Below is an excerpt from my column in the latest issue from Outreach Magazine on the research we did for the 100 Largest & Fastest Growing Churches. It's always a list that generates a lot of discussion-- some of it gets heated. This article (co-written with Lizette Beard from our LifeWay Research team) seeks to address some of the concerns people raise about the list.

I had the chance to interview some of the pastors of the churches on this list and will be posting them in the coming days. For now, check out the article (reproduced in part here), and feel free to dialog in the comment section here at the blog.

AS I SEE IT: ED STETZER

Is It All About Ego?
And Other Common Misconceptions

My team has a love-hate relationship with this project of researching the 100 Largest and 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches. They love "discovering" growing churches and learning from the churches whose commitment to reach people lands them on the lists year after year. Their favorite part is interviewing church leaders, hearing the stories of transformed communities and individual life change. They can't get enough of that stuff.

Then there are the rough days when they can't get past the gatekeepers, whose job it is to protect pastors from research companies wanting to conduct surveys. Or when they can't find out who in the church actually knows the attendance numbers. Or they can't seem to get someone to grasp the criteria of attendance not membership, weekend not weekly. And then there is the rare but very rude staff member. Fortunately, my team is familiar with what it takes to handle a sometimes difficult personality, so they have strategies in place.

But what bothers them the most is the lack of understanding about what this project is--a couple of lists that are simply meant to tell the story of how churches throughout the country are reaching people.

As you read this issue, we ask you not to miss the stories behind the lists because the real-life examples of what God is doing in and through the local church are the best part (see Page 60). We believe pastors and leaders of churches of all sizes can learn from these churches. We have. Their examples of innovation, creativity and risk taking--all to reach people and then give God the glory--have inspired each of us personally.

As we take a look at some of these churches, we're also sharing some of the more common criticisms and comparing them to what we've heard from these churches. Unfortunately, we know telling the stories won't dissuade all the critics. But we've learned that criticism actually does our research team and Outreach a favor by driving up the buzz and keeping us on our toes.

What about conversion growth?

Aren't these megachurches just swapping sheep and drawing in church hoppers?

I can honestly say that most of the pastors we talked to in this study are strategically focused on reaching out to those disconnected from faith and church and helping them learn about God. They seek to connect them to the community of believers....

Mike Bodine, senior leader at Central Christian Church (No. 11 Largest, No. 31 Fastest-Growing), describes what God is doing through the personal relationships Central Christian attendees are building in Las Vegas.

"It's a term we call one life--that every person at Central should have at least one life they're praying for and building an intentional relationship with," he explains. "And then they should be prepared to journey with that person and invite them to come hear a life-changing message of radical grace."

Las Vegas is experiencing a renewed spiritual hunger, Bodine says. In one weekend, Central Christian baptized 1,200 people.

"These are real stories of real people pulling back from the brink of suicide. Marriages are being restored, families being put back together, and people are becoming productive in society."

What about mobilization for service?

Aren't people at these churches just sitting and soaking?

On the contrary, some of the churches we talked to have made weekends of service an annual or twice-a-year activity. We heard stories of churches cleaning up foreclosed neighborhoods, sponsoring health clinics and stocking community food pantries. As a result, communities are seeing no-strings-attached compassion--the Church being the Church. (See PutYourFaithInAction.com for more information.) And many, perhaps most, of these churches are strategically and tangibly demonstrating the love of Christ to people with needs and hurts.

Christ's Church of the Valley in Covina, Calif. ( No. 57 Fastest-Growing, see Page 69) learned that the largest homeless population in Los Angeles County is single moms and started an after-school program

"We take these single moms who are trying to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet, and we go in with our teams to local schools," Senior Pastor Jeff Vines says. "Our goal was to have an after-school program in every elementary school in San Gabriel Valley."

"So while people have made a commitment to the ministry, at the same time there is a renewed passion for service," Vines says. "They come in to use their gifts, their talents and their abilities to make a difference in the world."

What about the churches that will never make the list?

Isn't it true that many healthy, growing churches will never qualify to be listed on some Largest or Fastest-Growing list?

