Barnabas File

We still talk about the period after a couple is married as the honeymoon. This is more than a short period of time to get away to a resort or vacation spot.  This is the time when the couple begins to get to know how each other thinks, acts, and believes.  For the most part, couples bend over backward to avoid any conflict during this time, and the good will lasts until a conflict develops that makes the wife see the husband as an unfeeling oaf or the husband see the wife as a nagging shrew.  The conflict is often around some major issue like which way the toilet paper should hang on the dispenser (over or under?) or who takes out the trash. Churches have honeymoon periods when a new pastor arrives.  This is good.  Everyone is cordial.  The congregation is happy to have survived through that uncertain time without a pastor.  The new pastor feels affirmed that these folks have placed their trust in him or her.  This honeymoon period is impo...

Several months ago, I wrote a blog about laity carrying the primary responsibility in startingnew churches .  My friend Frank Broome, the coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia, responded positively to that post.  He reported that CBF of Georgia has had a dozen successful lay led starts with only two failures.    In an effort to gain some realistic feedback on this approach to staring new work, I asked Frank, “W hat factors contributed to the success of lay lead church starts in your state?”  Here is how he responded:   "They began with a committed core of between 30 and 40 individuals who understood that they needed to give money and time. " They were willing to begin in a home, fire station, metal shed or even Jewish synagogue, thus keeping rent to a minimum. " They found an interim (usually through me) that was willing to preach at a small salary. " They made sure the nursery was staffed with volunteers.  " They ...

Events of recent days and weeks have reminded me that each of us chooses how we will use the social media available to us—platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.  They are readily available for us to express our opinions but we sometimes fail to realize the extent of their reach and the impact of our postings. Of course, I understand that people choose to use social media in a number of ways. Some use their accounts to express their anxieties, desperation, and general dissatisfaction with life.  Their social media connection becomes a confessional where they can “dump” their “stuff” with little or no fear of facing the consequences. Others use their accounts to share their political views.  They share comments, links, and blogs that deal with topics such as the government trying to take away our guns, their disapproval of “government schools,” and a president that they resent or even hate.  They are quick to repeat ideas and information with verifying ...

In two previous blogs, I shared the responses of Charity Roberson, Leadership Communities Coach on the Emerging Leaders team at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board on the philosophy and strategy behind her position.  Her comments led me to several observations. First, people in most congregations know more than they are doing.  We have individuals who possess not only significant gifts and skills but also innovative points of view.  If they are not doing what they do best, what’s the problem?  Perhaps the structures that we insist on maintaining are getting in the way. Second, people in our congregations want to be involved in decision making but they don’t want to waste their time on minutiae.  They want to help set the direction of the church and then get down to work.  They don’t want to be micromanaged. Third, there are many people in our churches who have both a teachable spirit and want to share what they learn with others.  As Char...

This is the second part of my interview with Charity Roberson, Leadership Communities Coach on the Emerging Leaders team at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.  In this blog, Charity responds to questions about developing intentional communities of ministers. We hear a lot today about “leadership communities” or “learning communities.”  As a coach, how would you define a "learning community”? “I know it sounds trite, but I define a learning community as any group of people that is committed to learning and growing together.  Again, these communities may be a short one hour online conversation, they may be a group that studies together for a set length of time, or they may be groups that journey through a longer learning process.  The goal is also to create a large learning community of all of us in ministry, tapping into resources that already exist and learning how to better communicate and share them.” What are the key ingredients to making a communi...

When you see a Baptist organization do something right, you just have to say something about it. The Virginia Baptist Mission Board recently called my friend Charity Roberson to a new position.  Charity will use her skills as a life coach to develop church leaders, something she has done previously as a campus minister and pastor. This is an example of putting the right person and the right position together. I asked Charity several questions about her new position and will share her responses in this blog and one later this week.  What is the exact title of your new position and to whom will you relate (target group)? “I am serving as the Leadership Communities Coach on the Emerging Leaders team at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.  My primary target group as I start will be children and youth ministry leadership, lay and staff positions. Over time, the goal is to create leadership development communities that expand to other areas of ministry as ...

