Don’t Get Fooled! It’s a Business Not a Ministry

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Sep 4, 2012 in Featured, Ministry | 0 comments

Don’t get fooled! It’s a business not a ministry?

What am I talking about? The many companies that choose a primary business model of using the church and Christians as their primary target for profit.

Don’t get me wrong. Doing business with the church or with Christians almost exclusively isn’t a sin. I’m not advocating avoiding such companies. It’s not a reason to never do business with such companies. I work with many such businesses to help me in my ministry as a pastor, a writer and as a disciple of Christ. If Lifeway Christian Resources, the many Bible software companies, and some great online resources that help me present the Gospel in church on Sunday didn’t exist, it would make my life more difficult. I once bought a computer from a “Christian” computer reseller and the business helped me get a great machine at a fair price and supported it well when it failed.

But don’t get fooled! They’re businesses and not ministries.

Why am I writing about this now? Because a company reminded me of this today in a disappointing way.

I contacted a company hoping they would help me out. I considered moving from a Windows PC to a Mac for our church’s presentation computer. A video I created failed to play on the Windows machine while it worked perfectly on my Mac at home. I decided to look into the cost of buying a new Mac and transferring the license of our presentation software from Windows to Mac. Other companies did this for me without even a small administration fee. A couple more just charged a small clerical fee. I swapped out my Adobe Photoshop license from Windows to Mac for nothing so long as I didn’t use the Windows version any longer. That’s one of the most expensive programs I own. A couple of other very expensive Bible software applications let me switch without a fee or charged just a small fee and I can keep using the Windows versions as well.

The presentation software company offered what they called a “crossgrade” for hundreds of dollars. This, they said, let me continue to use both the Windows and Mac versions. Great! I don’t want to use the Windows version. I will only use one copy on the Mac. Too bad. I still had to pay. I reasoned that this didn’t make sense since the two version work almost identically. They look a little different because of the different operating systems, but the basic functions were nearly identical. But the company won’t budge. That’s their right.

I replied to the sales person’s last email saying their policy disappointed me. It felt like they should want to work harder to keep me as a loyal and long time customer. I’ve used and recommended the software for almost a decade. The policy ensured that I will not use that application any longer just as soon as I can afford a suitable replacement. That’s my right.

All of this serves to remind me that the companies that exist to take money out of the church are not ministries. They’re businesses. They may employ Christians. Many run under the control of a Christian. A lot of them work hard to help the church and Christians, but they do so to make money knowing its good business to offer good customer support. Some focus more on the business and less on the support, just like companies run by secular people.

A Higher Standard

If a business calls itself Christian it must operate at a higher standard. A “Christian” mechanic I once had dealings with proved that the term often functions more as a marketing ploy than a real description of their ethics.

Christians who run businesses also must operate at a higher standard because all Christians should operate their lives at a higher standard, whether they own and operate a business, teach school or pick up trash for a living. God expects more of us.

If you own or operate a business, ask yourself this question about how you support the church. Does your business plan center around taking money out of the church or does it focus on adding value to the church seeking payment for this just like a pastor or other staff members get paid. Parasitic companies operate under the first ethic, while other businesses work under the second. I like to work with the second class of company, but they’re hard to spot and the first often look like the second.

If other companies can afford to offer the same service you offer without sucking as much out of the church treasury as your business does, then you’re doing it wrong. If you wake up every day asking, how can I help a pastor, a church secretary, a minster of music or youth, then you’re likely doing it the right way.

Image credit: 401(K) 2012 on Flickr

A Poem

Posted by Kevin Purcell on May 17, 2012 in Editorial, Featured | 0 comments

I’ve not written a poem in a very long time. This morning I studied Psalm 133 in preparation for a sermon on unity for Sunday. So here it is:

   oNe: a psAlm

hOw swEet and lovely is unIty
the JOy and blessing of community

as he lowered me into john’s pool
the water flowed over my face
my Family sAw it flow
to thEm I’m connected in HIs place

the paIns and feArs of life
evaporate off thOse weEds
oh, the JOy that floods my soul
We stAnd, a FiEld frOm seeds

i carry yOu all my days
to each fork, my valleys of soul
with yOu i’m certain and safe
together HE makes Us whOle

hOw swEet and lovely is community
the JOy and blessing of OUr unity

 

Six Facts Videos: an Evangelistic Presentation and Strategy

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Apr 24, 2012 in Featured, Video | 0 comments

At a recent Ministers Conference of the Catawba River Baptist Association, Rev. Steve Parker, the pastor at Zion Baptist Church in Morganton, presented his The Six Facts Gospel Presentation and Evangelistic Strategy for the benefit of the ministers present and their churches. I recorded the session and posted the six parts of the hour-long presentation on my YouTube channel today. Here they are for your benefit.

