Mission Igniter

This is a guest post by Dr. John R. Frank, CFRE – author, teacher, and stewardship consultant at The Frank Group.

A few weeks ago I met an expert in social media and he invited me to speak at his conference. I spoke on ” The New Stewardship and Social Media” and received great response with this caveat – “He knows a lot about stewardship and it was very valuable. But he doesn’t know much about social media.” So I began meeting with Michael Forney of Mission Igniter to learn from him.

I am 54 and very much a boomer in my life filter, opinions, and modeling from the builder generation. Yet I read and study about changing trends and try to be with the curve and sometimes ahead of it. After all, my DMIN was Leadership in the Emerging Culture and I sat under some leaders in this area of study. (Pride goes before the fall.)

Then I spoke to my friends Steve Thomas and Kris Hoots of Oneicity. I offered that social media was still unproven and therefore still a “wait and see” strategy. They then informed me of very successful examples of how organizations had used social media, that many components were proven, and that there was much to learn and use.

I even have a 25 year-old son and a 23 year-old daughter who are immersed in social media in their lives and in their ministry. So I was convinced I knew something about social media because I was around it so much. (I do have a Facebook page and I am on Twitter – FYI.)

But I was wrong.

What Michael shared with me were basic concepts we boomers are trying to analyze, measure, and put in a box that we can sell. We boomers do that, you know! Social Media is more than tools. (I call them tools; Michael calls them platforms.) It is a continuation of relationships on levels and social networks that we boomers (and others) have a difficult time understanding and assimilating into our world of structures.

So as I continue to learn about Social Media, I have discovered and am learning to accept the following:

1. Whatever generation uses Social Media (Mosiac, Buster, Millennial, etc.) they know better than us boomers what they are using, doing, and want to do. I resist this, as I believe my experience gives me an advantage in learning new technologies, etc. But not this time. They know what they are doing and why, and are not necessarily concerned that we understand it.

2. They will say they believe there should be rules governing Social Media, but they themselves will not commit to obeying those rules. (I.e. “Why is my boss reading my Facebook page? Hey, that’s not fair.”)

3. The local church or church at large must (or is) adapting to use Social Media, and must see it as an extension of relationships, not a marketing tool to “get” something.

4. While we know there must be some structure and systems to run organizations, movements, etc., the Social Media generation is not ready to admit that yet. They want to be clear of organizational ties and limitations. For example, when they texted to Haiti and gave $10, they did not know nor care that the money was used by the large organization Red Cross. They believed the perception that their gift began serving people in Haiti immediately. Another example is about a pastor in the Atlanta area who used Twitter to relay messages about children trapped in a building in Haiti. Through various contacts, FOX news and CNN were directed to the building and saved the children. Fix the problem immediately!

5. And finally, we know that Social Media can be used for bad and good. We have seen some of the bad on news reports. The good can be seen as a form of stewardship. On one level, everything you do on Social Media is a giving of oneself. You give information to a friend or group of friends, you set up a meeting to gather people together for a cause, or you can share your heart with those you care about. Using Social Media can be a good form of stewardship, if used properly.

There you have my rant. It is not out of disrespect or disbelief in Social Media. It is an aging boomer admitting that I do not want to be left behind in being relevant. To be a follower of Jesus and to assist people in being good stewards requires that I continually learn. It seems as I get older I naturally start to defend what I have been a part of for 30 years. Yet, just as when I was in my 20′s I said what my 23 year-old daughter just said to me, “Dad, you can’t put new wine in old wineskins.”

That doesn’t mean I am on old wineskin. It means I must continually be renewing my wineskin to make sure it can handle the new wine God is bringing into my life, my ministry, and my community. With God I can do all things!

Last week the annual “State of the Plate” survey was published and showed that 40% of churches across the country experienced a decline in giving in 2009, with larger churches (47%) and West Coast churches (55%) experiencing the most budget pressure. This is the second consecutive year of significant decreases reported in the “State of the Plate” Report.

“Churches today are in unchartered waters financially,” says Brian Kluth, founder of Maximum Generosity. “After the October 2008 stock market drop, 29% of churches experienced a decline in giving and this past year the number has climbed up to 38% of churches. Multiple research projects last year documented the sharp decline in church giving and our research this year shows things have only gotten worse for a growing number of churches.”

Almost a third (32%) of churches reported missing giving expectations at the end of 2009, and many churches likely entered 2010 looking for ways to slow their church spending. More than twice as many churches reported having made budget cuts as the year previous with the top three cuts coming in the areas of travel and conferences, ministry programs, and expansion/renovation projects.

Surprisingly, 45% of churches increased their budgets for the coming year, compared to 23% who said the same a year ago. Churches that increased their budgets did so primarily in the areas of benevolence giving, ministry programs, and missions giving. More churches also say they’re seeking outside resources to help with church finances, giving, and generosity.

What is you church experiencing? How has your personal giving changed? How are you adjusting moving forward?

This weekend is when we celebrate the redemption of humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Redemption is the message of the mission. Here Brett Eddy gives a talk to Christian business leaders on transforming technology into a redemptive tool.

Have a blessed Easter weekend!

Brett Eddy: “Transforming Technology into a Redemptive Tool” from Mission Igniter on Vimeo.

A survey recently conducted by Endis, a UK based company that builds web solutions for churches, found that most church websites are not created with the unchurched in mind and did not have an explanation of the gospel message on their site. However, they found that churches did have an explanation of the gospel message on their website were better at attracting unchurched visitors.

The survey also found that larger churches were less effective than smaller churches at attracting unchurched people, and that good content and usability are more important than sophisticated branding and broad functionality.

If you want to learn more check out this article or download the results from Digimission. Thanks to @jim_gray for bring this to our attention!

How effective is your church’s website? Is it focused on people in the church or on people who are not yet connected to a church?

Dr. Richard Beck, Associate Professor and experimental psychologist at Abilene Christian University, recently wrote a very interesting post entitled How Facebook Killed the Church in which he argues that our Facebook friends do reflect our “in person” relationships and that in the Millennials a fundamental change has emerged in where they experience community that has them leaving the church “in droves”.

He goes on to argue that people’s dissatisfaction with and negative feelings about church have not changed all that much in the last 50 years, but that they have still attended because church was a primary social connection point. In essence that church was “Facebook” prior to the advent of technology that allows a constant state of social connection such as texting, smart phones, Facebook and other social media.

He argues that these mediums are not replacing “real” relationships with “virtual” ones, but rather helping to create a social connection between friends and a sense of identity and belonging that people previously found in attending church. His article is very thought provoking and worthy of reading and thinking through the ramifications to the local church.

I feel this that his assertions (if true) shouldn’t cause church leaders to despair, but rather to see the opportunity that exist for the church to thrive in this new social environment if we will begin to focus on what should have been important all along: people. The mission has always been to reach people with Christ’s love and teach them the ways of God; not to gather crowds on Sunday or put people through our programs.

The church has to and will change fairly drastically in the coming years, but it not something to fear but to embrace. Seeing Jesus become an integrated part of our whole lives versus an hour on Sunday is something to be celebrated and sought after. The opportunity for it has never been greater. I believe this is the greatest opportunity for the church in America to experience an awakening since the time following World War Two.

What do you think? Is Dr. Beck accurate in his theory or off his rocker? Will the church make the necessary changes or continue to decline? As a church leader, how are you choosing to respond?