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UB News Site Still Offline, Sort Of
I'm still unable to make any changes to the UB News site, which runs on blog software. Likewise for the Staff Openings page. You can see them, but I can't make any changes to them. Still hoping the company that hosts those pages can get it fixed...but increasingly fearing the worst. In the meantime, we'll continue publishing news here.
Harold Wust and Guillermo Martinez: Partners in Life and Death
Two United Brethren ministers in two countries passed away within a day of each other, both from cancer. And there was a strong bond between them. They had been partners in ministry 40 years before.
Yesterday, September 21, Rev. Harold Wust was laid to rest. He passed away last Thursday, September 17. Each of the five Wust children spoke about their father. Then Josh Kesler, pastor of Good Shepherd UB church, which Harold attended, gave a message. Harold's father immigrated from Germany to Alberta, Canada, around 1930, and Harold was born there. However, the family returned to Leipzig, Germany, in 1939. In 1940, at age 10, Harold became part of the Hitler Youth, though at that age the Nazi ideology meant little to him.
After the war Harold, a Canadian citizen, returned to Canada on his own. He ended up in Fort Erie, Ontario, where he met Ray Zimmerman, pastor of the Garrison Road United Brethren church. Under the preaching of evangelist Paul Graham, Harold gave his heart to Christ.
Harold went on to become an ordained United Brethren pastor. Then, in 1966, he and wife Dee went to Honduras as UB missionaries. They served one term, 1966-1970. Then Harold accepted a position as Associate Director of Missions, which he held for about 20 years.
The Wusts served in Honduras when the Soccer War broke out between Honduras and El Salvador in July 1969. All Salvadoranians living in Honduras were rounded up and imprisoned. That included several United Brethren pastors in the La Ceiba area.
Guillermo Martinez was one of them. Harold and Guillermo often traveled together to villages and churches throughout northern Honduras. Guillermo pastored the large Ebenezer UB church in La Ceiba, but always loved traveling with Harold to visit the country churches.After the war broke out, Harold walked with Guillermo to the city's soccer stadium, where Salvadoranians were being kept in very poor conditions. Guillermo became a leader among the prisoners, and began holding services. During two months of captivity, over 125 men became Christians.
Meanwhile, Harold and Hondurans at the Bethel church (located across the street from the soccer stadium) brought food and other aid to the prisoners.
After the war, the Salvadoranians couldn't stay in the country. Most returned to El Salvador. But Guillermo Martinez, with his Honduran wife, couldn't go there. Instead, God opened a door for them to move to Nicaragua, where the UBs had begun work.
Guillermo and Linda Martinez moved to Masaya, Nicaragua, in March 1970 to start a church. During the first ten months, 60 people found Christ. He later became superintendent of Nicaragua Conference, leading them through the turbulent years of the Sandinista revolution and toward the thriving national conference they are today.
Guillermo Martinez passed away September 18 from stomach cancer. Just 36 hours earlier, Harold Wust had died.
Harold had been diagnosed with cancer in January 1999. A surgery removed parts of seven organs. But doctors said his liver was filled with inoperable cancer, and he had 6-12 months to live. But three months later at a cancer center in Texas he was told that there was no sign of cancer in his liver. He had been miraculously healed and given another ten years on this earth.
Now, both Harold and Guillermo have been reunited in heaven.
Beyond Christianity as a Transaction
I'm in Chicago attending MinistryCOM, an annual conference for Christian communications professionals. Nearly everyone is on staff at a megachurch. They are a tech-savvy bunch. They carry laptops, consult smartphones, use Twitter and Facebook, write and read blogs. Very connected. And highly competent.
This is my fourth year attending MinistryCOM. I always learn valuable stuff.
Yesterday I attended the "Branding 101" workshop, something they do every year. The topic of branding crops up constantly. Large churches focus a lot of attention on their brand identity--how they are perceived, and the experience people have in attending. This was my third time attending Branding 101. Today, it was led by two guys from CHANGEffect, a Christian firm based in Chicago. They hit the subject from some new angles.
Here's one thought I found interesting. It concerns our consumer mentality.
They said we often present Christ as a transaction--you accept Christ, you get a ticket to heaven. But we shouldn't be surprised, then, that so many of our people take the attitude, "What does the church do for me?"
