Meetings

I don't know if this is because of the influences of their father being a pastor or if it is a part of being American - but our boys set up a meeting of the minds today. We were loading the trucks with concrete to begin building the new rail system around Front Room Proper when Ezra (the foreman) decided we needed to circle up for a meeting. During the meeting we discussed what trucks would be loaded first and where the tracks would be set for the train that is expected to come through Hallway County (to the southeast of Dining Room Estates). I was a bit disappointed that the financial aspects of the deal were not a part of this meeting but I am certain this was noted in the minutes and it will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

Thank you for your cooperation during the planning phase of this project.
*for those of you wondering - this meeting took place on the same floor from the noise making in the previous post.

Teach them diligently

This evening our boys discovered something fantastic. They realized that when the buttocks are just a bit wet from the nightly bath a strange noise erupts when the cheeks are scooted just right. It was great fun for everyone involved!

Are you unique?

I found this from a monkey friend. I thought it was interesting enough to share with the two of you who read this blog.

There are 15,195 people in the U.S. with the first name Vince.
Statistically the 1495th most popular first name.
There are 191,463 people in the U.S. with the last name Black.
Statistically the 148th most popular last name.

There are 10 people in the U.S. named Vince Black.

I am going to start a club with the 9 others. I will immediately copyright my name and charge the members of the Vince Black club to pay dues.

Labone, Sudan - Vision Trip

Here is a glimpse of what we experienced in Labone, Sudan. I prepared this video for our church and pieces of the video were explained at a gathering last evening. Some of the video may not make much sense if you are not connected to Trinity Church. Enjoy.

Back home

Greetings all. I am back in the US. Below is a short video from the beginning of our experience in Labone, Sudan. I don't know what to think yet. It was a life-chaning experience and I am still trying to process everything. We met some great new friends and had some unbelievable experiences. God was gracious and kind to us in our travels.

Let's try this again

Many of you know that the scheduled trip to Sudan via Nairobi, Kenya was cancelled due to political unrest. The trip has been rescheduled and, Lord willing, we will be leaving Tuesday (4.1.08).

We fly into Nairobi, Kenya on April 2 and will stay there for one full day. We will depart Nairobi on April 4 and fly to Magwe, Sudan. We will be in Magwe through April 8. I would appreciate your prayers and look forward to telling of the great things God is doing in the church of Sudan.

Constant repeat in my head

The following song has been on constant repeat in my head for the last week. Last night I went to our Good Friday service and we sang this song. There aren't too many contemporary hymn writers that do this well.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

©1995 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Words and Music by Stuart Townend

Take notice

This is our youngest son Obed. He has largish cheeks. He is a prolific drooler. He is beginning to be able to hold his head up while he lays on his belly. The only place in our house that has carpet is the basement. It is a beautiful shag carpet.

In this picture you will notice two things.

1. Beautiful shag carpet

2. String of drool from Obed's mouth to the carpet

The Black Morning Routine

Every morning after breakfast we read from two books - The Jesus Storybook Bible and My First Book of Questions and Answers.

The Jesus Storybook Bible is the best bible for children. Each story connects the truths of Scripture to Jesus, "the Rescuer." The illustrations in this book are fantastic. We cannot keep this book stocked on our book table at our church. As soon as we get a few they are sold.
Ben Patterson recently reviewed the book on Christianity Today. You are able to read the review here. You may purchase the book by clicking on the link below.

My 1st Book of Questions and Answers is the second book we read every morning after breakfast. This book is the 100+ questions of the catechism. Our eldest boys are at a prime age to remember such questions and answers and it is building in them a foundation of proper theology. They know the answers to such questions as Who made you? What else did God make? Why did God make all things? Who wrote the Bible? ...and so on.

If you have children under the age of 13 I would highly recommend these books. I am drawn to worship Jesus every morning as we read through The Jesus Storybook Bible and I am reminded of the truths of God as I hear my sons answer the questions to My 1st Book of Questions and Answers. Purchase both books at Amazon by clicking on the links below.

Whiskerino is Over!

It all began on November 1st, 2007. We were in the mountains of Montana when I last shaved my face. The hair follicles have been producing for 121 days. Today is the final day of Whiskerino. Click here to see the progress of my beard in 121 photos. I am tracking who looks at my blog. If I see that you actually looked at my pictures I will know that you are very bored!
It was a fun experience. I am thankful my wife is patient with me. She is a good woman!

It's back!

The cheese is back. Check it out HERE!

Not Everything is Black and McWhite - pt. 2.2

My short response is “ditto” (see previous post).

Maybe we should quit our jobs, grow long beards, build a house together, start a commune and require formal church membership of everyone who wants to join our commune.