Of course. I have been to some incredible churches and know great pastors who will never be on these lists. Not because they aren't reaching the lost, seeing life transformation or reaching out to their communities. I know churches that plant several churches a year. Since they give away people to the new plants, they barely "break even." Others are growing at a pace that eclipses (by percentage) those on these lists, but they don't yet meet the qualification for the Fastest-Growing list of at least 1,000 attendees. Still others are seeing steady growth, but they are in a geographic location or demographic situation where it's just harder and slower--but the ministry is still good, and it is blessed. There is nothing about these lists or this report that is ever meant to diminish or take away from the great work so many of these churches are doing. If a church doesn't make the list, I have to ask, "So what?"

Head over to Outreach Magazine to read the entire article. Feel free to give your thoughts in the comment section.

I am writing this post from Taiwan. As I have been working with both local leaders and American pastors, I have been struck by a few things and thought I would share them with you.

First, I have traveled to Taiwan as a part of the Upstream Collective. The reason is to accompany American pastors with a desire to be missional on a cross-cultural, international encounter. (You can scroll down the last few posts to learn what we are doing in Taiwan.)

Each person on the trip has the missional impulse as part of their DNA, and they are here to consider how they might join God on his mission globally. While I admire the faithfulness of these men, I must admit my surprise to see that there is not a bigger interest in such global concerns among American pastors in general. My fellow travelers seem to be rare of a breed in ministry.

Second, when I blogged about this on Sunday, two readers contacted my hosts-- one working with the Presbyterian Church in America and one from the Oversee Missionary Fellowship (OMF). Why? Well, according to one email, the author explained, "I'm particularly interested in attracting young missional church planters here."

Third, I was recently told by a pastor who called himself "missional" that his church needed to pull back on their global mission support to help their people "be missionaries right here."

All this provokes me to ask, "Why are so many missional Christians uninvolved in God's global mission?" As the missional conversation continues and deepens, what has occurred that has led to our blindness to the lost world around us?

There are five reasons I think this has happened:

1) In rediscovering God's mission, many have only discovered its personal dimensions.

I don't mean they have somehow localized mission into their interior, "private" life-- that would make little sense. Rather, the encouragement for each person to be on mission (to be "missional") has trended toward a personal obligation to personal settings, rather than toward a global obligation to advance God's kingdom among all the nations.

"Missional" has merged with privatized Christianity to serve as the reason for personal projects carried out in personal spheres. This is not bad, necessarily. But when the missional impulse is not expanded to include God's global mission, it results in believers moved only to minister in their own Jerusalems with no mind toward their Judeas, Samarias, and uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).

2) In responding to God's mission, many have wanted to be more mission-shaped and have therefore made everything "mission."

Missions historian Stephen Neil, responding to a similar surge in mission interest (the missio dei movement of the 1950s and following), explained it this way: "If everything is mission then nothing is mission." Neil's fear was that the focus would shift from global evangelization (often called "missions") to societal transformation (often called "mission"). He was right.

Recently John Piper echoed these same concerns, differentiating between evangelism and missions. He reminded us that when "Every Christian is a missionary" equals "missional," then we have diluted the need for and specialness of missionaries to foreign lands. (Although I would want to nuance John's language a bit, I agree with his point.)

One American church's website recently identified their ministry as missional, which they proceeded to define as "reaching out to the community to invite them to come" see what is happening in the church. Another's young adult community service project consisted of landscaping the church grounds. Inviting people to church and cleaning up the church are noble endeavors, but passing them for "missional" and "service" is ministerial naïveté at best. It demonstrates the fuzziness that creeps in when labels become catch-alls. And as the outer edges of the missional label gets fuzzy so does mission to the outer edges of the world.

3) In relating God's mission, the message increasingly includes the hurting but less frequently includes the global lost.

One only needs to watch the videos to see the emphases: global orphan projects, eradicating AIDS, Christmas shoeboxes, etc. All of these causes now have advocacy groups, and rightly so, as they are important. However, their vocabulary and frames of reference do not frequently make room for evangelizing the very people they touch. The message of world evangelism, actually, seems more common in legacy/traditional churches than in missional churches. Missional churches seem to speak more of unserved peoples rather than unreached peoples. As we engage to deliver justice, we must also deliver the gospel regardless of anyone's status in a culture.

4) In refocusing on God's mission, many are focusing on being good news rather than telling good news.

St. Francis allegedly said,"Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." Interestingly enough, Francis never actually said this, nor would he have done so due to his membership in a preaching order. But it is a pithy quote tossed into mission statements and vision sermons in missional churches all around my country. Why? It seems that many in the missional conversation place a higher value on serving the global hurting rather than evangelizing the global lost. Or perhaps it is just easier.

I am not urging a dichotomy here, only noting that one already exists. It is ironic, though, that as many missional Christians have sought to "embody" the gospel, they have chosen to forsake one member of Christ's body; the mouth.

5) In reiterating God's mission, many lose the context of the church's global mission and needed global presence.

For whatever reason-- the admirable one of commitment to the local church or the ignoble one of commitment to personalized consumeristic Christianity-- we have lost the grand scope of the entire family of God. While Christ calls people from all tongues, tribes, and nations, we have become content with our own tongue, tribe, and nation. Many churches are wonderfully embracing the missional imperative, but as they seek to "own" the mission by adapting their church into a missional movement in their local community, some inadvertently localize God's mission itself and lose the vital connection all believers share together. A hyper-focus on our own community results in a, have lost vision for the communion of the saints.

So how do we fully embrace missional without losing the mission? The Mission Exchange (formerly the Evangelical Foreign Mission Society) asked me to talk to their global leaders on the topic "How to Put 'Missions' Back into Missional." In my talk, I proposed four principles we needed to consider:

First, recognize it is God's mission, and we need to be passionate about the mission as He describes it. We don't own mission and it is not ours to define. A church vision statement is fine, but God's mission is better and bigger. Our first task is to submit to God's mission.

Secondly, evangelicals have understated the call to serve the poor and the hurting and need a stronger engagement in social justice. This sounds counterintuitive if we are seeking to remedy the loss of concern for articulated evangelism. But social engagement entails relational engagement, and relational engagement entails opportunities to share the gospel. The successes and experiences in our communities should awaken hearts and minds to global needs. We just need to maintain the reason for social justice: the glory of God in the worship of Jesus.

Third, share God's deep concern about His mission to the nations-- that His name be praised from the lips of men and women from every corner of the globe. Feel the Great Commission in your bones. Ask God to turn your heart to those you cannot see. As Paul did, develop ways to "struggle personally" (Colossians 2:1) for those far away.

Fourthly, churches that are serious about joining God on his mission will obey his commands to disciple the nations. The end product of missional endeavors should be a thriving Christian ready to produce more thriving Christians.

It appears to me that many missional churches are missing the Great Commission in the name of being missional. That makes zero sense. It is a huge (but historically common) mistake.

If we are truly interested in being missional-- in joining God on His mission-- our efforts should actually reflect His stated mission. We are bound to the Great Commandment as the fullest human expression of God's love. But the Commandment is not hermetically sealed off from the Great Commission. Rather, the Great Commission provides the what of mission, while the Great Commandment provides part of the how. Answering the age-old question of "Who is my neighbor?" should result in the desire to "make disciples of all nations."

Last week, I posted video from the Assemblies of God on church revitalization. Today, I have some video from the Kentucky Baptist Convention on the same subject (but with a different format).

In this case, my friend of many years, Alan Witham, asked if I would present our findings in several short videos to be used in their state convention. They created a "Comeback Process" described as follows:

Based on the book, Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can Too by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, the Kentucky Baptist Convention has developed a Comeback Church Process to give direction to weakened churches seeking to make a comeback.

Is your church in need of a comeback?

Process Goals

• To provide good information to church leaders


• To help them with application of the principles


• To see transformation in that results in church health and growth.

Process Details
Leaders of churches who commit to the Comeback Church process will be guided in growth in five key areas:

1. Leadership

2. Vibrant faith (renewed beliefs in Jesus Christ and the mission of the church, servanthood and strategic prayer)

3. Meaningful and active ministries for laypeople

4. Intentional evangelistic efforts

5. "Celebrative" and "orderly" mood of worship

Opportunities for growth include individual consultations, seminars, evaluations, networking, coaching and strategic planning.

For More Information
If your church is interested in the Comeback Church Process, please contact our Church Development Team Office at 502-489-3571 or 866-489-3571 (toll free in KY), or e-mail us at churchdevelopment@kybaptist.org.