Isn't that true? Our pews are filled with folks who just take take take, and if they don't like the meal you provide, they complain. Like people griping because their steak is medium and they asked for medium well.
Rather than view themselves as consumers, people need to understand that they are becoming part of a movement. They need to view themselves as citizens, rather than as consumers. They are citizens of a community to which they belong, and in which they have responsibilities.
In your church, do you have consumers or citizens?
They also cited several trends in society which churches need to adapt to. Let me mention two of them.
- We need to move from products to experiences. Products meet needs. Experiences fulfill desires. What are people experiencing at your church? To reach younger generations, you need to provide a total experience, not just a collection of well-done elements.
- From communication to dialogue. Communication involves telling. Dialogue is sharing; it's two-way. When people attend your church, are they just sitting there watching the show, or is there interaction?
Dealing with Your Local Newspaper
Last Thursday I attended a Communications Roundtable in Indianapolis. It's a bi-monthly group of people who do communications for large churches. The sponsor is Fishhook, a really wonderful Christian communications/branding firm in Indy.
The topic for this meeting was "Media Relations." We had several speakers, including a religion reporter for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Here are some of their comments and suggestions:
- Newspapers are in a time of change. They are trying to do more (like adding websites) with fewer people.
- If you want them to cover an event, give two weeks of lead time.
- Be understanding if they can't cover your church event. Newspaper people aren't able to get out as much as in the past.
- Newspapers are reducing the size of their printed papers, and writing shorter, more tightly-written stories.
- Understand that editors and reporters get scores of phone calls, emails, and voice messages while working on strict deadlines. It's easy for things to slip through the cracks.
- Leave short voice messages, and identify yourself and your church clearly.
- They like photo features.
- They are always looking for digital material, such as video and photos, that they can use on the web.
- They appreciate when you suggest stories and story angles.
- They prefer stories about people, rather than about institutions.
- Understand that their main responsibility is to their readers. They are looking for the angle that will make the story most interesting to the bulk of their readers.
- Develop a relationship with reporters and editors. Don't just pitch them information to get free publicity. Relationships will serve you much better in the long run.
- Don't bombard them with information about every little church event. We get excited about what's happening in our church and want to throw it all out to the public. But before long, they'll just begin ignoring your submissions. Be strategic in suggesting stories. Once a quarter is good.
- A good story angle: how something your church does ties into trends, topics, and issues of interest to the entire community.
- Help the reporter by providing people who can talk about the issue or event, and suggest visuals (like photos).
- What reporters see as fair and objective may not seem that way to you. Trust their judgment. They're not out to get you. They're just ordinary people who probably attend a church near you.
Digital Real Estate
Greg Atkinson wrote a good blog item called "Digital Real Estate." He admonishes churches and pastors to be proactive in reserving names for themselves on key social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter.
I've written about the need for churches to reserve a domain name for themselves, even if they don't intend to use it right away. Domain names are very cheap real estate. If you find a name you like, I suggest reserving it for 10 years or longer. At NetworkSolutions.com, you can do that for $180, a 48% discount from the one-year rate. Network Solutions is good about bugging you when it's time to renew. Unfortunately, every year one or two UB churches forget to renew their domain name, and must start over with web and email addresses.
But some real estate is free. We've reserved several Twitter accounts which we don't currently plan to use (ubyouth, ubwomen). I just wanted to get possession of the names. Likewise for Facebook (as Greg Atkinson points out). If blogging interests you, get a Blogger.com account in your name.
Just focus on the most popular sites. You might want to get a Gmail account in your church's or your personal name, or Flickr. Keep on the lookout, and make sure you write down the login name and password, especially if you don't plan to use it right away.
Book: Less Clutter, Less Noise
You've read multiple books on church growth, discipleship, evangelism, and leadership. I'll bet you haven't read one about local church communications...because there aren't too many. Since this is a communication-intensive world, let me recommend "Less Clutter, Less Noise," by Kem Meyer.
Kem is Communications Director at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Ind. That's a fast-growing, highly innovative church focused tightly on reaching lost people. I attended a seminar there, attended a service another time, and I read blogs by Kem and a few other Granger staff. It's valuable being exposed regularly to people who aren't merely doing church, but are passionate about reaching the lost.
