The Craw

General Assemblies

Is there any relation to what a denomination does with its time and the amount of time it spends in its General Assembly? Here are the lengths of of some recent GA's:

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (35,000 members): 3 day GA

Evangelical Presbyterian Church (75,000 members): 4 day GA

Presbyterian Church in America (338,000 members): 4 day GA

Orthodox Presbyterian Church (28,000 members): 8 day GA

Just by way of comparison, the EPC's 4 day GA agenda is posted online here while the OPC's 8 day GA report is here.

Thoughts on Church Planting #8

Take your space very seriously. God made us to experience through the senses not just with arid rationalism. Wherever you find yourself try to convey the sense of: (1) sacredness and (2) stability. You want to look like you’ve been there for ten years from day one so spend some dough on good furniture, banners, and communion ware. Don't be chintzy and go half-way (throwing out some cheap candles on a folding card table covered with a doily you bought at Goodwill), buy things like real paraments in the seasonal colors.

Thoughts on Church Planting #7

You’ve got the love the place where you plant. Not just love the idea of planting a church there but actually love the city, its people, even its culture (though you’re seeking to transform it). You can’t plant a church and convey the attitude that “I hate this place and can’t wait to get out.” Such a superficial attitude may draw in converts but it leads to no lasting impact on your region. We want to see the church moving powerfully through our community and culture long after we’ve gone to be with the King.

Schnikies...

...WAMU is down almost 93% for the year!

Hard Times

Yikes, this line from this Bloomberg story gave me the willies:

IndyMac Bancorp Inc. became the second-biggest federally insured financial company to fail today after a run by depositors left the California mortgage lender short on cash.

Thoughts on Church Planting #6

Party down on Sundays. Leviticus 23:1-3 tells Israel what their appointed “feasts” are by listing first of all, the Sabbath. Encourage deep hospitality by inviting people over for an enjoyable afternoon of food, wine, great fellowship and relaxation. No one says the Lord’s Day shouldn’t be fun.

Thoughts on Church Planting #5

Use the church calendar to create benchmarks and propulsion. When Advent rolls around give the congregation a goal to see 100 people in church. Don’t be afraid of having a big picnic feast at Pentecost (because it seems “Catholic”…boo!) and invite members of the surrounding the community to come. The kids love this stuff and look forward to the high-points of the year.

Thoughts on Church Planting #4

Keep your canon of hymns smaller. We used about 50 hymns for the first two years and are now going to expand it to 75. This enables your congregation to become very familiar with the hymns, to sing them loud and well, and gives them a sense of ownership and vigorous joy in the Divine Service.

Thoughts on Church Planting #3

Focus on men. Encourage men to act like men and to take ownership of the church. Construct your liturgy with a masculine convergence (don’t shy away from warlike readings and hymns and deliver the liturgy in a robust way). Visiting husbands and fathers will say things like, “I really liked your church, it felt…manly.” They’ll bring their families back.

Thoughts on Church Planting #2

Publicize your church everywhere and always but don’t expect results from any particular source. Nearly all of our new parishioners have come from the Internet but many of them were already aware of us, sometimes second or third-hand, from our other efforts: door-to-door, billboards, staff meeting at Starbucks wearing clergy shirts, etc.