Each of the five areas above included the video segments I recorded on each topic. They are included below.

We shot the videos in the library at LifeWay, but somehow copies of my books were mistakenly placed in the background. ;-)

Part A: Introduction

Comeback Church part A- Introduction from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Part 1: Visional Leadership

Comeback Church part 2- Visional Leadership from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Part 2: Intentional Evangelism

Comeback Church part 2- Intentional Evangelism from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Part 3: Lay Mobilization

Comeback Church part 3- Lay Mobilization from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Part 4: Celebrative Worship

Comeback Church part 4- Celebrative Worship from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Part 5: Renewed Focus on Jesus and His Mission

Comeback Church part 5- Renewed Focus on Jesus and His Mission from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Thanks to the KBC for making these available.

Updated: You can find the PowerPoint with the questions and data at LifeWayResearch.Com.

Yesterday I talked with Cathy Lynn Grossman for USA Today about Americans' receptivity to evangelistic contacts and outreach from a church. I pointed to some recent research done by Lifeway Research and the North American Mission Board where we surveyed over 15,000 people (read more on this report via Lifeway Research). It turns out most people said they would be willing to receive information about church in a personal conversation with a family member, friend or neighbor.

This next week I'll be traveling back and forth between TN and the Midwest.

First, it is off to Michigan.

Michigan State Evangelism Conference, near Flint/Detroit, MI (March 2-3, 2009)
Next week I'm heading into the Midwest for the Michigan State Convention Evangelism Conference.

it will be good to see some old friends, but my time will be short since they have me speaking five (that's right, five) times in 24 hours. I am eating my Wheaties in preparation.

Then, it is back to Tennessee...

Chattanooga Pastors Conference, Chattanooga, TN (March 5, 2009)
Then I'm coming back to TN to speak at the Chattanooga Pastor's Conference at the invitation of the good folks at the Maclellan Foundation. The focus is on my new co-authored book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them.

This is actually the first time I have presented on Lost and Found since the book has come out. So, it is a bit of a "launch party." In the Fall, Thom Rainer, Jason Hayes, Sam Rainer, and I will be doing a road tour around reaching and keeping young adults-- but this is still the launch for Lost and Found. So, I hope you can come and see us in Chattanooga.

They're making this very affordable - $15 per person or $50 per church (up to 4 people).

So, I hope you see you in Chattanooga.

Reaching The Next Generation, Granger, IN (March 7, 2009)
Then I'm heading back into the midwest for an "Enrichment Seminar" with the Missionary Church North Central District in Indiana. There I'll be addressing two topics: 1) Reasons 18 to 22 Year Olds Drop Out of Church - Can the Church Close the Door? and 2) Connecting Young Adults.

The Missionary Church is a remarkable small denomination. Of all the denominations we looked at in our Leadership Network church planting study, they had the highest church planting rate. If you have ever been to their home office, it is small and functional-- and has church planting literally written on the walls.

Good people-- and I am looking forward to being with them on Saturday.

Now, for an upcoming seminar.

The Flourish Conference

This one is a bit unusual for me. Actually, it is the first time I have spoken at such a gathering.

May 13-15, I am going to be a part of one of a unique conference. Flourish 2009 (www.flourishonline.org) will be hosted by CrossPointe Church in Duluth, GA. Sponsors include Southeastern Seminary, David C. Cook Publishers, and the National Association of Evangelicals. The subject is how to live as missional, evangelistic followers of Christ in a world full of poverty, injustice and environmental degradation, but that is not the most interesting part.

To me, the speaker line-up is most fascinating.

it is an interesting to see an unusual mix of speakers, For example, well known Southern Baptists such as James Merritt and Al Mohler will be speaking along side a whole assortment of authors and speakers including Chris Seay, Rick McKinley, Joel Hunter, Margaret Feinberg, Gabe Lyons, and a whole bunch of others from all kinds of denominations and perspectives.

The MCs for this event will be Jonathan Merritt, a faith and culture writer and well-known SBC troublemaker :), and Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making and Senior Editor of Christianity Today.

This will obviously be an event you won't want to miss.

My goal: get Chris Seay and Al Mohler together in the green room and start up a conversation.

