Far Beyond The Limitations of Outreach

Could Your Church Actually Prosper During Economic Hard Times?

2008-11-21T09:06:00.021-05:00

No one can accuse John Redenbo (Vizion Funding) of not having passion, but I think he has zeroed in on the key for churches to not just limp along and survive the economic crisis, but prosper in the midst of it! ... and in a sea of uncertainty and growing fear, provide real leadership for our congregations and our troubled communities. Listen through to the point when he summarizes a very credible plan for doubling a church's income in a short timeframe! And yes, even during a recession.

Here's an excerpt from the talk...

John Redenbo is a church and ministry funding strategist and the founder of Vizion Funding of Toledo, Ohio.

If you would like to talk to John, please email Donna here or call 804-557-3119.
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Signpost of Relevant Ministry.

2008-10-15T14:48:00.014-04:00

I've started a habit of keeping a stock-market widget open on my desktop to monitor its ups and mostly downs. Whether via their morning paper, car radio, or evening news, I imagine many Americans are doing the same thing. In reality I'm not sure the Dow is any kind of key indicator of where our real economy, which is more profoundly complex, is headed. But it has sort of become a national symbol, much like a weather vane on a roof, something to look at when we sense an approaching storm but can't see past the horizon.

Most "experts" (if there are any) agree that the next few years could be very bad. The opinions range from protracted, severe recession on one end of the scale to deep depression ("or worse") on the other.

Whatever the outcome, we have crossed a line. Probably never again, in this generation at least, will we look at finances, and family security in general, in quite the same way. We are readjusting our plans and re-examining our values and relationships. And many are already experiencing the early effects of economic pressures.

For Christians, there should be an urgency to plant different signposts in our community--messages that effectively communicate hope, that focus on the things that really matter, but also offer authentic, practical, and strategic ministry where people will be hurting the most in the days ahead. The question uppermost in my mind right now is: Will the Church respond to this crisis with relevancy, with unique, even transformational solutions? Will we be the 'City on the Hill" founded on generosity and compassion, with its signs pointing to hope instead of fear, a people who are creative, imaginative, resourceful, and resilient? I hope so. For that just could be the early signs of the kingdom-based economy to come... "on earth, as it is in Heaven."

May it come to your community! ...may it come through you.

When Does Finance Become Spiritual?

2008-05-02T10:56:00.000-04:00

Look at these facts...
... 75% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
... 95% of married couples fight about finances.
... #1 cause of divorce in America is financially related.
... Average 28 year old has over $66,000 in debt.
... Last year the average American spent $1.22 for every $1.00 earned.
... 62% of Americans will retire with less than $10,000 income per year.

Most Americans have come to accept this struggle as normal. I found a tangible, powerful way to reverse the bondage. This is financial freedom on steroids. See my Mindstorm posts here.
How could this be integrated into a complete community ministry? I welcome your ideas.

Finding Your Strategic Missional Mix

2008-04-08T16:05:00.000-04:00

I created this to diagram four postures a church can have toward a community, which can become four components of their strategic mix. Obviously, I strongly advocate incarnational withreach strategies. But, there is a place for the other three. Community service is a must, and even some attractional strategies need to be part of the whole. However if not done very carefully and thoughtfully, church-centric branding and event or program-focused media will not only be ineffective, it can even undermine the other, more effective components of strategy.

...feel free to use this.

7 Summers...what would you do?

2007-07-31T16:17:00.001-04:00

A few of us have begun the dreaming, planning, and development process for 7 Summers (see video and article). But, the first step in any good plan is to frame the questions. Here are a few of mine (please post or email me your ideas):

1. Can we identify the best catalysts for change... strengthening of family and neighborhood, dream incubators, dream teams, youth cells and empowering networks, business support, school and community partnerships?