Full YouTube Playlist

Here is the full YouTube Playlist. This will move from one video to the next. If you want to view them individually, see below.

Here are the individual videos by part in case you want to see them one by one instead of as a full YouTube playlist.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

If you want a DVD of these videos please contact the Catawba River Baptist Association and they will be able to get you a DVD for a small fee.

What the Grammys Taught Me About Church

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Feb 13, 2012 in Editorial, Featured, Ministry | 1 comment

I didn’t watch the Grammys last night. My wife enjoyed a wonder episode of Downton Abbey, our new favorite TV show. If you know about both that will explain a lot about what I learned.

I learned that we’re so far out of touch that it might be over.

When I say “we” I mean the church. And that means all of us, not just the old-fashioned church.

I didn’t watch the Grammys even though most of the known world did. I can’t bear to. I joke with my wife that it’s because I don’t enjoy seeing rich people get awards, but in reality it’s because I’m a musical snob. I like what I like and don’t want to listen to the rest unless their’s a good motivation to listen outside my favorite genres of music – in other words, in a worship service or because I’m trying to learn something.

All the glitz and showiness of pop music detracts from any talent they really display. I don’t know who Nicki Minaj is, but from reading Twitter, it sounds like she’s this generation’s Madonna trying to outdo Lady Gaga, whom I also can’t bear to watch despite what seems like some amazing musical talent.

I’m not a Beatles fan but I did catch Paul McCartney at the end when we switched to the local CBS channel looking for news. Despite that his voice is about shot, that was the kind of performance that seems credible. It was about the music with just enough showmanship to keep awake those who don’t care about the music.

I also realized that if the church has to do what they did at the Grammys to get a crowd it’s over.

We can’t do that. Some mega churches might have a shot, but not every week. Most of us don’t have the time, budget or skill to pull off a tenth of that kind of show. We’re doomed if we have to do that to interest people in the Gospel.

The third thing I realized after thing about this today: We’re not doomed if we focus on what we’re supposed to do.

We just need to realize what we can and should do. We can help people deal with things like the loss of a loved one better than they can. I’m also not a big Whitney fan, but I know many loved her and some really felt the sadness of her death. We can help in times like these better than the people who put on big rock and roll shows.

The church has to learn that it’s all about our community, not our weekly show called worship.

The transformation we need is to make church about relationships and community again, not about music and performance. That’s the casualty of the worship wars. We made it all about the style of music and not about the style of community and we’ve lost out. We have to return to our roots where the church met together from house to house and remember that Jesus scolded the crowds for showing up for spectacle instead of the Word!

Making this transition won’t be easy. It will be easier than figuring out what to do with all of our property when our congregations die because they can’t out perform Hollywood. It will be easier than looking for a new community to fill the needs of companionship, love and acceptance and finding a place where everybody knows your name. Mediocre 80s sitcoms aside, bars and civic organizations can’t do what we can do if we get serious about this. They may have more people than we do. The rockers have more glitz and showmanship than we do. The movie house has better acting and performers than we do. But the church has the Triune God who didn’t just invent community but IS community. When we make church about that, we win!

Using Mobile for Visitor Contact in the Church

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Nov 28, 2011 in Featured, Ministry, Technology | 1 comment

Should churches feel bad for not using all the tech they possibly can for every task they possibly can? No! This techno-preacher says doing things with a 20th century approach is just fine and in fact commendable as a way of being contextual, depending on your situation, congregational makeup and target demographic. What am I talking about?

[Note: this article was in response to a post at Mobile Ministry Magazine]

Background

I had  a Twitter conversation with a good friend and brother in Christ Antoine Wright, the curator and head of Mobile Ministry Magazine. If you read my posts you will occasionally find comments below them from my friend. I follow his Tweets because he usually says interesting things, well except for the biking related stuff which I lovingly tolerate probably as much as he tolerates my Packer and NASCAR tweets. Antoine focuses on using mobile technology in ministry, something that I do and often write about here and elsewhere. If you need some consulting work done regarding the use of technology and mobile tech in ministry, he’s your guy.