The organizers asked me to pass on two things especially for my blog readers. First, there will be a church planters track led by Rand Clark, a church planter in Colorado (http://genesiscastlerock.com/), and Dr. Jack Allen (http://www.nobts.edu/Faculty/AtoH/AllenJ/Default.html), Director of the Nehemiah Center for Church Planting at New Orleans Seminary (nobts.edu). I will be some part of that, but I am not sure yet what that is. More on that soon...

Second, they are offering my blog readers a 25% discount if they register soon. Simply go to FlourishOnline.org, and when you are registering enter "Stetzer25" into the discount section. With the early bird discount, this will give you all three days for about 100.00, which includes a personal meet-and-greet / Q&A with many of the conferences speakers at a party the first night.

This is going to be a unique and enriching experience that you won't wanna miss. The early bird special ends tomorrow, although the discount code will continue to work throughout the month of March.

I just came across the National Congregation Study Wave II via the Christian Post and it's definitely worth noting. This study, directed by Mark Chaves, Professor of Sociology, Religion, and Divinity at Duke University, compared over 1,505 congregations in 2006-2007 with 1,234 in 1998 revealing some noteworthy changes American churches have experienced in the last 10 years. Here a few points worth thinking about.

Style
The study shows that our American churches have become less formal in worship style over the past 10 years. "More worship services include drums, jumping and shouting or dancing, raising hands in praise, calling out "amen," visual projection equipment, applause, and speaking by people other than leaders compared to 1998, the National Congregations Study shows."

These stylistic changes have not robbed or replaced the biblical components of worship. The Christian Post summarizes, "But the numbers for some features have remained about the same, including a sermon... singing, greeting time, silent prayer or meditation, reading or reciting Scripture." So worship tends to still include preaching, praying and singing while our churches adapt to a very interactive and tech-driven culture.

Tech
I've blogged on the issue of tech in the church on several occasions (here for example), and while we should always be intentional and careful when adopting new practices, as pointed out above much of what this study revealed was the embrace of tech culture-- not the abandonment of biblical components of worship.

In 1998, the number of congregations with Web sites was only 17 percent. The number has since risen to 44 percent in 2006-07. In other words, since 1998 another 10,000 congregations created Web sites and now 74 percent of service attendees are in congregations with Web sites.

Meanwhile, the number of those using email to communicate with members increased from 21 percent to 59 percent during this time period. Nearly 80 percent of attendees as of 2006-07 are in congregations that communicate with members via email.

While it's hard to imagine church life in 2009 without websites and electronic communication, 10 years ago it simply wasn't an issue.

Ethnic Diversity
Simply put, our churches are more ethnically diverse today than they were even 10 years ago. More specifically, "the diversity occurred mostly among white churches; the majority of black churches still remain predominantly racially homogeneous."

Age of Leadership
Yet while cultural diversity becomes more of a reality in our churches (a very good thing), leadership in American churches appears to be aging. With all the talk about younger leaders and church planters this is not what some would expect.

The median age of the head clergy has increased from 49 in 1998 to 53 in 2006. Furthermore, congregations across the religious spectrum have fewer younger leaders. Today, only 39 percent of congregations are led by someone 50 years old or younger, a drop from 48 percent in 1998.

Size of Congregation
Also worth noting, in the midst of all this change, is that the median congregation is the same size today as it was in 1998 (75 participants). Additionally, "the median person still attends a congregation that is the same size as it was in 1998 (400 regular participants)."

This study is broad, including all kinds of congregations. You can find more information at the Christian Post's article, or you can go directly to the study at Duke University.

I've spent some time with Mark and consider him a solid researcher and I believe the research is well done and helpful.

We're moving through Megachurch Week here at the blog and I wanted to draw your attention to the article I wrote for Outreach Magazine called, Learning from America's Largest and Fastest Growing Churches.

As we talked with churches and gathered the information for the OUTREACH 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America, we saw several dichotomies, including the one developing between small and large churches. If current trends continue, the number of medium-sized churches will continue to decrease, and the bulk of U.S. churches will tend to be very large or very small. While most churches have always been small, large churches getting larger...

While churches are getting larger, attendees are often not unified in one location as more megachurches add satellite sites...