2. How do we create the support structure in the church for this kind of vision?

3. How could parents and mentors be motivated to play their key part?

4. Are there many adults whose own calling and dreams would be fulfilled in this kind of movement?

5. What kinds of dialog, brainstorming, and planning models would facilitate rapid development and implementation?

6. How do we engage children and youth themselves into the imagining and planning process early and give this enough force to drive action?

7. How do we enlarge the online conversation and idea-generating process?

8. How can we REALLY get churches to work together in our cities... please don't say it can't be done, what is it going to take?

Where were you in '64?

2007-07-31T15:51:00.000-04:00

I had fun creating this for the 7 Summers article. Not exactly accurate to their real ages (but all are Boomers). Can you ID them all first time through? Where were you in 1964 (I just entered high school, I was 14...and it was a very good year).

7 Summers to Change the World (free video)

2007-07-31T15:37:00.000-04:00

Watch this 1-minute video with a few of your colleagues. Discuss what you've seen work. Create your own think tank group... imagine what could work if we did not limit ourselves because of time, money, or traditions. Then drop me an email. I'll post your thoughts and ideas.

Post a comment on YouTube (it helps spread the word). Download the HD version (from our site) to show your group. Share it freely...pass it around... it's yours, for the cause (please just keep intact).

Incarnational Church Planting Project

2007-06-29T15:00:00.001-04:00

Great video on incarnational church planting, in this case 'urban' incarnational church planting in Denver. If for planting, why not for exisitng churches? If for urban, why not for suburban and rural? In any case, it really is exciting to see young people becoming so active in missional church planting, and incarnational mission.

"Somewhere along the line you stopped to being you"

2007-06-06T11:22:00.001-04:00

Sure, it's Rocky, but this little scene from the latest movie is both stirring and profound. It's about the big lie. It addresses the fundamental problem of the human race: each of us believing who we really are, exchanging our fears for the Father's dream, and never giving up. I challenge you to watch it as if it is the Father God speaking to a child of His design and dreams.

Some memorable lines: "What's so crazy about standing toe to toe with someone saying "I am"?" "Somewhere along the line you stopped to being you" "Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!

Summer In The City!

2007-05-17T17:04:00.000-04:00

If aliens had a way to scan our world and measure human activity, which season would be the most active? I think it's obviously the summer. I don't have any hard data, but also I imagine compared to other seasons, volunteer activity for most community groups is also much higher in the summer. Summer is the time people come outdoors, engage in many community activities, and seem to be most open to meeting new people, engaging in conversations.

So why is this not the best season for reaching deep into our cities? Why do we traditionally think of things slowing down in the summer, when from a connection perspective we get more active? Could we be operating with some upside-down thinking. Maybe with a little creativity, a whole world of opportunity awaits us. Maybe the way to turn it right side up is to switch gears, from outreach thinking to withreach thinking. Maybe.

We're working on some withreach ideas specific to summer (I'll post some soon), but email or call if you'd like to discuss them or collaborate on some ideas of your own. Let's see what we can do to change the way we think about "summer."

Honoring Teachers, Schools, and Towns

2007-04-20T12:34:00.000-04:00

A Tribute To Teachers. Thousands of communities will take time out during May to honor the teachers in their communities. It wouldn't take much creativity for a community-minded church to program a special emphasis / theme-campaign as a withreach opportunity... having the potential to create many new relationships, cultural bridges, and a high-profile catalyst for transformation. September would be another good time, oh and don't forget private schools and homeschool "teachers."

For ideas, just Google "teacher's day," but here's a few: click... here, here, or here.

A Tribute To A Town. Or, consider combining it with a show of support for VA Tech and a town that could use your prayers and encouragment. You could host a special showing / or discussion group of the recent movie We Are Marshall (about another town that overcame an enormous tragedy)...the similarities are uncanny.

Here's an amatuer video, and a fan quote: "Before i watched this movie i wouldnt be able to tell you the last time i cried. As soon as i saw Keith at the end and matthew fox crying at the end i couldnt help but start crying. I didnt know anyone on the plane but this is my hometown and roots run deep."

