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We noticed a trend. George Barna confirmed it. It’s getting harder to reach a live person at the church office. In many cases, it’s not even Memorex.

Barna’s researchers called 3,764 Protestant churches during weekday business hours. No human contact was made in 40 percent of the churches called, even though multiple calls were placed—as many as 12 per church. And almost half of those churches had no answering machine either.

Try, try again: it takes an average of 2.1 telephone calls to reach a human being during regular business hours. Of the calls placed, only one-third were answered by a real person on the first attempt. For one-tenth of the churches, it took four calls or more to make human contact.

How does your church measure up?

You are more likely to talk to a human being on the first call if you phone:

—a mainline church (73%) than an evangelical church (66%);
—an independent, fundamentalist church (81%) than a charismatic or Pentecostal church (53%);
—a large church (70% for churches with 250+ adult attenders) than a small church (44% for churches with fewer than 100 adult attenders).

Implications for ministry? Barna says:

1. People are busy. They are unlikely to make three or four calls before establishing human contact.

2. People are already suspicious of the church’s practical value. We may be training them to turn elsewhere during times of need.

3. People expect accessibility, especially in our wired culture. The ability to communicate both personally and on-demand is crucial to fostering trust and continuity in a relationship.

from Barna Research Group (August 2000)

Currents

New demos for new decade.

Associate Pastor to Bachelors? Four of ten adult men are unmarried. Of those four, three have never been married, one is divorced or separated. In 1970, 9.4 percent of men in their 30s were single. By 1998, that number increased to 29.2 percent. Church programs address parenting, marriage, and divorce recovery. But as the marrying age rises, and with it the numbers of men who may never marry, the church has a new ministry target.

Stats from USA Today

’00s growth groups. Teens and seniors are this decade’s demographic chart toppers. Watch for renewed emphasis on youth ministry as the number of teens climbs by 2 million in the next five years. And by 2010, there will be 33.9 million Americans ages 12 to 19. That equals the last teen peak in 1975, the heyday of youth choir tours.

Postmodern maturity. By 2010, the number of households headed by people over age 55 will increase by 9.5 million, but 3.5 million fewer homes will headed by people 35-44. Time to consider how more seniors and fewer early middle-agers will affect evangelism, discipling needs, and energy-intensive teams.

Stats from American Demographics (Aug 2000)

What do you want out of life? People who identify themselves as born again are more likely than adults at large to want a close personal relationship with God (93% to 70%), want a clear purpose for living (85% to 75%), value church involvement (71% to 42%), and want to make a difference in the world (58% to 47%).

Both groups valued good health (91% of adults at large), high integrity (81%), one spouse for life (79%), and close friends (75%). Only 9 percent wanted to own the latest electronic gadget, while 6 percent wanted fame.

Barna Research Group (April 2000)

Four Sharp Questions

Put the right kind of teeth into your delegating.

“When it comes to working with volunteers, there are two types of people,” my supervisor told me. “There are alligators and there are delegators.

“Alligators,” he said, “chew people up and spit them out. Delegators invest in people by working alongside them and developing their skills.”

I had threatened to quit leadership of a youth program. No one would listen to me. But my boss didn’t let me off the hook. I determined then to become a delegator. I had barked my last order and chewed my last volunteer. People need feedback, but they accept it best when I let them do most of the talking.

Since then I have found four simple questions that help me bring out the best from volunteers.

1. What have you done since our last check-in? Periodic reports keep the project moving. This helps workers who get bogged down see what is slowing progress.

2. In the process of doing your task, what did you run into, both positive and negative? Here you gain insight into the person’s attitude about the project. Leaders often focus on the negative because problems demand attention. This question lifts workers above the hard slog and gives reason to celebrate.

3. What did you do about what you ran into, both positive and negative? This reveals whether the volunteer is really suited for the job. And this is the most valuable teaching opportunity. Here you can congratulate them for finding solutions, offer suggestions for alternate approaches, and assess their abilities to give and take direction.

4. What are you going to do next? This question keeps the volunteer on task, affirms the person’s responsibility for developing the project and moving it along. If they are unsure, you can suggest future actions.

The four questions work well in formal meetings or informally over coffee. Either way, you’ll sleep better knowing that the project should tick along nicely until you check in again.