While last year we highlighted a growing interest in churches on the lists becoming multicultural, this year we found a heightened interest in churches becoming multigenerational. As Baby Boomers age and the number of senior adults in America reaches record highs, leaders are recognizing the need to be a church for all ages...

Regardless of your church's size or shape, Christ calls each of us to seek out fresh ways to contextualize the Gospel for a dying world.

You can read the whole article at Sermon Central.

The folks at Outreach Magazine have created helpful landing pages which provide access to more information about the churches on the lists: FASTEST / LARGEST

Come join me for a Webinar today:

11a.m. Pacific,
12n Mountain,
1p.m. Central, and
2p.m. Eastern.

Here is the 'register' link for the seminar.

Or, if want to just jump in at the time, click here.

Also, the schedule of all the NOC webinars is here. There are several and you will want to come back for more conversation.

This is part of the lead up to the National Outreach Convention.

They have a great line up of speakers. It should be a great conference.

The webinar is free. See you then.

My research team is working on the 100 Largest and Fastest Growing church lists and we don't want to miss any churches. Finding them can be a challenge, particuarly the fastest growing.

What churches do you know of that have grown significantly in the past year (numerically or percentage wise)?

If your church has experienced significant growth in the past year or you know of a church that has, please email my team at research@top100churches.com (give us at least the church name, city, state, and pastor's name if you don't know anything else like a phone number or website address). My team will take it from there.

To motivate those of you in the know... if you are the first person to mention a church that 1) we don't already have on our list, 2) makes it to one of the top 100 churches, I'll send you a free book and thank you on the blog when they are published in Outreach Magazine comes out this fall.

Help us out! Tell us about the churches who are reaching people.

Barna Research recently completed two studies ( here and here) related to Protestant churches and the use of technology. For example, "two-thirds of Protestant churches (65%) now have a large screen projection system in their church that they use for services and other events." From the use of video clips during worship to websites and podcasts our churches continue to explore the relevance and usefulness of technology.

Of note in Barna's research is that a church's size and theology seems to be related to its use of technology. Simply put, smaller churches tend to use less tech than larger churches, and theologically liberal churches tend to use less tech than the more theologically conservative. Interesting.

Every church accomplishes its mission with the aid of technology. Even if a church is completely off the grid and avoids all forms of electricity it is technology that gives that church its printed Bibles. Churches are not fighting over the use of tech in general, but as new forms of technology are developed many churches are too quick to adopt or reject such cultural artifacts without much thought. There is no virtue in being the cool, high-tech church, or in being the low-tech, minimalistic church. It would do us well to ask ourselves a series of questions when it comes to the use of technology in our churches. For example:

• Does the tech help to magnify the gospel, or does it become the focus?
• Does the tech help develop real community (shared lives) or help create an artificial one?
• Does the tech help overcome natural, or cultural barriers that can interfere with worship and church life?
• Does the tech serve a real purpose, or is it just for show?

David Kinnaman, lead researcher on the technology study of social networking said,

Church leaders have to strike the delicate balance between the spiritual and cultural potential of tech tools without surrendering to the false promise of these tools. Having the means of reaching the masses - for instance, through podcasting - is a good thing. Yet, nothing matches the potency of life-on-life discipleship. In this respect, social networking and blogs can be effective tools to intimately connect with a small, natural network of relationships. The key is using the technology in a way that is consistent with your calling and purpose, not just an addictive self-indulgence.

Look, I love technology. If you've been to a conference with me you've probably seen me thumbing away at my Blackberry. Technology is (mostly) a good thing. But we must be thoughtful about it. It is unwise to blindly dismiss or accept the implementation of technology in our ministries. We must determine if and how these new innovations will assist us in fulfilling the mission of God. Again, Kinnaman said,

...technology can empower and engage people, across generations, socio-economic segments, and physical boundaries. Young people, for instance, think of themselves as creators of content, not merely consumers of it. Technology, in essence, gives them a voice and fuels their search for calling. Whether or not you welcome it, technology creates an entirely new calculus of influence and independence. The stewardship of technology as a force for good in culture is an important role for technologists, entrepreneurs, educators, and Christian leaders.

[image courtesy of Nancy Wombat.]

On Saturday, I was speaking to the General Association of General Baptist Churches in a very rural part of Missouri.

