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Missional Banality Revisited

Is Being Missional Too Commonplace?

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Preface to New Edition

I first wrote this article in August 2011. As with all ideas there is continual movement and new understandings. This is a slight revision and update. I have begun to put some disciplemaking language in it. I am very concerned that a distinction be made between the program of discipleship in a congregation, the projects of discipleship that are pseudo-missional, and the process of disciplemaking that is fully integrated with the context of ministry. Read this and send me your comments as you feel inspired to do so. Beyond this is also the ability of a congregation to know when their focus is attractional, disciplemaking, and missional, and to be able to understand the approach they are taking.

Banality Explained

Ordinary. Bland. Flat. Mundane. Stale. Monotonous. Tame. Mediocre. Trite. Commonplace. Banal. These are not the set of words I would expect to be using to describe the word and concept of missional. Yet, they fit the characterization offered by Alan J. Roxburgh, a missional advocate, as quoted on page one of a recent book.

Here is the quote: “The word ‘missional’ seems to have traveled the remarkable path of going from obscurity to banality in only one decade.” [Quoted in The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation by Craig Van Gelder and Dwight J. Zscheile. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.]

The Best Change Processes Start Now and Are Continual

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

Some years ago I had the responsibility to lead a team moving a denominational organization of more than 100 staff persons from a 35,000 square foot building to an 80,000 square foot building less than two miles away. It needed to happen over a weekend.

We developed a list of possible moving companies to handle the transition. We interviewed three. Two presented a traditional plan for moving us, and one an innovative plan. We went with the innovative plan.

The traditional plan involved figuring out how many tractor-trailers they needed to load 35,000 square feet of furniture, files, and equipment, and travel the distance to the new site and unload. A traditional move required 10 to 12 tractor-trailers.

The innovative plan was to bring in three trucks about 30 feet in length, and several dozen rolling gondolas with shelves, and a bunch of furniture dollies. The necessary gondolas and dollies would be taken into each office or storage area, loaded and shrink wrapped with plastic, then rolled onto one of the trucks. When the bed of a truck was full, it traveled to the new location, the gondolas and dollies then unloaded into the new office or storage area, and the truck headed back for another load with empty containers.

Don't Call Your Next Pastor. Draft Your Next Pastor

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

The pastor search process would be a whole lot more fun (or funny) for congregations and pastors if it was run like the recent National Football League draft. Why go through months—even years—of searching for the right pastor when you just need to be ready a few days in late April to draft the pastor you want?

To get ready, assess the vision of your congregation, and the capacities you currently have in your staff and lay leadership. Figure out what kind of pastor you want to increase the effectiveness of your congregational ministry. Ask yourself, “What kind of leadership will take you to the next level, and where are these leaders?”

Participate fully in the February Pastors Scouting Combine where the pastors go through their paces. The Combine events pastors must excel in are preaching without the use of notes, shooting hoops with the teenagers, being told twenty personal messages at the door of the church following worship and remembering all of them the next day, being balled out by a church leader without overreacting, and the 40 yard dash from the pulpit to the narthex while pronouncing the benediction.

Since It Is Not 1965, We Have To Do Church Different

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

On Sunday night February 9, 1964 the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show during their first American tour and symbolized a major social change in North America. This transformational change rocked the Church world.

Coming less than three months after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, it marked the transition from what was to what was becoming. It marked the end of the birth of the generation known as Baby Boomers and the beginning of the generation known as Baby Busters.

By 1965 congregations in North America were forced to respond to the emerging dynamics. The leading edge of the Baby Boomer generation were now becoming adults and congregations needed to figure out how to help them tune into congregational life and not drop out. They did so by searching for the right program that would reach them.

Since It Is Not 1955, We Have to Do Church Different

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

One of my favorite expressions by a key mentor in my life, Lyle Schaller, relates to what time it is. During the 1990s Lyle often said, as an example, “Next year is 1995. The trouble is that too many congregations are operating like next year is 1955.”