Antoine tweeted about a recent experience he had visiting a church where he was disappointed at the lack of usage of mobile tech for feedback on the part of visitors (er – excuse me – guests) to that church (see right). He wished that they would, instead of using a dead tree visitor cards, offer attendees wishing to respond to the call for visitor acknowledgement, mobile tech like SMS, social networking or email. After all doesn’t everyone have a cell phone, a computer with Internet access, or even better a smart phone or tablet?

I replied that I thought his criticism was “awfully nitpicky” and he came over a beat me up! Not really. He just made me think, which is what Antoine seems to do best – make people think bout their tried and true traditional way of doing ministry by suggesting possibly better ways to do it using technology and usually mobile tech.

Here’s what he envisioned. Use a text message to say, “I visited your church.” The same could be used to sign up for announcements about upcoming ministry events. Use email or Facebook to connect in an ongoing way with the church.

Not Everyone Has Access to Tech

If you give me a choice between doing things digitally or using old analog methods, I’m going to pick 21st century digital means 9 out of 10 times. I preach from my iPad, take snapshots of meeting handouts with my cell phone or tablet and then hand the handouts back, and I do almost all of my Bible reading and study on a computer, cell phone or tablet.

Here’s the problem with even suggesting that people use something like a text message to inform a church they visited – not everyone has a cell phone or even if they do not everyone uses SMS. Some have SMS but don’t have a clue how to use it. I’m not just talking about older people. Many younger people are technologically challenged and use their cell phone for one purpose – to make phone calls. Others know what it is but limit the number of messages they can send/receive to save money.

So why not train them? I don’t have time as I’m making morning announcements to train people to use SMS or even to explain what it is. Everyone understands a pencil and paper.

Also, some churches don’t have good cell reception. Even if they do, do you really want them to pull out their cell phone and get distracted by the text they get from their boyfriend or mother during your service. Leave them stashed as much as possible and enjoy the Lord! And that’s coming from a guy who uses his iPad as his carry-along Bible when visiting other churches or when guest speakers preach at mine.

Finally, I don’t want my visitors to have to pick between using one of their limited number of texts to converse with people important to them or use it to tell me they visited. My church will lose that battle every time.

Not Everyone Wants to Give Out Their Cell Phone Number

While some of us see our cell phone number as the primary line, not everyone does. For many people a cell phone number is a jealously guarded personal detail that they won’t give to strangers no matter how well-meaning they might be. To ask for a cell phone number as their only means of guest feedback means I just won’t get feedback from that visitor. Maybe they would otherwise enjoy a phone call, email, written letter, or visit, but they don’t want me texting or calling them on their cell phone and so they won’t respond. Worse, the very request could seem like a invasion of privacy to some.

Why Not Offer Both?

My first reaction was to say, add something like SMS as a way to respond in addition to the paper card/pencil method. Unfortunately, I still have some of the above problems. It could be a distraction to those who don’t have SMS, don’t know what it is, or feel apprehensive about using it. Plus it takes more time to explain this when I could simply say fill out the card in the pew in front of you and be done with.

I do like the idea of offering digital response to those who would prefer it. I don’t have to even mention it from the platform, but it could flash before them in the opening announcement slides. One thing I learned in my doctoral research about using multimedia is that your members seldom see the announcement slides anymore, but the visitors often look at them carefully as a means of judging the church. They will likely notice a slide advertising your church email address, Facebook page, official text message number or Twitter handle. If you do this, make sure these tools are kept fresh. A stale website and Twitter feed does more harm than good. This won’t distract as it would if I actually mention it is because this engages the visitor before worship begins.

Also the paper card could have at the top/bottom of it a note saying, “text or email this info to XXX-XXXX/church@website.com instead of filing out this card if you like” so as to offer the chance. The few who would much prefer to do it that way are allowed without alienating anyone. Most won’t notice it unless they are looking for it so you don’t have the problems mentioned previously.

Maybe One Day

I think Antoine’s on to something here. In a coupe of years I believe he will be pushing us to use some other technology that alludes most of us now, but will be as common place as cell phones. By then the rest of us will be ready to text our visitor cards to the church or like their Facebook page as means of getting hooked up for future details. Until then, the old card and pencil works best for nearly everyone – unless you’re planting a church in Silicon Valley called Tesla Community! You guys disregard everything I said. Texting might be tool out of date for you.