The General Baptist denomination is an Arminian Baptist denomination. In many ways, they are similar to my own denomination, but they do not hold to the idea of "eternal security"-- or the idea that (in popular terms) once you are a believer you can't "undo" that. This view is held by Wesleyans, many Pentecostals, etc.

Over lunch, we reminsced a bit of the Second Great Awakening history.

I had a great day in Dallas. I am sitting in the airport right now hoping to make it out before the storm roles in.

I had the chance to hear Alan Roxburgh in person for the first time. If you are building a missional church bibliography, you will want his resources, including:

The Roxburg Journal

Allelon: A Movement for Missional Leaders

Alan's books at Amazon.com

I was blessed to spend some time with Eric Swanson from Leadership Network after the conference. He co-wrote The Externally Focused Church. Eric is one of the more Christ-like leaders I know in Christian ministry and his book should be required reading for people interested in the missional church.

I also got some one-on-one time with Jeremy Self (who blogs here). Jeremy is planting a church in Austin, a city whose motto is "Keep Austin Weird." Should be interesting.

Finallly, it was good to catch up with Chris Conrad, director of church planting for the Wesleyan Church. I am coaching just a handful of movement leaders and Chris is one of them. They are doing great work in "Wesley world" and have a heart for more missional church planting.

More soon about DTS and their leadership center.

This morning, I spent the day with the staff of three local churches, Living Hope, New Vision, and First Baptist churches. Our focus was on "the missional church" and how our churches might embrace such a vision.

There are many who think that large churches simply cannot be missional. To be fair, I think it is more difficult at a mega church. Large churches can and do struggle with the tendency to turn inward. Having "much" makes it harder to focus on the mission because it requires so much energy to maintain the system. In other words, the more you have, the more you must focus on keeping "it" going.

But, ultimately, I think the mission of God must not just be "owned" by the new or small church. It must also be owned by mega churches, contemporary churches, traditional churches, etc. It's a big mission and we need all hands on deck to join God in that mission.

So, I talked with about 60 staff members from three megachurches about how we might do that in churches such as ours. (And, a couple of church planters crashed the meeting too, so I guess that was 4 churches.)

The questions and discussion were very insightful and spoke well, I think, of the desire that these staffs have to not play church, but to truly join God in His mission.

You can listen to Jason Pettus, pastor of Living Hope, as he recently preached a series on the missional church. Click on graphic to see and listen to the series:

Last year, I wrote an article intended to encourage megas to be more missional. It was published in Outreach Magazine.

The article has an interesting history. After it was published in the magazine, the Presbyterian Global Fellowship, a reform group within the mainline PCUSA, sent the article out to their 8000 subscribers. I received some interesting feedback from mainline pastors-- probably the most feedback I have ever received from mainline pastors from a published article.

Anyway, you can read the article below:

The prolific Southern Seminary Dean, Russ Moore, makes me think about a surprising issue-- church graveyards.

You can read the article here. Until today, I thought I was the only one who occasionally strolled through a church cemetery.

Some excerpts:

This morning, I preached at Highlands Fellowship in Abingdon, VA. I plan to write more about the church and its pastor, Jimmie Davidson, in the coming days. That post will deal with their remarkable global strategy.

First, in this post, a little about the church.

Highlands Fellowship was part of a study that LifeWay Research did last year called "Standout Churches."

In order to be in the "Standout Church" survey, a church had to have:

A minimum of 26 baptisms for 10 consecutive years (1996-2005)
A membership to baptism ratio of no more than 20 to 1 each of these ten years
A minimum of 5% growth in worship attendance overall (2005 compared to 1996)

Highlands Fellowship is one 22 (of 43,000 churches examined) that met the Standout Church criteria. Nineteen (of the 22 churches invited) participated in the study. You can read more about it here. The PowerPoint from the study is here.

You can listen to Jimmy in an interview about that study here.

The church is multisite so, late last night, I spoke to a camera in an empty room with 1000 seats. The "High Def" recording was then delivered to three locations (in Johnson City, Bristol, and Abingdon) early this morning. (And, no, I do not look any better in High Def.)

Then, this morning, I preached live at Abingdon and that message was "beamed" to several other venues with different worship styles.

