Hello Emmanuel,

It's midnight.  That means I'm officially back from vacation.  It also means that tomorrow morning I have 21 emails to answer and probably another 21 emails to send.  I'll get to each one as soon as I can.  But for now......

I'm glad to be back.  I spent part of my week visiting the first churches that I pastored:  Harrod, Maysville and West Newton UMC's.  I met friends and parishioners that I hadn't seen in over 7 years.  I reconnected with those who helped me start my career by teaching me about ministry.....the easy AND the hard way.  It was refreshing.  On the other side of the coin, West Newton UMC is now closed.  The building is about to fall down.  It is a story in which I played a central part...one filled with enough heartache.  Also, one elderly gentleman I shook hands with just this past Sunday passed away just this morning.  It was a trip of history, but also a trip full of lessons. 

I am reminded of the importance of listening to God at all times.   I also am reminded about the peace that happens when you do listen.  Not that there is never conflict or trouble or stress, but a deep peace from God can reside within you regardless.  It took me a long time to learn that.  Now that I know, I find myself enjoying ministry more than ever before.  It is such a blessing.

So I write this at midnight because so much of me cannot wait to get back to work.  As is the case for many who come back to work after vacation, there is a stack of issues to tackle.  I won't try to name them all because I haven't made my 'to do' list yet (the one for work, not the one from my wife).  But I invite any of you who are mulling the prospect of Ordained Ministry to listen closely.  You are probably mulling it over for a reason.  I don't often look around for 'recruits' for the church, but then again I have never realized the blessings that could be had.  Indeed, there were times when I secretly discouraged others from such a path.  I was wrong.

It is a long journey to go from the pew to the pulpit (especially if you sit in the back row).  However, it is a journey that I am so glad I took.  As I re-visited my own history, I found out that I could do so and still have that peace of God within me, even when I was reminded of the bumps.

God is Good, 
Pastor Joe 

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I can remember when my 11 year-old boy, Joey, finished his first 5k race. He was out of breath. Not only was he out of breath, but he was so out of breath that he wanted nothing to do with me. He ripped the water bottle out of my hand and walked about 100 yards away to simply focus on breathing.

This past Sunday was another such occasion. People were emotionally out of breath. This is the case nearly every year, the Sunday after Christmas. It is more apparent when Christmas Eve lands one or two days before Sunday. The result is that attendance goes down and many of those who do come to worship almost seem to drag themselves into the sanctuary. How we deal with this annual trend is critical to how the month of January goes for the church. Yes, Joey was tired and needed to recover (wouldn't you?). But what came next was the difference between regression and progression. His first words to me, once he had enough oxygen, were 'That was awesome!'. He immediately wanted to know when the next race would happen.

As a Christian community, we always need to look ahead, even as we are tired from the past. It is the difference between a church that regresses to what use to be and a church that progresses toward what God wants it to be. When we ask, 'what is next', we open the door to a January that is full of hope and dreams instead of a January that is gloomy and gray. At Emmanuel, you will have plenty encouragement to look ahead. But ultimately it will need to be you to open your mind to the possibilities. I hope you find that your January is even more exciting than your December. May God fill you with hopes and dreams.

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Avoiding Burnout

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As we now have a strong Vision in place for 'making disciples of Jesus Christ', let's turn our attention to considering what is the most crucial Vision component for Emmanuel to improve upon. Certainly there may be many different opinions on this matter, but as I have prayed about this much, one component kept coming back to me.....

Radical Hospitality - what steps can we take to encourage others to feel welcomed and prepare them to encounter God?

As we have started a second service, now we can freely invite, invite and invite without the fear of running out of parking or feeling too crowded. The potential to have a warm, friendly environment is enormous. Emmanuel is already filled with friendly people, but the sacred space of the church is waiting to reflect that friendliness. The Hospitality Team will soon be working on ways to decorate the bare walls of the lobby with an Emmanuel-like theme. Also, informal conversation has started about finding worship banners for the blank walls of the sanctuary. There are worship banner patterns available for anyone wanting to get involved with this. Not only will banners warm up the sacred space, but it will also help with sound acoustics.

