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After two days of mind-bending thinking on the church, the negative perception of society about the church (accordingly to USA Today, only 18% trust organized religion and attendance continues to dwindle year after year), the AND Conference at Granger Community Church has helped bring more focus to the future we need to look to:

• Clearly, I am part of the 40% that finds church as positive. It has had a huge impact on my life, I love “the church” (my marriage, my perspective, knowledge of the teachings of Jesus, and finding my purpose)- However, this doesn’t fly for 60% of the population that sees “the church” as out-of-touch, corrupt, or irrelevant and this number is growing. 
• Churches and their 4-walls will continue to have an amazing impact in our world.  There will be millions of people that will appreciate the traditions, the culture, and the steps they will continue to take in their relationship with Christ.
• Churches need to release the idea that people need to come to their buildings to “go to church” and that there are incredible things happening outside “the box” (the four walls of church) where people are “being the church”.  This will be uneasy, scary, a loss of control, and many will resist.  I believe the greatest movement of God in our lifetime is going to happen outside the 4-walls, outside of any denomination, outside of any one strategy, and outside of our egos.  After all, it’s not about us, it’s about Jesus.
• The concept of giving or tithing (Old Testament Biblical principle of giving 10% of our income) is going to continue to shift more to outside of “the box”.  People will actually give more because they will be giving to their God-given mission and purpose.  Many churches will still have the trust of people to manage the strategy and how to best impact their community (as they should… many churches are incredible managers of the funds that are given with well organized strategies, leaders with integrity, and missions that align with scores of individuals). 
• What is church?  That is fluid.  It will be structures and “what has been” complimenting and supporting the unstructured, multi-cultural, doing great things to change communities and bring Hope across the globe.  It will look like whatever people can imagine it to be.  Rules will be resisted.  Our “church” will be centered around our God-given purpose which could exist within an organized brick and mortar church or outside of it.  (Even this post is swinging all over in the use of the word “church”…    )
• Technology is going to continue to play a huge role in these next months and years.  People and organizations have the opportunity to be “visible” to the global community.  Local, on-the-front lines, based-on-relationships mission will be most effective, however technology will leverage training, create ease of funding, ease of volunteering, and help facilitate collaboration like we’ve never seen before…  Great results will be shared virally as lives and communities are changed.
• This isn’t new.  12 people modeled this a long time ago…  As Alan Hirsch remarked, “Jesus and religion don’t mix, and there’s a lot of religion going on out there…”  It’s time to get back to the basics.

Where’s your church?  Probably right where you are and who you are.  The culture you’re in, the people you know, and the thing that makes your heart beat fast is where God can and will use you now.  So can I really call that church? Yes.  But isn’t church a building?  Yes.  Is it a small group?  Yes.  Helping kids with after school tutoring?  Yes.  Is it OK if I don’t call it church?  Yes. 

Being a critic and finding holes?  Easy.  Saying yes?  Much harder.

What If:

• We could set aside our need to be “right”?
• We didn’t need to “win” the debate?
• We focused on being peacemakers and extended a hand to those we don’t understand?
• We found commonality with those “different” from us and collaborated on projects to bring real change to our communities and world?
• We responded to people not about where we think they are wrong but focused on where we could agree?
• We truly loved people?

What Could Change?

• Could Athiests and Believers agree that people need clean water and work together to bring solutions to millions in need across the globe?
• Could the tradition church find commonality with non-traditionalists and work together to bring Hope to their local communities?
• Could a church work with the gay community to fill food pantries?
• Could Christians and Muslims work together to provide relief to earthquake victims?

This is messy and doesn’t fit nice a tidy in a box. However, I do know I want to love more, talk and debate less, and be part of something Greater than myself. What might I learn about myself, others, and God from engaging more in these relationships?

This is a church I want to be part of…. this is a person I want to be…. these are the people I want to lock arms with…

On the brink of launching idochurchonline.com to our weekend crowd in a few days (November 15th, 6:30 & 8:30 EST), here are 10 things I’ve learned in these five and a half months:

1. There’s a ton I still don’t know. I think this would be true for all online church leaders. This is still the bleeding edge trend and there isn’t a 25 year old Denomination of Online Churches (thank goodness).

