Posts Tagged ‘church’
New Church
Nov.12.2006
I had posted on the construction of West Park’s new church last week. A friend of mine was good enough to take a couple of pictures of West Park, old and new.
The first shot is the existing building. It is relatively large at 16,000 square feet. When we attended the church, there were about 900 people.
The new building, currently under construction, is roughly 50,000 square feet. Not quite sure, but that would make it one of the largest churches in London.
Ted Haggard’s Fall
Nov.05.2006
I first came across Ted Haggard when he was interviewed by Barbara Walters on her prime-time special called Heaven.
He represented evangelical Christianity. And my first impression was that he did not represent evangelical Christianity very well. I did a bit of reading about him on the web. He has his own website here. He led a large mega church of 14,000 people in Colorado Springs called New Life Church. He was the president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. He was named by Time magazine in their list of 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
And, in a pattern all too familiar with highly visible Christian leaders in the United States, he participated in a terrible moral failing. When first confronted by the media he denied all allegations of any wrongdoing. New Life Church issued the following release yesterday:
The following is a statement released on Saturday by the New Life Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado, about the resignation of the Rev. Ted Haggard: We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard. Our investigation and Pastor Haggard’s public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.
This all started when a male prostitute named Mike Jones went public and claimed that he had been involved in monthly sexual encounters for money with Ted Haggard for three years. And the encounters included the use of drugs.
Haggard initially denied the allegations and he also denied any knowledge of the male prostitute. He then admitted that he knew the man. And that he had received a massage from the man and that he had bought methamphetamine but did not use it.
Haggard resigned from the National Association of Evangelicals and he has stepped down from his church. Great work, Ted.
CNN has all the details here.
West Park
Oct.30.2006
West Park was our home church when we lived in London, Ontario.
They have a new building under construction. You can find the details at the Dickinson and Hicks website. Quite a facility. Roughly 56,000 square feet. I have heard that the cost is somewhere above $6 million. The church is not taking on any debt for this project.
Nice to see that West Park is finally moving ahead. I’ve copied part of the floorplan below. I think we will make a trip there once the new building is finished.
Dolphins, Water, AIDS
Oct.19.2006
An Ipsos Reid survey, conducted for the Muttart Foundation, found that churches are less trusted than charities that do work for animals, the environment and social services.
One-third of Canadians have little or no trust in church fundraising. The full report on the Canadian view of charities can be downloaded here.
Habits of Highly Effective Churches
Oct.01.2006
I re-read Barna’s book on the Habits of Highly Effective Churches. Recommended. Too many churches lose sight of their basic mission. And, sadly, we have attended a few of those churches.
Some excerpts from Barna’s book:
In our culture it is easy to get confused about what “effective ministry” looks like at the grassroots level. Our interviews with pastors and laity confirm that there is a tremendous degree of confusion about the practical meaning of effective ministry. For instance, we know that many believe that each of the following is an indisputable mark of an effective church:
- having a sanctuary filled with 1,000 (or more) people at the weekend service;
- raising a million dollars a year (or more) for the church’s ministry;
- donating a half-million dollars annually to global missions;
- adding buildings or constructing a new campus with at least 100,000 square feet of ministry facilities;
- sending church choirs to sing in churches, community events and on school campuses throughout the nation or overseas;
- broadcasting the church worship services throughout the region or country;
- offering a wide range of Christian education classes and ministry programs;
- having high name awareness in the community at-large;
- adding 100 (or more) new members in a year.
… Attendance figures, square footage, staff size, annual operating budget and the like are simplistic, sometimes misleading measures that overlook the most important aspect of any ministry: the hearts of the people. I’m willing to bet that when the Lord examines a church His criteria have little to do with attendance statistics, budgeting complexities or program breadth. If His critique of the Pharisees and other religious leaders is any indication, His analysis will hinge on the depth of people’s commitment to making their faith real and pure.
… It is very unusual to find a church that has developed a truly holistic ministry – that is, a ministry that is effective in each of the six dimensions of ministry that constitutes the complete church.
What are those six dimensions? They are the very aspects that characterized the early church: worship, evangelism, Christian education, community among the believers, stewardship and serving the needy. These might be considered the six pillars of church ministry. When a church provides these elements of ministry, it is truly being the Church that Christ intended us to be.
