As a little boy, it was the first time I heard my mother laugh; I mean a really hard barrel-roll laugh. Literally I sat at her knee and listened as she read from the Readers Digest:

A little boy was given 2 dimes from mom: “You’ve been a good boy. One dime is to buy an ice cream cone this afternoon; the other is to put in the offering plate at church tomorrow.” As he headed to the ice cream shop he dropped his dimes—one of them rolled through the drainage grate on the sidewalk. He cried out loud, “Sorry God; there goes your dime!”

I’ll never forget her laughter. I guess I remembered it because as a good little boy I could relate! And I’ll never forget learning that day that the church is about money and giving….and about priorities.

The joke’s on us if a new church doesn’t quickly learn this lesson, and that’s nothing to laugh about. To help with this we try to teach our planters a simple formula: BS + CS + CP=SSF.

BS…is Biblical stewardship. There are so many scripture references upon which to build this eternal truth that I couldn’t list them all here. Good sound biblical teaching on stewardship, generosity, sacrifice, and money MUST occur not just at the time of a stewardship campaign…but also sprinkled throughout the year in strategic ways. John Wesley developed a simple guide to sermon topics on this grand topic: Earn all you can—save all you can—give all you can.

CS…is common sense. At Boot Camp our planters are taught to personally thanking individuals for their giving via hand-written notes. This begins when the launch team first starts to meet….these gatherings create the first opportunity to teach biblical stewardship. But use common sense: Don’t guilt people; don’t shame them; be creative & engaging; set an example with your own giving; AND THANK THEM PERSONALLY!

Common sense also realizes the importance of good fiduciary responsibility. Be sure your folks know you are using their money (God’s money) wisely and with absolute integrity; be able to point this out and demonstrate it. For too many people, the church as they have known it (especially from TV preachers) is little more than a money-grabbing machine. So use common sense in sensing their suspicions and fears … and making sure you are living out trust & integrity.

CP… is Conference Policies. Be sure you have and follow clear policies for your new church start in collecting, counting, reporting, and using funds. If you haven’t yet developed policies, feel free to check ours out in the North Texas Conference on this site.

SSF…is Strong, Spiritual Finances. This is not only our very foundation, it is our credibility. Without it, a new church plant is not likely to grow-up. And without the CS and the CP, all too often the BS sounds just like that to potential new church members…bs.

“May the odds be ever in your favor.”

A process of Discipleship does not guarantee making new and effective Disciples for Jesus Christ, but it certainly improves the odds…that, plus an insatiable hunger to reach new people, and to bring them into a life-changing relationship with Jesus. But these aren’t hunger games -- this is serious business and the stakes are eternal, so it needs to be the highest priority for a new church!

That’s why I was glad to sit across the table from Steve Howard. “Being part of a new church changed my life and my wife’s life,” said Steve. “Because that’s not only where we found our faith, but that’s where it grew and made us the people we are today.” “Tell me more,” I prodded.

“Like lots of folks, we started shopping around for churches because something was missing in our lives and we couldn’t quite put our finger on it. So when we started visiting around we went as ‘Middlers’”

“Middler?” I asked.

“Yea…you know: when we arrived we parked in the middle of the parking lot, walked in in the middle of the crowds, sat in the middle of the sanctuary….just trying to blend in.

“We were attending a big church— easy to blend in, so we went a few times. One of those Sundays we heard about a new thing…starting a new church. So my wife and I were curious and decided to check it out.

“And from the first Sunday in an elementary school auditorium we were able to move from ‘blending in to fitting in.’ We didn’t know it at the time, but the pastor was discipling us: we went to a bible study, then soon we were teaching a bible study and attending others…and classes about the gospel, about Jesus, about what it meant to live out our faith. At the same time they were getting us involved in helping on Sundays, serving in ministries during the week, going on mission trips…you know, before we knew it we were all in!”

As Steve spoke, I picked up on the process of discipleship that had changed his life: From ‘blending in’ to ‘fitting in’ to ‘pitching in’ to ‘going all in’. Steve and his wife have been instrumental in helping Creekwood grow into a vibrant worshipping congregation of more than 700 people in a beautiful campus.

New churches are encouraged to find creative metaphors to communicate their discipleship process. When the Congregational Developer in Nebraska, Nita Hinds-Park invited me to work with one of her churches in Lincoln (Horizons UMC,) I loved their use of the metaphor “The River” to portray an exciting and refreshing process of discipleship: Gather at the river (worship) Climb Aboard (get involved) Journey together (growth opportunities) Ride the Rapids (service & mission) Bring Others Along (getting others involved).

To move a first time guest into full commitment and growth, other churches utilize similar metaphors….but it’s all about the same thing: an intentional way to grow in faith and move from blending in to fitting in to going all in!

Jim

Dr. Jim Ozier is the Director of New Church Development and Congregational Transformation for the North Texas Conference. He began his work for the NTC in November 2007, focusing on the area of new church development. Congregational transformation was added to his responsibilities in 2009.

