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Why Church Planter Conferences are SO much better than Church Growth Conferences.

I've been incredibly blessed over the last couple of months to be able to attend two gatherings of Church Planters. The first was the Ecclesia Network's National Gathering and the second has been Christian Associates International's Leadership Summit.
I'll blog more in depth about both soon, but for now- it's got me thinking about why Church Planter conferences are so great and church growth/pastor's conferences are so not.
(By church growth/ pastors conferences I'm thinking of the big, national events with lots of big names, big ticket prices and big... Well, big EVERYTHING.)

Some reasons:

1. Church planter conferences tend toward collaboration, Church growth/pastor conferences toward competition.
The big question at pastor conferences? How big is yours? (Church that is). The feeling is very middle school, with people sizing themselves and others up, clear pecking orders, cool kids, nerds and outcasts... And plenty of comparing yourself against the superstar A-listers on the stage and the B-listers who get invited to tell how cool what they've got going is at the various breakout sessions.
It tends to be a different world at Church planter conferences- everyone is either at the same place or only one or two steps removed and can remember clearly and identify with where everyone else is at. The spirit tends to be sharing of stories and wisdom/ resources, rather than the "Let me tell you how I innovated our way to WINNING and how you can too!"

2. Church planter conferences are about encouragement- pastor conferences try, but because of their emphasis on celebrity, end up being demoralizing.

I'll say this- the big conferences TRY to encourage pastors/leaders, they really do. And often, in spite of the lasers and smoke machines, God does show up and brings encouragement. But because of the very nature of the big stage, the inaccessible superstars, the cutting-edge everything, the end result is often men and women who leave thinking "If only I could speak like that. If only MY church was like that. If only..." they go back not necessarily encouraged in what God is doing in their community/context, but determined about what THEY are going to do next- driven to "take it to the next level." And when, year after year, the "next level" is not reached, but growth, if at all remains slow, a certain "Why does this work for everyone else but ME?" tends to set in.
Church planter conferences, however, tend to do the opposite. They confirm God in the slow and steady, they help us see God in what is now- however small, however seemingly insignificant. And because of that, while I leave church growth/pastor conferences determined and with a list of things to change and to implement, I tend to leave church planter conferences not with new level of drivenness, but new levels of clarity- clarity about what I'm doing, where God is in it, and what I long to see God do next.

3. Church planter conferences are about connection and you meet new people, while growth/pastor conferences tend to be about resources and programs.

Church planter conferences, at least the ones I go to, tend to be smaller, and that means a different relational dynamic. I went to a large conference in Southern California for years, heard many amazing speakers, got a ton of great ideas- but never made a *friend* I didn't have already when I walked in the door. And generally, at the end of the day I came to realize- I could have saved a lot of money, listened to all these talks on the internet, bought the books the A and B Listers were inevitably selling, and gotten largely the same result and maybe better if I'd just taken those books and MP3s and sat by a pool somewhere.
But over the last three years of attending small church planter-oriented conferences, I've actually made friends. People who know my name, who pray for and encourage me when I need it. People who get the unique challenges I'm facing and that I can pick up the phone and call when I need to... And believe me, I have. I've found not just the latest resource or model, but an actual learning community I hope to be journeying with for a long, long time.

4. Church planter conferences are about the small ways we see the Kingdom breaking in, both personally and corporately. Pastor conferences tend to be showcases not of what God is doing, but the best and the latest of what WE are doing.

Gather with five thousand other pastors, pay hundreds of dollars to be there and you have a right to expect exactly what you will get: The best speakers and the latest methods and technology. Watch Ed Young Jr ride an elephant onto the stage? Heck yeah! See some guy dive off a hundred foot tower into a bucket of water? Why not? Listen to one of three sugar-stick messages this superstar is touring the circuit with this year? Absolutely.
This isn't to say there's not a sense of inviting experienced and authoritative people to speak to the church planting conferences. But those folks come for a lot less money, they tend to actually hang around and have conversations with people, and all in all, it ends up feeling like someone who actually wants to contribute to your ministry- not fly in, do their thing, grab their check and jet out.
The planter conferences look more like what we actually do- simple worship, dialogue, sometimes bad PowerPoint. But in spite of (and maybe partially because of?) all that, they tend to deepen - not distract you with THE SHOW. The church growth conferences dazzle, but they don't tend to deepen. They show you what you can have if you just spend more money, hire the right staff, adopt their model...

Am I exaggerating? Sure- a bit. But I'm editorializing here! :)
Does small mean better? No, not necessarily. Ive been to some great larger conferences and some scary smaller ones. Can and does God show up at Catalyst Or some conference with "!" in the title or "Q"? Sure (but even HE has to pay $800 to get into Q). If you can go, go. Have a good time- get out of things like that everything you can.
But understand- we try to convince people that what's flashy, what's new, what appeals to our consumer instincts isn't always what's best- that God (as Elijah found) is often heard in the still silence, not the flash and bang... And then we often turn around and choose exactly that. The glitz, the show, the "experience."
I've simply become convinced that there's a whole lot more to the small and non-slick than meets the eye. That maybe my time and money are better spent in smaller environments that can't "compete" with these big mega-conferences, but also offer some things they could never hope to.
And maybe, if you are in ministry, yours too?

Yet more sense on the gay marriage issue...

I posted last week something from the archives re my views on issues of marriage and the State, specifically as regards the current tug of war over definitions of marriage, Prop 8 and all the rest.