Their web page listed their Abingdon venues as follows:

The church has about 3000 attendees on a weekend in all these different venues and locations.

Jimmy is a great guy with a remarkable gift for encouragement.

But, that is most remarkable is how they are mobilizing their church in a small town to be involved globally... more on that soon.

Yesterday I was in Philadelphia at a NAMB Missional Network event. It was good to see friends from many different churches there.

We had a morning dialogue with the pastors, church planters, and others at Real Life Church (more about them below).

The setting was great for dialogue.

And discussion.

And community.

After the morning dialogue, we then went over to Nazarene Baptist Church for the afternoon meeting. Nazarene Baptist Church has the unique challenge that if you mix up the name, it changes denominations. Grin.

The church is a large African-American church, pastored by the state convention president, Keith Marshall Williams, Jr., who was recently elected to be the "President�? of the State Convention Presidents Fellowship.

The contrasts between the two churches were fascinating-- and it was encouraging that we were able to meet in both places in one day. The meetings illustrate the kind of partnership evidenced in these churches.

Let me specifically mention Rob Burns and Real Life Church. They were gracious to host the event in Philadelphia. The church is a new SBC church plant, also networked with Acts 29.

They started their church by purchasing a former neighborhood bar. (In the Northeast, most urban contexts have a small bar that caters to the people who live nearby.) The bar serves as something of a "Third Place."

Wikipedia explains:

"The Third Place" is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great, Good Place, Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Oldenburg coins "first�? place as our home and those we live with. Our second place is the workplace -- where we may actually spend most of our time. Third places, then are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in our day is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to our current societal needs. Oldbenburg suggests these hallmarks of a true "third place": free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance); involve regulars - those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there. (58)

As part of their mission strategy, Real Life Church bought the bar, extensively renovated it, and turned it into a coffee and snack bar. And, it is an intentional Third Place outreach and church.

There is a helpful article on Third Place ministries here. It is worth a read.

Pray for Real Life Cafe that is helping make Real Life Church possible.

They are reaching Bridesburg, a section of the city that few know. It is very white, very Irish, and very Catholic.

This is hard soil, but the church plant is already seeing 60 or so people attend each week. That is remarkable for a year old church in a community like this.

I just returned from a day in Columbia, South Carolina. I was there to lead a conference on Mike Dodson and my new book, ComeBack Churches. I met with a group of "Directors of Missions," which are local leaders (often a county or two) who both consult with churches and help them partner for mission.

While in town, I stopped by to meet and have breakfast with the leadership of Columbia International University. I have had the privilege to teach at C.I.U. twice and have been very impressed with the school. (I have taught in their A.I.M. program which I think is a model program for schools wanting to train in-service leaders.)

Wikipedia describes the history as follows:

I got in late last night from North Carolina. Had a good, and too brief, time in Greensboro at the North Carolina Baptist Pastors Conference. Click here for more info.

Today, I am with the Indepent Christian folks, who always tell me, "I used to be Baptist, but now I am a Christian." I will be dropping into their bootcamp for a couple hours today.

Then, off to Canada to talk missional, church planting, and rapid church multiplication. The theme of the Canadian National Church Planting Congress is, "Celebrating the Church, Expanding the Kingdom."

Busy week... too busy.

Here is an excerpt from the article (click here for the whole thing). I thought they did a good job communicating what I said:

Continue reading Baptists, Christians, and Canadians, Oh My....

As I wrote recently, the list of Fastest Growing churches in Outreach Magazine was the wrong list.

The people at Outreach Magazine, particularly Lynne Marian, Lindy Lowry, and Shari Taylor, have gone above and beyond the call to make it right. I am guessing that 99 out of 100 people just assumed it was the formula. Uberblogger Todd Rhoades from Monday Morning Insight indicated he made the assumption. (Thanks, Todd, for being kind!)

But, it wasn't a formula. It was a mistake.

Yesterday, we faxed and emailed an apology and the correct information to every church on the list. You can find the new corrected list now updated here.

I hate mistakes... a bunch. But, I love working with people with integrity, like the people at Outreach.

Just this week, the Outreach Magazine with the 100 Largest and Fastest Growing list hit the streets. It is a great issue with some great articles.

Only one problem.

The Fastest Growing list is... well... wrong.