Another aspect of Radical Hospitality is being more intentional about welcoming visitors. Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have a program implented so that every visitor knows they were welcomed and feels as though the church is there for them.

Finally, the challenge of cleaning the church building remains a challenge. So far, the volunteerism looks like this:

W.O.W. has volunteered to keep the upstairs cleaned for the entire year...woohooo!
Joe and Wilma Gamel have volunteered to clean the bathrooms....woohooo!
The Sunday morning Small Group (Kim Royer's group) has volunteered for February..woohoo!
Wednesday Morning Alive Small Group has volunteered for January...woohooo!
Kathy Bolton has volunteered to help fill in when needed (including December)...woohoo!

As you see, we are making progress, but we are still needing help. What we need is the following:

March-December - groups to commit to one month of cleaning sanctuary and basement levels at least twice during the month.  If interested, contact James Politt at james.pollitt@fmr.com

While the other components of the Vision are equally important, it is my honest opinion the deepest untapped potential of Emmanuel is the Hospitality component. If you feel called or gifted to helping Emmanuel be a more welcoming place, please consider being part of the team and contact Pastor Joe. You can make a serious impact on the Vision that Emmanuel has for the future.

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As we start a new season at Emmanuel we are also engaging a rather large challenge: a second worship service. There are many dynamics that are affected by adding a worship service. There are also myths, attitudes and approaches that can either hinder or help such a new ministry. Let me briefly go through a few dangerous attitudes as well as some helpful attitudes. Let me start with the positive because I'm in an optimistic mood this morning:

Helpful Attitude #1: 'Wow! We have an awesome opportunity here!'

With a second service, there will be more sacred space to be filled. The parking lot will be more empty and the sanctuary will be more empty. Think of all the space we have to fill with new people. And the more people who come, the more who can be connected to Jesus to start the circle of disciple-making.

Helpful Attitude #2: 'Invite, Invite, Invite'

Switch your gears. Think more about invitational opportunities. Think about your trusted friends who have no church home. Find ways to invite them. Don't give up. Pick them up on Sunday morning if need be. Be persistent, but not over-bearing. If you are excited about Emmanuel and it is relevant and authentic and pursuing excellence, then why wouldn't you be inviting others? We've got space to fill. The worst that could happen is that people would tell you 'no'.

Dangerous Attitude #1: 'I want to see everybody and know what is going on all the time and everywhere in my church'.

This attitude has so many theological flaws it makes me nauseous just reading it. First, worship isn't about you. Worship is about giving people who want to worship God an opportunity to worship God.

Secondly, this attitude is pervasive in small churches that want to stay small. There are instances in which small churches are a strength and needed in the world. But when you are church in the growing East side of Cincinnati that wants to 'make disciples of Jesus Christ', the attitude of wanting to stay small works against the opportunities and the purpose of the church. If you want more people to connect with Jesus at Emmanuel, the reality is that it might get so big that you can't see and know everyone and everything all the time. Thirdly, church is by definition a community. It is no one person's church. And the only reason it can be a community is because God allows it to be so. Ownership of a church needs to be approached with humble acknowledgement of God's grace. It can only be 'my church' when God opens the door, lets me in, and gives me the responsibility of expanding His Kingdom. Even then it is ultimately God's church. He's just entrusting it to you.

Dangerous Attitude #2: A second worship service divides the church

When people think of their church, they often picture the worship service. So, naturally, when the worship service is divided, then they think the church has become divided. When church grows (especially when space is limited), it will necessarily need more than one worship service. This should be seen as an expansion of the church, not a division. When Small Groups got started, people didn't see it as a division, it was an expansion. When Children's Sunday School got re-established, people didn't see it as a division, but an expansion. It is the same with a new worship service. It is still one congregation, but now there are two opportunities to worship.

