Back from NACBA Conference

I've returned and settled back in from another fantastic NACBA conference. This year's event was held in Orlando at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Hotel.

I saw so many familiar faces...and quite a few first-time attendees, as well. It's always a great time to visit with our readers, who are always so great at giving feedback and offering suggestions.

In fact, one visitor to our booth asked if we had ever covered turning a old chapel into a meditation room to build/expand a prayer ministry. We haven't...but I'm intrigued, and it's an idea I'm going to pursue.

We also spent time with other exhibitors, so if you weren't able to make the show, don't worry. The August issue of RPN will include a roundup of some of the new products and services from vendors at the show.

If you were there, what was the best part of the conference for you?

Come As You Are?

I read an article in The Birmingham News, my local paper, yesterday about area churches going casual for Sunday services...not just the contemporary mega-churches around town, but the more traditional worship facilties, as well. (You can read the full article here.)

One section, in particular, stuck out to me:

The "come as you are" message is a recurring theme in American religious history. One example of a time when that message was well received was during the mid-1800s, said Theodore Trost, chairman of the religious studies department at the University of Alabama.

He said data from the Pew Research Center has shown that church membership in the last 15 to 20 years is on the decline. Whenever confronted with the problem of decline, groups try new techniques to encourage membership, he said.

One of the ways that churches equalize relationships among members is by being less formal, he said. But it's being done in more than dress. It spills over into the music, the musical instruments being used and even changing from traditional pews to theater or auditorium-type seating.

What new techniques are you employing to encourage membership?

Martial Arts Ministry?

A recent article in The New York Times profiled a Memphis church that has implemented a mixed martial arts program as part of its ministry in an effort to reach young men, a group with low church attendance. The piece highlighted a small but growing trend among evanglical churches.

"The outreach is part of a larger and more longstanding effort on the part of some ministers who fear that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility.

These pastors say the marriage of faith and fighting is intended to promote Christian values, quoting verses like “fight the good fight of faith” from Timothy 6:12. Several put the number of churches taking up mixed martial arts at roughly 700 of an estimated 115,000 white evangelical churches in America. The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches."

Is your church expanding/adjusting your ministries to reach this particular group? I'm always interested in hearing from you.

Have an Interesting Building Project?

A couple of months ago, I received a call from Jon Cooke, a reader and senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Yankton, South Dakota.

His church had recently converted an old Walmart into its new worship facility, and he thought it would make for a good project profile for our monthly Foundations (church construction) column. I readily agreed, and it made it into our December issue. The uniqueness of the project made for a really interesting story (with great photos!).

"Time after time, church leadership kept coming back to one location – an old Walmart store that had been vacant for three years. It offered massive space, plenty of parking, and a prime location right on the main street of town. Perhaps it offered too much space. Or maybe the idea of renovating a Walmart store was just a little too crazy to embrace. The group kept turning away from the old discount store, only to be led back again and again."

According to Cooke, "God just kept bring it back to us."

You can read the entire profile here.

We're always looking for out-of-the-ordinary worship facility building projects to cover in the magazine. Leave a comment below if you'd like to be considered for an upcoming issue.

God Bless,

Jill Pinheiro

Managing Editor

Online Churches?

A recent article in USA Today examines the recent trend of Internet church campuses. The practice (and benefits!) of using your church Web site and social media as an effective way to communicate with members of your congregation is nothing new, but what about a complete worship experience online, with a dedicated pastor, communion, and prayer through instant messaging?

"The move online is forcing Christians to re-examine their idea of church. It's a complex discussion involving theology, tradition and cultural expectations of how Christians should worship and relate. Even developers of Internet church sites disagree over how far they should go. Many, for example, will only conduct baptisms in person.

The staunchest critics say that true Christian community ultimately requires in-person interaction. They deride the sites as religious fast food or Christianity lite.

But advocates consider the Internet just another neighborhood where real relationships can be built."

On what side of this fence do you stand? I'm always interested in hearing from you.

Click here to read the entire article.

Pulpit Swapping = Stronger Community Ties?

This recent article in my local newspaper (link here) draws attention to the resurgence of pulpit and choir swapping as a powerful and effective way to bridge communities.

"The pulpit swap was seen as a way to focus on the unity of the church rather than the separation of the church. It helps us understand each other better and helps break down barriers. God tells us in his word there's only one church.

Perhaps as a reflection of a self-centered generation in churches, pulpit swaps seemed to fall out of favor. But with real-life social crossover limited by individuals focusing on television and social networking sites on computers, perhaps there's a growing hunger for a return to the sense of a larger community that pulpit swaps and choir swaps can offer."

Can your church speak to the benefits of this practice? I'm always interested in hearing from you.

Discouraged Sometimes? You're Not Alone

As you lead your congregation to growth in their relationships with God, how does your own personal ministry fare?

Lifeway Research recently found that 67 percent of Southern Baptist preachers, in particular, agree that it can sometimes be easy to get discouraged.

According to the study, "Agreement that their own ministry can be discouraging is true regardless of the size of the church and among most age groups of pastors. Pastors age 60 and older are less likely to be easily discouraged, yet 48 percent of them still agree that discouragement easily enters their ministry."

In response, LifeWay has launched NEXT Coaching Network, a national program that consists of groups of 10 to 12 pastors who meet once a month for six months and are led by an experienced pastor-practitioner.

Three types of networks are offered:

• One designed for those launching new churches
• One for pastors ready to advance their churches
• One for strategic leadership

For more information, click here.