Chris Kidd

One of the biggest challenges to any ancient faith is to adapt to modern circumstances and then, as circumstances change, to adapt again. American religious institutions are, as a rule, doing a poor job of listening to and learning from this millennial generation.

Valentine sweethearts can tie the knot for free at a Chelmsford church. Romantic Rev Tim Ball, vicar of Holy Trinity Springfield, believes that marriage is best. So he’s waiving the cost of the service, the choir, the organist, the verger and the heating.
And the good news is that the offer will be available throughout the year.
“My church believes that marriage is best for couples, for children and for the community,” says big-hearted Tim.
“So we have put our money where our mouth is. We will pay all the costs of the service in the church. We are offering a free marriage service to parishioners because Holy Trinity is a good place to celebrate love and commitment.”

Greg Gilbert is continuing his series on church and music, this time including some challenging questions:

• Do you get bored when someone reads a longish passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on with the music?
• Do you need music playing in the background for the reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?
• Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if it doesn’t have music playing behind it?
• Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?
• Do you desperately look forward to the next conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be able to feel close to God again?
• If you’re in a big church with great music, are you able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?
• Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?
• Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your church?
• Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have? Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really worship?”
• Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?

• Greg Gilbert on the end of music in churches.
• Bob Kauflin responds with his musical experience and expertise.
  

Much of the audio from the A29 Bootcamp in Chicago is now online at the Acts 29 website:

• Church Planting Evangelism by Mark Dever
• Kingdom-Focused Church Planting by Ed Stetzer
• Leading the Mission in Church Planting by Darrin Patrick
• Preaching the Mission by Mark Driscoll
• Missional and Biblical Church Planting by Ed Stetzer

(Thanks to Justin Taylor)

Write it out - no student should get up on stage without having their testimony prepared in advance. There’s nothing more powerful than a student story to compliment the message, but it can become awkward or even distracting when they don’t have a clear focus and a well-written script. Write it down and have them read it for the delivery. It evens the playing field so average students sound just like the ones that are more comfortable on stage.
Edit it down - Typically the testimony doesn’t come in at just the right size, and your size might fluctuate based on the needs of the service or the strength of the story. Either way, edit it down to perfectly fit the theme and message. Remove all last names, fact check, remove sentences that might appear to approve of unbecoming behavior, and make sure extra details used to color the story that may distract are edited out.
Talk to Parents - Before a student hits the stage, make sure their parents (if applicable) are in the loop. There’s nothing worse than a parent being blindsided - make sure there are no surprises. Whatever the story is about needs to be filtered by the family and make sure they are prepared for consequences and/or repercussions from the testimony.
Thank the student - It is a big deal to share the story! A hand-written card is a big deal, perhaps a small gift or a follow-up coffee is in order. Thank them for participating in a service whose goal is life change, and be sure to share the results of the weekend.

• Product is Priority: Great products market themselves. Always be striving to improve your ministry. Above all else, strive to be more Christlike.
• Maximize Your Distribution: Jesus was purposeful in reaching new people. I believe it is the church’s responsibility to utilize technology to maximize their reach.

One of the country's most senior bishops, the Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Revd. James Jones has written on the topic of sexuality, and his role in objecting to the appointment of the gay cleric Dr Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading in a his new book, A Fallible Church. He wrote:

The Bishop of Liverpool’s essay is online at the Liverpool diocesan website: Making Space for Truth and Grace.

Thanks to Maggi.

• Product: Jesus is perfect. He was sinless. Therefore, His ministry was perfect. It was remarkable, and consequently, it created word of mouth.
• Price: Jesus’ ministry was free, financially speaking. It was accessible to both the wealthy and the poor. However, because Jesus’ ministry (His product) was perfect, He frequently experienced more demand for His ministry than He and His disciples could supply. ... Sometimes to lessen the demand, He raised the cost of the time and effort needed to see Him by traveling to a secluded place. But people still came from everywhere to see Him.
• Place (Distribution): Jesus frequently traveled to make Himself accessible to a greater region of people. He ministered in the synagogues, the streets, and the countryside. He ministered everywhere.
• Promotion: Jesus had no need to promote His ministry because the “product” was flawless. People promoted His ministry for Him. However, because He had a face-to-face ministry, it could be said that He used personal selling for promotion.

“My heart sank a little when we spoke of building youth centres. Those of us in the faith communities and the churches have been involved in work with young people for a long time.

“Buildings are important, and churches sometimes struggle with that, but it is the relationships and the quality of the work that are really important. We must be focused."

I think Jesus would rub me the wrong way. I think his gaze and his words would rip away my facade of being a nice guy. I think he would take me to a high mountain and show me all the kingdoms of suffering he sees and he would open my ears to all the cries of terror and pain he hears. Many of the voices would be those of children. Then he might walk me back to my favorite coffee place and sit beside me and just watch me sip at my really good coffee. I think I would feel at least awkward and probably very uncomfortable. I think I would want Jesus to get up and leave. And I am not trying to poop on myself here. I am actually wondering if Jesus and I would get along.

Rick Warren of Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) has made a list of seven common church leadership mistakes to avoid.

1. You stop growing.
2. You stop caring.
3. You stop listening.
4. You get distracted.
5. You get complacent.
6. You become arrogant.
7. You fail to delegate.
   

For Rick Warren’s tips on overcoming each mistake, read the full article.

Derek Thomas reviews John Stott's The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor.