from it. One of the enemy’s greatest tricks is to get us to argue about theology. Timothy was warned against quarreling at least three times in this section (vv. 14, 16, 23). Even though Patrick Henry said Alexander Campbell was an outstanding debater, Campbell questioned how much debates accomplished. They tend to be of no value, ruin those who listen, cause people to become more and more ungodly, and produce quarrels.
1:19-20) and destroy it. God knows the real leaders from the counterfeit ones (Numbers 16:5; Nahum 1:7; Isaiah 26:13).
A p p l i c at i o n
Don't Get Sloppy by David Faust
An NFL Hall of Fame player passed along a tip he learned from a coach: “Always arrive a few minutes early for practice.” Punctuality itself wasn’t the main point. The coach advised, “Be disciplined off the field, and you will perform better on the field.” Why do soldiers in boot camp make their beds every morning? Why do parents ask their children to brush their teeth twice a day? Why does the book of Proverbs advise us to avoid laziness and develop self-control? Why did Paul tell Timothy to “be diligent” in his ministry (1 Timothy 4:15)? Little things matter. Nothing to Prove A word of caution is needed, though. In the pursuit of excellence, we shouldn’t slip into legalism. The Pharisees focused on the wrong little things. Religious performance is a dangerous trap. Our goal shouldn’t be to impress others or try to earn points with God. If you and I dive into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, you might swim two miles while I swim only two yards, but neither of us can swim all the way to Hawaii. Likewise, we’re all sinners who can’t make it to Heaven on our own. It’s foolish if we try to outdo each other in some sort of spiritual competition. But properly understood, God’s grace is an incredible motivator. We don’t just have to serve God; we get to. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God’s lavish kindness inspires us to serve him with all the excellence we can muster. We aren’t saved by works, but we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). We have nothing to prove, but our gracious Father deserves the best we can offer. Pursuing Excellence Elton Trueblood pointed out, “Holy shoddy is still shoddy.” We shouldn’t grow complacent and settle
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for shoddiness. God is honored when we pursue excellence. “God’s solid foundation stands firm” (2 Timothy 2:19), but sloppy habits are spiritual termites that nibble away at our effectiveness and weaken our witness. That’s why Paul warned Timothy to guard against three ministry hazards. Sloppy Talk. Don’t waste time on quarrels and pointless debates (v. 14). “Avoid godless chatter” (v. 16). “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments” (v. 23). These safeguards apply to ordinary conversation, to preaching and teaching, and to engagement in social media. Sloppy Work. “Present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (v. 15). We should see our work as an act of worship. Without shame we can pray, “Lord, I won’t get everything right today, but because I love you, I’ll give my best effort to glorify your name.” Sloppy Doctrine. Faulty teaching spreads “like gangrene” (v. 17), bringing deadly numbness to the body of Christ. We can’t control what others believe and do, and some are “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7); but by focusing on clear biblical truth, we can steer away from ideas that confuse and distract. The hymnwriter challenged us: Give of your best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth; Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor Into the battle for truth. Personal Challenge: Have you grown complacent or lazy in some area of your life or ministry? What will you do to improve the quality of your service to God? - 86 -
OCTOBER 2020
D i s c ove ry
by Michael C. Mack
1.
What challenge did you face last week?
2.
What did you do last week, as empowered by God’s Spirit, to share the love of Jesus with someone? Ask three people—two readers and one reteller—to help. Ask the readers to read 2 Timothy 2:14-26 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Repeat the process for 2 Timothy 3:1-9.. Ask the third person to summarize the passages in one minute or less. Which of these warnings and instructions most stands out to you?
4.
Let’s dig more deeply into these passages. • Since Paul had known Timothy a long time, perhaps about 15 years, what do these passages tell you about Timothy? • What can you infer about the people Timothy was ministering to from these passages? • Compare the different ways Timothy was called to respond to people (2:14, 25 versus 3:5b). What differences between the people and/or the circumstances explain those different ways of responding? • How would you complete this sentence using these passages? To succeed as a Christian leader, don’t focus on ___; instead, focus on ___.
5.
What do you learn about God from these passages?
6.
What do you learn about human nature?
7.
Pick one specific instruction from these passages that you sense you need to focus on (e.g., don’t quarrel about words, avoid godless chatter, flee the evil desires of youth, have nothing to do with foolish and stupid arguments. Pause and encourage everyone to pick one thing.) Which instruction did you choose, and why?