2. Criticism will come. The foundation of how we do church is being shaken. It doesn’t set well with a few of those who think you have to attend a physical church to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. (For the record, I’m a huge fan of different churches for different people… the physical church building will continue as a great option for millions) There are valid questions to ponder.

3. The burden of a pastor. My Dad’s been a pastor for 40+ years. While my title is Online Church Director, I still feel the weight of the scores of people that will come with needs, questions, and real pain in their lives. I’m reminded you can only lead people where you’ve been. I have a whole new appreciation for my leaders and my Dad.

4. The unity amongst other Online Churches is inspiring. I am so appreciative of the support from the pioneers ahead of us… The open hand of support and conversations with Life Church and Liquid Church were particularly helpful and motivating. I look forward to the opportunity to meet more of these leaders and find ways of how we can work and learn together. I pray for them often.

5. It’s important to identify your audience. Are you primarily serving your current congregation so they can watch services while they’re away? Is it for English speaking people only? National? Global? (to name a few) Our programming will continue to need to be evaluated to align with our target audience.

6. New rules for volunteer teams. We already have volunteers outside our of state and country which is incredibile! How do you empower, train, lead, and screen them appropriately? This is certainly a work in progress….

7. Partnering with the right development team was critical. Working for a technology company, I have a whole new appreciation for AspireOne. They were able to shift strategy mid-stream to meet the new challenges and opportunities technology brought. They owned this project as if it were their own site.

8. Most people don’t get it. I’m met regularly with a tilted head and crumpled forehead as I try to explain the strategy of Online Church. I think we’ll see the light come on more each month that passes. It’s a whole new mission field.

9. There are people who “play” church regardless of the location. Checking the box of going to church isn’t the church. Going through the motions of taking communion while thinking about what you’re going to do when you get home misses its purpose. One’s heart determines whether or not they did church or not, online or not. The greatest examples of “being the church” have no walls and typically happen outside of an hour weekend service.

10. God is not afraid of the cloud. (Cloud meaning the internet) God can move through the internet, a fish net, or a New Jersey Net if He wants. It’s quite a feeling “knowing” the stories of life change are coming. I can’t wait to see what He is going to do….

I’m sure we’ll make some mistakes along the way but we’ll keep falling forward. Let the ride begin!

Well it’s coming soon! Granger Community Online Church. Above is a screen shot from a test we did a few weeks ago… for more screen shots and feedback, click here.

Here are some random nuggets and FYI’s:

• I am humbled to be the Online Church Director and will be building volunteer teams and processes as we launch and grow our service offerings- it’s a great new challenge!
• We’ve launched an Online Church blog here where more information on Online Church and more will be posted
• We’ll be testing for a few more weeks but look for soft launch in Beta mode in October!
• I am excited about the opportunity for people to literally be able to invite anyone across the globe to go to church, attend the same service, and have an opportunity to discuss what they/we experience together….
• It’s incredible to think we could have volunteer teams from all over the world…. wow.
• If you’re interested in opportunities to volunteer, drop me a line and/or follow the Online church blog

I can’t wait to see what God will do! Stay tuned at Idochurchonline.com as we roll out soon!

After attending several churches online over the past few weeks, a number of questions could be raised:

• Can you really count it as “going to church” by watching online?
• Isn’t it a challenge to build community online vs. being part of a local church?
• Can God move through people through a computer? Can life change actually happen?
• Can one grow in their spiritual life and disciplines online?
• Can one give and contribute to a church online and have their entrusted resources put to good work?
• Can I connect with people online and build relationships?
• Could it be harder for some to stay “engaged” and drift away from having God as a priority in their lives?
• Could this cause weekend attendance to go down (or continue to go down) at brick and mortar churches all across the globe?
• Should church leaders invest time in understanding the online culture and the new opportunities and challenges it brings?
• Will it be a normal reaction for many to immediately discount it as a fad and immediate try to find the negative?
• Will it stir up fear?
• Could it be revolutionary?
• Can God handle both and move as He pleases?

I would answer “yes” to all these questions. More on this to come soon…. Your thoughts?