Matt Farina - Faith

Church Metrics Gone Bad

matt — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:12:40 +0000

Churches use metrics and polling to try and figure out what works, what doesn't, and to gain some insight into the world around them. I'm a fan of metrics. They are a great way to observe what's going on and learn. For metrics to be usable the points measured and the way they are measured is important. This is where I've seen an enormous number of churches go terribly wrong.

Please note, I don't mean to poke at any one church. That's why the comment and stats pointed out here are out of the context of the church and person they relate to. This post it meant to hit the topic in a general manner.

The Wrong Interpretation

In a recent post to this blog a comment added that said:

Over 60% of all those members say they first came because of a road sign (not marquee) or a billboard.

The comment was posting that this is a good thing. But, is it? Really?

What I see here is not a positive. Some of the insights I picked up are:

60% of people who came to this church did so without being invited.
60% of people who came to this church didn't come because the people had a reputation for serving.
60% of the people who came to this church didn't come because of anything the members did other than erect a sign.

What this 60% number is saying is that God directed people to the congregation despite the actions of the congregation. That is a great thing that God has done. But, we are asked to partner with God and go out and make disciples. The 60% who came did not do so from the going out part of the great commission.

The Wrong Questions

Sometimes we ask the wrong questions. Another piece of information posted in that comment was asking the wrong question. The statistic was:

Over 70% of the people that attend our church have either never attended a church before or not since they were children.

Again, this was posted as a good thing.

But, is the goal to get more people to attend a church? Is worship service something we are supposed to be trying to increase?

According to the great commission we are supposed to be making disciples. Are disciples and worship attenders a 1 to 1 connection? The short answer is no.

Look at the majority of people who attend churches. When measured they look no different than people who are non-Christians. They divorce the same amount, they cheat on spouses the same amount, they go out and get drunk the same amount, and so on. How many hours a week does a church attender think about God when they are not at church? If you measured you'd find most people spend more time watching TV. That they are Sunday Christians. They go to church on Sunday mornings and live the way they want the rest of the week.

Are these disciples? I'd argue they aren't. Going back to the metric that means the wrong thing is being measured. Church attendance isn't a good metric. It doesn't relate back to the goal.

Even worse is that by focusing on church attendance growth it's easy to be sidetracked what we are really called to do in order to improve church attendance numbers.

Why Churches Should Not Market

matt — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Churches put a lot of time and thought into marketing themselves. The church marketing community has grown so large and vast the are even sites that parody what churches do. Some churches have marketing people on staff. And, every year millions and millions of dollars are invested in church marketing.

Yet, I submit that churches should do no marketing. Am I crazy?

What is Marketing?

The first thing we need to ask ourselves is, what is marketing? According to Googles Dictionary marketing is:

is the organization of the sale of a product, for example, deciding on its price, the areas it should be supplied to, and how it should be advertised.

If we take a look at Marketing on Wikipedia we see:

Marketing is the process associated with promotion for sale goods or services.

Is the church trying to sell a good or service to the world? Is that the mission of the church? The short answer is no. The mission of the church, as laid out in Matthew 28: 19-20 is to:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Is there sales in there anywhere? I don't see it.

Is the Marketing Effective?

97% of church growth in the United States is Christians going from one church to another. The Christian population is falling in the US at the same time.

The 97% number does shed a light on this, though. Who is the marketing working on? When we look deeper at the number the church marketing is working on people who already call themselves Christians. Rather than making disciples churches seem to be pulling them from other churches. This is not the mission of the church!

A Worse Problem

I think a worse problem has come out of the marketing age in churches. Churches are called to communicate with others both as a group and individually. In the marketing age the church communication responsibilities has been put onto the staff and leadership to put out the right marketing materials to hit people. So, churches put loads of money into road site signs, slogans, campaigns, and other hogwash to try and drive people in a direction.

As the 97% number shows us that what they are doing isn't working.