Several years ago while I was working for a state Baptist convention, I received a phone call from a woman who had been recently accepted the call as pastor of a church that participated in the convention.  She was about to attend her first annual meeting of the convention.  After receiving a less than hospitable welcome from the local Baptist association, she was concerned about her messenger credentials being challenged on the floor of the convention.  Someone had suggested that I might walk her through the constitution and by-laws and identify any mine fields.  We had a pleasant conversation, and she thanked me for my guidance.  My response was, “Don’t mention it.  In fact, please don’t let anyone know that we talked.”  Not my finest hour and certainly not a “profile in courage.” The results, at least, were positive. She did attend the convention, was introduced as a new pastor, and experienced no problems to the best of my knowledge. ...

During a recent road trip, I listened to two audio books.  On the surface, the books would appear to be quite different.  One was the unabridged audio version of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook. The other was an abridged version of It’s Your Ship:  Management Techniques from the Best Damn Shipin the Navy by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.  I found, however, that both books had several themes in common. So how could there possibly be a convergence between a self-professed geek, mother, and female executive of an internet company and an Annapolis graduate who commanded a guided missile frigate in the United States Navy?  Although the styles are quite different (Sandberg’s book is part memoir, part motivational tract; Abrashoff’s is more of a management manual), the points at which they converge can be summarized in three words:  retention, relationships and reform. Bot...

This past weekend, I spent some time with two Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches in Mississippi.  Friday and Saturday I led a visioning retreat for University Baptist Church, Starkville, a church organized 12 years ago.  On Sunday morning, I worshipped with Olive Branch Fellowship:  A Baptist Faith Community that started eight years ago in a town just south of Memphis, Tennessee. On the surface, these churches are very different.  UBC meets in the Wesley (Methodist) Foundation building just off the campus of Mississippi State University.  The church was organized when a group of Baptists felt that they were no longer welcome in a large Baptist church in Starkville and created an alternative.  They are committed to ministry in the university setting.  Although I did not worship with University Baptist this weekend, I know that their worship is a blend of contemporary and traditional music with a rather casual atmosphere. On the other h...

First Chronicles mentions the people of Issachar “who had understanding of the times ” (12:32) and were able to instruct Israel what to do.  Wouldn’t it be a blessing to have such a gift—to be able to understand exactly what is going on in our time and discern the right path to follow?  Occasionally we see persons with this gift in business, government, or the church.  These individuals seem to be able to understand not only what is “trending,” but what is important to pursue in order to assure a successful future. Not everyone has the gift.  Although the remark may be apocryphal, many point to a statement attributed to Thomas J. Watson, chairman of the board of International Business Machines in 1943 to prove it is hard to predict the future:  "'I think there is a world market for about five computers. ” Although few may have the gift, there are some actions that we might embrace in order to catch a glimpse of “the next big thing” that will change ...

When I teach a class on the Missional church, I always include George Hunter’s book The Celtic Way of Evangelism on the required reading list.  Hunter explains very clearly how a pagan people were won to the Christian faith, establishing an arm of the church that flourished in a period when other parts of the church were experiencing conflict and decline.  Although the role of St. Patrick in the conversion of the Irish is shrouded in myth and legend, this “patron saint of Ireland” is credited with the rapid conversion of the Irish to Christianity and the establishment of an enduring Christian community there.  Certain principles at the core of this outreach reflect the experiences recounted of the mythical Patrick’s life, but they are significant for us today even if they were not initiated by the man himself. First, those who led in the conversion of the Irish understood the culture and used it to communicate the Christian faith.  Legend tells us that Pa...