I appreciate your thoughts on this question. Honestly, I think I would agree with everything you said. One aspect of membership that I would like to see done more effectively is fostering the ‘family’ mentality. I don’t know that I have any great suggestions for making this happen. I don’t want church membership to take on a ‘club’ or ‘fraternity’ atmosphere. I would like to see our churches lean more heavily on the family aspects of membership.

There is a church in the Chicago area that requires any prospective member to be recommended by the small group of which they are a part. Regular attenders at this church are encouraged to be a part of a small group. These small groups are the vehicle they use for accountability and life together. The small group leaders encourage the people in their small groups to consider membership. At this church you are not allowed to be a member without first being in a small group. I don’t know if I would take things that far but this process certainly reveals the community mentality of the church. Again, I don’t know if I would go this far but I appreciate their desires. I believe we need to work at correcting the business transaction feel of membership and make it into a relational or family adoption.

I am serious about the beards and commune thing…anyone else in?

Not Everything is Black and McWhite - pt. 2

Bryan: What do you think the best process for membership would be?

I’m going to assume that anyone who engages with my answer to this question has already read through my six posts on “Do You Need to Be a Church Member?,” because they explain in detail why I think local church membership is vital for Christian life and growth, and why I think local churches need to take membership very seriously. If you haven’t read them and would like to, you kind find them here. If you haven’t read them and don’t want to read them, but would still like to debate whether church membership is a good idea in the comments on this post anyway… well… your mom.

This is a fairly easy question for me to answer, because I’ve already seen a template for church membership that I intend to emulate and implement when and if I become a senior pastor of a church. The process for membership at Mars Hill Church, Seattle, pastored by Mark Driscoll is nothing that is terribly original, but in my view it is right on the money in terms of how churches that take membership seriously should structure the process of becoming a church member. Let me quote from their website on membership:

“Being a member of Mars Hill Church is really about being part of a family. Members who enter into a covenant with their local church are called to a higher degree of responsibility and service. At the same time, the elders and deacons are covenanted to assist members first and foremost, to love and lead, provide counsel and aid, as well as to pray for, teach, and guide.
I want to be a member: What should I do?

1) Start acting like one. Demonstrate your love for the church by volunteering. Click here to learn about the ways you can serve at Mars Hill.
2) Make yourself known. Don’t keep your life to yourself. Join a Community Group and get with other Mars Hill folks to grow together in maturity, leadership, and love.
3) Get on mission. All prospective members are asked to take the Gospel Class to study and learn the essential mission of Mars Hill.”

The Gospel Class required of prospective members at Mars Hill is second to none in what I’ve seen:

“This 8-week class includes an overview of our church and our core values, with a doctrinal explanation of the Scriptures, God, Creation, Sin, Salvation, the Missional Church, Stewardship, and Spiritual Gifts. This class explores basic, biblical theology and how this teaching plays out philosophically and practically in the way we embody the gospel to the neighborhood in which we live.”

In taking its members through such an extensive time of instruction, it can to so much more to ensure that the members of its church are on the same page on the essential beliefs, values, and mission of the church—something that is sorely lacking in the vast majority of evangelical churches today.

As MHC does, I would require prospective members to complete an interview with an elder or pastor upon completion of the membership class, in which they would be asked to articulate their ‘testimony’ of how Christ brought them to faith in himself, and they would be encouraged to invest in both a serving ministry appropriate to their gifts as well as a small group if they have not already done so. Upon completion of the membership class and interview, the prospective member would be given the opportunity to affirm and sign the church covenant (I won’t elaborate on church covenants, since that’s next week’s question).

The names and photos of prospective members would then be published in the bulletin on the Sunday prior to the Sunday when the prospective members would be welcomed into membership. During the announcements, I would ask the members of the congregation to peruse the list of prospective members and encourage them to inform an elders or pastor if they know of any reason (e.g. unknown persistent sinful behavior) why any of them should not become members at this time.

On the ‘membership affirmation Sunday,’ then, I would ask the members of the church (only) to stand, vote into membership the prospective members, and then together with the new members reaffirm the church covenant. I would hope, both in sentiment and in worship, this would feel like a joyful and warm time of celebration of God’s work in growing the body of Christ in our midst.

I suppose I should anticipate the objection that this whole process is just completely unrealistic and overly cumbersome. My two responses to that are: (1) I take membership very seriously. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t require so much of church members. But I do, so I will. (2) Mars Hill Church has thousands of members, all of whom have completed the membership process, and most of whom are 20- and 30-something formerly lazy, apathetic, postmodern, individualistic punk rockers, who nevertheless thought it worthwhile to commit the time and effort necessary to make membership at Mars Hill Church a special and biblical thing. If it is manageable for Seattlites, it’s manageable for anyone.