Here's someone (with no religious POV, as far as I know) who agrees with me- the only way out of this cultural quagmire is to get the State out of the "marriage" business altogether.

 

"While I don’t think that this is an easy path to adopt, it’s going to be the eventual solution.  Not only does it take government out of people’s private lives, it also means an end to a divisive and essentially meaningless debate — and it protects houses of faith and ends a potential government interference in matters of religion."

Read the rest here...

 

 

(ht: F. Turk)

Is It Possible to Have a Win-Win on Same-Sex Marriage?

From the archives (written in 2008)

Is it possible to have a win-win on Same-Sex Marriage (SSM)? I think it’s not only possible- it’s imperative.

The recent passage (and subsequent furor and church protests over) Prop 8 in otherwise reliably liberal California shows just how divided we are over this issue. Want to start an argument? Bring up same-sex marriage and watch the sparks fly and the tempers rise. 

Why? 

Because, at least at this point, neither side seems willing to try and see the issue from the perspective of the other and look for something other than a binary, up or down, yes or no kind of solution. And where will that lead us? Certainly no place good. Look for more protests of churches, more of those who speak out in favor of what they see as the biblical understanding of marriage to be labeled as “haters”... and fewer and fewer gay men and women even giving the Gospel a hearing because in their mind, the Church simply doesn’t care about them as people.

In order to avoid an exacerbation of this cultural war, some common sense compromise is going to be necessary- each side is going to have to give up something for the sake of the other. 

On one side, the Church is going to have to realize that gay men and women, in wanting what everyone else has, are asking for something reasonable. Rights of inheritance and property, custody and visitation- all of the rights granted currently by the state in marriage are good things, things we can affirm, even in relationships that we wouldn’t necessarily endorse. After all, even if we hold a more conservative view on divorce, I don’t see many churches advocating for divorced couples to lose the right to have custody over their step-children should something happen to their spouse. We may not endorse the relationship, but we can certainly try to understand the desire of those in it to have the same legal rights as other couples. And more than understand it- I think we can advocate for it, and practically demonstrate that we do in fact “love the sinner.” 

On the other side, those pushing for SSM need to understand the depth of feeling involved in and around the word marriage- what is for many Christians a sacrament and for all Christians sacred. To have the State legislate an understanding of what is essentially a religious term, and to legislate it in a way contrary to the faith and practice of so many is profoundly offensive. This goes beyond legalization into the realm of endorsement and definition, and as such, is qualitatively different than many other culture war issues. 

And as long as we’re talking about “marriage” we’re going to continue to see a stalemate on this issue as those who believe in a "traditional", biblical view of sexuality and those who want the basic rights afforded to others all around them each refuse to give an inch.

So what’s the solution?

The State needs to get out of the “marriage” business. It should recognize that as long as it uses that term, and continues to privilege certain types of relationships over others this issue is going to divide us as a nation, and is only going to become more and more contentious. We need to move towards the system used in many European countries where the State issues nothing but civil unions to anyone who wants them, and then those who desire it may seek a marriage from the Church. When I pastored in the Netherlands, this was the system- you got a civil union certificate at the courthouse and then a Marriage ceremony at the church. This division largely negated the culture war aspect, and allowed those churches who objected to same sex marriage on biblical grounds not only to opt out, but to be able to continue to teach their biblical view of marriage, uncontradicted by the State. 

But more even than changing our system, we need to change our hearts. I don’t know how many proponents of gay marriage will be reading this, so I won’t make much of a plea to them beyond this: please stop labeling the other side of the argument as “hate speech” and bigotry. It’s not. It is a working out of deep convictions and a particular understanding of sexuality as a good gift from a good Creator, to be used within certain boundaries. Personal animosity doesn’t enter into the argument- and when it does, it deserves just as much sanction and rebuke from the Church as anything else. 

Ultimately, we in the Church need to change our hearts as well. It is our primary goal that the Gospel of Jesus be heard and understood and that the person of Jesus be esteemed. As we often say in marriage counseling, “perception is reality,” and the sad truth is that right now, the gay community in America doesn’t think much of us or our Jesus, not based on the offensiveness of our Gospel, but on the offensiveness of our fighting what they see as fundamental human rights. My fear is that we may (for a while longer at least) continue to win battles like Prop 8... but ultimately lose the war in the hearts of a portion of our population who become convinced that the Gospel couldn’t possibly be Good News to them, based on what they do (or don’t) see in us. 

Just in time for the Fourth... "Be Careful What You Worship on July 4"

New article up on Out of Ur... join the discussion!

July 1, 2010

Be Careful What You Worship on July 4

Is national patriotism inconsistent with Christianity?

by Bob Hyatt

I’ve been a part of numerous churches that celebrated American Independence Day with abandon: 80-foot flags hanging from the ceilings, singing the “Star Spangled Banner” and “I’m Proud to Be an American” and even— most disturbing to me as I reflect back—saying the Pledge of Allegiance during our corporate worship.

If some visitor had asked us on those Sunday just what we were worshiping, I think that might have been a very perceptive question.

For many, the Fourth is about gratitude for the blessings of freedom. And as far as that goes, I’m in complete agreement—though to see only the “blessings” of freedom and not also repent of all the many varied and creative ways we’ve abused it might be a bit short-sighted. Still, yes to gratitude.

For others, these celebrations go beyond merely the gratitude and obedience that Scripture commands, into something else, something entirely absent from God’s Word: Patriotism.

Read the rest here