How do you adjust to not seeing everyone every week? See church more wholistically. When you think of church, don't let it be defined only by the worship service you attend. Let your picture of church expand to the Vision it is living out. The church is reaching out, welcoming, inspiring and teaching others to be disciples. Worship service is an important part, but only one part. There are tons of other ministries that happen Monday through Saturday that are doing their part in defining the kind of church that God wants it to be. So get more involved. Join a Small Group. Work on a Team. You'll find that when church becomes more than just worship, God's voice becomes even stronger and your discipleship journey becomes more exciting.

Pastor Joe

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We have unleashed a monster at Emmaunel. It is called the Radical Hospitality Team. As I have challenged the church to consider what it means to be welcoming to visitors, the team has gone above and beyond what I ever dreamed and have bowled me over with ideas. It is in these situations that I have learned to stay out of the way and let God work in others. Hospitality has only had two meetings, but let me share what they are dreaming:

1. Visitor Follow-Up - Visitors who make their presence known need to know that we were glad they came to worship with us. A plan is to go beyond just a call from the pastor, but to be sure they are informed about the church and all the ministries that go on here. Most important, a very brief visit to the front door of their home will be made to make sure they know the church is here for them.

2. Seasonal Events - Emmanuel also get visitors to the seasonal events (craft shows, santa claus, Christmas Eve, Easter, etc). There will be much more effort made to welcome those visitors as well.

3. Lobby Management - The lobby space is a very big issue for Hospitality. There is a long list of to-do's. Let's name a few:

- One of the first two focus points for the team will be the Welcome Table. This is already set up in the corner of the lobby ONLY for the purpose of welcoming visitors. It will be a table ONLY for information about the church including the newsletter and the bulletin. The team will be intent to keep things off of the table that include non-hospitality items such as sign-up sheets, books, stuffed animals and empty coffee cups.

- The second major focus point is going to be the empty walls, particularly the empty wall that you see when you come through the front door. Plain walls send a message of newness, but also lack the warmth of welcome. The team will be exploring possibilites of various wall hangings to give the space a more comfortable feel.

- once the welcome table and walls are dealt with, many other issues will be discussed. These include:

The table of sign-up sheets: The first thing that visitors see when they come through the door should NOT be a long line of sign-up sheets. It sends a message that the church needs you to serve instead of the message that the church wants to serve you. The goal will be to equip ministry teams to find other ways to recruit which is already happening in some areas. Once visitors make a commitment to serve, then they can be approached in other ways.

Coffee, coffee, coffee: expanding the beverages by quantity and variety is another dream.

Visitors Parking: The very first thing that can tell a visitor that they are welcome is to have for them their very own parking spot. Hospitality will be working with Trustees on this matter.

Pictoral Directory: Very soon there will be an announcement for households to get their picture taken. This will be done internally with talented photographers we have at Emmanuel. No outside company will be used.

Emmanuel is looking for more people to get involved with these dreams. If you think you would be interested in serving on the team, please email pastor Joe at pastorjoe@emmanuel-umc.com.

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First, let me get this out of the way.........WOOHOOOO!!!!.......Ok...now on to the blog....

I am SO excited about how the Small Groups are going. While there have been expected bumps here and there, the groups have gone well. Each group is a little different--again, expected--but there has been ample opportunity for the groups to congeal and move toward nurturing relationships within the church. Something I have learned was needed more than I had originally thought.

We will soon be stopping to evaluate the experience as a whole and give people the chance to continue or not, as they wish. Some may want to try a different kind of group which will create the need for a re-launch of Small Groups, giving others who have not been in a Small Group the chance to connect.

As we evaluate and prepare for a re-launch in January, there are bumps to be overcome. The largest bump for strong Small Group ministries is the temptation to form cliques. Having strong cliques in a church is detrimental to church growth and over-all church health. It can divide congregations and create power struggles that impede ministry and minimize the influence of a strong vision. To avoid falling into this trap, Small Groups are encouraged to do the following:

1. Be involved in something other than Small Group. Small Group is not your church. It is only a way in which your spirit can be nurtured and supported through study, prayer and conversation. As you are being nurtured, it is important to be involved in other ministries of the church will help you keep focused on the bigger church vision of 'making disciples of Jesus Christ'.

