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Has church become too commercialized?

James Dalman — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:22:53 +0000

There has been a growing trend in the church market. There are more books, websites, and programs for church leaders and their teams than ever before. Church growth, Gen X services, post modernism, authentic communities, emerging movements, worship experiences, and planting missional churches have all been the buzzwords over the last decade and has led to many of the fore mentioned products. It seems that Christianity is a big business. You can even bling out your dog now in the latest JC apparel.

I recently asked a pastor about how the Exponential Conference went last week and before he replied the word jumped into my head – commercialized. He said the conference was more about speakers promoting their books and agendas than church planting. I won’t go into my personal experience with the National New Church Conference but I can totally see my friend’s point of view.

Christianity has become too commercialized in some aspects and I think we need to get a reign on it.

It appears in some circles that selling books, CD’s, sermon series, speaking gigs, metrosexual identities, and being the top blogger is the “in thing”. This has really been observed in the church planting world and evident by the groupies who continually blog about stalking their idol at conferences or who market their personal blog more than their church…all the while wearing long sleeve black shirts with big collars unbuttoned to their chest with faded jeans, Doc Martens, and a soul patch or frosted hair to match.

You know what I would like to hear more about and see?

Jesus Christ, biblical inerrancy, small guys in the trenches, life transformation, spiritual discipline, serving and washing feet, becoming the least, humility, toned down church marketing and advertising, and the realization that people NOT in church or our faith see what’s happening but many Christians don’t.

Please know that I have personally struggled with these issues myself and I thank Jesus every day that I see in a new perspective. I’m jacked up too, but friends, we have to start looking at Christianity in America through a new lenses or we will reap what we have sown.

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Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

James Dalman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:22:53 +0000

I wrote about this topic a while back and the same conversation came up with a church planting brother the other day so I think it’s worth mentioning again.

It is so easy to compare ourselves to another church or a church leader or church planter. We look at others and benchmark our success (or failures) by what they have achieved. Churches try to duplicate other churches or some of us attempt to be the clone of Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, or David Crowder (goatee and all). But what works for them isn’t going to work for us – not to mention that God has called us to be ourselves in the situation He has given us.

God has uniquely made you. Celebrate it. Live it out loud!

We can learn from others but the best thing we can do for ourselves, our team, and our organization is to be true to who we’re called to be or the vision we have been given…not someone else’s.

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Who is Acts 29? Let’s Ask Them

Cory Miller — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:26:57 +0000

Acts 29 Director Scott Thomas has a post called 7 Misrepresentations of Acts 29.

I think No. 2 is especially relevant to some of the issues going on …

2. That we advocate alcohol use
The Acts 29 Network permits diversity on this secondary matter and pursues unity on the primary theological issues. We respect the right of Christians, organizations, and denominations to arrive at differing conclusions on this matter. So long as they are within the boundaries of Scripture, we respect those positions and welcome faithful Christians holding them into the Acts 29 Network. Together we can pursue what is most important-the expansion of God’s kingdom through the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the planting of His church.

He also links to a PDF document on Alcohol and Acts 29.

I’d go as far as saying that if you really want to give Acts 29 brothers and sisters a genuine, fair shake … you oughta at least read this post … straight from the guy in charge of the network.

[Found via Steve McCoy]

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Take some notes for me…The National New Church Conference

James Dalman — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:10:31 +0000

Last year I had the privilege of attending the National New Church Conference in Orlando, Florida and it was absolutely amazing! There’s nothing like being with a group of people who are radically passionate about a vision and willing to go to great lengths to accomplish it. If you are praying about planting a church or learning more about church planting – then don’t miss next year’s National New Church Conference. If you are close to Orlando you still might be able to register and attend. As for me, I had to miss it this year and I am bummed out…but for those of you who are there – please take some notes and send me the Cliff Notes version of NNCC.

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Get Ready for Rockin Church Plants!

James Dalman — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:55:06 +0000

Yes, it was bound to happen sooner or later! I am taking some notes from Cory Miller and will be launching a “Rockin Church Plant” series in a couple of months. Since church planting is in my blood and I can totally relate to these radical visionaries who are in the trenches daily following God’s call, I naturally have to give out some props to my band of brothers! And you can help too…

There are many guys who are planting awesome churches and that are risking it all for the Kingdom. Many of these guys are doing it without ample support, are bi-vocational, or starting in a hostile environment. There are church plants who are making big waves in their community, getting national attention, or breaking the mold of what it means to be a church. Then there are planters and their teams who just deserve some high-fives because they are willing to go the distance and making great sacrifices to follow His call. This absolutely rocks! I wish I could list and give them all recognition but here’s how the deal will work.

I am going to name and interview the 25 church plants who should be considered the elite “Rockin Church Plants” of 2007 and give them some promotion. And while I have my own recommendations – I also want to know who you would nominate or give this title to as well!

I would like the nominees to meet at least one of the following criteria such as:

being passionate about their church plant and willing to risk it all for this calling
being missional and effective at reaching their community
breaking the Status Quo and thinking outside of the box
excellence in brand image and style
truly relating to today’s culture or their focus group
any church that you feel should have the title of a “Rockin Church Plant”

My only requirement is that the nominees must be a church that has been around less than four years because beyond this they have survived the crucial stages of planting and are not really considered a “church plant” anymore.

