Download Growth Barriers Booklet

Growth Barriers Conference Webcast

February 7, 2012 • 7:00 pm--9:00 pm

Speaker
Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research

Topics
• Information for church leaders to assist in understanding the inherent barriers to growing the church to her God given size.
• Focus on assisting leaders to develop a strategic plan for their barrier.

I've been writing on the mission of the church for a while, particularly on Mondays since, well Monday is for Missiology.  There is much to discuss on the topic and recent books on the issue have challenged, recast, and made the topic much more relevant.  

One of the most prominent writers on the subject is Chris Wright.  He is the primary drafter of the Cape Town Commitment, adoped by the Lausanne Movement as their guiding document. 

In a recent email exchange, I asked him to talk more about his view of people, creation, and God's redemption.  He and I agreed that it has been misunderstood by some, giving the impression that Chris believes that human's unique value is derived from creation. (Chris called it quoting his view "minimalistically.")  So I asked him to explain in more detail.  

On this final friday of 2011, I want to take a moment to remind you of one of Nashville's contributions this past year-- the NASCAR pre-race "prayer" which went viral.

With almost 3 million views, Pastor Joe Nelms has a rather unique contribution to internet lore.

First there was this video (and I found the comments about it at my site to be interesting).

As a dad of three daughters, I can relate to this...

I find it interesting when friends disagree. And, a bit of an argument has "broken out" among some friends.

First, my friends at Leadership Network posted a list of speakers for people to vote for or against for their online conference, TheNINES.

Dave Travis explained that they set up the list to consider speakers for their event. To get it started they, "seeded the list with 20-25 names and encouraged folks to add to the list."

The response was rather surprising:

So far over 30,000 people have viewed the site. We are up to about 11,000 comments and over 350 speakers suggested. All of that is way, way more than we ever figured would see the list much less respond.

Skye Jethani, a great thinker and gifted writer, objected (strongly) in this post:

... I was both saddened and disturbed by the Leadership Network's decision to run a Twitter-based popularity contest to determine the speakers for THE NINES conference in 2010. The feedback form seen here allows users to submit the name of a church leader. Twitter users are then able to give a thumbs up or down to each person. Ranking is then automatically determined by the ratio of positive to negative votes a leader receives. Adding a dash of arsenic to an already distasteful dish, the site allows you to see exactly who voted up or down for each leader.

Skye was actually one of the presenters in TheNINES last year. (Some disclosure: I also participated in TheNINES last year. Actually, there were nine blogs that hosted it for discussion and feedback and my blog was one of the nine. You can see the discussion and my video here. My theme was that "mission is the opposite of self" and you can read my blog post here.

I have had a little fun with the list, encouraging votes for two people:

• Ben Arment, just an all around great guy who blogs and has a new book, Church in the Making.
• Frank Turk, who is a cranky Calvinist blogger at Pyromanics and (once you get past the blog and some of his grumpy friends) is a great guy.

So, what do I think of the list?

Well, first, I have looked at it... more than once. Which tells me that it probably appeals to a part of me that is not good. I think that is probably the reaction that many of those on the list have had.

Second, I have noticed that some of the people at the bottom of the list probably have been unfairly treated. Many of these speakers are pastors and I think it might hurt their ministries.

Third, I don't like the idea that people can like and dislike and, on that basis, I probably would have not run with the technology even with the good motives that LN had. I think they could have simply asked for suggestions (but, to be honest, they would not have had this level of reaction).

Fourth, some of the leaders on the list are controversial, but controversy does not mean you should not be heard.

Finally, this is a list of people who have an affinity for Leadership Network, evangelicals, and now (probably) Out of Ur. That means it is not a representative sample by any means (and they did not claim it to be).

But, I think I like the idea of discovering new voices. For example, I don't see Pete Wilson on that many national platforms, but as I have had the opportunity to get to know him, I think he has some good things to say. My guess-- this will help people know who he is. Also, I think both Ben Arment and Frank Turk are worth listening to.