Back Office Work

2007-04-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

Over the last few weeks there's been a lot of new projects rolling out of production. Many of these projects were the result of specific client requests. Many times these new media campaigns never make it to our website, so I thought I'd post a few here. They should be self explanatory...

Redeeming Dreams From Brothels

2007-02-21T17:17:00.000-05:00

I recently read on a mission blog, a quote of Ralph Winter: “You can’t make “a business” out of rescuing child prostitutes in Thailand, or by setting up medical clinics in the midst of extreme poverty around the world.”

...I wonder. Recently, I watched the movie, Born Into Brothels, in which a development worker, who worked with prostitutes in the red-light district of Calcutta, was drawn to reach out to their children. She was also a photographer and she had the idea of giving each of the kids inexpensive cameras and asking them to interpret their world through that medium. It worked wonders not only in creating deep relationships but the end of the story was this: she got many of them into higher education and out of the brothels by showcasing their photography... and assisting them in selling prints of their own work…which completely funded their empowerment. You've no doubt heard other stories of similar kinds of highly-creative approaches.

I wonder what is possible if we reimagined problems with a little more spirit-led creativity. Entrepreneurs focus on hidden value opportunities. As spiritual entrepreneurs, those value opportunities are the God-given treasures of identity, dreams, and purpose contained within. Our part of this empowerment opportunity might be to provide the marketing and distribution channels for those “products” of our Father’s dreams. Could this self-fund community development and mercy missions?

Rent the documentary. Check out their website: kids-with-cameras ... Get inspired. ... Watch this clip...

Easter in the era of "whatever"

2007-02-20T16:34:00.001-05:00

In a recent brainstorm with some 20-30 year olds, we sought to rethink a familiar challenge, one that usually goes like this... When Easter rolls around the churches in America face a major dilemma: One one hand, Easter is probably the most effective time of the year to raise their profile (fishing when the fishing is good). On the other hand, the US population who still have favorable memories or understand the meaning of Easter is a diminishing audience. Though it remains one of the best times of the year to build awareness (and attendance) we searched for a way that also speaks with relevance to this growing sector. We had these goals for it: 1) it had to connect to an authentic felt need, and 2) do it in a clear and simple way, and 3) be seen as coming from real, unpretentious, caring people.

This led to the development of the Don't Change A Thing campaign.
Here are a few examples (the rest can be found on the Breakthrough site). I will be posting more ads and photos here and would love your feedback on them.

Headline:
Don't Change A Thing. ... If It Changes Who You Really Are.
... and some suggested reverse side text:

Everyday we encounter pressures to conform, to approach life-change as an outside-in acquisition of principles and social norms, rather than an inside-out process of becoming our true selves. The Bible contrasts a life of conforming with a life that's transforming. It speaks of regeneration, renewal of our minds, and being reborn. But the fact is, it's far easier to cave in to expectations. It takes courage to live out of your true heart and follow the dreams you were meant to fulfill. If you're looking for people who will treasure the real you and support you in your journey, we'd like to be that people. A new day is dawning, and we can begin this Easter to resurrect the life we were meant to live... lives not meant to conform to the world, but transform it!

I've posted a few of these in the: Portfolio, but ideas for other target audiences (by way of their photo representation on the cover) could go in many interesting directions. Where would you want to go?

Idea Starters

2007-02-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

I'm working on some new campaign ideas...sure love to get some advance feedback (here or by email). These pieces are part of an ongoing development for use in engaging a community (families, kids, youth) to awaken God-given dreams and begin conversations and dream-coaching relationships. Do they spark ideas in you?

A Community Dreams Campaign

2007-02-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

Here's a sneak peak at a local community project we're working on (in our own backyard). The idea is to facilitate people's dream discovery-nurture-act (DNA) process through a community / church sponsored web site. A full media campaign would promote it and drive traffic to the web site where there would be online helps to guide someone (specifically children and youth) into writing and posting their dreams.

