Tag Archive - Seth Godin

Four Areas Church Employees Need to Rethink: Part 1–Meetings

April 29, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 9 Comments

MEETINGS
Oh yes, the bane of a lot of our existence. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Most of my full-time church experience has been in the PCUSA, and we have meetings to plan meetings, that will hopefully lead to a meeting where the agenda item will be discussed.

A couple of thoughts.

When we are employed church staff members, part of our job is to be at church, and to be available to be at our meetings, as well as everyone else’s meetings. Sometimes the meetings are mandatory, and sometimes they are not…but regardless, being at meetings is often required and necessary and it’s just a part of our day. BUT, it is not the constant job of those who are volunteers. They have to plan to leave work, drive to church, have babysitters, etc.

While we…well, we are at church, free to move schedules for meetings.

I just don’t think that those of us employed in the church think enough about, or realize the busy lives of others, who are a part of our ministry, and the schedules they keep. We plan meetings at odd hours sometimes, we drag them out, we come to them without clear agenda items and a definite end time in mind. We often “over meet”, and often ask volunteers who are already involved in other ministries (therefore, doubling their meetings) to serve in our ministry.

Here is what I wish I would have done more regularly, and I hope this will cause food for thought:

  1. Always come to the meeting with a written agenda.
  2. Stay on the agenda task and don’t let topics get off course that should be discussed another time and place.
  3. Keep the meetings short; this isn’t always the case for some…but don’t waste time. Continue Reading…

Book Review: Tribes by Seth Godin

October 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

You can find my book review of Tribes by Seth Godin over at Leadership Network’s book blog.

Check it out, Heretics Needed in the Church.

Becoming a Heretic on Church Ministry

October 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 11 Comments

Heretic
Heretic, the one word that you never want to be associated with you as a Christian or ministry worker. OR IS IT?

Rather, maybe we need more heretics. Those challenging the status quo in Church. Just maybe we need to think more unorthodox thoughts when it comes to ministry. (Notice I said ministry, not theology; though there is a conversation there).

Of course, most people call others heretics when someone else’s views don’t align with theirs. Meaning, they think that they have a corner on the “right theology”, and the “right way to do ministry”, and of course everyone else is just wrong. I even have some friends I think who wish they could still burn heretics at the stake today…just to teach them a lesson and prove a point.

I know this is a serious word and I’m somewhat playing with it. But maybe Seth Godin is right, maybe we have been entrapped by the status quo, and been caught up in the trappings of Church culture, politics, hierarchy, etc. Godin’s idea of heretic goes beyond Church, but involves corporations, non-profits, politics and more.

Heretic & Ministry
But what I’m interested in is the idea of the heretic in ministry.

For argument sake, I’m not talking about heretic when it comes to theology. I’m not debating the orthodox views of the faith (virgin birth, death, resurrection, etc.), though I know people disagree on those. I’m interested in the role of the heretic who challenges the trappings of the Church. The facade, roles, hierarchical authority that is built over 1000′s of years of faith.

Is it possible that the Church culture has enslaved us, and keeps us from actually doing what our faith asks of us? So rather than living out our faith and theology, we are captured by the status quo. Reminds me very much of being caught in The Matrix and deciding which pill to swallow.

Godin says:

Challenging the status quo requires a committment, both public and private. It involves reaching out to others and putting yourideas on the line. (Or pinning your Ninety-five Theses to the church door). (pp. 49)

and later in the book, Godin says:

Religion and faith are often confused. Someone who opposes faith is called an atheist and widely reviled. But we don’t have a common word for someone who opposes a particular religion.

Heretic will have to do.

If faith is the foundation of a belief system, then religion is the facade and the landscaping. It’s easy to get caught up in the foibles of a corporate culture and the systems that have been built over time, but they have nothing at all to do with the faith that built the system in the first place.

Change is made by people, by leaders who are proud to be called heretics because their faith is never in question. (pp. 84)

Thinking Heretical Thoughts on Ministry
In the next several posts I would like to challenge, raise questions, debate some areas of Church ministry that need some unorthodox thinking in them. Maybe we need more heretics in our midst to help us re-think/re-imagine how the Church could be.

These are areas that I have struggled with a long time as I know many of you have, many of you are beginning to, and others will just think, well, that’s heretical thinking. I’m simply bringing them up to raise discussion and conversation, not because I have all the answers to these. That’s why I want your input.

