In the first post in a two-part series, I posed the question, “Would your church survive a pandemic?” In that post, we looked at practical stuff. How can we make sure churches aren’t contagion enablers. We also did a little exploration on what we could to avoid or enable pandemics. In the post I thought we’d imagine church life through a pandemic. How do we continue with the spiritual formation and discipleship in the wake of pandemics?
[Read more…] about Church Life Through A Pandemic – Other StuffWould Your Church Survive A Pandemic – The Practical Stuff
Would your church survive a pandemic? The viral outbreak reminiscent of the H1N1 one in Wuhan, China has the world talking. That, and watching Pandemic on Netflix got me thinking about churches’ potential responses.
There’s what we should do as the Church, then there’s the response of local church communities. Imagine there were restrictions on movement and gathering.
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Call for Backup! [Podcast #298]
What do you do when the power goes out?
What do you do when the projector or soundboard doesn’t turn on or a computer doesn’t boot up?
Do you have a backup plan? Does the plan work?
While most hiccups and curveballs can be adjusted for fairly easily, that isn’t always the case! This week on the podcast we get a little bit meta as we talk about — backup / backups.
Who Should Be Around This Planning Table?
We’ve explored the importance of planning for any church or organization. The cadence or rhythm and culture of planning have also been areas of focus. No church or organization can or will have sustained impact without planning. From a service or gathering, to discipleship, teaching, right through to succession of senior leaders planning is something that will be done over and over again. And, depending on the issue, you need different people. So, with aspect of planning who should always ask, “Who should be around this planning table?”
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Your Church Needs a Social Media Policy #2: Personal Reflections
As we look at church social media policy, I’d like to share a pertinent personal experience. I’ve been on staff at my church since 2006, and in that time, I’ve been fairly engaged in social media. No big deal, right? Then, 2016 happened, and everything changed. I don’t like President Trump. I think he’s crass, narcissistic, and erratic. Feel free to disagree with me—that’s the benefit to living in a free, democratic society—I can have opinions you don’t like, and it won’t affect you at all. But there have been times when I expressed my opinions about the president poorly, and I offended some of my friends.
[Read more…] about Your Church Needs a Social Media Policy #2: Personal ReflectionsThe Sunday After Christmas
The Sunday after Christmas and or the first of the year is a little awkward. Few people show up for ‘usual’ gathering. From food comas, family visiting, reasons vary for missing church. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Families spending time with those they don’t or haven’t seen in a long time. Besides this, the Sunday after Christmas has other interesting characteristics. And, there are some things worth our attention.