Also, this list tells us some things. For one example, it tells us the influence of the Reformed community (at least on the Internet). I mentioned that in a recent discussion of the top 100 blogs.

I think it also speaks to the decline of some "movements" like, for example, the Church Growth Movement.

And, it tells us that being bald seems to help you make the list ;-)

But, all in all, I think it is a good idea with a technology that makes it distasteful.

But, for some, making lists is always problematic. It is not for me. For example, I want to know (and have done the research to answer) who the most influential preachers. I have even hosted a discussion on that very topic-- with almost 150 comments). I do not want to know it for their aggrandizement, but because I want to know who is shaping our churches and leaders.

So, read their two articles (one from Skye Jethani which came first and then Dave Travis' response) and feel free to share your thoughts here at the blog. And, then go vote for Ben Arment and Frank Turk. ;-)

What do you think?

This made me snort.

Now, watch it, for sure. But, don't just watch the funny video-- be sure to also read the prior post on how to get involved in disaster relief.

We are planning to change our contemporary service on Sunday due to the fact that the satire has completely devastated my confidence.

Just sayin'.

And... for no extra charge, here is a helpful explanation on how to write an awful worship song.

As a teenager, I loved Christian music. It seemed to be a simpler time listening to music and growing in my faith.

Around Easter, I would love to hear three songs in particular. It turns out they have videos on Youtube which make me feel very old. (Full disclosure, they were a few years old when I first heard them.) But, in all three cases, I played them over and over on my "boom box."

One was a ballad by Don Francisco called "He's Alive." It's only one of two songs I ever shared as a solo in church:

When I was speaking at Saddleback Church a few weeks ago, Rick Warren shared with me that the Jonas Brothers would be singing at the Saddleback Easter Service.

My friend Daniel Montgomery presents, "Gospel 101" in this brief video. I always appreciate Daniel's passion for clarity and balance. If you are interested in conversation around gospel definitions, you might want to visit an earlier dialogue here at the blog on "Gospel Definitions."

Back in February I spoke at the Verge Missional Community Conference on making disciples. My topic was the need for obedience-based discipleship that moves from knowing to doing. Verge was an amazing gathering I was happy to be a part of. The HD versions of the preaching should be available in a few weeks, but for now you can check out my session via youtube.

WKRN News 2 reports on "Losing our Religion."

Reporter Jamey Tucker provides analysis of the state of the church in America, examining and discussing research and future trends in North American faith. He interviews several leaders, pastors, and experts in this eleven-minute "Extra" segment.

I'm impressed to see a news affiliate (ABC in this case) pay such attention to issues of faith and culture. It has been a long time since I have seen anyone do a TV news story that lasts more than 10 minutes-- let alone something on faith.

You can watch the video here:

WKRN News 2 Nashville Reports on Religion in America from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Much of what I mention is in my recent article on "stats abuse" in Christianity Today.

Feel free to share your comments (or perhaps even corrections) below.

On Thursday, we do another session of "The Exchange."

Here is how I explained the whole idea:

I'll be hosting a regular web show starting today. You can find it here.

Here is what I wrote last week:

My main agenda is simple: to help pastors and church leaders in a setting that includes questions and dialogue. If I had my way, I would personally coach and encourage every pastor or leader. But, since they actaully want me to lead a research team here at LifeWay, I am somewhat limited in my capacity. With this new show, I can talk through some common themes and interact with Christian leaders as we "provoke one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

The episodes will be archived and cataloged by themes and topics. Today I will focus on three things:
1. my article on research in Christianity Today
2. thoughts on the clergification and its dangers
3. my blog post from yesterday

Here is the news release with more information (and the link at the bottom).

As you may know, I am interim pastor at Two Rivers in Nashville. I have been preaching through the book of Philippians and thought I would post them here. Both of these videos are from our 9:15 service.

