THE CHANGING FACE OF CHURCH CONSULTATION

Twenty-five years ago this spring, Ken Callahan came to my church for a local church consultation.  I was blown away by his hyper-focus and sense of clarity which came from working with lots of churches.  Because he was not so deeply enmeshed in our particular situation with its challenges, he could see things that we could not.  It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life - the sense of Ah Ha that enabled our church to quickly make some strategic decisions that would result in us reaching hundreds of new people.  i don’t recall what we paid him per day - but it was worth it!

WHAT DO YOU WISH TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

That question is being asked by more folks than ever as we enter the year 3 AP (After Pandemic). There is revolution brewing in the economy, in politics, in technology, in the runaway climate, and in the relationship between human beings and work!  The eye of the 21st century made hard landfall in March 2020 and it is relentless in its capacity for disruption.

WHAT BUSINESS ARE YOU IN?

One of my talented clients, reflecting on the changing nature of work in these late pandemic days, asked aloud, “What business am I in?”  Such a great question!  He is working on that question before our next call.  And he acknowledged that the answer today (in the 2020s and in his 50s) is likely to be different from his answer ten years ago, when he was serving in a different time and place. 

LOOKING DOWN FROM 40K FEET UPON 40K SQUARE FEET

American Airlines, my typical air carrier, is doing markedly better than some of its competitors this fall - after a very bumpy early summer.  And I am flying again, a lot, this fall.  To Chicago, San Francisco, Raleigh, Dallas, Southern Cal.  It has begun again, where we left off in spring of 2020 - but in so many ways, not at all where we left off eighteen months ago.

POP UP CHURCH IS BACK

When Rae Jackson in Washington DC announced (pre-Covid) that his new planting project (The Well) would be “pop-up,“ moving to different venues in its gathering, I immediately thought of the recent movement among cool bakeries, food trucks, shows and museums, where the fun travels.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY?

 

One of the themes in my work this year is teasing out the story of what God is up to in particular congregations.  "Tell me about the story you are in the middle of." This is what Gospel writers did way back when: they looked at the varied incidents and anecdotes and cobbled together a narrative that was true to their faith understanding.

THE FOUR HORSES OF THE CURRENT CHURCH APOCALYPSE

Typically, I work with leaders and churches who are motivated to strive toward new realities.  This creates something of an illusion for me in terms of how bad the crisis is in most churches.  However, in the last year, I started working more with judicatories, where churches are assigned or suggested to Epicenter Group.  In these experiences I come to see things more the way the average Methodist superintendent sees things: where the vast majority of churches are late life cycle with a closing window of opportunity for renewal.