My hopes is that this would be a forerunner of a complete Dream Center (dream coaching, life coaching, career and business incubator, mentoring, after-school programs, and community arts programs). ...stay tuned.

Holy Ground Cafe

2006-10-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

I took a seat in our local cafe the other day across from these gentlemen, one black, one white. I snapped a picture while they were deep in conversation. And just for a moment I thought, this is holy ground, the kind of place Jesus would hang out...nuetral ground at the cross roads of culture and although there is a kind of informal protocol, it's without pretense or agenda. How many places like this exist in our communities, do we know whre they are?

Ray Oldenburg, in his book Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities, explores the contribution of cafes like this. I found one comment on the book interesting:

"Dr. Oldenburg helped me to understand that when good citizens of a community find places to spend pleasurable hours with one another for no specific or obvious purpose, there is purpose to such association. One of these places is, of course, our cafe environment. We provide an informal public gathering place which is not and can not be supplied by any other agency in the society."

Oldenburg positions "third places" beside home and work. I wonder... Knowing that the church is people (we have to keep reminding ourselves), what would have to change to make the church qualify as a third place? How could we create these wonderful, highly-engaging 'front porches' in our community?

Community of Dreams Overview

2006-08-21T19:31:00.000-04:00

Well, it's finally out, the first draft of the Community of Dreams Overview, which even as a 22-page document, only provides a sweeping big-picture of the overall cityreaching vision and the 'Five Synergies' (or paradigms for planning) which we believe form a powerful incarnational withreach approach to cityreaching and transformation.

You can download a free preview (PDF) here.

attractional / incarnational

2006-08-21T18:02:00.001-04:00

A chart I recently made for the Our Town neighborhood strategy to roughly compare the two paradigms. It's not meant to be definitive, just a conversation starter containing broad generalities.

Attractional we've known and lived with for a long time, the methods are old and tired. Incarnational, though new (at least to the church) and very promising, in this approach we're all babes...not even toddlers. We're still crawling around, imagining what it would be like to even stand and walk out into the world in this way.

The point is, when it comes to effectively reaching and transforming our cities, attractional strategies are no longer a simple and easy solution. However, they do work (and work well) when they're a sub component of a larger, synergistic, well-planned cityreaching approach which is thoroughly incarnational withreach.

Do we do discipleship the way Jesus did?

2006-08-19T10:03:00.000-04:00

I'm currently working on a long-term development plan for a discipleship ministry. In the process of thinking through key directions, I feel God challenging me to examine our whole approach to discipleship, generally asking... why we don't disciple people the way Jesus did. I have been in ministry for over 30 years, but I have been stopped in my tracks over this, and I'm having a difficult time identifying any present day examples of discipling as Jesus did. Most church-based discipleship is classroom oriented. Even those more relational, one-on-one approaches are still quite formal, didactic, cognitive, or curriculum-based. Some mission-based approaches add experiential components, but could they be proposed across the board and effectively applied to all Christians in all walks of life?

I have four questions:

1) What were the essential qualities in the way Jesus discipled others?

2) Do you know of good, present-day examples/models in use?

3) Could we suggest a truly biblical model for today based on the clear example of Jesus in the four Gospels?

4) Is there any justification for our wholesale abandonment of Christ's own example?

For me this is not simply an academic exercise, since I am working on a plan that could impact the direction of a ministry. So I do hope there are some good answers to be found.

Here's one way to get at it... What if we first took what might be seen as the basics of good mentoring: 1) provide essentials and key principles, 2) dramatize and demonstrate in real life, 3) commission them to do it on their own, 4) provide evaluation, support, affirmation, and guidance to perfect, internalize, and integrate with personal life and calling.

And if we would say that the core ingredient of the enduring disciple was loving God (with a whole heart), then what could the discipleship process look like? Would the process look like anything we presently see? And how would you provide experiences that impart an authentic, enduring love of God?

Thoughts?

Michael