While they are putting all this time into marketing they are aren't putting time into teaching (as Matthew calls out to be done) or communicating very well. Yeah, church communications kinda sucks and the simplest way to gauge that is to ask the people in the pews and out in the world to repeat back to us what they hear we are saying. A lot of what I hear back is downright scary which means we are communicating poorly.

But, Isn't Communications and Teaching Actually Marketing?

Communications and Teaching are not Marketing. That's why we have 3 different words here.

Google's Dictionary sheds a nice example of what it is to communicate:

If you communicate with someone, you share or exchange information with them, for example by speaking, writing, or using equipment.

Further looking into what it is to teach we find:

If you teach someone something, you give them instructions so that they know about it or how to do it.

Maybe if we took some time to learn how to communicate in the vernacular of the day and teach well the church might not be in the pickle its in.

The Church, A Place Missing The Mission

matt — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:10:25 +0000

Churches aren't like other organizations. I regularly hear about them being compared to non-profits, aid organizations, or other volunteer organizations. This misses the mark in a big way and I'm not talking about the God factor. Let me illustrate what I mean.

Take a homeless shelter. There are 2 groups of people at them. There are those who are there running the place, feeding people, and working for the mission of the homeless shelter. Then there are the homeless people that are served. This is pretty straight forward.

The mission of the church (Matthew 28:19-20) is to go and make disciples of all nations. But, if you look at the church staff they are typically interacting with Christians around activities centered on Christians (like worship). Of the non-staff members only a small percentage volunteer and most of the volunteer time is spent on activities like worship, bible studies, and other things that are targeted at members of the congregation. The rest of the non-staff members attend Sunday morning worship on a semi-regular basis. This is a majority of the church.

Notice the difference? The members of the church and what they do doesn't revolve around the mission of the church.

As a problem solver I've started to ask the question, how do we refocus on the mission and what that means to the lives of the members of the congregation? (Suggestions are welcome)

Talk The Talk

The first thing that came to mind was to talk about the mission. The old saying, "out of sight, out of mind" rings true in many of the churches I've attended or looked at. You don't see the mission when you see the church. The mission seems to be tucked away in a dark corner. Maybe the active members of the church see it as a no-brainer. In any case, we need to talk about it more. Bring it up in conversation. Talk about how we do this. Ask tough questions.

It Got Complicated

Where this gets more complicated is with the nature of people. If people hear something they don't like they will just go to the church down the street that tells them what they want to hear. Or, avoids the uncomfortable topics. If a church changes tone too strongly how will that affect the membership in the congregation? Many have the option of going down the street just a couple blocks to a place that has a self centered tone.

This is where I am at the moment. Wondering how to get the mission of the church in front of the church and getting people to listen and talk. It's something I'd like to see more churches try and do. How is your church doing it? Do you hear conversations about this often?

Building Church Communities

matt — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:29:28 +0000

Have you noticed that many churches aren't really communities? Some claim to be communities and a handful actually are. But, many churches are actually organizations that look more like a business with a congregation consuming services and products put out by the church staff and a handful of active volunteers. This is a problem happening at my church and something many of the churches leaders would like to change.

But, It's Not A Problem At My Church!

97% of church growth in America is someone moving from one church to another. This is usually happening because the church they switch to has a cooler worship service, is more fun, or there are more activities for their kids. Doesn't this sound like products and services being consumed. This feels like computer users switching from a PC to Mac because it's cooler and slicker.

When you live in community you don't want to switch. If you are in a community of friends do you just get rid of them and take on new friends because someone else is cooler? I sure hope not. If you do you are likely labeled as someone whose using others. This kind of thing is not a trait people like to see for good reason.

So, when it shows up in our churches it's really a sign that the church isn't a community. When it's not talked about it even shows that community isn't all that important.

No, Really. It's Not Happening In My Church

When I was recently talking to someone active in my church she said there wasn't a problem in our church. That she didn't see it. The problem is, she is one of the active people producing the products and services others consume.

If you are one of the top 10% of active church volunteers or a leader in the church you don't have the same perspective as someone in the congregation at large. You might not even notice this trend and you might be living in genuine community with the other people doing the same thing as you. But, that doesn't mean your church is a community. A church congregation is all of it's members, not a handful.

Community Is Dead. Long Live Community!

In the United States (I can't speak for everywhere) community is a dying thing. We yearn for it and online social communities are popping up in batches. Yet, studies show that people have less real friends than people used to have. More studies show people (in general) are more depressed and disconnected. In a time when our communication tools continue to improve our ability to live in community is diminishing.

That means building a church community is going to be counter cultural.

Does It Actually Matter

This is a loaded question. Some might answer that is doesn't actually matter to them. I think of this question in a different way. Does it actually matter to God? The answer to this is a definite yes. Reading through scripture this is very clear. Look at 1 Corinthians and how God made us the body of Christ. Different people with different skills and gifts working together for the missing of the church. This is a community with a mission.

The Path Ahead

I'm not sure what the path ahead holds for the local church I belong to. This is really just the starting point as we discover our identity and what it means to be a community or not. Just like so many other things, we could fail.

As I continue to work in the churches community I'll blog some of the things I see, things that work and don't, and ideas we have.

Any Ideas

Since the church at large isn't very good at living in community there aren't a lot of good resources at doing this. Some of what's out there is trying to manage (in the business sense) community. This just doesn't work. Some other things talk about radical change. That usually kills a community. So, I'm looking for ideas. Ways to convince people to change. Ways to change the culture. Ideas on what the culture should look like. And, anything else constructive for that matter. So, if you have any ideas I'd love to see them.

What If We Dropped the Word?

matt — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:31:50 +0000

My first article appeared on the fshbwl, today, called "What If We Dropped the Word?". It's an article about the word evolution. This comes on the heals of my 2nd guest hosting spot on the Swim Podcast.

All this theological stuff is getting to be a bit fun.

5 Reasons To Stop Bagging On The Church

matt — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:09:43 +0000

Have you noticed all the bagging on the church in recent years? Sometimes it's the worldwide church. I've herd people call them ignorant or that they just don't get it. Sometimes it's the local church. I've herd people criticize it for not being the way they picture or want it. Sometimes it's a denomination. People love to argue who is right and why. I'm not talking about a discussion, I'm talking about an argument.

Over the last few years I've seen an increase in members of the church bagging on the church. Part of this I accept as part of our cultural shift. Western culture is shifting towards bashing and bagging on things they don't like, don't agree with, or don't understand. I don't mean this as a criticism but an observation that's been reported on for the past few years. But, I still find this to be no excuse. We shouldn't be bashing the church. Here are 5 reasons that we as the church shouldn't bash the church.

We Are All Sinners

When we notice flaws in the church they are flawed things put in place by flawed people because they are sinful. We are all sinful. When we bag on something we are tearing not into a person but that persons sin, their disease or terrible condition. Would you bag on someone because they are in a wheel chair? Would you rip on something some mentally handicapped did? I would hope not. Sin is the same kind of problem and it's something every single person on the planet has. So, it's not cool to bag on it.

It's Not Loving

Does it matter how right you are if you bag on things? Nope. Go read 1 Corinthians 13. If you have the perfect idea but it's not done or presented out of love than it's worthless. When we rip, bag, or tear into things there is no love there. If there were we would be concerned. If love was present we would show compassion on the people involved. When we bag on things we don't.

If we are going to be like God we need to love the people we see as the most unlovable. Sometimes that's other people in the church.

It Makes Us Gossips

So, you might rip on church stuff in private or with friends and think it's OK. Doesn't that make us gossips? To sit around and have tear into something about someone else in a non-productive or positive way is gossip. If you are thinking that something is just an organization you might be wrong. It's easy to trash talk the Catholic churches organizational structure and leaders. There are no faces with phrases like those. But, those structures weren't just implemented by people but are made up of people.

