Barnabas File

Growing a new church is much like growing a crop. It takes time, work, and patience. In short, it is an organic process. Crops are not manufactured; they are grown. The church is more than an organization; it is an organism. In Natural Church Development , Christian Schwarz observes, “The organizational realm of church ministry can be ‘manufactured’—the organic level can’t.” We have been working for about a year to start a new church in a growing part of our city. What do we have to show for it? We still don't have regular weekly worship and the monthly gatherings we hold are not as large as they were six months ago. We have had one successful outreach event that was led by about 30 folks from First Baptist, our sponsor church, and drew about as many uninvolved folks, but we have not been able to integrate these new folks into the groups that are meeting on a regular basis. We do have three home Bible study fellowships meeting that involve about 25 people. They are not as...

For over a year, I have been working with a group of folks to put down roots for a new church start in a rapidly growing part of our city. Starting new churches is not a task for the weak! It is very much like a roller-coaster ride. As we met yesterday in a community gathering (about 20 folks), we shared prayer requests, gave thanks for what has already happened, and prayed about our future direction. One of our group made a very significant comment, "It's hard to start a new church when people are not already upset or angry about something!" I have heard the same sentiment expressed in different ways, but it does prompt some thinking about the philosophy we have adopted in starting this new church. First, we are not looking for those angry about their present church situation. Folks like that usually just bring their anger with them. On the other hand, if a person is presently part of a fellowship but has a vision for outreach that is not being fulfilled in their pr...

Last week I received a call from a reporter with a middle Tennessee newspaper asking for comment on President Carter's convening of a group to call for a meeting of progressive Baptists in 2008. Of course, she said almost immediately, "I have not been writing religious news very long. Can you explain to me what's happened to Southern Baptists and how your group differs from them?" This led to questions about inerrancy and the "official position" of Fellowship Baptists on women in ministry. Those of you who have found yourself in this position know how frustrating this can be. How can you explain 400 years of Baptist history in general and 25 years of Baptist history in the South specifically in a 5 minute discussion? Although I did spend some time explaining my personal understanding of the role of women in church leadership and some examples of Fellowship missions, I tried to make several points. First, if you want to know how Fellowship Baptists diffe...

Several years ago, a friend took an extensive trip through Asia. He met a number of missionaries and took a lot of pictures. When he came back, I had the opportunity to hear a presentation (complete with pictures) of his trip. As best I remember, the main point of his presentation was, "These people are deprived and their lives would be a lot better if they were more like us." I don't think the missionaries told him this, but this probably expressed my friend's bias about the real purpose of missions. His idea was that "missions" was something we do to people, and much of that involved their adopting our culture. Today we find ourselves in a unique situation. Where Christianity has taken hold in Asia, Africa, and South America, believers are articulating their faith in ways that reflect their own traditions and culture. This is a dynamic and exciting movement of the Spirit. Philip Jenkins has written about this in his book The Next Christendom: The ...

In 1949 Popular Mechanics magazine stated that "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." In 1977 Kenneth Olsen, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., said, "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." Today, there are probably over 300 million personal computers in use in the United States. You are using one of them right now. Twenty years ago, who would have imagined the impact of personal computers, the Internet, cell phones, and wireless networks on our lives? We sometimes complain about them, but that is when they don't work as well as we have become accustomed to them working! There is a saying, "What seems like only a ripple today can become the wave of the future." As we approach the start of a new year, this causes me to ask, "What new thing will impact our lives in the future in ways that we least expect?" What machine, process, or movement in its infancy today will chan...

The Bible teaching ministry (usually called Sunday School) in the local church is a fascinating enterprise. In most Baptist churches, it is not as structured as it was 20 years ago. There is more flexibility in grouping (often interest or lifestyle based rather than grouping by ages), more diversity in curriculum choices, and more use of media and outside resource people. There is, however, one persistent feature of the Sunday School in the local church that has changed little--the dependence on lay leadership to carry it out. I have been exposed to a variety of Sunday School teachers over the years, and I must say that the best teachers I have known were (and are) lay people with no theological training and limited formal education. My own father is one example. Because my grandfather was killed when my father was in his early teens, my Dad had to work to support his mother and younger brother. He was not able to complete high school with his class, but later received his diplom...

When I use the term "Christian formation," I intend it to be an umbrella term encompassing ideas like Christian education, discipleship, spiritual formation, and catechesis. Basically, this is the process by which a believer is not only instructed in the faith but transformed into a practitioner of the faith. Of course, this process is never complete but it is one in which every follower of Christ should be involved throughout his or her life. How will the church practice such formation of believers fifty years from now? I imagine that it will take a variety of forms, but my hunch is that we will engage more in an "action-learning" approach to Christian formation. There will be an intentional effort to link the believer's growth in Christ with her or his daily life. As one encounters various challenges in life, these challenges will become the raw material for reflection and learning. The sources that ground such reflection and learning might be best charac...

There are many "entry points" into the life of the church. In the past, this was often the Sunday School. For many people today, it is the worship service. For others, it is the opportunity to be involved in one of the ministries of the church--some within the walls of the church facility (Upward Basketball is an example) and some in the community (Habitat, etc.). The door of ministry, especially ministry outside the walls of the church, will provide the connecting point with many non-churched people in coming years. Young adults are often looking for places to serve, and the church can provide those opportunities. Working alongside Christians provides the non-churched person the chance to develop relationships with believers. Perhaps one of the things the church of the future needs to do is to prepare members for this type of interaction. This doesn't mean learning a pat "presentation of the gospel." It does involve knowing one's own story, how that relates...

Let me break my series on the future of the church and comment on an article that appeared on the Baptist Center for Ethics website. BCE reports that David Clippard, the executive of the Missouri Baptist Convention, recently said, "The real threat we are facing today is that Islam has a strategic plan to conquer and occupy America." Part of this plan is funding Islamic studies and opening mosques near colleges and universities. "They are after our sons and daughters, our students," Clippard is reported to have said. I don't know if Clippard's observations are correct or not, but the idea of attempting to reach a nation through its college and university students makes sense. In the early 20th century, many Christian groups (including Baptists) decided to do the same thing. This gave birth to the Baptist Student Union, the Student Volunteer Movement, the Wesley Foundation, and many other denominational and non-denominational groups. This resulted in the...

My understanding is that Ephesians 4 teaches that some believers are called to equipping ministries--these include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. All of these are necessary for a healthy balanced church, but the way in which these equipping ministries are represented in the church today is very different from the way they were exercised in the first century. I won't pursue that topic in this posting, but I do want to make clear that there is and will be a continuing need for ministers who "equip God's people for the work of ministry" in the church fifty years from now. In the future we will still have those who serve the church full-time as staff ministers. At the same time, we will have many part-time or bivocational ministers serving the church in various roles. The most interesting thing about these "professional" ministers will be where we will find them and how they will be trained. First, many of these staff ministers will ...

In fifty years, the worship practices of the church will be all over the map--just like today! The good news is that people will still be assembling together for worship. The "virtual church" is an interesting idea, but it will not take the place of believers coming together in one place to do "the work of the people"--worshipping God. The good news is that those who plan worship will be comfortable drawing on all the many facets of the Christian tradition to do worship. Music is always the big issue when we talk about worship. I think we will see less "contemporary" music and more music that draws on scripture (such as the Taize tradition), chants, classical music, and traditional hymns. This goes along with a general trend among young adults today to embrace mystery and transcendence in worship. This also means more art, more candles, and--generally-a more experiential and participative approach to worship. The Eucharist--communion, Lord's supper...

In fifty years, we will see a number of churches that do not own buildings and will have no plans to acquire a building. These "churches without walls" will probably have offices (usually rented) and storage areas. Some will choose to have their offices in malls or shopping centers with high foot traffic and adequate parking. They may even do some ministry there, but this will not be the real presence of the church in the community. It will be elsewhere. Much of their communication with participants (the number of "members" will be limited, but that is a subject for another day) will be digital--e-mail, websites, or whatever follows our present day digital communication. What are the forms in which the church will be physically manifested? First, small groups will meet regularly, perhaps weekly, in homes, coffee shops, hospitality rooms in condo developments, etc. The primary focus of these groups will be fellowship and Christian formation. Second, church part...

Someone asked me today, "What do you think the church will look like in 50 years?" Well, I love science fiction and I love the church. Maybe I can bring the two together and do a little scenario thinking over the next few days. Although I embrace the concept that the church is the people and not the building, we still tend to think of buildings when we think of churches. So let me say a word first about buildings. Most churches in existence 50 years will still have buildings, even though they will be expensive to maintain and many civil authorities will resent the churches for having them and not paying taxes! (This will be challenged increasingly in the next few years, but I believe that church and state separation will prevail although some churches will pay a services fee just to get the local government off their backs.) In some settings, the buildings will be seen as an asset to the community and local governments will make efforts to encourage their upkeep and via...