Here is part 1 with introductory information about the book and its big themes:

Philippians Series- part 1 from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

And, here is part 2, which covers verses 1:3-6:

Philippians- Our Partnership in the Gospel from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

You can subscribe to the vodcast here and the podcast here.

For those who know me, you will note that my 40-45 minute sermons are not suddenly shorter! The reason is that I am taking time in each service to explain to the congregation where we are (ministry, prayer, finances, the future, etc.) as we work together toward the future of Two Rivers.

God has been doing good things as we trust and follow Him. Part of that plan is to communicate with the people as we work through some important things as a church.

We're excited about the future at Two Rivers!

I'll be hosting a regular web show starting in February. Doing a "web show" feels a bit like I should be broadcasting from a basement in Aurora, IL, but I have hopes that we can be some encouragement to pastors and leaders.

My main agenda is simple: to help pastors and church leaders in a setting that includes questions and dialogue. If I had my way, I would personally coach and encourage every pastor or leader. But, since they actaully want me to lead a research team here at LifeWay, I am somewhat limited in my capacity. With this new show, I can talk through some common themes and interact with Christian leaders as we "provoke one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

The episodes will be archived and cataloged by themes and topics.

Here is their release:

I have just committed to start preaching regularly at Two Rivers Church. Starting next week, I will post my message here at the blog-- the video and also the outline from the notes.

In the meantime, here is my message from last week at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It is an hour long (yikes), but that is how long they do the message there! So, be sure you have a snack and beverage before you get settled in to watch. ;-)

My messages at Two Rivers will be between 35 and 40 minutes, in case that hour-long message dissuaded you!

You can also get a review of the message here from Jamie Munson.

Here is the outline:

I'm contributing an article, sure, but the video is why I am posting about it.

The folks at The Exponential Conference are a never-ending source of creativity. They have an RV. That's right, a conference RV. It has its own web site and Twitter account. They even made a video to introduce the RV.

They are touring the planet as part of their promotion of the Exponential Conference. Exponential gathers about 3000 people to each year in Orlando to talk about church planting and ministry. I will be sharing again this year presenting some research and inspiration from my new book Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers. The book will be released at the conference itself.

Well, the boys in the RV came by my house on Saturday. I was one of several people they visited in Nashville including Thom Rainer, Pete Wilson, and Anne Jackson. Some pretty fun stuff.

Needless to say, it was a guerrilla-style shoot. My person favorite part is that each video seems to begin with some version of what you say just before you start filming. ;-)

The guys were great fun and good sports. Josh Jackaway is the guy doing the interviews and he wants to be a church planter, so he is OK in my eyes! And, his cameraman, Corbin Franklin, put up with a lot of foolishness from me.

Here are my four videos:

First, from my exercise area over viewing my exercise plan and what I read on the elliptical:

Next they wanted to see my kitchen where I describe my food and how it is different than my wife's food. For the record, I don't eat what she eats. ;-) I thought it was funny that this video got aggregated into a weight loss site.

And, probably more importantly, here are two videos with viewer questions about church planting:

Enjoy... and be sure to visit the sites involves:

The Exponential RV
The Exponential Conference
The Exponential Network

And, I will see you in Orlando April 19-22, 2010.

Here are two interviews with some Western workers serving the church in Taiwan and other nearby settings.

Phil Nicolson, with OMF, describes "Shopkeeper Churches" and their ministry among the underclass. Few of us have to worry about doing ministry among people who are not available at normal respectable church times. Listen to how they work through these issues:

"Garth," who works with my "company," explains his work and why he is there. The video is intentionally dark and "Garth" is filmed from behind because he goes to some other areas in the region.

"Garth" and I have known each other for a long time. He has planted in more than one place and his story is worth hearing.

If you or your church wanted to partner in planing churches in the area, "Garth" is the person who can help make the connections.

I was humbled and burdened to talk to these men-- and it made me wonder, am I doing enough?

I will have one more post on Taiwan... so stay tuned.