8.
Using the instructions in these passages, how can Christ followers be better representatives of Christ . . . (a) in the workplace, (b) in this class/small group, (c) on social media?
9.
Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .”
10. What new challenge do you anticipate this week?
For Next Week: Over the next week, read and reflect on 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2; 3:10-17. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
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OCTOBER 2020
WEEK OF October 18
3.
a s tu d y o n 2 t i m o t hy
ser ve CHRI ST
TA K E U P F R O M OT H E R S T H E R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S O F S ER V I N G C H R I S T.
lesson text:
2 T i m o t hy 1 :1 3 - 1 4 ; 2 :1 -2 ; 3 :1 0 - 1 7 supplemental text:
Acts 15:37–16:5 1 C o r i n t h i a n s 4 :1 7 P h i l i p p i a n s 2 :1 9 -2 3 2 T i m o t hy 1 :1 -7 ; 4 :1 1 - 1 3 , 1 9 -2 2
s t u dy
You're Next by mark scott
Hans Finzel said, “There is no success without a successor” (The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make). Wise Christian leaders are always on the lookout for and intentionally training the next generation of leaders. It is similar to the task of parenting children; church leaders always should be striving to work themselves out of a job. It is not enough to disciple people. Christian leaders must disciple people in such a way that those new disciples are equipped to disciple others. What Timothy Heard 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2 After offering thanks for Timothy and challenging his son in the faith not to be ashamed, Paul shared a reminder of his teaching. The Bible has great respect for ears. The theology of “hearing” matters. Hearing, in Scripture, means to heed and obey. The word heard in 1:13 and 2:2 reminds one of the call to worship for Israel (Deuteronomy 6:4). Timothy heard a pattern of sound (healthy) teaching. The content of that teaching would be in the substance of the Pastoral Epistles and the rest of the New Testament. What Timothy heard he was to keep, and he was to keep it with the faith and love in Christ. Timothy had been given a deposit (the gift within the gospel). His job was to guard it (as in a sentry guarding a prison cell) with the help of the Holy Spirit. The job of an elder is threefold: feed, lead, and guard. Why was this important? Because people like Phygelus and Hermongenes are always on the loose (2 Timothy 1:15-18).
Whom Timothy Followed 2 Timothy 3:10-15a Timothy stood in contrast to the people described in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. (In fact, Paul often used the phrase, “But you . . .” when he wanted to show this contrast; e.g., 3:10, 14.) Timothy did not follow the ways of the world described in the previous vice list. He followed
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Verses 12-13 could have been enclosed in parentheses. Essentially, Timothy and all others who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will experience persecution. That’s because of evildoers (evil people) and imposters (a pharmaceutical term meaning to enchant with drugs). These people go from bad to worse. They deceive others and are being deceived themselves. The second profound influence on Timothy’s life was a maternal influence (1:5). Paul told Timothy to continue (remain) in what he had learned. While much of that came from Paul, it also came—during Timothy’s infancy—from his mother and grandmother. It is never too early to begin training a preacher, and many a preacher has been trained first on his mother’s knee. What Timothy Knew 2 Timothy 3:15b-17 Timothy’s knowledge of Scripture is truly what made him a good successor of Paul. Two expressions are used to describe “written revelation.” Holy Scriptures are “sacred writings” (sacred grammar). These can make one wise for salvation. Scripture (3:16) is where we get our English word graphics. It refers to something written down. Clearly these are references to the text of the Bible. They certainly refer to the Old Testament but, due to the use of all, could also refer to the parts of the New Testament that had been written by this time Scripture finds its origin in God (God-breathed), and it is useful (profitable or advantageous) for building us up and tearing us up (Jeremiah 1:10). The result of this usefulness is so that the servant (man) of God may be thoroughly equipped (set straight) for the work of the church in the world. Who will succeed you? Weaker God Judges 6:28-32
The issue of our boldness is always related to another issue—namely, whose god is God? Is Baal of the Midianites God? Or is the Lord of Israel the real God? In the morning there was no small stir about the demolished idol and pole. The people carefully investigated (searched and inquired) as to who was responsible.