Dysfunctional Churches
Sep.27.2006
I was reading through a number of articles at www.batteredsheep.com. Some interesting and thought provoking articles on dysfunctional churches.
Here is one significant attribute of a dysfunctional church:
The key indicator is control oriented leadership, ministers who have a need to “lord it over the flock.” Abusive leaders demand submission and unquestioning loyalty. The person who raises uncomfortable questions or does not “get with the program” is cast aside.
Sounds familiar. So does this article.
Jars of Clay
Sep.23.2006
Just returned from the Jars of Clay concert at the Phoenician. What a wonderful evening. The setting was very informal with perhaps two hundred or so people in the audience.
It was a unique treat to be able to share an intimate evening with the band. However, their purpose was not simply to entertain. Jars of Clay had come to gain support for their work in Africa. You can learn more about it here and here.
The support that Jars of Clay sought was not simply financial. This group of people at this event leverage their combined knowledge to help ensure ministry activities are successful. Wisdom, experience go along with financial support.
I’m not sure why the intersection occured while we were here at the Phoenician. But I was quite moved by what I took from the mission of The Gathering.
Remarkable.
Here is a shot that I took of the band at tonight’s performance.
Spiritual Abuse in the Church
Sep.15.2006
I was doing some research on leadership styles and in particular leadership styles used within the context of church.
I was told by one church pastor that leaders lead and followers follow. Any challenge to the leader is really a sinful act. Obviously, this is not biblical. It is symptomatic of spiritual abuse.
The most distinctive characteristic of a spiritually abusive religious system, or leader, is the over-emphasis on authority. Because a group claims to have been established by God Himself the leaders in this system claim the right to command their followers.
This authority supposedly comes from the position they occupy. In Matthew 23:1-2 Jesus said the Scribes and Pharisees “sit in Moses’ seat,” a position of spiritual authority. Many names are used but in the abusive system this is a position of power, not moral authority. The assumption is that God operates among His people through a hierarchy, or “chain of command.”
In this abusive system unconditional submission is often called a “covering,” or “umbrella of protection” which will provide some spiritual blessing to those who fully submit. Followers may be told that God will bless their submission even if the leadship is wrong. It is not their place to judge or correct the leadership – God will see to that.
Abuse is abuse. This is but one form of spiritual abuse. Churches that rely on top-down hierarchical structures are especially suited to systemic spiritual abuse. And poor leaders can really negatively impact the health of a church.
Effective Leaders
Sep.07.2006
I was talking to a friend today about different leadership styles. I have encountered people who claim to be leaders and they only know one style of leadership: the dreaded autocratic style.
This style is one in which the manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. The manager does not consult employees, nor are the employees allowed to give any input. Employees are expected to obey orders without receiving any explanations. The motivation environment is produced by creating a structured set of rewards and punishments.
The manager never recognizes the employees. Never says thank you. And always takes credit for their work.
For the autocratic leader, everything is about them. They use “I” and “Me”. What they achieve as an individual is all that counts. They do not build teams. They exploit their employees.
I’ve seen this style at play in churches. I suppose the selfish leader gets confused about the divine call. A calling to serve becomes a calling to command. And, if anyone challenges the commander, that person is labelled as trouble and pushed out.
Peter Drucker had this to say about effective leadership:
An effective executive does not need to be a leader in the sense that the term is now most commonly used. Harry Truman did not have one ounce of charisma, for example, yet he was among the most effective chief executives in U.S. history. Similarly, some of the best business and nonprofit CEOs I’ve worked with over a sixty-five-year consulting career were not stereotypical leaders. They were all over the map in terms of their personalities, attitudes, values, strengths, and weaknesses. They ranged from extroverted to nearly reclusive, from easygoing to controlling, from generous to parsimonious.
What made them all effective is that they followed the same eight practices:
- They asked, “What needs to be done?”
- They asked, “What is right for the enterprise?”
- They developed action plans.
- They took responsibility for decisions.
- They took responsibility for communicating.
- They were focused on opportunities rather than problems.
- They ran productive meetings.
- They thought and said “we” rather than “I.”
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