If you have a church plant or planter in mind, I want to hear from you. Please e-mail your nomination(s) to brandingshed@gmail.com by April 30th, 2007 and include:

the church plant name
the lead pastor’s name
their website or blog address
their phone number
a quick sentence of why you are nominated them

Once the nomination process and additional research is completed, I will start posting the results and their information. I look forward to your input and who will be listed as the 25 “Rockin Church Plants” for 2007!

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Seven Ideas for Naming Your Church

James Dalman — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:25:54 +0000

I had a conversation a few days ago with a church planter who was asking advice about what to name his church and how that would work in a branding situation. Naming your church can be a very exciting process but it can also cause analysis paralysis. Planters all want the “perfect” name and something that will capture the essence of who they are. So how do you come up with a great church name and how do you know it will be a keeper?

There really is no true secret formula for developing a name that rocks (ok, there is but I can’t tell you all the secrets). Sometimes you find the needle in the haystack, sometimes it takes a while for your branding to ignite, and unfortunately there are times where the name just falls flat and fails to invoke any excitement or meaning. But make no mistake – your brand and name is very important – so I am going to give you a seven suggestions on how to develop a great name for your new or “re-purposed” church.

1. Pray about it…and then pray some more. Jesus is the CEO and we need to take our requests to Him. When I decided on Element 3 Church for my church name it became clear through prayer and a vision. There was a lot of meaning behind it and I knew this was the one. Maybe it won’t happen that way for you but I do believe that prayer is essential for discovering your church name.

2. Play with words and ideas. Start writing down all the ideas that come to mind. Don’t hold back any possibilities even if you think it’s stupid. Use a Thesaurus or a website like Nameboy.com to kick around word alternatives and see what piques your interest. Explore and play around.

3. Ask yourself if the idea or name fits. Does the name flow with your vision? Is it too conservative, too edgy, or too abstract for your church’s vision? It’s important for the name to fit your style, belief, and image or it will never grow roots. You gotta be passionate about it as a leader or it will die on the vine.

4. Avoid generic names. Choosing a name like First Denomination Church of My Town is boring and lacks originality. Generic names usually just don’t create excitement and are harder to brand. Break out of the mold and think different.

5. Avoid difficult names. Names taken from Hebrew or other languages are not always the best choice either. They might be cool to seminary grads and artistic types but if it’s hard to understand or pronounce people may feel stupid trying to say it. Please don’t make people feel stupid…you’ll only get negative buzz or press.

6. Don’t go with public opinion. If you ask 10 people you will usually get 10 different answers. Some people will think you are nuts and others will think you are a genius. Go with your gut feeling first and then the advice of no more than three people. Focus groups thought Amazon was a dumb name…you draw the conclusion here.

7. Own it and promote it. Once you have decided on a name move forward and don’t second guess it. If you think it rocks then it will rock! Your passion will be contagious and you can brand and promote it. You will be criticized by some, no doubt – but move on and keep promoting it and your vision.

If you want to know my personal list of rockin’ church names here are a few that I think are absolute winners!

Rockin’ Church Names:

The Dialogue Church, Mars Hill, Radiant Church, Red Sea, Hot Rod Church for Sinners, Guts Church, Flood Church, Scum of the Earth Church, The Point, Fusion, Church without Limits, Our Lady of Perpetual Motion (I made this one up).

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James Dalman is the owner/chief brand genius at the Branding Shed, a church planter, and a contributing editor to Church Communications Pro.

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Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll’s Church, Gospel and Culture Audio

Cory Miller — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:45:11 +0000

One of the best series of audio sermons/lectures I’ve heard on missional living is from Mars Hill Church’s Mark Driscoll called Church, Gospel and Culture from an Acts 29 Network boot camp.

Check out more Acts29 Boot Camp audio here … I’ve listened to probably over 15 hours of them in the past and they’re well worth the time.

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8 Key Characteristics of Church Planters

Cory Miller — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:09:40 +0000

A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. H. Stanley Wood, editor of Extraordinary Leaders in Extraordinary Times, a book based on a comprehensive research study on church planters.

Although the research study was based on mainline denomination’s new church developers (mainline for “church planters”), their findings cross denominational lines. They interviewed more than 700 church planters.

One thing that didn’t surprise me is that church planters share many of the same characteristics of entrepreneurs aka business owners.

Here are the 8 core traits:

1. Catalytic innovator

2. Vibrant faith in God

3. Visionary/vision caster

4. Empowering leadership

5. Passion for people

6. Personal and relational health

7. Passion for faith-sharing

8. Inspiring preaching or worship

Read the full story on Pastors.com here.

Buy the book on Amazon: Extraordinary Leaders in Extraordinary Times.

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Help People Chip In for Your Next Mission Trip or Service Project

Cory Miller — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:50:13 +0000

I stumbled on a neat site via a ProBlogger article and thought I’d mention it …

It’s called ChipIn and is billed as “the easy way to collect money.”

This could be a great way to donations for a person or group going on a mission trip, or a youth service project, or [insert your thing that you need $$$].

For donations less than $10K, there are no fees, except those incurred by PayPal or wherever. There’s even a handy widget that allows you to place your ChipIn graphic on your blog or website.

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