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WEEK OF October 25
Timothy heard the very words of his mentor in Christ. Paul called Timothy to be strong (vigorous like Samson and Hezekiah in the Old Testament; also used in Ephesians 6:10) and entrust to (place before) reliable (faithful) people who will be qualified (sufficient) to teach others. Wilford Lown said, “This verse [2 Timothy 2:2] was Paul’s great commission.”
(knew all about) two profound influences in his life. One influence was Paul himself. Paul reminded Timothy of his words and deeds, five of his virtues, and his trials. Timothy could never say, “I never knew ministry would be this tough.” He had witnessed too many persecutions and sufferings not to understand the significance of the statement, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22, New American Standard Bible; cf. Acts 13:5051; 14:5-6, 21-22). Paul had endured these, and the Lord rescued him from them.
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From Whom You Learned It by David Faust
Someone said that a diploma doesn’t prove you got an education; it means you had the opportunity to get an education. It’s good to go to high school or college, but it’s better to actually learn something along the way. I have diplomas on my office wall, but my ordination certificate hangs above the diplomas, because ministry means more to me than academic achievements. The witnesses who signed my ordination certificate stir fond memories. Their signatures are fading, but their influence never fades. Several of the signers, including my father, grandfather, and father-in-law, already have joined the great cloud of witnesses in Heaven. I picture them cheering me on when I write or preach. I would never want to disappoint them or let them down. Timely Advice Imagine how Timothy must have felt when he remembered how the apostle Paul and a group of elders laid their hands on him (1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6). Paul’s exhortations in 2 Timothy 3 contain timely advice for all of us. “Continue in what you have learned” (2 Timothy 3:14). Stay grounded. Choose faithfulness over flashiness. Perseverance matters more than popularity. Don’t forsake valid principles you learned in the past because today’s trendsetters consider them unfashionable. Don’t embrace fads simply because they’re new. “Continue in what you . . . have become convinced of” (v. 14). Convictions should override convenience. It’s not enough to parrot the teachings of respected parents, preachers, or professors. What do you yourself believe? What convictions will you never compromise? “All Scripture is God-breathed” (v. 16). Do you hold Scripture in high regard? Do you recognize God’s voice and respect his authority? Once you understand God’s will, do you yield and obey?
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“The Holy Scriptures . . . are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15). Do you stay focused on Christ and remember that salvation through faith in him is the central message of both the Old and New Testaments? Do you use Scripture to win arguments or to gain wisdom? To make points or to make disciples? To look smart or to love well? “All Scripture . . . is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (v. 16). God gave us the Bible for practical use, not for mere theological speculation. Do you put the Word into action and help others apply it, too? Feeling Tired? Why should Timothy continue as a faithful minister of the gospel? Paul told him, “because you know those from whom you learned it” (v. 14). Timothy had learned a lot from Paul and from other godly leaders, including his grandma and mom, Lois and Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5). When you feel weary and you’re tempted to give up—when you wonder whether preaching the gospel is worth the aggravation—think about “those from whom you learned it.” Let their examples cheer you on. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). And remember: Others look to you as their example, drawing strength from your teaching and your faithfulness. You are putting an imprint on them. In their hearts, your signature hangs on the wall, inspiring them to serve the Lord. Personal Challenge: Who is your “Timothy”? What men or women are you intentionally developing as servant-leaders for Christ? What will you do this week to encourage them in their ministry and their walk with the Lord? - 90 -
OCTOBER 2020
D i s c ove ry
by Michael C. Mack
1. What’s the biggest challenge you faced last week? 2. In what way did you represent Christ well over the past week . . . in your workplace, in this class/small group, or on social media? Ask three people—two readers and one reteller—to help. Ask the readers to read 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:1-2; and 3:10-17 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Ask the third person to summarize the passages in one minute or less. 3. If you were writing a “how-to” book based on these passages, what would the title be? 4. Let’s dig more deeply into these passages. • What do the main verbs in these passages—keep, guard, entrust, teach, continue—reveal to you about the things Timothy had learned from Paul and others? • How would you describe the relational (and intergenerational) aspect of passing on the Christian faith? • What roles had God played in Timothy’s spiritual and leadership development? • How is learning impacted by the words we hear as well as the examples of godliness we see? 5. What do you learn about God from these passages? 6. What do you learn about yourself and your own spiritual growth pathway? 7. Who is one of the main people in your life who has influenced you in a positive way for Christ? Tell us how this person shared Christ with you in words and by example.
9. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .” 10. What challenge will you be facing this week?
For Next Week: Over the next week, read and reflect on 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 4:6-8, 16-18. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.
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OCTOBER 2020
WEEK OF October 25
8. With whom will you share your faith in and love for Christ this week?
Interact Why? . . . John Thybault I liked “the flavor” of Michael Mack’s article, but why not get to the core of the biblical issue? [“From the Editor: The Church and Politics: Why?” p. 6, July 2020]. The God-given purpose of government is to define and uphold justice, to protect the innocent, and to punish evildoers. With this in mind, why are we hesitant to point out the supreme injustice of murdering innocent, preborn babies? And what political party unashamedly upholds this gruesome activity as the bedrock of their platform? How about . . . going to the polls and voting for the pro-life candidates? Charles Elgin For many years I have encouraged people to be open about both their religious beliefs and political beliefs. My contention is that your relationship with God is expressed by religion and your relationship with other men is expressed in your political beliefs. How do you understand viewpoints of others when you are totally afraid to express your ideas and likewise listen to their ideas? Great Commandment: Love God and love others as yourself. Be willing to examine Scripture as the Bereans and then apply the Word to our daily lives.
Pastoring in a Left-Leaning State . . . Ron Fraser Thanks, Dudley, for your piece [“Three Principles that Guide Us: Pastoring a Church in a Diverse, Left-Leaning State,” by Dudley Rutherford, p. 44, July 2020]. The second-to-last paragraph is key. We know that in the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds of Paul’s day, there were great injustices, hatreds, and indignities to each other. Neither Jesus nor Paul sought to legislate changes around these. In fact, things like the exposure [jeopardizing] of babies aren’t even mentioned. Why? Their focus was to help people invite Jesus into their lives, to follow him, and change the world through changed lives. Jesus changes lives. And the world changes as his values and way of life are put on display in the lives of his disciples. Thank you again for this reminder.
Separation of Church and Hate . . . Russell Kuykendall The teachings of Jesus have political implications [“The Separation of Church and Hate,” by Ben Cachiaras, p. 48, July 2020]. Throughout the Scriptures, one can find universal truth claims. Jesus’ “Caesar saying” (Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25) is such a claim. The apostle Paul gave specific instruction to Timothy about the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 2:3-6; 4:5). Those in the leadership ministry of the church are not called to do politics from the pulpit. However, their call to minister the Word in preaching and teaching may well see them engaging biblical topics with political implications for the public square. That is what it means to “take captive every thought” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Doing so might prove quite controversial, as the first half of 2 Corinthians 10:5 suggests! Rarely, if ever, will the Scriptures align with one political party or the other. Gene Andrews Great thoughts that are well-written, Ben. The struggle at times is expressing these ideas in a sermon, lesson, small group, or in conversations with brothers and sisters in Christ, and then being labeled and rejected. Donna A. Mistr I concur with much of what you have said, but I have one question that stirs my soul constantly. The line between politics and humanitarian concerns is very thin. There is no line between humanitarian concerns and the lessons and care of others that Jesus taught. How do we separate the church from these humanitarian concerns that have become political? I understand that the church should not and cannot endorse candidates, but it feels like we as believers are not serving our faith when we avoid teaching the issues head-on . . . poverty, racial discrimination, misogyny, homophobia, greed, environmental desecration. Is the church not meant to teach and guide so that we can live the lessons in the works? Mont Mitchell Thanks, Ben. Great and timely words. Kathy Cunningham Thank you, Ben Cachiaras, for your wonderful article about how Christians should interact on the internet. It should be required reading for everyone, especially Christians.