That emphasis comes through in "Less Clutter, Less Noise." As Kem deals with communication strategy and technique (and she loves the cutting edge), it all comes from an outreach-oriented heart. That's the context in which Kem operates. I've heard her speak in three different conferences now, and she has consistently conveyed the same attitude--an attitude toward everything we do in communications, and an attitude toward the people we're trying to reach.
Her main premise is something like this: people are looking for something that'll make a difference in their lives, but they're so bombarded with information and choices that they can easily miss the church's message. We need to break through the clutter--not add to it. She deals with a number of issues, always with short (1-3 page) pieces. "Less Clutter, Less Noise" reads more like a blog than a book (which I'm guessing was intentional).
You'll find parts that don't apply to you (as I did). But you'll discover some important perspectives on "church growth" that you won't find elsewhere.
Continue reading Book: Less Clutter, Less Noise.
20 Very Happy Years
Today, Pam and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary. Neither of us are anywhere near the United Brethren office. In fact, I wrote this a couple days ago. You don't think I'm working on my 20th anniversary, do you?
We met at New Hope UB church in Huntington, Ind., when Pam was a student at Huntington University (I graduated in 1979, she in 1984). We were married at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, just six months after we began attending there. It was the first wedding Denny Miller performed after he became Emmanuel's pastor. In 1998, we were part of the core group which went out from Emmanuel to "restart" what is now Anchor Community Church. The core group met for the first time in our home.
Dr. DeWitt Baker, former president of Huntington U, used to delight in all the couples who met while in college. I don't know if Pam and I count, since our college years didn't overlap, but I suspect Dr. Baker would have claimed us.
Pam and I dated for five years before I realized that my Mom was right when she told me, "You're in love and you don't know it." Anyway, it's been a wonderful 20 years, and it went faster than I thought it would. I imagine 30 will be here before I know it. But I'm anticipating a lot more than 30.
An Abundance of Warm Fuzzies
Last week I sorted through 15 years of correspondence, 1978-1993. We were cleaning junk out of the warehouse, and I had two file cabinets of stuff from way back. I knew I'd want to keep some of the letters in those files, and that meant going through each one. Took me most of two days.
Those were the years of the monthly United Brethren magazine, which I edited from 1982 until it ceased in 1994 (and worked on as assistant editor before that). There were, as you can imagine, some negative letters. People called me on the carpet for various literary offenses. In some cases, folks subjected themselves to severe contortions in order to scrunch between the lines of things I published, finding meaning which neither I nor the angels and demons knew was there. One person accused me of writing "editorial drivel," which was actually true more than I'd like to admit.
My favorite was the fellow who, in a light-hearted piece of satire, imagined a slight against gun owners (which I could never locate). That led to conclusions about my patriotism and Christian commitment, which he expressed thusly: "I am very let down that you people are not only un-American, but also against Freedom and apparently pro Communist. Where are the true Americans who used to be pro-Christian freedom-lovers and God-fearing? Please don't answer this letter, as I am not in the mood for some stupid liberal trying to convince me that living in slavery is good."
Letters like that stand out. Most of the negative letters, though, made good points. Some, as I look back, were totally valid (though in my defensiveness, I may not have felt that way at the time).
But as I plowed through hundreds of letters, here's what really struck me: the overwhelming graciousness of UB people.
Put aside the occasional negative letter. Most of the letters I read during those two days contained affirmations, compliments, positive statements, and assorted words of appreciation. The sheer volume of warm fuzzies totally eclipsed the occasional bad-mouthing.
It really humbled me, and renewed my appreciation for all of you. Thanks, UBs, for being good people.
30 Years - Yeah, That's a Long Time
They said they needed my camera in the break room. Something was going on, something apparently newsworthy. So I grabbed it and went in, and there sat an ice cream cake. And it was for...me?
Indeed. Bishop Ron Ramsey instructed that the occasion appear on the Bishopblog--whether I wrote it, or somebody else. Since I don't trust any of my coworkers, I thought I better do the deed. Besides, everyone is crazy-busy with National Conference preparations.
The occasion: June 1 marks 30 years of working fulltime at the United Brethren national office. I actually started on June 1, 1978, after my junior year at Huntington University, but I didn't go fulltime until graduating in 1979. Back then, my title was assistant editor. I worked on the monthly United Brethren magazine, edited a weekly Sunday school take-home paper, and did some work on the adult Sunday school quarterlies.