  1. The Sermon: Primarily in its current form (1 person; usually a male; talking at people for 45 mins).
  2. Church Leadership: Primarily as it pertains to top-down, hierarchical, male driven committees.
  3. Worship (music): Primarily as it pertains to “the rock star”, performers on stage.
  4. Communication: Primarily in its top-down, non-inclusive/non-participatory of the Church body.

There are more, but those 4 are enough for me to look at.  If you have others that you think should be on the list, add them in the comment section and we can explore them together.

What would you add?

Economics Is More Than Money–Re-Thinking How We Use Our Time

October 10, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

Seth Godin has a killer post, Is effort a Myth.

He has me thinking about the economy…but not in terms of money…but rather the economy of time.

How we spend our time is as important as how we spend our money.

I like the practical advice he gives on just taking a 120 minutes, and re-thinking how you spend it.

You can see his thoughts below:

And that’s the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.

This is a hard sell. Diet books that say, “eat less, exercise more,” may work, but they don’t sell many copies.

With that forewarning, here’s a bootstrapper’s/marketer’s/entrepreneur’s/fast-rising executive’s effort diet. Go through the list and decide whether or not it’s worth it. Or make up your own diet. Effort is a choice, at least make it on purpose:

1. Delete 120 minutes a day of ‘spare time’ from your life. This can include TV, reading the newspaper, commuting, wasting time in social networks and meetings. Up to you.

2. Spend the 120 minutes doing this instead:

* Exercise for thirty minutes.
* Read relevant non-fiction (trade magazines, journals, business books, blogs, etc.)
* Send three thank you notes.
* Learn new digital techniques (spreadsheet macros, Firefox shortcuts, productivity tools, graphic design, html coding)
* Volunteer.
* Blog for five minutes about something you learned.
* Give a speech once a month about something you don’t currently know a lot about.

3. Spend at least one weekend day doing absolutely nothing but being with people you love.

4. Only spend money, for one year, on things you absolutely need to get by. Save the rest, relentlessly.

If you somehow pulled this off, then six months from now, you would be the fittest, best rested, most intelligent, best funded and motivated person in your office or your field. You would know how to do things other people don’t, you’d have a wider network and you’d be more focused.

It’s entirely possible that this won’t be sufficient, and you will continue to need better luck. But it’s a lot more likely you’ll get lucky, I bet.

I was thinking about how much time I waste just surfing. And I don’t mean surfing in the ocean. But surfing on the web, the TV, through magazines that are pointless and candy/bubblegum for the brain (i.e. think sensational, gossip, celebrity, etc.)

Here are some ways that I would like to re-think, re-do my time.

  1. Check email only twice a day.  In the afternoon (around lunch) and then before work is over (around 5 or 6).


  2. Remove, or lower my data package on my Blackberry so that I can’t be online as much.  And turn off my email that comes to my phone.


  3. Reduce the amount of TV shows that I watch.  I like a lot, so that will be tough.  Replace that TV time with reading, relaxing, spending time with my wife.  And by time, not the time we spend watching TV, but real interactional, connecting time.


  4. Spend more time with my family when I’m with my family.  That means cut back on texting, Twittering, checking the web when I  am with them.  So really be present.


  5. Don’t spend my days off just running errands, especially the weekends.  But truly take a Sabbath.


  6. Ultimately, use the time I get back to do two things: 1) use that time to do important, life giving, learning stuff; 2) use that time to be present with my family…not just physically present, but emotionally present.

Give me your thoughts. How would you re-think your time, and what would you do with it?

Is (Your) Church in “the dead zone of slick?”

August 27, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 10 Comments

The below is an excerpt from Seth Godin’s post the dead zone of slick.

There was a terrific duo playing live music at the farmer’s market the other day. They were well-rehearsed, enthusiastic and really good. Being a patron of the arts, I bought a CD.

I hated it.

I’ve thought a lot about what turned me off, and I think it’s the curve above.

Faced with the excitement of making a CD and all the knobs and dials, they overproduced the record. They went from being two real guys playing authentic music, live and for free, and became a multi-tracked quartet in search of a professional sound. And they ended up in the dead zone. Not enough gloss to be slick, too much to be real.

BINGO. Seth gets it.
Seth, as is his style, precisely and briefly puts in words and a graph what many of us often feel about church.

“Not enough gloss to be slick, too much to be real.”

A complaint I often heard in college ministry was that church was too slick, whether it was their home church where I pastored, the church down the road, or the one they grew up in. It’s a complaint that is hard to describe, but we all know what everyone means when they express it.

It’s that fine line between authenticity and being overproduced. Not everyone likes the duo on acoustic guitars leading worship, but not everyone is into the eight musicians on stage with lights glaring and moving images behind them either.

