by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Nov 7, 2017
Gun shots rocked yet another church over the weekend. Sunday services in Sutherland Springs TX turned into a blood bath, with at least 27 dead. Before that horrifying incident, the folks of this small town felt protected by their rural setting. But as we’re discovering, even those things don’t prevent gun violence from unfolding.
What’s a church to do? I want to share with you 7 practical tips from Rev. Derrek Belase, a former certified police officer turned pastor, with two degrees in criminology. He is now the Director of Discipleship of the Oklahoma Annual Conference. His current portfolio includes coordinating the Safe Sanctuary Training.
Derrek believes that you can’t completely prevent gun violence from erupting. Even with the best laid plans or the best legislation. Then what? How can a church adequately protect itself? Here are 7 practical tips that can help any church prepare for the unexpected.
- Establish relationships with the first responders and other key people in your community. Get to know the Sheriff, Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department as well as the Mayor and County Commissioners. Let them get to know you and exchange cell phone numbers. That way, they’ll know if they get a call from you on a Sunday morning, it’s a bonafide emergency. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t call 911 if violence or threats of violence break out in your sanctuary. But also call them.
- Invite them to come tour the church buildings. Let them see the lay of the land, and the way your buildings are set up. If they have a mental picture of your facilities, they’ll be able to respond with foreknowledge, if the need should arise.
- Be sure to have ushers, as well as greeters. Greeters can keep an eye out for folks who may look troubled. They can alert the pastor, or if need be, the authorities. Once worship begins, greeters are seated. That’s when ushers take over. Once ushers are done seating people, they can serve as a vital link between the worshiping congregation in the sanctuary with its closed doors, and the outside world. They can walk down the hall to the nursery and make sure everything’s okay there. They can keep an eye out for stragglers, suspicious looking folks, or someone with a gun. Make sure they can access the church office and a landline phone if need be.
- Consider the layout of the building and the property, and what might happen if… How far is the nursery from the sanctuary? Do they have a landline where they could make phone calls out? Do you have a landline in the sanctuary? Do cell phones work in the sanctuary? Do you have a lot of doors that are unnecessarily open during worship? Are there places outside that people could hide? Your first responders can give you helpful feedback on that.
- Does your church building have an accurate sign on it so first responders can respond quickly? You may be known as First Church to your own people, the Methodist church to the larger community, and the downtown community church with the big spire to the neighborhood locals. Make sure your sign matches your website, Facebook page, and bulletin. Also, make sure you have your street address handy. That’s how ambulances will find you.
- Resist bringing in a security expert. They’ll suggest things most churches can’t afford, whether that’s a security guard or metal detectors, which will ratchet up expectations and fears. Instead, make these practical moves.
- Focus on what you’re there to do: preach the Gospel, build the Kingdom, help people grow spiritually, connect with the community and with God, give hope, share love, pray and practice the presence of Christ.
For more solutions, check out FEMA’s resource for protecting your house of worship. As in football where offense is the best defense, there are additional ways churches and other communities of faith can respond. Next week we’ll look at how to shift our larger culture which gives rise to lone, aggressive shooters.
In the meantime, let’s do more than send our thoughts and prayers. Let’s make sure our own houses are in order.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Aug 1, 2017
“Can I still call myself an atheist, and believe in God?” I looked up from the salad bar at the 20-something young woman posing the question, my fork hovering over the red and green peppers. “Tell me more,” I said, momentarily confused.
“Well, I now believe in a kind of power, but not what you believe in.” She knew I was an ordained minister. “Say more,” I urged her. I wanted to hear what kind of a God she thought I believed in. “Well, I think God is in everything.” Me too, I thought. “That sounds like maybe you’re talking about panentheism,” I offered. “Pantheism?,” she said. “No, panentheism,” I gently corrected. “There’s a name for it?” she asked, surprised. “Yup,” I said, relieved I had something to offer this young woman. Never mind that I also believe God is in everything; what I was most intrigued by was her desire to identify as God-believing atheist.
My daily life takes me deep into the heart of SBNR (spiritual but not religious) terrain—from the gym, to encounters with 12-step folks, to seatmates on airplanes, to United Methodist churches. Atheists who believe in God are not the only unusual faith configurations I encounter. In my ongoing adventures with the spiritual but not religious, I’ve gleaned a few things I’d like to share with you, including three insights and action steps for the church.