It's Makes Us Judgmental

A contestant in my life over the last few years is the movement for people in the church to be less judgmental of the world. To love people and leave any judging up to God. But, when people in the church start judging the church, and basing the church and trashing it does this, they are being judgmental of the church in the same way people in the church have bagged on the world. In either case it's not good.

It's Not Effective Change

Repenting from our sins and moving towards something better is how we are supposed to live. When we bag on things and trash them it's like telling someone their baby is ugly. You immediately close the door to conversations on real change. When we approach it from a negative standpoint it's not targeted at the positive. Basically, it doesn't bring about the change we hope for but actually works against it.

I'm not saying that we agree with everything in the church. But, the best response when we disagree is not to start trash talking or bagging on things. That's not good either. And, the more we change for the better the more change we will see that needs to happen. It's far more than we could accomplish in our lifetimes or even ten times our lifetimes. Our very nature is fighting against it.

So, the next time you feel the desire to bag in something on the church instead say a little prayer. Ask God for the patience to get past your attitude, the guidance to use the passion you feel for the good of the church, and ask for forgiveness of the evil in your heart. Then try to live that. It'll be better for you as a person, better for the church on it's mission, and better for the people you come across in the world.

OK, I'll step off my soap box now...

Introducing The Fishbowl

matt — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:22:41 +0000

The Fishbowl is a faith based, non-profit community website that recently launched.

The idea behind the fishbowl is to explore faith from a number of different angles. Each day a new piece of content will come out in one of the 7 different categories. On Mondays it's content about World Views, Tuesday it's the Swim Podcast, etc.

My personal favorites are the Intelligent Faith, which deals with science, logic, and apologetics, and Expressions, which is artistic in nature.

The Fishbowl was designed by Mustardseed Media, developed by Innovating Tomorrow, and sponsored by the lcms.

Right Thinking, Right Feeling, Right Doing

matt — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:27:06 +0000

How often do you think that if people knew the truth they would act differently? Or, if they just felt what you felt it would convince them to change? Or, if you could just get them to try something they would see that it's important and change?

I've recently had a perspective check. A friend of mine has the idea that if everyone knew what he did they would care about the thing he has such a deep care for. Another friend has it in his mind that if someone felt as strongly as he does they would change like he has. And, a book I recently read talks about how change usually happens when people start with action. That it leads to the right feeling and right thinking.

All 3 of these people approach change differently. What I see in all of them is thinking, feeling, and action. Where they differ is in which ones affect the others and how the affect the others.

This reminds me that people are different. For some, thinking comes first. They realize some truth. This affects the way they act and feel. For others, they feel something. Maybe it's compassion for people in need. This changes the way they act and think. And, for others still, they start with action and through the action they start thinking and feeling differently.

We should remember these differences when we are dealing with others. The person your reaching to and trying to help may not operate the same as you. It's important to realize these things and talk to the person and not how you operate. It's important to not discount avenues that affect people which aren't your way.

We Can't Know If There Is No God

matt — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:32:05 +0000

About 5% of the people in the world say there is no God. According to the Pew Forum, the atheist population has been increasing at about 220% in America. In an effort to understand atheists and this modern day movement I've started to ask some tough questions. One of the first that came to my mind was, is there a way to know that there is no God? I'm talking about moving beyond belief into concrete testable knowledge. After digging through the different possibilities I've come to the conclusion that there is no way to know if there is no God. Let me explain my reasoning.

The tactic I chose to test this against was to take the situations we could know if there was a God and see how these situations would play out if there wasn't one. I'm not talking about the situations where we would believe there is a God but actually know it.

Gone When We Are Dead

The first situation that came to my mind, and I'm sure many others are the same way, was meeting God when we die. This is a situation that many of the worlds religions claim happens. It's a situation that, if it were to happen, would bring us face to face with God. This would move us beyond belief.

What would happen if there was no God? Well, we wouldn't just not come face to face with God. If we simply die and cease to exist than we no longer exist to even know if there is no God. So, in this situation our question is not answered.