We discontinued the Sunday school curriculum in 1982 and closed the printshop. At that point, I became editor of the United Brethren magazine. And the position has evolved from there. I took the title Communications Director in 1993, when we centralized all of our communications. And from there, this and that has happened, yada yada yada, you're really not that interested.
Along with the ice cream cake, my coworkers gave me a card (of sorts) with comments like these:
- Way to go! Your endurance is amazing.
- You are a great asset here. Old and musty, but still a good asset.
- People who stay in one place for so long usually are honored with a statue. Have you posed for yours yet?
- 30 years! Most marriages last less time than that!
- Congrats! Putting up with everyone who has come and gone. Wow!
- You must have started here at the office when you were a child!
- Wow! 30 years! You must be older than I thought!
- How many Macs or models of Macs have you had in those 30 years? [I think 7, plus 2 laptops.]
- Amazing! You have worked here almost my whole life!
- I know that cars are considered vintage or antique after 20 years, so....
Now you know why I thought I better write this.
It's been a joy working here and serving our churches. I've never NOT attended a United Brethren church. I've basically ordered the entire UB menu: grew up UB in four different states, attended our camps, participated in Bible quizzing, UB preacher's kid, graduated from our college, and have now spent my entire career in the service of my denomination. No regrets. Unless you count eating that too-big piece of ice cream cake this morning.
Camp Days and the Fear of God
Dr. Paul Fetters spoke that summer during Pacific Annual Conference, the summer after my ninth grade year. He spoke on the family, and it was excellent, even to this budding sophomore.
We used a camp in Watsonville, Calif., outside of San Francisco, which meant a nine-hour drive for those of us from Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Most of our youth group was there for the conference Bible quizzing finals.
But this particular night, I wasn't paying much attention to Dr. Fetters' message. Instead, I was flirting with Tammy, a shy but very cute girl. We were sitting beside each other about in the middle of the left-hand section of the tabernacle. It's all branded deeply in my memory because of what came next.
As I carried on--and it would have been mostly me, because Tammy was so quiet--I apparently disrupted people around me. Suddenly, I felt a big hand clamp onto my shoulder from behind. I looked over my shoulder. One of our ministers, a big guy, well over six feet tall, had grabbed me from two rows back.
He then said to me, in the type of hushed voice Jack Bauer uses, "If you don't quiet down, I'm going to take you outside and whip you like one of my own kids."
I quieted down, fast. I doubt that, in my traumatized state, I actually listened to much of Dr. Fetters' message. But at the end of the service, my heart still beat in overdrive.
That hand, that large physique, that Voice of Intimidation, belonged to the pastor of our church in Sacramento. A guy named Ron Ramsey.
Twitter for UBs
We have clambered board the Twitter bandwagon. Our Twitter feed provides little snippets of news, plus automatic notifications when anything is posted to the Bishopblog or to the UB News page. You'll find it at:http://www.twitter.com/unitedbrethren
Frankly, I don't expect a lot of people to use the Twitter feed, mainly because not all that many UBs are using Twitter, period. We're far from critical mass. I've come across less than 30 UBs with Twitter accounts, and many of them aren't actively using Twitter. It's not exactly a necessary communications accessory.
But, this was easy to implement and will involve little work on my part. And Twitter is mushrooming in popularity. So, there it is. Use it if you want.
Creative Worship and Design Seminar
Tom Datema alerted me to a seminar--in just two weeks--by the guys at Midnight Oil Productions. Tom and I heard these guys at a ChurchMedia.net conference. They're tremendous. Both were once on staff with Ginghamsburg Church in the Dayton, Ohio, area, as part of the group that designed worship experiences. They are especially good when it comes to using imagery and metaphor. Their seminar was perhaps the best one on this subject I've ever attended.
The cost is $99 per day, and they're taking walk-ins, so you don't even need to register in advance. And if Dayton is too early, they're doing this seminar in other locations.
They are doing two one-day seminars back to back:
- Monday, April 27: Creative Worship. Philosophy and tips putting together engaging digital-age worship experiences.
- Tuesday, April 28: Design Matters. About creating media for use in worship services.
Useful Web Applications
Tony Morgan, the "Chief Strategic Officer" at a booming megachurch in South Carolina, is one of the premier bloggers in the evangelical world. He's especially popular among the cutting-edge crowd. Really an interesting guy.