The spiritual but not religious defy easy understanding. While the evidence I offer here is anecdotal, and names have been changed, these stories represent people I have met along the way.
SBNR are not shut off to God nor is God shut off to them.
“I was meditating when I was transported back in time and saw Jesus, palms cupped, with a flame rising out of them,” Josh explained. “I feel like I witnessed one of the miracles of Jesus. I know he exists. It’s not a question with me. But, church? No, I don’t really go.” “Tell me more,” I said. “We didn’t grow up with much of a faith,” this intelligent 40-ish man observed. “My Dad was Catholic and my Mom Jewish, but we really didn’t practice anything.”
INSIGHT: Jesus steps outside church walls. Just because they are not in Sunday services, doesn’t mean that God is not in touch with the SBNR, and vice versa. In fact, Josh’s story reminded me of my own, told in The Jew Named Jesus. The only difference is I was in the Orthodox Jewish community at the time Jesus appeared to me in a vision. I could have easily opted to stay in the Orthodox world, or to surrender all religious affiliation, but a churched friend gave me a third option. She invited me into her world. Not to Sunday School class, mind you, but to the seminary she was attending. The meaty challenge of seminary was perfect for me. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but It gave me a chance to learn more about Jesus without having to commit yet to a faith community.
ACTION: Connect and Invite. As people share their stories with you, invite them to learn more about Jesus, with you. They may not want to come to worship. Instead, they may want to attend a Bible Study, or a spiritual retreat, or, who knows, even seminary. Maybe they simply want to sit and talk with you about their experiences. Treat this as a sacred encounter. Don’t judge them or their experiences; instead look for commonalities. Be prepared to say, “Tell me more,” and then to listen. Feel free to share your own experiences with them. Above all, be prepared to learn from them more about what God is doing.
The SBNR are church members and leaders…if they haven’t left yet.
“I decided not to be a General Conference delegate this year,” Suri confided, matter of factly. “I’ve gone every other year. But I’m not sure I still believe in this stuff. I’m not mad. It’s not anything like that. It’s just that I’m more of a universalist. God is love; that’s it. I don’t believe in the duality of heaven and hell. If I don’t come back to Annual Conference next year, you’ll know why. I’ve just moved on.”
INSIGHT: Church on the move. As Phyllis Tickle famously observed, every 500 years the church feels compelled to have a huge rummage sale. We “move on” in our practice, our beliefs, and/or our organization. I think the church is actually moving on from the duality of heaven and hell into a kind of “God is love” unity. Rob Bell’s book, “Love Wins” is a sign of that.
I wonder how many of our church members and leaders lean toward universalism? Personally, I don’t believe in hell as a literal place. Remember, I’m a panentheist (not a pantheist): I believe that God is in everything, including in each person. Hell, as near as I can figure, is a life lived apart from love, but I don’t see it as a place that God sends us to, condemns us to, or abandons us to.
ACTION: Get clear and get honest. Conduct an audit of your actual beliefs—whether at the level of congregation, small group, friends, or even just yourself. Take an honest look at what you do and don’t believe, and whether your church’s worship, ministries, and classes, are reflective of these beliefs. Invite your SBNR friends. It could make for very stimulating dialogue and build bridges of understanding.
The SBNR are looking for alternatives, and finding them.
“I’m the acquisitions editor for an evangelical Christian publishing company,” Shanda, an accomplished woman in her 50s, told me, “but I almost never go to church anymore.” She hesitated. “My theology has opened up quite a bit.” Another pause. She lowered her voice, “It’s boring. Especially compared to the personal development groups I am part of.”
INSIGHT: Don’t bore folks. SBNR folks are not anti-group, anti-growth or anti-God. They are anti-boredom. There are too many other options out there to waste time on experiences that don’t deliver. If church isn’t conducted in a way that connects, engages, inspires, provokes, challenges, or causes spiritual growth—then folks will look elsewhere. Don’t give them any excuses! Notice, I didn’t say church needs to entertain, babysit or amuse. It doesn’t. Yes, people want high quality experiences that engage them. Challenge and engage people with a love that risks everything and promises a real difference in the world! That’s never boring.
