Me: How do you think we can build up attendance at our evening congregation?
Congregation member: Signs and wonders, miraculous happenings…that’ll work.
It was hard to gauge the seriousness of this comment when it was made to me after one Sunday service, but after further conversations I am convinced that for some of my friends, signs and wonders are held to be a valid and expected part of Christian ministry. Recent history teaches us that my friends are not alone in holding these expectations. Back in the 1980’s John Wimber of the Vineyard movement promoted ‘power evangelism’ with its miraculous wonders as a model for Christian ministry; people will come to faith through hearing the word and seeing God ‘show up’ with various acts of supernatural power. Since this expectation is still held by some brothers and sisters (who may or may not be aware of John Wimber’s thought), I think it's time to engage with these views and to provide a way of understanding the place of the miraculous in our weekly ministry...
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Leadership lessons from the Kitchen
I was watching Bloomberg TV yesterday when on came an interview with Laurent Tourondel, executive cheff at BLT Steak, NYC. Interesting to hear this entrepreneur’s reflections about opening a new venture in a tough environment:
1. His first step was to walk around the suburb and get the feel for the place. This was a significant step given the space he was about to put the restaurant in had played host to four failed eateries (yes four!) in the immediate past. The interviewer said "Didn't that history scream out 'don't start up here!'?" Tourondel's response was insightful...
2. He spoke about how many restaurants fail because they are based around a concept which doesn't mix with the area. The space he was looking to start up in was near a business district with lots of men making high powered, high testosterone deals, so he thought a steak house would do well. This was a departure from Tourondel's own seafood background.
3. He mentioned that the other model for success is to become a 'destination' restaurant; a place where people will come despite the distance and immediate surrounds. This approach was much harder, and requires something really special.
Now as I'm listening to this, I was struck by how relevant all this is to those leading Christian ministries, especially those church planting. I was also reminded how many of these observations have already been made by some of our current church gurus; Driscoll and Keller both talk about the importance of walking around your suburb to get a feel for the culture. But the idea of matching a venture's concept with its context is intriguing. The idea of cultural relevance is not new; the homogenous unit principle has been kicking around churches for decades now, and there are growing numbers of us who love to find new ways to use new media to reach new people. But there is something just a little sharper in what Tourondel is describing. Does our suburb/city/country suggest a concept which we can structure our church communities around? Of course the main concept - the gospel - has already been given to us, but is there room for another thread with which we can earmark our church life, a thread which connects with those living around us? Note that Tourondel was also happy to change styles to provide something which would appeal to those around him.
I was also interested to hear of the distinction between a fruitful local venture and a ‘destination’ restaurant. I wonder what that extra something is?
1. His first step was to walk around the suburb and get the feel for the place. This was a significant step given the space he was about to put the restaurant in had played host to four failed eateries (yes four!) in the immediate past. The interviewer said "Didn't that history scream out 'don't start up here!'?" Tourondel's response was insightful...
2. He spoke about how many restaurants fail because they are based around a concept which doesn't mix with the area. The space he was looking to start up in was near a business district with lots of men making high powered, high testosterone deals, so he thought a steak house would do well. This was a departure from Tourondel's own seafood background.
3. He mentioned that the other model for success is to become a 'destination' restaurant; a place where people will come despite the distance and immediate surrounds. This approach was much harder, and requires something really special.
Now as I'm listening to this, I was struck by how relevant all this is to those leading Christian ministries, especially those church planting. I was also reminded how many of these observations have already been made by some of our current church gurus; Driscoll and Keller both talk about the importance of walking around your suburb to get a feel for the culture. But the idea of matching a venture's concept with its context is intriguing. The idea of cultural relevance is not new; the homogenous unit principle has been kicking around churches for decades now, and there are growing numbers of us who love to find new ways to use new media to reach new people. But there is something just a little sharper in what Tourondel is describing. Does our suburb/city/country suggest a concept which we can structure our church communities around? Of course the main concept - the gospel - has already been given to us, but is there room for another thread with which we can earmark our church life, a thread which connects with those living around us? Note that Tourondel was also happy to change styles to provide something which would appeal to those around him.
I was also interested to hear of the distinction between a fruitful local venture and a ‘destination’ restaurant. I wonder what that extra something is?
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