Not Everything is Black and McWhite - pt. 1.3

Vince: How does Trinity EFC “strongly encourage membership,” exactly? (see previous post)

That is a good question. The way we ’strongly encourage membership’ occurs in a variety of ways. We do not hide the fact that we believe that every committed believer should be a member of a local church. In our ‘Welcome Packet’ (I don’t like the word ‘packet’) we publish the four means to our mission - the first one being membership. We have a process by which we try to get every new attender into our Discovery Class. During this class we stress the importance of membership.

As I said in the first answer: we have a running database of every regular attender. Part of my responsibility (and joy) is to contact and follow up with each of these people to ask them about their progress in these four means to our mission. The first question I ask them is about membership. If they are not a member I discuss our process of membership with them and communicate the importance of membership as it relates to their commitment to the body.

If they are unwilling to become a member at Trinity Church we do everything we can to help them find a church in town where they can become committed in the way that church requests. Although it may sound like it, we do not force membership on anyone. If someone is unwilling to become a member and they want to continue attending the church we accept them as a brother/sister. In that process, however, we communicate to them that they are forfeiting their ‘rights’ of being under the same type of care that a member may receive.

For instance, if a member and someone who refuses to be a member approach the church with a need, the priority goes to the member. I am glad to say that we have only had one long-time attender refuse to be a member. We hold membership as a privilege and we see it as an important, public commitment to the body.

Our view of membership is not a secret. We are honest about our desires and follow up with people who are on the outskirts.

Not Everything is Black and McWhite - pt. 1.2

Vince’s response was excellent and thorough, and it was clear to me that this discussion isn’t going to get really interesting until we get to the “What should…” sort of questions, since our church (New Hope Church)’s membership process is rather similar to Vince’s church (Trinity EFC).

That said, let me highlight a few areas where our membership processes are similar and dissimilar.

New Hope Church also, in a sense, strongly encourages membership. But that certainly begs the question: What does it look like to “strongly encourage membership” (I’d be curious to know how Trinity EFC does it)? Because, in theory and in the sentiment of the elders of our church we sincerely do want people to become members. We let them know how they can do that, and have made it a relatively simple process. Our senior pastor, Steve Goold, leads and teaches the new members class, which I think is a very wise and pastoral practice on his part, and is altogether too rare in churches of our size (2,000+). I imagine that the vast majority of senior pastors of megachurches would delegate that responsibility, and I deeply appreciate that Steve has not. I think it speaks highly of his view of the importance of membership in our church.

That said, it is by no means well-understood what the entailments, requirements, and expectations of membership are in our church. Very few understand the benefits and reasons for membership, and we really do almost nothing to encourage (or, compel) long-term regular attenders to seek membership. In that sense, then, we don’t take membership all that seriously. So, we do and we don’t. We need to get more consistent. But I’m starting to jump ahead in our question list here. My bad.

The process for membership at New Hope Church is relatively simple. A membership application is filled out that mainly asks for contact and family information. There is, then, a required membership class that currently meets three consecutive Sunday mornings for about an hour. Generally speaking, the history of the EFCA and of NHC are covered, as well as doctrinal distinctives of the EFCA and the mission of NHC. At the end of the membership classes, each prospective members are asked to indicate areas interest for serving and plugging into the life of the church, which are then distributed to the pastor/staff person who oversees that particular area. Once these records are distributed to the appropriate person, however, there is no follow-up nor is there a centralized system that tracks the involvement and progress of new members in ministry involvement.

Prospective members are then required to have a meeting with an elder, which generally lasts for 30-45 minutes, in which the prospective member is asked to explain how they came to faith in Christ, and is given an opportunity to ask and have answered any questions about NHC and membership that remain.

Finally, new members are affirmed and welcomed into the church during the morning services (I believe) quarterly. Other members of the church, however, play no role in evaluating new members nor explicitly in affirming new members into the body.

With regard to numbers of members vs. numbers of regular attenders, our percentages are roughly in line with Trinity EFC. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but if I recall correctly, our weekly attendance is in the neighborhood of 2,400, and we have close to 800 on the membership rolls (though I am relatively certain that the membership rolls are rarely if ever ‘cleaned’ in order to remove those who no longer attend or those who have not actively involved themselves in the life of the church in some time).

Clearly, then, there are ways our church could tighten up its practice of membership, but I need to leave that for the following questions.

Vince: How does Trinity EFC “strongly encourage membership,” exactly?