ACTION: Stand for something. Many churches are in survival mode. They have given up on standing for something. Instead, they’re trying to not lose people. Paradoxically, that loses people. Find a kingdom-oriented passion and stand for it. Preach it, pray it, and live it. Risk the church for it. After all, that’s what Jesus did.
Here’s the bottom line, church: SBNR folks have something vital to teach the church. If we listen, we might just gain clues to our own re-birth.
This article first appeared on June 21, 2016.
by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Jul 16, 2017
Why do good churches die?
I’m not talking about churches who have an apparent fatal flaw like mean or nasty people, terrible location, clergy sexual misconduct,
uninspiring worship or the like. Churches can and do recover from all of those things.
No, I’m talking about good churches that care about people, hold decently inspiring and cohesive services, are doing their best to reach out and respond to a changing world, are led by a committed leader, and backed up by laity who truly care. Good churches. Why do
they die?
Theories abound, including changing demographics, young people leaving the church or not being raised in church at all, the rise in the spiritual but not religious crowd, the appearance of “nones” and “dones”–those that have no religious affiliation or once did but have now retired from church, and the changing culture around us. Yes, these factors all play a part. But churches can and do transcend these factors too.
There is one hidden reason why churches that seem to be doing it all right still die. I want to share that with you today, plus four hints to discover if this hidden reason is operative in your church, and what to do about it.
The secret reason good churches die is they lack a vision. In fact, I believe 100% of church decline and demise is due to this.
Here’s how you know you lack a vision:
1. Your current vision doesn’t expand assumptions about what is possible. Instead, it describes what you are already doing. For example, let’s say your church’s vision is “Extending the love of Christ to the heart of our community.” Let’s say in the past, against all odds, you started an outreach to the homeless with food, clothing, and prayer. Once upon a time it seemed impossible to do. But now you are doing it on a regular basis. Guess what? It’s no longer a vision. Now it’s a program. Time for a new vision. Because a program, no matter how positive, won’t keep a church alive.
2. Your questions change from Who is God calling us to reach? to How can we avoid losing what we have? The first question is forward-looking, outward-focused and risky. The second question is backward-looking, inward-centered and cautious. It’s a sign that maintaining structure has become more important than doing real ministry. Also, that fear has become more important than the Gospel.
3.
You have not put your own credibility on the line when articulating what’s next. In other words, you are trying to look good, be liked, not rock the boat, save your job, or save the church. Jesus put his own credibility on the line when he cast his vision that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. So much so that Rome crucified him for sedition as “King of the Jews.” But his vision worked! Here we are 2000 years later, still organizing around it and implementing it. I’m not saying we will be crucified for having a vision. I am saying that putting our own credibility on the line, for the sake of the vision, is the only way we can be agents of transformation.
4.
You are waiting for someone else to come up with a vision. If you are leading in any capacity–whether you’re in charge of the Rugrats Ministry or you lead a team of 20 denominational executives, it is your responsibility to come up with a vision. That’s what leaders do. Waiting for someone else may be a sign that it’s time to retire or to re-tool your understanding of leadership.
You can tell when you are in the presence of a visionary leader, congregation or denomination. It’s exciting, invigorating and a little bit scary. You sense purposeful movement, forward direction, and perhaps more faith than you yourself currently possess.
I had this experience when I attended the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations international conference last summer. This is a group that is basically inventing a new branch of Judaism which bridges traditional Judaism and classical Christianity. They’re fully identified as Jews AND as followers of Yeshua/Jesus. Don’t tell them it can’t be done. Because they are doing it!
Theologically, socially, politically and demographically they are all over the board. They include Jews by birth and conversion, and lots of Gentiles too. It’s hardly a uniform group of people. But a single vision unifies them and propels them forward: to restore the Jewish Messiah to the Jewish people.
I didn’t sniff a whiff of decline among them! And I’m trained to detect that.
Here’s the point: if they can do it, you can do it! Good churches don’t need to die. And good leaders don’t need to let them! Envision a future that expands assumptions about what is possible, get back to asking the right questions, take risks, and be the one to get the ball rolling. This has the power to unify even the most disparate group.
Then, new life is not only possible, it’s inevitable!
This article first appeared on January 6, 2015.