He just posted "25 Free Web Apps That Make Life Easier." Increasingly, things are moving to the web. Instead of using a program you install on your computer, you go to a website and accomplish the same thing, whether it's managing a calendar, writing Word documents, or managing your finances.
I was aware of, and use some of, the web apps that Tony mentions. But others were new to me. Depending on your level of geekiness, you may be interested in checking out his list.
What web apps would you add to the list? Mention them in the comments.
Book: The Monkey and the Fish
"The Monkey and the Fish" is about leadership and church health. The Christian market has many such books. This one hits some different chords.
Dave Gibbons, an Asian American who founded Newsong, a multi-site megachurch in California, is a refreshing voice. Too many Christian writers seemingly think the American church, and our interpretation of what church should be, is God's definitive word for the world. Gibbons takes a world view, and his words open up whole new possibilities. No, he's not in the emergent crowd; many of them would view Gibbons as tame. But for me, a traditional evangelical from the United Brethren mold, his thoughts stretch me aplenty.
A theme Gibbons develops throughout the book builds on the question asked of Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded by telling the story of the Good Samaritan, which is about two people who normally wouldn't have anything to do with each other--a Samaritan and a Jew.
Gibbons writes, "Jesus was telling the religious leader that his neighbor, instead of being someone like him, was someone not like him at all, someone he would be uncomfortable with or even hate."
He says churches need to seek out people who are different from them, not just like them. "There's something truly divine about a movement of people who reach out to love others and be with others whom they find difficult to understand or love to be with."
This is more than theory to Gibbons and Newsong Church. It's a concept that permeates the church, as they intentionally pursue marginalized people, outsiders, people on the fringes of society. And he cautions, "It may very well mean that the church doesn't grow numerically nearly as quickly as it otherwise might." Imagine that--adopting a strategy which you know will slow your growth...just because you think it's the way Jesus might do things.
Church growth exalts the "homogeneity" principle--that you attract people like you. United Brethren, for instance, are good at targeting other white, middle class folks. And that does, indeed, work. But that doesn't mean it's the way of Jesus. Gibbons illuminates another way to view our neighbors, and I find it engaging (partly, I'm sure, because it relates so well to me and my own church).
There's a whole lot of great stuff in this book.
Guard Your Domain Name
A domain name is a very cheap piece of cyber real estate. Your church can register a domain for $20 or less per year. This domain can then become the hub for all of your church's internet communications--your website, your email, a blog, etc. If people know your domain name, they can find you.
However, every year, one or two United Brethren churches lose their domain name.
- Maybe nobody in the church office understood what the renewal notices were about.
- Maybe renewal notices were going to somebody who no longer attends, but who originally registered the account.
- Maybe they just procrastinated too long.
- Or maybe they just forgot.
Many companies eagerly pounce on lapsed domain names. They like snapping up something with established traffic flow. As a result, the church loses their domain name, which has a variety of ramifications:
- The church website address no longer works.
- Email addresses which used that domain no longer work.
- Business cards, letterhead, and any other printed materials which mentioned those email addresses or the website URL must be reprinted.
- The church must find a new domain name, which will probably be less satisfactory than the previous one.
- People who type in the name of the previous domain name will be taken to something totally unrelated to the church--perhaps a porn site.
So, some suggestions:
- Make sure you know where the domain is registered.
- Try to get the domain directly under the church's control, rather than in the account of a parishioner.
- Make sure your contact information with the registrar is current, so you receive notices when it's about to expire.
I See You, You See Me
Technology has its frustrations, but also its amazing sides.
This morning, the Global Ministries staff held a meeting with David Kline in Macau. Four of them gathered around Darlene Burkett's iMac, and using iChat's video features, they discussed some financial issues. It was smooth, and free. Here in Huntington, it was 9:30 Thursday morning, but for David, it was 10:30 Thursday night.
David, seeing me enter the scene with my camera, apologized for not combing his hair.
Pictured (l-r): Mabel Mundy (accounting clerk), Darlene Burkett, Jeff Bleijerveld, Donna Hollopeter is out of the photo, on the left. (Sorry, Donna.)
Phylis Stouder Retires from Healthy Ministry Resources
Phylis Stouder, right, displaying the Nutcracker soldier given as a parting gift. On the left is Marilyn Waters, the bookstore manager. Phylis and Marilyn have been a team for about 15 years.