2. Don't herd with your Small Group. When at larger church events, don't gather with your Small Group exclusively. In fact, you may need to be intentional about interacting with others outside your group. One of the points of larger church events is to welcome others, encouraging them to be a part of the church. Small Groups that 'herd' wherever they go send a message of 'us' and 'them' which can be counter-productive to the Radical Hospitality of the Vision.

3. Encourage the Small Group to do projects together that are reminders of the bigger picture. Sometimes as Small Groups meet over time, they develop blinders to what the church is doing as a whole. Getting the group involved in projects at the church--mixing in with other groups and individuals--not only helps the church in ministry, it keeps the group from unintentionally forgetting why it is a group--to be one step in a journey of being a disciple of Jesus.

I hope this helps. And if you are one who is interested in Small Groups, there will be opportunity to get involved. Not only is Women Of Wellness (W.O.W.) continuing to meet as an open group (anyone can come), there will be a re-launch of Small Groups after the holiday season.

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I blogged last week about all the changes. Hopefully it gets communicated well through the many avenues that the church has to convey the information. There is a newsletter available every Sunday. An email version gets sent out every week also. There is the bulletin, the website, the marquis and I blog. Plus I try to send out emails every week to fill in gaps that may have been missed throughout the previous week. Communication is important. So hopefully the word gets out.

Amidst all the changes over the last few months, however, is a large increase in activity. One of the pitfalls of these changes include a mind-set that comes from being use to a small church that says, 'I need to know everything about everything'. Don't get me wrong. It is good to be informed. I would suggest, however, that in it's extreme, this attitude can prohibit the church from expanding and improving ministry. One person can be only involved to a certain degree. Eventually, if a church is doing what it is suppose to be doing, then the church's activity will exceed any person's capability of being involved with everything. This includes the pastor. Even if I try to micromanage every area of ministry, I would be tragically holding back Emmanuel's willingness to live out it's potential.

The danger in this is that stagnation can occur because if a small group of people take on this mindset then another attitude can develop that says, 'well...if I don't know what's going on then it doesn't need to happen'. Put simply, this is a power play that keeps small churches small. When any individual or any group of people becomes more important than the churches purpose of 'making disciples of Jesus', then the purpose takes a back seat to personal agenda. Then you have a church not driven by the Spirit of God, but driven by individuals who want to feel important.

The good news is that I don't see much of this at Emmanuel. One of the reasons we've gone 1,000 mph is that so many people are willing to expand the church's ministry in so many directions. This is exciting, but also scary. As your pastor, I'm working very hard to manage the fast expansion of activity so that we stay focused on the purpose of the church. We must keep our focus! And if we can, we will be structured for some very serious growth....numeric growth AND spiritual growth. The Kingdom of God will expand.

Small groups is already showing wonderful signs of growth in relationships. I'm so pumped about this. In my next blog, I'll share another possible pitfall associated with Small Groups. In the weeks ahead I'll also be sharing about the pluses and minuses of trying a 2nd worship service.

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Needless to say, changes are abounding at Emmanuel. This blog is about communicating these changes. Not everyone is aware of all the changes. Truth is, when you quadruple your ministry, it is difficult for anyone to know everything that is going on. This isn't a bad thing. It is just a reality of pressing forward. Eventually, if a church is doing what it is suppose to be doing, it's activity will exceed the capability of any one person (including the pastor). Now...on to what has changed.

New Vision Adopted - After the sermon series 'In Pursuit Of Purpose', the Church Council voted to adopt the new vision for Emmanuel. As such, the Council also voted to dissolve itself and put in it's place a Vision Team. This Vision Team will meet once a month to dream and evaluate ministry. The Vision Team will also focus on leadership development. The Vision Team will be made up of representatives from each ministry team in addition to the Lay Leader (12 members total). The Vision Team will meet the 3rd Monday of the month starting in November.