At the GOCN meeting in Kansas City last week, I had the opportunity to meet George Hunsberger, one of the more prolific writers on the missional church. George is pictured here (on the right) with Dale Ziemer of the Center for Parish Development. George is a professor of missiology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and comes out of the Reformed theological tradition. Hunsberger was greatly influenced by missionary and missiologist Lesslie Newbigin and is the author of a book on Newbigin entitled Bearing the Witness of the Spirit . You may recall that Newbigin was a missionary in India for most of his ministry. While there he found ways to communicate the Gospel in a non-Christian context. When he returned to his native Great Britain for retirement, he discovered that he was again living in a non-Christian context! He spent the rest of his life writing, lecturing, and exegeting Western culture as a mission field. His work provides a foundation for missional ch...

I spent the last three days in a conference with folks who believe that established churches can change to become missional--that is to participate with God in a mission to the world. The missional church takes seriously the culture in which it functions and the gifts and calling of its people in order to be on mission with God in that culture. The Gospel in Our Culture Network basically developed out of a dialogue between those in the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions on what it means to be such a church in 21st century North America. They have not only produced a significant amount of theological literature (such as Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America ) but they have also discovered and researched places where it is happening (see Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness ). The conference included representatives from Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran churches and judicatories. They are in various stages of ...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the approach of Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost in the Missio Intensive conference and in their book is that the church has already failed to reach people in our culture. I understand why they have come to this conclusion based on their experiences in Australia. As Frost points out, the first settlers in America came to seek religious freedom and by choice (although we must admit that the promise of commerce motivated many). In Australia, the first "settlers" were mostly Irish convicts who did not choose to travel to the other side of the world. Their "chaplains" were Anglican priests who were also the magistrates who pronounced judgement on trangressors! The basis of the cultures was very different. At the same time, I realize that we are faced with both a secular culture (is there any other?)in the US as well as rapid and discontinous change. Most people are not antagonistic the church; they are indifferent to the church! Eve...

Rita and I just returned from a trip to California that included a Missio Intensive Event at Fuller Seminary. The conference featured the authors of The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church. The authors are Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, both Aussies. Michael is a professor of evangelism and missions at a seminary in Australia and a church planter. He has a Baptist background and the gift of evangelism. Alan (pictured here) is a South African Jew (now a Christ-follower) who has lived in Australia but is now making the shift to the US. Michael is the apostle/prophet of the team; Alan is the strategist/conceptual person. I will write more about this meeting later, but I just wanted to share a few initial observations. The theme of the conference was reaching people for Christ in a post-everything context. Michael and Alan have served in a part of the world that is de-Christianized. Being a Christian in Australia is not a matter of pride....

The US is making plans to return to the moon. And guess what? The crew vehicle will be a space capsule! Yes, the new Orion spacecraft will look like the old Apollo crew vehicle and not like the space shuttle. The Aries launch vehicle will be based on the shuttle launch system, but the crew will ride on top of the booster "where God intended for them to be" (according to one veteran astronaut). The new space system will be a mixture of the old and the new, the proven and the innovative. Perhaps there is a word here for the church. Whatever we undertake, it is always a mixture of tradition and innovation. We look to what God has done in the past, but we trust the Spirit to bring fresh insights and understanding for the present and future. In THE SKY IS FALLING, Alan Roxburgh points out two tribes in the church that are seeking to deal with discontinuous change--the liminals and the emergents. Those who come out of the mainstream are the "liminals." These are t...

This past weekend, David May of Central Seminary was in Murfreesboro to teach the first session of the introductory New Testament course. There were 14 students present, three of those "lifelong learners" who are taking the course for their own personal enrichment. This brings the number of students at the Murfreesboro site of "the teaching church seminary" to 12 degree-seeking students and three lifelong learners. This was seminary education at its best. Dr. May is an excellent teacher, and his interaction with the students was positive and helpful. The students came with high expectations and those were fulfilled. For three hours on Friday night and 10 on Saturday, they were challenged to learn more about the New Testament, its people, its setting, and its implications for our time. Although much education can be accomplished online (especially with those who are digitally savvy), there is no replacement for face to face, personal interaction. I am pleased th...

About two years ago, I became aware of two very specific needs of our constituents which I felt were not being addressed by moderate theological institutions. First, I knew several mid-career adults who were exploring the call to ministry but could not pull up roots and pursue theological education in another state. Second, I knew some individuals who were already serving on church staff--either full-time or bivocationally--and desired additional training, but they did not understand why they had to give up their ministries and relocate to obtain a seminary degree. I contacted several CBF related seminaries to see if any had an interest in providing a satellite or extension site in Tennessee. About the same time, Mike Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, expressed a personal interest in this opportunity. The most positive response I received was from Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City. Dr. Molly Marshall was interim president and academic dean at that time and...