The Impact of Politics . . . Larry Balden I wonder how much leeway we will grant elected officials in order to fight some issues. He’s anti-(whatever evil we emphasize), so what if he (or she) undermines the Constitution a little or is a bit racist [“The Impact of Politics on the Church,” by Bob Russell, p. 20, July 2020]. Those kinds of things can seem small, perhaps because we practice or benefit from them, but . . . they erode democracy. Are Christians allowed that kind of bargaining freedom? I agree with Mr. Russell that we cannot hide from politics and must be willing to take our faith seriously on more than one or two issues. Clear-eyed understanding takes clear-eyed study. But it should be a quick study. Power-hungry people from any direction will avoid attempts to hold them accountable for wrongdoing while they grasp after more power and fewer restraints. Ken Cooper The attitude displayed by Mr. Russell in this article is exactly why churches do not get involved in politics. It is clear to me that Mr. Russell considers the extreme right-wing political views of most Midwestern evangelicals to somehow be endorsed by Jesus himself. There is no toleration of even somewhat more “moderate” political views. It sounds to me like Mr. Russell is displaying the “God-and-country, wrap-the-flag-around-the-cross” mentality that Chuck Colson called an “extreme.” . . . Regarding “our nation’s uniqueness and spiritual heritage,” the United States is not God’s chosen nation and it is not God’s kingdom. And as for the founding of the nation, the Revolutionary War was sparked by a dispute over money and taxes, not by a desire for religious liberty. . . . Are evangelical Christians really ready to have an open and honest discussion of politics with a view toward helping our nation better “reflect the spirit of Jesus”? James Howard Thank you for your call to action. Christians need to wake up before it is too late. A conversation is going on among Christians about wanting to get involved and how to do it. I tell them to find someone who can be their mouthpiece and support them. It is time for us as Christians to . . . get off the bench and take a side. If we don’t, we are in danger of losing our religious freedom and the country we love. You have spoken important biblical truths that cannot be denied. Brian T. Moll With the influence Bob has, I fear he’s using it to shield people from the realities of our racist past that continue to haunt us during this present day. Bob knows that God is on the side of the oppressed, so like Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and the founders of the Moral Majority, Bob is attempting to posture (far) right-wing conservative Christians as the oppressed when in reality it has been the right-wing conservative Christians—as far back as the doctrine of discovery and Manifest Destiny—who have been the oppressors in our country. Bob, please wake up to this reality. . . . Use your voice to speak truth to power rather than twisting God’s Scriptures and the political posture of Jesus so you may dine with the powerful in their mansions while simultaneously crying wolf. You are way better than this article. You’re making things extraordinarily difficult for your former church and its leaders by writing divisive, far right-wing commentary. I pray you’ll listen to the voice of the marginalized rather than pretending to be marginalized yourself. Gregory Newell [Someone said,] “Racism is so American that when you protest it, people think you are protesting America.” I’m a 58-year-old black man and a United States Air Force active-duty retiree with 22 years of service (I loved serving my country). . . . Do you really want me to believe for one second that you are unaware of the current systemic racism in our great country or that only a Marxist would point out our sins as a country? News flash, Mr. Russell, people in countries around the world are aware of America’s systemic racism! Please ask yourself why Russia and other enemies of the USA used this fact as a way to attempt to sway the 2016 and 2018 elections. . . . I am a former SECC member from 2007-2011. Even though you were retired by the time we joined SECC, it was your ministry and your sermons that drew us to join the church. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to see you sacrifice yourself on the altar of [President] Trump!
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For space, length, readability, relevance, and civility, comments sent to Interact may remain unpublished or be edited. We do read them all and prayerfully take them to heart. If we publish your comment, we will try to honestly reproduce your thoughts with those considerations in mind. Where we disagree, let’s continue to keep P.H. Welshimer’s words in mind to “disagree without being disagreeable.”
OCTOBER 2020
John Derry, President Emeritus, Hope International University, Fullerton, California Great article, Matt, and I appreciate your commitment to leading Ozark Christian College [“Is There a Future for Our Colleges? (And Is There Even a Need?)” by Matt Proctor, p. 50, August 2020]. I’ve served in Christian college administration for over 35 years, 21 of those as a president, and if given the opportunity would do it all over again. Keep up the good work.
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Our Colleges’ Future . . .
- THE FINAL WORD -
The church faces a monumental problem: There are not enough church leaders (both staff members and volunteers) to reach and care for all the "harassed and helpless" people of the world. Jesus gave us a simple solution: "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matthew 9:38). With a commitment to do what Jesus instructed, we are praying Monday through Saturday each week for the Lord to send workers. Each day we provide a short but specific prayer prompt, written by leaders throughout the Restoration Movement, to help guide you in your prayers. Join us by subscribing to our Daily Reading with The Lookout newsletter at christianstandard.com/newsletter or by scanning the QR code below.
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