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Blogging NOC07: Closing Panel
By Jeremy | November 9, 2007
Innovation in the Church
Moderator: Ed Stetzer (Curious: Ed Stetzer has two masters and two doctorates but never graduated high school) Panelists: + Kem Meyer, communications director Granger Community Church + Dave Gibbons, lead pastor New Song Community Church + Tony Morgan, Chief Strategic Officer of New Spring Church + Dr. Michael Lindsay, Rice University (Pulitzer nominated) + Jonathan Falwell senior pastor Thomas Road Baptist Church (Fastest Growing Church in America) With innovation, the question is how much? The pace of change now is frenetic. Electronic survey of audience: + Did your church or organization publicly encourage people to see Passion? 86% + More movie screens in churches than movie theaters. Do you have a projector and screen in church? 93% + Have you had a message series based on a movie, popular book or TV show? 68% Q: How is creativity different than innovation? + ML: Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas. Creativity is the building up of creative ideas. Depends on a culture that allows the implementation of ideas. How do we disseminate innovation? + TM: Conferences share ideas, but what works one place may not work elsewhere. Question is how we reach the cultural context where we are sent. + DG: New Song is planting campuses globally. Western people tend to impose things; we need to learn how to flow with what God is already doing. God loves the misfit and outsider scripturally, so we have to adjust to reach people on the fringes. + ML: Cosmopolitans and misfits have an edge and tend to be creative. Let's be outwardly focused. + DG: The Medici Effect: Creativity is best at the intersection of diverse cultures. Q: At conferences, etc, how can we discourage attempts to clone methods? + KM: At Granger, the main mission is serve local church and second audience is the Church. Share lessons learned and encourage people not to clone. Can't mimic core values, so what's your unique DNA and how do you live it where you are? Corporations are a lot like churches in that they answer questions nobody's asking and talking to themselves. People that talk to themselves are crazy, but companies that talk to themselves are "marketing" and churches that talk to themselves are silent to the culture. + JF: Plotting a different course than his father (Jerry). Not interested in walking his father's path in his father's shoes. Looking to reach a new generation without leaving the old one behind. Innovate in that context by depending on Christ for creativity. He's the source of innovation, so go deep in that relationship. + KM: Don't Christianize everything. iPod is OK; need not call it GodPod. + JF: Cheesy is irrelevant. So don't copycat things. Utilize things for what they are. Q: Why does innovation frighten so many churches? + JF: Perspective that says, "This is how we were taught." Jesus was an innovator to reach people where they are. + KM: It's scary to be innovative. "It scares the hell out of them." + JF: You sell the innovation to resisters by results. When they see lives being changed people come around. + TM: We are all doing ministry in unique cultures, so our churches should look different from each other. Unifier is gospel focus, but methods inevitably change. Innovators must not become critical and judgmental of people who are resistant to change. Q: How do we contend for the Gospel so it's not lost in the process of contextualization? + DG: What's the motivation for innovation? It must be authentic or real. My call isn't to change someone. That's the Holy Spirit's job. Our role is to love them. No more bait and switch. + JF: We serve people to earn the right to be heard. Objectives: 1) Win them to ourselves. 2) Win them to our church. 3) Win them to Christ. When church becomes innovative and creative but cannot cease to focus on growing people in Christ. If the focus changes, they cease to be a church. + ES: Relevance is a tool, not the end goal. Q: What is the price of innovation? + ML: Change takes a toll on the leader's life. He's at the front of the roller coaster. Every body else comes behind that. The leader sees the drop first, the climb first, etc. The people in the back of the coaster see things afterwards, so they're always in a different place emotionally. Roller coaster of change is not just about the substantive issue. The real issue is managing emotions and the different emotional place. + TM: Even staff leaders experience the emotional roller coaster differently than the senior leaders do. Q: For 30 years ago, the watchword has been innovation. But the churches are less impacting than ever before. Why have our innovations not been effective? + ML: Church keeps playing catch-up. We're trying to imitate rather than shape culture. Need for churches to know what they're called to do and stick with it. Stop chasing trends and fads. + KM: Many more options today. People have everything they want except time. Too much clutter. Church tries to yell louder. Instead, why not reduce the clutter? Granger has eliminated ministries. + DG: Our definition of church has been fundamentally wrong. We have ceased to define our neighbor the way Jesus did. We've reduced it to demographics, but fundamentally Jesus said love someone who's different than you. Q: How do you create an innovative environment? + ML: Encourage innovation. Need freedom rather than imposition. But retain boundaries and structure within that freedom. Also, be willing to back up failures. + TM: What about the small churches? Limited resources facilitate innovation. Go with it. Resourcefulness matters. ES: Hold models loosely and Christ firmly. Korea was reached through mega-churches, but China is being reached through house churches. Avoid the Amish path of separation. My hope is that we will be known as Jesus was known, hanging with tax collectors, sinners and (re)publicans.Topics: dave gibbons, ed stetzer, evangelism, innovation, jonathan falwell, kem meyer, michael lindsay, missional, noc07, tony morgan | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Good summary… I am linking to it.
I think Adam was trying to be funny about the high school degree.