MarkDeYmaz.com

Irony, Or Perhaps Something More?

According to the dictionary, irony can be defined as "the incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen, especially when the disparity seems absurd or laughable." So, it seems ironic that ...

1. The physical, topographical characteristics of the moon are such that on nights when it is full, a face is seemingly displayed for all the world to see; someone, it seems is looking down on us from heaven, watching, etc. Or that ...

2. On the very day my daughter, Kate, turned 10 (yesterday), an entire area at St. Vincent's Hospital in Little Rock - the Journey Bereavement Center - was opened and ceremonously dedicated to assist families experienceing a miscarriage, giving birth to stillborn children or otherwise experiencing newborn death - as we did there in 1995. My wife, Linda, was not only instrumental in the establishment of the bereavement program offered at St. Vincent's, but in designing the rooms and in commmissioning the artwork that now hangs in the very same area in which we experienced our loss and grief. Or that ...

3. At the ceremony, a woman named Glenda told me of her experience in first discovering Linda's book, Mommy, Please Don't Cry. Several years ago, three teenage cheerleaders were killed in an automobile accident in our area and this women knew one of the families involved. Learning of me from her husband (who I had recently met) and consequently of my wife's book, Glenda asked the mother if she knew of or had received a copy. "Oh yes," the mother responded. "That book is a treasure to me." Determined, then, to see the book for herself, Glenda went to her church's library to see if, by chance, they had a copy. When she found it on the shelf, she looked inside and there, just inside the cover, was a most amazing thing ... a sticker stating that the book had been donated to the church's library by someone Glenda did not know and gifted to the library in honor of Glenda's mother, who's name was printed on the sticker. Glenda told me that she might never have had reason otherwise to discover such a gift. Or that ...

4. Just over seven years after I left Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock to begin Mosaic, a local newspaper (generally regarded as liberal in political view and understanding) - the Arkansas Times - ran a cover story of Fellowship's newly dedicated land and facility development. And imbeded in their story, was a full-page story of another church in town by way of contrats - one that owns (at present) no land or buildings, but nonetheless is making a siginifcant difference in the community; that's right, Mosaic. It begins ...

"It was happy hour at Norm's, and no one ordered chardonnay. It was tequila shots and Budweiser. The handwritten sign on the wall offered something called a “Pantysnatcher” for $4. On the juke box, Steppenwolf cursed “The Pusher” for offering dreams but selling death. Gray-bearded men sipping beer at the tables, no doubt, first heard the song in 1968. Today, they seemed more interested in watching Brenda play pool. Norm's old-timers remembered when the neighborhood was good. They said their watering hole, just west of the intersection of University and Asher, was now an “oasis” among shops that deal in plasma, cash advances and exotic lingerie. After dark, things get worse.

Yet, Rita, whom one customer called “the sweetest bartender in Little Rock,” said a few of her patrons have come to appreciate one of the new neighbors — a church in an abandoned Wal-Mart. While unaware if any customers have attended worship services, she knew some of the men who struggle on fixed-income got free groceries and clothing from the church. It's called Mosaic, she said."

Read the full article yourself, if you like.

Such stories ispire my faith - that there is a God out there; a God who is also right here. Active. Involved. Concerned for me, and that I should know Him, find Him, learn from Him, follow Him, become more and more like Him, etc.

Do you have such tales? Why not take a moment and share them with other readers?

Simply post a comment below.

Dr. Warren Bird asks, What Have You Learned?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of nineteen books on various aspects of church health and innovation. This week, he posted the following article on [email protected] Network, a blog featuring "first-hand reports of what innovative churches are doing." I discussed the post with him a couple of weeks ago and affirmed my own belief that mergers and campus plants (via multi-siting) are ways in which healthy, but otherwise homogeneous churches can expedite their pursuit of transition. In addition, I believe such a church would do well to consider launching a multi-ethnic venue within their existing weekend worship schedule.

Warren's entire post is repeated here (in bold) for your convenience. And after reading, please let me know what you think by commenting below.

What have you learned about launching an ethnic or multi-cultural site?
By Warren Bird

People like Mark DeYmaz have written about and modeled what he calls "the biblical mandate for the multi-ethnic church" -- see his book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network, 2007).

Yet this is not the case for most churches. According to research conducted by sociologists Michael Emerson, Christian Smith, George Yancey and others, 92.5% of Catholic and Protestant churches throughout the United States can be classified as “mono-racial.” This term describes a church in which 80% or more of the individuals that attend are of the same ethnicity or race. The remaining churches (7.5%) can be described as “multi-racial,” i.e., churches in which there are a non-majority, collective population of at least 20%. By this definition, approximately 12% of Catholic churches, just less than 5% of evangelical churches and about 2.5% of mainline Protestant churches can be described as “multi-racial."

Early research by Dr. George Yancey, published in his book, One Body, One Spirit (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), identified general “principles of successful multi-racial churches.” Mark DeYmaz then adapted and restated them as follows, each a chapter in Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church:

1. Embrace Dependence
2. Take Intentional Steps
3. Empower Diverse Leadership
4. Develop Cross-Cultural Relationships
5. Pursue Cross-Cultural Competence
6. Promote a Spirit of Inclusion
7. Mobilize for Impact

Interestingly, the most multi-racial churches at present are the largest ones. Beyond Megachurch Myths by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis reports on a major 2005 study of very large churches. It asks, "What is the total percentage of attenders in your church that are not of the majority racial/ethnic group?" The average was 19%. Some 36% have 20% minority presence or more. The response to the next survey question was even more telling: "Is your congregation making efforts to become intentionally multi-ethnic?" A surprising 56% said yes.

What about churches that are multi-site? Are they placing much emphasis on launching ethnic or multi-cultural sites? I suspect it's a low priority for many. In Leadership Network's 2007 release named "Survey of 1,000 Multi-Site Churches," we asked for participants' primary motivation for doing multi-site. The overwhelming reply was evangelism" (63%), although 1% did say "cross language or ethnic barriers." we next asked their secondary motivation for doing multi-site. Of the same seven answers, there was a two-way tie for first place: solve overcrowding (27%) and bring our church closer to a target area (also 27%). This time 4% said "cross language or ethnic barriers" -- and those churches were different from the ones who said 1% earlier. So a total of 5% of the churches indicate it's a top motivation. That's 1 out of 20 cases.

Interestingly, another set of questions asked "To what extent are you reaching the same kinds of people on each campus in terms ofrace?" Only 12% said yes. When asked, "To what extent are you reaching the same kinds of people on each campus in terms oflanguage," only 5% said yes.

What's your sense between multi-ethnic churches and multi-ethnic campuses of multi-site churches? Which is more likely to take the lead, and why?

My prediction is that it will happen through mergers. Our multi-site survey also asked, "Have you used your multi-site approach to assist (or take responsibility for) a declining church?" Of 197 churches that replied to this question, 30% said yes, plus 10% more said "no but we plan to in the future." I think those mergers will open the way to more multi-ethnic congregations.