The world has changed dramatically during the past 58 years from 1955 to 2013. Congregational ministry has morphed to a new dimension during the past six decades. Unfortunately, too many congregations are still functioning out of a 1950s framework with only a few mandatory updates they could not avoid.

A tremendous number of factors are different now than they were in the 1950s. Here’s one. What size congregation does it take to engage in first quality programs, ministries, and activities for all major life age/stage groups from birth to death?

The Lifetime Value of Church Leaders

A Travel Free Learning Article

 By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

Last year our homeowner’s insurance company paid, minus our deductible, for the replacement of our roof. Significant hail damage over a year or two necessitated the replacement of the roof.

This year we had a plumbing problem that resulted in damage in a bathroom to the hardwood floor that moves continuously through one-third of the first floor of the house. When we approached our insurance agent, she suggested that we should not file a claim. She indicated with the filing of two claims in back-to-back years that the insurance company was likely to rate our homeowners insurance different.

We should expect both the rate increase and a surcharge if we filed the claim. My wife and I were not happy campers, although we could see the point. We had been with this insurance company for almost 40 years. During that time we had a reason to file a claim about five times.

It would seem to us that our insurance company ought to consider our lifetime value as opposed to our short-term experience. Does the same apply when it comes to considering the lifetime value of church members?

If You Can Say It To Jesus, You Can Say It To Anyone

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

One of my mentors in the area of conflict mediation was Bill Treadwell. I loved that guy. I miss him. He had so much wisdom about how to deal with people in congregations. He was as much right-brained as I am left-brained. Because of that we sometimes made a good combination in various church situations.

Some years ago he tried to teach me how to fish, but after one visit out on Lake Wylie in South Carolina with my son, he declared that fishing was not for me. However, there was real hope for my son.

Bill came to a point in his life when he said he was not healthy enough anymore to do conflict mediation. He did triage work to figure out what was going on and what the congregation needed to do next, but the stress of being the outside third party in the midst of unhealthy conflict was no longer for him.

He would help me think through conflict situations. He recommended me from time-to-time to congregations. And, he would assist by coaching the pastor.

Let’s Drop the Kids at Church and Go Get Some Coffee

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

In a recent conversation with leaders in a congregation they wondered about people who drop children off at church–particularly on Sunday mornings–and then go to a coffee shop to have some “alone time”. They indicated this was an increasing challenge in their congregation. They wanted to know how often I encounter this, and what advice I give to congregations.

My slice of the world tells me that this is not new. I can recall seeing this 35 years ago in congregations. However, it was primarily happening during secondary programming times each week. Examples would be if there was Sunday afternoon or evening activities, or Wednesday evening activities. I particularly found during Wednesday evening activities young to median age adults needed some time to just relax and talk to friends rather than sit in a training meeting, a Bible study, or prayer service.

Evangelism is More Than Confrontation

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org 

One of my long-term church friends and I have friendly banter about my use of words and phrases that are probably more complicated than they need to be. Regularly, Lane and I have friendly conversations about the use of complex language. I even try to come up with a new word or phrase periodically so we can provoke one another with great amusement for both of us. Lane is a very smart guy. He actually speaks or understands several different languages.

Some years ago he offered a phrase to me for my consideration. It was “confrontational evangelism”. Because I consult and coach with congregations both on strategic planning and conflict mediation, he thought these two words would best express both foci.

Of course, he is insightful enough to know that evangelism is more than confrontation. However, sometimes I wonder about other people who so significantly shy away from evangelism because they see it only as confrontation.

The Challenge of Chreasters in Congregations

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

On Christmas Eve in my church I looked to my left and saw a Chreaster family sitting in the next section of pews. Although the service was crowded, I hoped that I could arrange to greet them at the conclusion of the service. I did.

I had started thinking about this family the day before the Christmas Eve service. By my informal count I saw them in worship about three times per year. One was Christmas. The second was Easter. The third was some special service like a funeral or wedding. They clearly fit the definition of Chreasters. But they have not always been Chreasters.