Alister Emerson Christchurch, New Zealand

The Last Roundup

Giving went up when we ended pledging.

Two years ago, we did away with pledging as part of a new emphasis on stewardship. We had observed:

Pledging was decreasing.

Loose giving was increasing.

Generations in our midst were unaccustomed to pledging as a way of life.

We knew there were those who did not or could not honor the pledges they made.

We decided to focus on faithful giving rather than pledging. In that spirit, we invited people to fill out a card if they found that to be meaningful, but not to turn it in as they had traditionally done. Instead they were asked to bring a stamped envelope to worship one weekend in November, address it to themselves, insert the completed card, and seal the envelope.

After the first of the year, we mailed the envelopes back to the individuals—unopened—as a reminder to them of what they had committed to God. By not opening those envelopes, we demonstrated that we are serious about the experience being between individuals and God.

We are thankful to report our giving is up substantially.

From Perspectives (Fall 2000)Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, Minnesota

Budget Preparation Time

Most churches have adopted their budgets by now—73% start their fiscal year in January. So how long did it take to hammer out the new budget?

3% 6 months or more
35% 3-6 months
35% 2-3 months
17% 1-2 months
10% Less than 1 month

Source: the Leadership survey

Dew-ers of the Word

Churches offer a cup of soda and a winsome witness.

Heartland Community Church in Lawrence, Kansas, is located directly across the street from the Granada Theater, where rocker Marilyn Manson was scheduled to play. Manson bills himself as the “Anti-Christ Superstar.”

On the day of the concert, pastor Paul Gray urged the congregation to view Manson as a fellow sinner in need of a savior, and to love the person without condoning the actions and attitudes.

That evening, while patrons were waiting in line for the concert, the Heartland band and vocal team sang inside the church with speakers in the open doorways pointing toward the crowds. Church members prayed for Manson and his fans. An hour before the concert doors opened, they gave away 400 cans of cold soda to those in line. Concert attenders were told, “We thought you might be thirsty.”

When asked, Heartlanders said, “We’re from the church next door.”

There was no negative response from the concert goers, the church reported, and many positive comments were made, such as, “This is the kind of thing Christians ought to be doing.”

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, one Christian group protested outside a Manson concert, trading verbal assaults with the fans in line. Soon, another group pulled up and unloaded bags of ice, coolers, and cases of Mountain Dew. It was “the groUp” from Corinth Reformed Church in nearby Byron Center, a ministry of 19 to 29 year-olds. They began giving away soft drinks.

Asked “Why are you doing this?” the answer came naturally: “We love God and we love you!”

From Building a Contagious Church by Mark Mittelberg (Zondervan, 2000)

Ideas That Work

Wait ’til You See the Hats

Marian’s salvation was something to celebrate. We had prayed over her for some time. “If all heaven rejoices when one sinner repents, why don’t we join in?” I asked. My husband Scott, the pastor, agreed.

We stocked up on noisemakers at a party supply store. The next Sunday we asked the greeters to pass them out along with the worship bulletins. Marian came forward to share her testimony, along with the two women who led her to Christ. On cue, we all blew our noisemakers and applauded. It was a raucous, joyous, sacred moment.

Later we gathered the noisemakers and washed them. Our folks are looking forward to the next time they’re handed a noisemaker with their bulletin.

Cindy MinnichOcean Community FellowshipToms River, New Jersey

Will You Have this Man, Jesus …

We asked a couple who were married in our church recently to leave up the decorations in the sanctuary and fellowship hall. On Sunday we had a vow renewal ceremony for our church. Not the usual recommitment of husbands and wives, this was the commitment of the Bride of Christ to the Bridegroom.

We entered to the strains of wedding music. I preached on the pledge Christ has made to the Church, and what he expects of us. Afterward we adjourned to a traditional reception, complete with a wedding cake. Many people have said the most special part of the service was the vows we recited after the sermon:

“Will you have this man, Jesus, to be your Savior and Lord, to live with him after God’s plan of the holy state of salvation?

“Will you obey him, serve him, love and honor him, and forsaking all others, keep only to him until death brings you together with him for all eternity?

“If this is your vow, say ‘I do.'”

Allan RundelEbenezer Baptist ChurchWetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada