success

Webinar: 4 Keys to a healthy church staff dynamic

Watch and listen to my Judson Press webinar “4 Keys to a Healthy Church Staff Dynamic”. If you are a youth, children’s, music, or associate pastor check out my book, The Work of the Associate Pastor. Judson Press is running a 35% off deal via their website with code CAENW till October 31.

No matter if you have a small church or a large one, maintaining a healthy church staff can be a challenge. In this webinar, learn 4 key elements to building a healthy staff dynamic. Rev. Alan Rudnick, author of “Work of the Associate Pastor” and Executive Minister at DeWitt Community Church shares practical strategies and effective steps to creating a positive church working environment. Church leaders will also discover: Continue Reading…

blog, Christianity

3 things churches can learn from David Bowie

bowie

As the death of David Bowie, the provocative entertainer, artist, actor, and singer, continues to shock fans and the general public, his mark upon culture is undeniable. David Bowie’s work spans decades and touched millions of people. As musicians rise and fall with cultural tastes, Bowie was able to keep the attention of the masses. Bowie’s success is obvious. He sold over 140 million records.

Despite Bowie’s brand of suggestive visuals and content, churches have a lot to learn from this cultural icon. Though Bowie was mostly agnostic and didn’t really dive into religion, (some flashes of spiritual moments, though) his ability to stay relevant is unmistakable. As churches struggle to understand how to “be church” in the 21st century, Bowie’s life teaches pastor and church leaders how to thrive:
Continue Reading…

blog, Christianity

Why it doesn’t matter if Noah film is inaccurate

Noah staring Russell Crowe has seen success at the box office with the general public but not everyone is happy about the film. Some claim that the Noah story was hijacked and is inaccurate.

True, there are parts of Noah that are inaccurate. These inaccuracies would be the things that Hollywood uses to make the story more entertaining, though these facts do not appear in the Bible. I’ll name a few without giving the movie away:

Noah is given snake-skin from the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Watchers, fallen angels play a role in Noah’s story
Methuselah, the oldest person in the Bible, appears in the Noah story
A ruler named Tubal-Cain is the antagonist
An army wages battle
Several ploys to kill characters in the story
Noah experiences recurring dreams

There are many more. If you remember your Bible story about Noah, you know that none of those things are found in the biblical account.

However, it does not matter. It does not matter if Hollywood added or took away facts from the biblical story of Noah. Heresy you say?

Christianity

Coalesce lava lamp Christianity

I am not a word smith. A friend of mine who helps me write better blogs reminds me often, less is more. In other words, my writing is too wordy and too long. Authors and poets have a great gift for using just the right combination of words to create powerful images. And they do so with very few words. The trick is using words powerful enough to convey large concepts.

I like words that can do that. Words like; love, redemption, restoration, forgiveness, and Red Sox. Each word carries with it weight and meaning, history and hope. I came across a couple words recently that I am working on making into a concept for ministry.

Coalesce and disperse.

Coalesce means to come together to form one group or mass or to unite for a common end. Disperse means to spread out over a wide area. I like this idea for ministry. The body of Christ comes together for a time to do a specific task with Christ, we serve, then we disperse to coalesce elsewhere and continue the work of Christ.

I like to use the image of a lava lamp for this. Lava lamps work through the Archimedes principle. Basically lava lamps are made with water and wax (lava). Both have very similar densities, but the wax is more dense. As a rule it should always sink. However, when heated by the lamp or coil at the bottom, the wax’s molecules speed up and become less dense and become more buoyant and float to the top of the lamp. Once there it cools and sinks again. The cycle repeats itself over and over.

What does this have to do with coalesce and disperse?

fantasy football

I gave up fantasy football for my family

Way back in 2003, I was an unmarried rabid fantasy football and baseball fan. I spent anywhere between 10-20 hours a week tracking, reading, and researching statistics to build the ultimate fantasy football team. Sometimes, I would manage 3 or 4 teams at once. I’d read and research on my smartphone, computer, and read the newspaper for all the inside tips.

The more time I put into fantasy football, the more my teams won.

The pursuit of fantasy football success and points for my players was almost an addiction. It was exciting going head to head with other fantasy teams each week. Trash talking friends and strangers about how good my team was and how much their team sucked was fun. I almost never played fantasy leagues that charged money. It was about the winning and bragging rights. Managing a fantasy football team was a 7 day a week job and it was enjoyable.

But, was it?

blog, Leadership

The Church Draft

As millions of football fans will undoubtedly will be glued to their televisions and social media, they will hunger for the latest information about NFL draft picks. The NFL draft is part pageantry and part celebration for football teams and their fans. Draft day means that a team can have hope for a better season as new athletes come on their roster.

This is also a tense time for football teams. Owners, coaches, agents and managers are all trying to work together to pick the best player. With all those high powered people trying to work together sometimes egos, tempers, and anxiety can play a major role in the team’s success. In order to get the best draft position teams will give away players, negotiate terms, trade draft spots, and participate in a number of complex agreements. The world of the NFL draft is truly a dizzying drama for teams but also there is tremendous opportunity.

In the world of the NFL, resources and money are seemingly endless as players are paid multi-million dollar contracts. For churches, the search for staff and volunteers is a frustrating process. Many churches lack the financial resources for say a full time youth minister or education minister. Often volunteers have to take on that work load without pay. Unlike the NFL, churches do not have ability to search for and pay for staff that could grow their organization.

In the church world of limited resources, what if churches joined together to have a Church Draft?

I live and minister in a small community with five mainline churches within a mile of one another. Our worship is similar and so are our ministries. We pastors get along very well. Back in 2009, we started meeting regularly and formed a clergy organization. We started to dream of the ways in which we could work together. We already had a number of connected ecumenical gatherings, but we wanted to do more.

One day, I jokingly asked if I could steal one of the other pastor’s secretary since we were in search of one. He replied that I would have to trade my choir for her. A few months later we were searching for an office manager. I went back to the same pastor and reminded him of our trade agreement but this time it was for real. I wasn’t going to give up my choir but we negotiated terms to share his staff person for our church office administrator position. BOOM! It worked. Fast forward a few years, and now all of our churches are talking about sharing a community youth minister and are supporting community based youth ministry! And, we continue to negotiate and draft ministry people to work in all of our churches.

In our community, it makes sense to work together and “draft” staff and volunteers. Each individual church may not have the resources, but together we are able to work together as one team and not five teams working against one another. Churches in the 21st century need to think about their staff and volunteers as players in the big game of ministry and not see each other as competitors.

Alan Rudnick is the author of “The Work of the Associate Pastor”, Judson Press.

Church Leadership, Pope

Why the Pope’s resignation matters to Protestants

Surprise and shock are an understatement when it comes to Pope Benedict XVI‘s resignation. Only a handful of Popes have called it quits. The Pope’s decision continues to spark speculation about who the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church will be. This decision will have far reaching impact for Catholics around the world… and certainly for Protestants.

As most readers know, I’m not Catholic. I’m an American Baptist clergyman. I come from a tradition that fought to continue the reforms of the Church of England. Baptists were one of the many English separatist groups that wanted to go further than breaking ties with Rome. Separatist movements during the Reformation were, in general, about freedom of religious expression, freedom to interpreted the Scriptures, and to free themselves from Rome’s hierarchy.

Some 400-500 years later, the Church in Rome and it’s Pope still matter to Protestants. Though we Protestants are free from persecution, this new Pope’s election will impact the way we Protestants interact with our Catholic brothers and sisters. As much as we protestants distance ourselves from the Catholic Church, we are connected common belief and ministry.

In recent years, ecumenical relationships formed between Protestants and Catholics have strengthened. Beyond sharing common basic doctrinal beliefs, (The Trinity, Salvation, etc..) Protestants and Catholics are getting better at how we treat one another. Mostly because of leadership within both traditions. Much of how this new Pope leads the Catholic Church will set a tone throughout Christianity. Protestants will wait to see if this new Pope will begin a period of transformation. Will we see more ecumenical acceptance of marriage, sacraments, membership, and ministry like the Catholic agreement with Reformed churches on Baptism?

If this next Pope leads Catholics to more common ground, we could see a new wave of Catholic and Protestant relationships. Think about it our challenges are the similar: shrinking memberships, public perception, changing church demographics, declining evangelism efforts, and diminishing financial giving. If more could be done together our common challenges, we could share common success. Measurable success could be made globally and nationally with ministry among the poor, basic health care access, developing nation building, fighting injustice, and access to education. The cause for the common good could something that we could work together on.

This is not without problems. There will always be groups within our own traditions that will fight against such “togetherness”. We Baptists are known for our exclusionary behavior when it comes to differences in theology with other Protestants. However, if leadership from our Protestant groups can commit to working with this new Pope and his leadership, our challenges can begin diminish.

This new Papal change is an opportunity for transformation for Catholic and Protestants. If both Catholic and Protestant leadership plan to work together in our common struggles, a new chapter could be written for Christianity. A new Pope could lead his faithful to turn their attention to breaking down our separation instead of seeking to build more doctrinal walls.

Super Bowl

Most Americans believe God rewards faithful athletes

It’s Super Bowl Sunday! According to a new study, God is very involved in professional athlete’s success. Public Religion Research Institute released a study on American’s beliefs and how they view God’s role in the success of faithful athletes:

Less than a week before Super Bowl XLVII, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are very (44%) or somewhat (22%) likely to watch the game this year. There are few divisions on this question by religious affiliation, age, or political affiliation; however, there are significant differences by race and gender.

Black (78%) and white (69%) Americans are substantially more likely than Hispanic Americans (52%) to say they are somewhat or very likely to watch the Super Bowl this year.
Although solid majorities of both genders report that they are somewhat or very likely to watch the Super Bowl this year, men (73%) are more likely than women (58%) to say they are likely to watch the game.
Two percent of Americans report that the team they identify with most closely is the San Francisco 49ers, while one percent say the same of the Baltimore Ravens.
More than 4-in-10 (42%) Americans who seldom or never watch sports nevertheless report that they are very or somewhat likely to watch the Super Bowl this year.

Professional football is, by far, Americans’ most-watched or followed sport: nearly half (48%) of Americans who watch college or professional sports at least a few times a year say professional football is the sport they follow most closely, while around 1-in-10 say the same of college football (12%) or professional basketball (11%). Less than 1-in-10 report that they follow major league baseball (7%) or college basketball (6%) most closely.

Most Americans (55%) say that football has replaced baseball as America’s national sport, while more than one-third (36%) disagree.

God on the Field

Americans are less likely to believe that God plays a role in the outcome of sporting events than they are to believe God rewards religious athletes. While only about 3-in-10 (27%) Americans, believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event, a majority (53%) believe that God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success, compared to 42% who disagree.

Read the full report.

Obama, social media

Social media pastors cast stones on Obama’s faith

As millions watched President Obama take a public oath of office, popular mega church pastors sought to cast some social media stones on our president’s faith.

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, set off a social media firestorm with this tweet:

Praying for our president, who today will place his hand on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know.

— Mark Driscoll (@PastorMark) January 21, 2013

That message was retweeted over 3,000 times and favored over 1,000 times on Twitter.

Now, I think it is just great that Driscoll prayer for our president. Thank you, Mark. However, what is extremely troubling and ugly is that Driscoll has no understanding of Obama’s faith. Our president has publicly and privately shared his faith. Not only was he a long time member of a church in Chicago but has shared about his personal relationship with Jesus Christ over the course of his adult life.

In the beginning of 2012, Obama gave the keynote speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Obama said,

“For me, as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required… I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself.

The facts are overwhelming despite Mark Driscoll’s ignorance. The president is on record proclaiming his faith and belief in Jesus Christ. Obama has spoken at length about praying and reading a personal Christian devotional everyday. In addition, our president regularly praying and meets with Christian pastors for spiritual advice.

In 2011, Obama responded to the questioning of his faith at the National Prayer Breakfast:

My Christian faith, then, has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years, all the more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time. We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us, but whether we’re being true to our conscience and true to our God. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, as well… As I travel across the country, folks often ask me, what is it that I pray for? And like most of you, my prayers sometimes are general: Lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office.