If we move to a different form of reality, as some like the gnostics talk about, and we don't meet God that does not mean that God is not out there. The question is still left unanswered. We may believe or not but we still won't know.

Can't Reveal Himself

A common method, according to religious scriptures and faithful believers in religion, is that God reveals himself to the person. One such situation that I recently read about was when Moses sat in a tent with God and they had a conversation. That is the kind of revealing many of us wish would happen to us in our lives.

If there is no God this situation can't happen. If there is no God there is no one to reveal himself to us. Our question is still left unanswered.

Science, Science, Science

After looking at these two situations where we can know there is a God and seeing what would happen in there is no God I decided to test other avenues.

Science for me is a strong hobby. I'm an engineer which is essentially an applied scientist. Since I was a kid science was always something on my mind. So, I asked myself, can science ever prove there is no God?

The simple answer is no. Science can't tell us if there is no God. Science deals with nature, the universe, the environment, and all this stuff around us. If there is a creator of that it would be outside of the system that was created. This means that science is not capable of testing, measuring, or working it's processes on such a being. God would be outside the scope of science.

Conclusion

I'm left with the realization that we can't know if there is no God. There is no situation in life where we would know the answer. There is no way our best science can tell us. Anyone who says there is no God is making a statement of belief. A statement they will never know the answer to.

Are You Searching For The Truth?

matt — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:00:55 +0000

A lot of people I know would tell you they have found the truth or that they are searching for it. But, is that really the case? I have a friend who says he is searching for the truth. But, he is not praying, not reading up on science, not studying philosophy, not seeking out logic, and rarely seeking to take this search outside his own mind. Is that searching for the truth? On the flip side I have friends who sit in circles of people who share the same beliefs as them, they read only books that tell them what they are looking to hear, and they discuss topics with people who won't challenge them on it. Is this really searching for the truth? In both cases here I don't think these people are searching for the truth. They might be searching for peace of mind. They might be searching for what is comfortable. So, what does a search for the truth look like? Let's take a look at a few characteristics I've noticed.

You Take Stock Of Your Own Beliefs

In order to search for the truth, I think, you need to know yourself. You need to know your own belief system and how that causes you to look at the world. I point this out because most Christians don't have a biblical world view. They have a naturalist world view (belief about the universe) and don't even know it. If someone is non-Christian the prevailing belief system about the universe is naturalism. But, how many people know this about themselves? How many people know how they came about this belief? And, how many people realize how it causes them to view the information that passes in front of them?

The same can be said of any world view. Because our world view shapes how we interpret the information placed in front of us it is one of the most important things to realize about ourselves.

Talk To People That Challenge You

One of the greatest benefits I have found in life is people who challenge the way I think. I'm not talking about people that tell me they don't believe me or that I am wrong. I'm talking about people who question what I am thinking and force me to think through it. They force me to test what I am thinking against situations, ideas, and circumstances that I had not already thought of.

Read Ideas That You Don't Agree With

I find reading books and papers from people that I don't agree with to be a challenge. They force me to consider different ideas. They force me to re-think what I think. They open the door to new possibilities, show evidence I have not seen, and provide different interpretations to evidence I already know about.

But, this is one place to be very careful. Most of this information doesn't provide a complete picture of the basis for their conclusions. While Darwin explains, in The Origin of Species, that part of his view of evolution is based on his belief in naturalism there are many other authors who take that point for granted and don't point it out. And, while many of the religious authors are almost forced to talk about their belief many don't spell it out. For example, there are a number of naturalist Christian science authors who don't have a biblical world view. So, searching through the material to find the grounds for how they interpret it can sometimes be quite difficult.

Accept That You May Be Wrong

It's hard for anyone to think that they may be wrong. We are a proud people. If we get into a debate we will regularly fight our point to the end, even if we realize that we are wrong. To accept that we may be wrong is a humbling experience. If we are going to honestly seek truth we need to open ourselves up to the notions we hold being wrong.

So, are you honestly seeking the truth? Or, are you just looking to reinforce what you already believe?