Small wonder that “The Artist” won Best Picture.  It is itself a powerful metaphor of the teaching moment     available to the new church planter during communion and baptism…connecting the ‘new’ to the ‘old’; the  ‘past’ to the ‘future’.

Spoiler Alert:  I’m about to tell the ending of the movie, so if you haven’t seen this amazing, award winning film, go watch it … then come back and read on!

Set in 1927, “The Artist” uses film genius to tell a story about deep change:  The transition from the golden era of silent films … to the new future of ‘talkies’.

The movie’s spectacular opening imagery portrays the relationship between George Valentin, a smiling, beaming, super star of silent films … and young Peppy Miller, the beautiful aspiring actress who idolizes him. She finally wins a part in one of his films and goes on to co-star with him.

But when his producers insist he make a talkie, he rebuffs them and derides the new medium, unable to comprehend that anyone would ever want to watch movies in which actors speak.  Angrily, he refuses and disparages the new technology as a passing fad.

Desperate, he plunges his own fortune into yet another silent film in which he produces and stars. Rejected by audiences, he loses everything.

Meanwhile, his beautiful young co-star easily flows into the talkies and becomes more of a super star than he could have ever dreamt.

He (the old, the struggling, the past) watches in disbelief as she (the young, the new, the future) attracts a huge following.  As adored as she is by the changing world, she is not ‘full of herself’ -- but persists in reaching out to her old friend. She tries delicately to care about him, even to take care of him….creatively trying to bring the one who had mentored her into the new world of talkies.

But to the past he clings.  We watch as his life tumbles from denial, to defeatism, to despair. We silently urge him on—not to despise her success; not to deny her efforts to reach out; not to disdain the future as some hostile plot to abandon the past.

Ahhh... fortunately  it ends redeemed and well!  He finally takes her hand—the past and the future partner-- and together they produce a spell-binding performance!  Blending the old and the new, they create a new version of the age-old tradition of the stage.

The prayer of the ages is for the church to bear witness that the hope of the future is not in abandoning the past, but to build upon it!  Ancient traditions need not fear new expressions.

Sacraments in a new church plant carry such power!  In new settings, with new expressions and within a new context, they provide the teachable moments of future building upon past; of old and new hand in hand to bring about a spell-binding experience for today’s audience; of silent, sacred meaning  --deeper than words -- to engage people with the Living Word.

No matter the mission field, it's filled with Dos Equis people… the demographic in which we now plant.

The Dos Equis demographic? You know the popular commercials about "The Most Interesting Man in The World"… the awesomely cool guy in the captivating videos with quotes from the voice-over like:

• His mother has a tattoo that says 'son'
• In museums he’s allowed to touch the art
• The Make A Wish Foundation's wish is to meet him personally

The commercials are so popular (click here to read more quotes) that there are literally thousands of web pages dedicated to them and hilarious parodies of their technique…which is simple and evident: loyalty no longer means always.

The catch line of each commercial? "I don’t always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis."

We no longer live in a society in which people—even loyal people—"always go to church." So planters must plant churches with this reality in mind, and plant in a way that a participant might well say, "I don’t always go to church, but when I do I prefer ____________ church." That’s success.

We all know the concept of church loyalty has changed. In earlier generations a loyal member was at church "every Sunday." Gradually that unofficially drifted to 3 out of 4 Sundays….then 2 out of 4. Now it may be closer to once a month or every 6 weeks.

We in the church still measure loyalty by how frequently someone comes. We even scold our attenders for not coming more regularly (a real turn-off to guests).

But the Dos Equis demographic FEELS LIKE it is loyal even with what we consider to be sporadic attendance. The person who comes once a month is still likely to say to the new neighbor, "that's my church." Another way of saying, "I don’t always go to church, but when I do I prefer __________."

This is the new normal. Get used to it.

But how to plant in it?

1. 1. Church for the Dos Equis demographic utilizes social media like Youtube, Twitter, Yelp, etc. in a way that keeps you virtually present when they are not physically present.
2. 2. We are fast losing Sundays—even Sunday mornings—to youth soccer and other similar events. Don't fight city hall. Minister around this changing dynamic to create 'connectors' between you and your people at other times and virtually.
3. 3. People no longer have to be present on Sunday mornings to feel 'connected' to the church and to each other—virtual community is just as powerful to them (even if not to us). Create midweek and monthly connection events that satisfy the need for belonging and participating.
4. 4. Beware of boring. Don’t waste people's time…make whatever you do creative and compelling. Plant The Most Interesting Church In The World.
5. 5. Remember…it is the same living water of Christ we all thirst for today— be creative in how you invite people to drink.

Stay thirsty my friends,

Jim

Dr. Jim Ozier is the Director of New Church Development and Congregational Transformation for the North Texas Conference. He began his work for the NTC in November 2007, focusing on the area of new church development. Congregational transformation was added to his responsibilities in 2009.