Friday, February 28, 2020

Should the code be the minister’s middle name?

There’s a lot of things at a church which require codes. 

Security systems.
Access doors.
Computers.
Door locks.

It’s not unusual that the code on some of these devices will be set by a minister.

But, I wonder about the wisdom of a minister setting the code to something with personal significance for them.

It doesn’t matter if it’s their birthday, middle name or childhood pet.

What happens if the church is then stuck with this code?

As nice as it may be for the minister to type “fluffy123” to gain access to the church computer, reminiscing about the kitten they had as an eight year old, I expect that the charm will be lost on the next minister.

Sure, most passwords can be easily reset, but for some things, like security systems, it may not be such an easy process.

Furthermore, should a new minister be expected to reset passwords in order to not remember the first mobile number of their predecessor?

I admit, this isn’t the biggest transgression going around in Christendom, but these personal encodings may well expose shortsightedness because a minister wanted to be cute or memorable.

Surely a mixture of the suburb, church name, postcode or last digits of the phone number are better, longer-lasting, options for churches.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Can you judge worship moves like a dance floor?

After many years of trolling nightclubs, alongside wisdom ”discovered” through reading magazines, I’ve learned that it’s generally accepted that the degree of proficiency someone shows on the dance floor is matched in the bedroom.

The better the rhythm on the dance floor, the better the rhythm between the sheets.

I wonder, can a similar comparison be made in worship?

I know. It’s not right. It’s not PC. It’s fairly inappropriate. It’s not a question you ask out loud.

But, is it valid?

Does the way someone engages and moves in worship equate in a similar way someone moves on a dance floor?

In reality, no one will probably know. No one, most likely, would ever attain a valid sample size across various denominations and worship styles to accurately know.

But, the question does raise one query...

Do, in general, Pentecostals expect to have better sex than Anglicans/Baptist/Conservatives due to their more expressive worship style?

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Is church growth the norm?

I grew up in the third largest Christian denomination in Australia.
I worked in the same denomination, for over a decade, across four churches.
Additionally, I’ve regularly attended three other churches over two denominations.

My first church had a children’s and youth ministry which grew for around a decade, but nothing which I would consider explosive.

I’ve never been in a church which has had sustained growth of their primary congregation.

I wonder, is this normal?

I suspect, for many western christians, the answer would be the affirmative.

No matter the publicity which megachurches receive, these are not the norm.

The norm is... stagnant. Maybe a slow decline.

I wonder what affect this has.

Does it affect the way modern Christians relate to the book of Acts?
Does it affect the way western Christians respond to churches which are growing?

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The best name for a young adult ministry

Even though I’m no longer in vocational youth ministry I’m still a member of a number of youth ministry related Facebook groups. 

Usually they throw up the same topics every day. Game ideas. Sermon ideas. Funny videos. Requests for prayer (usually when someone is going to preach at “big church”). Advice about difficult situations.

One thing which I’ve noticed, with the group being quite America-centric, is a title occasionally used for young adult ministries... college and career.

I like it a lot.

I like that this title gives space and value to both options after high school.

This matters because, let’s face it, every young adult won’t go to university. Everyone shouldn’t.

All too often those who don’t go to uni are left out.

Hopefully, if you intentionally include those who are pursuing a career in the ministries name, then it will influence the things you do and speak about.

The one unfortunate thing is that we don’t call higher education in Australia college. 

I have no idea for a title, aside from calling it university and workers, which will have the same impact.

I’m guessing that university and underemployed isn’t an option...