Still, other mega church pastors have commended Obama’s faith on inauguration day. John Piper, a popular mega church pastor and author, tweeted:

President Obama “spiritually blind” or “evil hypocrite” in claiming MLK and disregarding the weakest. dsr.gd/13UCjLz

— John Piper (@JohnPiper) January 21, 2013

I don’t agree with 100% of President Obama’s stances on political issues but that doesn’t mean I need to publicly bash his belief in Christ. This type of Christian stoning is ugly. It in no way furthers the Kingdom of God. It is easy to lob stones across social media and never face the person who you defame. On social media it is just too easy to be snarky, rude, or just plain uncouth. Anyone who is in Christ needs to resist the temptation to hurl a stone at another on social media.

Driscoll and Piper have very successful ministries that have brought thousands to Christ. I commend them for that. They reach the unchurched.

However, is it possible to live a life of ministry without bringing down others who’s Christian beliefs don’t match up with ours? Yes! I may not be particularly pleased with an organization’s or church’s stance on an issue or two but I can still support the fruit of their work.

We Christians must strive to end the questioning of another’s faith in Christ. God is the ultimate arbitrator of who is and is not a follower of Christ. Let’s put down the stones. As Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Church Leadership, clergy burnout, Leadership

Underestimating staff burnout

You don’t think your staff are stretched thin? Don’t think you are above burning out? Have you checked the health of your organizational staff? Perhaps you underestimate the power of staff burnout in your congregation or organization. It’s real and it can hurt not just your organization, but families.

Recently, a high-profile Baptist pastor in North Carolina became the latest ministry burnout case. Rev. Steve Shoemaker, who leads a 2,200-member Baptist church in Charlotte, entered a 30-day treatment program. In a rather quick move, Shoemaker sent a letter to his congregation outlining his need to step away. He wrote, “I’m physically, psychologically and spiritually depleted and must get help.”

What leads to such powerful emotional wounds?

Pastors and church staff often succumb to burnout. Long hours, high expectations, lower pay, being “on” 24/7, and stress all bring a higher work load to staff. This is often an under reported story in mainstream media, but in 2010 the New York Times wrote a story on clergy burnout. The first two paragraphs were striking and left no room for doubt of the power of burnout:

Israel Trip

Israel Day 8: Saving Children, Israeli General, & Suffering

Wolfson Medical Center

There are those who think health care in this country is poor, but what about billions of people who have no health care?

In the morning, we arrived at the Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv. We met Tamar and she shared with us about To Save a Child’s Heart. To Save a Child’s Heart works with communities around the world who have children that need serious heart surgeries. The surgeries cost around $10,000. These children come from countries where there is no medical expertise in heart surgery. Surgeons are Jews and Muslims working side by side with their patients, some of which are Christians. These surgeries take place in Israel.

A doctor with To Save a Child’s Heart

The medical team travels abroad to diagnose and treat children with these heart conditions. Many travel hundreds of miles to be seen by the doctors of To Save a Child’s Heart. Around 40% of patients come from Arab counties. After the surgery, children are able to live a full and vibrant life. Since 1996, more than 3,000 children have been saved from 44 different countries around the world. And, many of these children are Palestinians. There are over 70 Wolfson staff and doctors that work with the To Save a Child’s Heart organization. The organization raises money from private and public (including the European Union) funds to cover the cost of the evaluations and surgeries.

Medical team

Next, we traveled to the port city of Jaffa, where St. Peter received the vision that he should eat unclean food from God , as recorded in Acts. This marina area provided great views of the sea. Lunch was curbside at a great bakery.

In Jaffa.

Israel Retired General

Leadership

Change: 12 Guidelines for Deciding When to Persist, When to Quit

Kanter’s Law: “Everything can look like a failure in the middle.”

Navigating change or transformation within an organization or church is a challenge, but when it time for a new ideas to hit the road? What is a good yard stick to measure a new program, ministry, or initiative? How can organizations and churches evaluate success? Often, there is a messy middle where the future is uncertain and evaluation is difficult.

The Harvard Business Review has an excellent piece on how to evaluate the effectiveness of new plans or ideas.What I like best about these guidelines is that they ask the right questions instead of using a specific school of thought through a per-packaged paradigm:

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