I’m someone who so desires authenticity in our churches and community, but I also want us to think through how we do things as well and do them with a sense of integrity, hard work and passion.

Too Slick

If I had a choice, I would usually prefer the “not slick” versus “slick” everyday of the week.

My 10 Reasons of how you know when is church too slick?

  1. When no one else is allowed on stage/upfront on Sunday, but the paid clergy/staff.


  2. No one is allowed to share or preach but the handful of ordained staff, etc.


  3. Everything is on perfect cue that when there is a mishap it becomes a big issue to the staff or congregation.


  4. When children (crying, talking, walking around) have no place in church, are given dirty looks, or ushered out.


  5. The service is broken down into minute detail…minute by minute. No room for the Spirit to move as some say.


  6. Professionalism reigns (oratory skills, musicianship). There is a difference between putting “capable” people up front, and allowing only the best of the best or professionals to do everything.


  7. When a staff meeting becomes the place where the service is dissected, but very little time is given to prayer, theological reflection or why we do the things we do.


  8. When the pastor or band/worship leader carries with them superstar status that if they weren’t up front on a Sunday people might choose not to attend or bring their friends.


  9. When those up front reflect only a segment of the population of the church (usually the pastor’s demographic or circle of friends), and there is no room to try things differently, with different people.


  10. When people’s reflection upon the service was more about the technicalities, than it was about the content.




Thoughts?

When is church too slick?

What makes church authentic?

Tony Morgan has 5 Questions with Seth Godin

August 4, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

Seth Godin is being twittered about quite a bit these days because of his new, soon to be released book, and his invite only network Tribe.

Tony Morgan has some questions for Seth (and if you don’t read Seth’s blog, you should be):

TONY: First of all, thanks for being my friend on Triiibes.com. I would have been lonely without you. But, since we’re now friends, what makes a good friend…online or otherwise?

SETH: I don’t think “friends” on Facebook and such are really friends. They are mild forms of permission, people who are willing to say, “no, you’re not in my spam folder.” True friends online are people who give before they get. And they’re hard to find!

TONY: I’ve started playing around with Triiibes.com today. It’s invite-only right now, but, on its surface, it looks a lot like several other social-networking sites including LinkedIn and Facebook. What’s the difference?

SETH: The key difference is that I’m trying to build a place where people are talking about ideas, not about each other. That’s a huge shift.

A tribe is not a crowd. A tribe is a group of people with a connection, a purpose and a leader. A key element of a tribe caring about an idea.

TONY: Thanks for agreeing to speak at Catalyst in October. Here’s a dirty little secret…we church leaders think we know a lot about “community” but more and more people are choosing to opt out of our communities. Why do you think that’s happening?

SETH: I worry that we’re confusing faith and religion, and I worry that we may be willing to sacrifice community in exchange for fealty to traditional rules. Faith is never going to go out of style, and community is more important than ever. It’s just got to be relevant.

TONY: Be honest. What scares you most about speaking to a group of church leaders? (Just between you and me, they kind of freak me out.)

SETH: I don’t like offending people, and it’s easy to offend people when you don’t know as much as they do. This group knows more about what it takes to lead in this way than I ever will. My goal is to push people, but I need to do it from a place of respect. I hope that will come across.

TONY: Just give us a nugget. What’s one surprise we’ll find in your new book?

SETH: Well, I just gave you one. I think faith is critical. I’m not so crazy about religion if it gets in the way of faith.

Seth Godin is so right on…

April 11, 2008 in Technology-Social Media with 0 Comments

Drip, drip, drip goes the Twit

I trust Sarah Fishko.

I don’t know her, I’v'e never bought anything from her and I wouldn’t recognize her if we met, but I trust her.

Every once in a while, over the last few years, Sarah’s voice has come out of my radio, telling me about one interesting cultural event or another. She’s consistent. She shows up. She has built a body of work over time, taking her time, that leads to trust.

Twitter can do that for you.

Not for a million New Yorkers, but perhaps for a hundred or a thousand people you want to reach. Blogs do the same thing.

The best time to look for a job next year is right now. The best time to plan for a sale in three years is right now. The mistake so many marketers make is that they conjoin the urgency of making another sale with the timing to earn the right to make that sale. In other words, you must build trust before you need it. Building trust right when you want to make a sale is just too late.

Publishing your ideas… in books, or on a blog, or in little twits on Twitter… and doing it with patience, over time, is the best way I can think of to lay a foundation for whatever it is you hope to do next.

Seth Godin