I have lost count of the number of ordination services in which I have participated. Although the ordination of men and women to the Gospel ministry (perhaps I am dating myself in using that term) is meaningful to me, just as important is the opportunity to set aside men and women to the diaconate of the church.  These are people who have shown that they have gifts to both lead and serve. When I place my hands on the head of a new deacon, I whisper these words from 2 Peter 3:18:  “G row in the grace  and knowledge  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ”  My desire for that person is that she or he will continue on the journey that they have begun so well and will continue to discover what it means to be a fully equipped follower of Christ. In talking to church leaders, however, I have discovered that many have no roadmap for the journey of growth.  Whether they are deacons, Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, or committee chairpersons, t...

In Good to Great , Jim Collins and his team sought out companies that moved from being good at what they were doing to becoming truly great.  They pointed out that “Good is the enemy of the great.”  In other words, people will praise your organization for providing quality but not exceptional products (or programs or services).  People have been abused so long by organizations that they are satisfied with good but not exceptional service.   They don’t expect anything to be “great.”   Why take the risk to move to the next level when you already have acceptable results? I have thought recently about how many good churches there are.  These congregations provide solid preaching, well-planned worship, comprehensive Christian education, competent pastoral care, and helpful ministries, but they are not exceptional.  They are shackled by their own expectations of what church ought to be and limited in their Kingdom vision.  What keeps th...

In our Companions in Christ study entitled “Feeding on the Word,” participants were introduced to the difference between informational reading and formational reading of scripture.  This idea is presented very effectively in Robert Mulholland’s book, Shaped by the Word . Informational reading of scripture is a left-brain approach.  Mulholland points out that the person who reads scripture this way sees the material as an object, an “it”, something to be analyzed so that he or she can discover “the truth” that is contained there.  If taken to the extreme, scripture is perceived as a problem to be solved.  Baptists are very good at this.  We want to “wrestle” the text to the ground and will it to relinquish its treasures. Formational reading of scripture is a right-brain activity.  As one reads in this way, he or she is allowing the scripture to speak.  Scripture is a subject, a “thou” with the potential for multiple levels of meaning based up...

Most of us in ministry leadership want to do a better job and are constantly seeking resources to help us, especially those that are based on sound theological reflection and actual practice.   If you are this type of leader, let me share something with you. Under the leadership of executive director David Odom, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity designs educational services, develops intellectual resources, and facilitates networks of institutions including churches and denominational judicatories. Support for the program is provided by a major grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and on-going funding from The Duke Endowment as well as other donors. In addition to on-site conferences and consultation, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity produces a number of digital resources, including several e-newsletters.  I was recently introduced to another online resource, a Principles and Practices archive that provides information around the following topics: Thriving...

A couple of weeks ago, we received a mailer from a new church start in our community.  Actually, the pastor has been working on this for about four years, but evidently they are moving toward more visibility in the community, thus the mailing. When I went to the church’s web site, I found this paragraph: “We are the first Theologically SBC church in Rutherford County, TN to start with out [sic] “Baptist” in the name and take an interdenominational approach to people.  Every church has core theology that ties them to a denomination.  This directs all the teaching and doctrine of a church, but we refuse to focus on the dogmas [sic] of a denomination!  Jesus is so much bigger than a denomination.” So what’s this all about?  After reading this, I have to ask questions like, “Is this a Baptist congregation or not?” “Did you feel that you had to put this on your web site because you are receiving funds from the state Baptist convention to get started?”...

On any given Sunday, there are more people outside the walls of the churches that within and few of these will be in Christian worship at any other time during the week.   Some leaders see starting new churches—new communities of faith or worshipping units--as one way to address this situation.   Church consultant Eddie Hammett pointed out in a recent Facebook posting that although he is an advocate of starting new churches, he is “ increasingly concerned about the amount of money denominations are putting into the effort that is not bearing fruitful results in reaching a new generation.”  He goes on to ask what are other options that might be pursued that are “a better stewardship of our time, energy and money.” North Carolina pastor Jack Glasgow responded with this comment (shared with his permission): “ I believe our efforts will not be fruitful focused on clergy to be church starters. We need to focus on a core group of laypersons who want to create, or h...