Healthy Ministry Resources said good-bye to Phylis Stouder, who has worked there since October 1986. That's 22 years.
On Tuesday, January 13, we held a farewell luncheon for Phylis at the Habecker Dining Commons at Huntington University. Pat Jones and Jeff Bleijerveld were traveling, but everyone else was there. The staff gave her a couple gifts, including a Nutcracker wooden soldier to add to her collection.
Phylis originally came as a secretary in what was then the Church Services department. I was editor of the monthly United Brethren magazine, and Phylis did a variety of chores for me, and helped out the others in the department--Paul Hirschy, Carlson Becker, Denny Miller--in whatever ways she could.
Since 1993, Phylis has worked primarily with the bookstore. Every quarter, she packages hundreds of boxes of Sunday school materials. She also helps with everyone else's mailings--the Bishop's office, Global Ministries, you name it. If you receive something from the national office, Phylis probably had her hands on it.
Phylis and her husband, Lowell, are members of College Park UB church in Huntington. They spent most of their married lives running a dairy farm (Lowell got out of that a while back). They're also big Purdue fans. Please don't ask Phylis for her opinion of Bobby Knight.
We'll miss Phylis a lot. She worked hard and conscientiously, willing to do anything asked of her.
Over the years, she learned how to do some of everything, an office jack-of-all-trades. We'll miss her good sense of humor.
Actually, Phylis will keep coming back occasionally to help in the bookstore or do mailings or whatever. But she's basically retired, no regular hours. Which is what she wanted.
Twice a week, we start the day with office devotions. After our prayer time, Phylis would always say, "Have a nice day." That was our signal to head to our desks and get started. We haven't decided who will say that now.
Yet Another Thought on Momentum
Here is another thought on momentum from Andy Stanley, adding to the others I mentioned here and here.
If you have momentum and you don't know why--you are one stupid decision away from killing it.
I love my church. But right now, I think my pastor and most of us would agree, Anchor lacks momentum. We're nowhere close to being a dead, status quo, business-as-usual church, and lots of ministry still happens. But momentum? Not so much, right now.
When Anchor (my church) started over ten years ago, we definitely had momentum. But I'm not sure why. And I'm wondering if we did something to kill it. Did we make a "stupid decision" somewhere along the line? I can't think of anything offhand, but I'm gonna keep pondering.
Can you point to a stupid decision your church made which, looking back, may account for your lack of momentum?
More Thoughts on Momentum
A few days ago, I mentioned something Andy Stanley said concerning momentum. Here's another one of his thoughts.
In the church world, we put up with lack of momentum as long as we can still pay the bills.
Now there's a sad thought. "I am financially viable, therefore I exist." Is your church in that boat?
Too many churches choose to limp along, keeping the doors open, as long as they can pay the bills. The only momentum is downward. Meanwhile, they shoo away opportunities which would be to their long-term good--like merging with a nearby church. Such a move would make both churches stronger. No longer stuck in survival mode, they could devote resources to ministry.
Continue reading More Thoughts on Momentum.
Momentum
One blog I follow is by Tim Stevens, administrative pastor of Granger Community Church near South Bend, Ind. They're doing a one-day Catalyst conference, with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel. Stanley began the day by talking about momentum. Stevens provided some notes from that session, including this statement:
Momentum = forward motion fueled by a series of wins.
I've been thinking about that in two contexts:
- the local church (including my own church, Anchor).
- the United Brethren denomination as a whole.
Throughout my lifetime, I've heard people say, especially when things aren't going well, "What we need is revival." When things aren't going well, the answer is the same: revival. That's true to an extent, and it always sounds exceedingly spiritual, especially when embedded in a prayer. But what does it look like? What exactly are they praying for?
It seems like they're too often praying for One Big Win, a giant divine intervention that will get everybody doing what they're supposed to be doing. This does happen, but it's elusive.
Instead of waiting for revival, what are some small wins my church can pursue? Putting several small wins together is like gradually pushing the accelerator. You build momentum.
At the denominational level, Pat Jones, as Director of Healthy Church Ministries, has been working with a few local churches at a time. He does a weekend consultation, then meets with the pastor once a month for a year. As a result, churches have turned around or been propelled forward. It's not flashy, but it's a series of wins.
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