Monday, July 26, 2010

Mondering Pondering

As I'm in my office pondering the future for us, several questions flood through my mind about the kind of church we are and we want to be and who God is leading us to be--and more importantly how do we reach people? I guess you could ask it like this, how do we continue to be an engaging church that is embedded our community?
Who are the seekers and spectators and that we're hoping to engage? The 1st generation of the 21st Century is far different than any before. It's a group that has made more personal lifestyle changes than any other--due almost entireley to the advances in technology. And it's a group that has options.
We're calling to a culuture that devours makeover shows and to people who know "pimp my ride" means to make their vehicle as cool as possible. We're asking adults to give up time they could be spending in front of their 60" plasma screens, and we're asking their kids to lay down their video games, iPods, and iPhones, Xboxs, their technology to connect with us, and we with them.
But what do we offer? Remarkable experiences and initiatives that keep up and surpass those of our culture? How do we meet the needs of people with ever-shortening attention spans and ever-increasing expectations? How do we do all that and still keep our ministry focus and avoid feeding a "church mall" mindset? What is the best ways for us to meet the needs of our community? Can we do it alone? How is the model of the church need to change to meet those needs? Will other churches partner with us to make it happen?
Just some things I'm pondering as I seek God to take us where He bodly will in 2010 and 2011. 

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