3 New Ministry Teams - There are additional teams that have been created to help support and live out the new vision for Emmanuel. The Radical Hospitality Team will focus on helping people feel welcomed when they come to Emmanuel for worship or other events. The Risk-Taking Outreach Team is designed to do any advertising or promoting of ministry for any other ministry team. The Faith-Forming Relationship Team focuses on Christian education programs such as Sunday Schools, Small Groups, Bibles Studies, etc. The role of every Ministry Team is to meet as often as needed in order to plan and implement ministry that fits the role of that given team. Each team has a purpose in the context of the larger, overall Vision of 'making disciples of Jesus Christ'.

Experimenting with a second worship service - There are a few big ways that a church's growth can stagnate. One way is to run out of space. A rule of thumb that churches follow is that, any time seating or parking is at 70-80% capacity, attempts at starting a second worship service should be made. This is because studies show that at such a capacity, people tend to be discouraged from attending church because of the 'overcrowding'. Therefore, Emmanuel is experimenting as to whether or not the lack of parking is stagnating possible new growth. So from December 6th through Easter, there will be a 9:00 worship service in addition to the 10:30 worship service. The schedule will look as follows:

9:00 - worship, children's church, nursery
10:30 - worship, Sunday School, nursery

The goal for the Passionate Worship Team is to give the 9:00 service the best possible chance to succeed. This means scheduling Sunday in such a way that encourages people to attend the 9:00 service. Both services will look very similar with a couple of exceptions:

9:00 worship - The choir will sing 3 out of every 4 weeks with the Fools For Christ band playing 1 time a month. There will be a children's message and the kids will then be invited to go to children's church.

10:30 worship - The Fools will play 1 time a month. The choir will sing 1 time a month. There will be no children's sermon as the kids will have the opportunity to attend Sunday School for the full hour.

Finally, the Worship Team encourages everyone to invite, Invite, INVITE. This is a great opportunity to extend the hands of God and create new opportunities for visitors to encounter the living Christ.

Small Groups - A big part of spiritual growth at Emmanuel will be the Small Groups. We currently have about 42 people in closed groups and another 20-30 in open groups. These groups will be the core for people to get to know each other and grow closer to God. There will be another launch of small groups in January, so if you've missed out, fear not. Another opportunity is coming.

Communicating Finances - while numbers do not tell the whole story about a church's health, they can be a sign of such. Each month in the newsletter and email, there will be a general report on how Emmanuel is doing financially. You deserve to know because you trust the church to be responsbible with your tithes and offerings.

Over-burdening Leadership - Emmanuel use to be able to function with 15-20 leaders. Not anymore. Leadership has been extended to about 60 people with room for about 15 more. You are being encouraged to get involved. But be careful! Involving yourself in more than 2 teams could empty your gas tank and cause burnout. I will be encouraging people in 2010 to be a part of no more than 2 ministry teams for two reasons. One is to allow for other people to get involved. The second reason is to allow every person to have time to be fed as well as feeding others.

possible pitfall of change - I will be blogging again soon on the possible pitfalls of these changes. Satan simply doesn't like active churches that want to show the love of God. There are man-made mind-sets that can keep us from pressing forward as a church. I'll write about these mind-sets in the days to come.

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Now that we have wrapped up the Vision Series, 'In Pursuit Of Purpose', now what? The health of any purpose-driven church is almost always centered around the worship experience. Sunday morning is the central hub from which everything happens. It is where God inspires us to go and be His people.

So how is the health of Sunday morning at Emmanuel? There are 4 aspects that I am going to ask us to focus on through the rest of 2009.

1. Children's Ministry: The next 2 Sundays are going to focus on children. We are going to consider what priority should children have in the life of the church and be challenged to answer the call to raise the next generation of Christian leaders in intentional and responsible ways.

2. Music: There can be excellent music. The key is to have excellent music that leads people to worship, not to be entertained. We will be encouraged to continue moving forward in this area.

3. Preaching: not nap time. Be ready to listen, reflect and respond. Poopy sermons are not allowed because the Good News of Jesus is not poopy news.

4. Preparing for Growth: Wanting to grow and being prepared to grow are two different things. Whether growth occurs or not, we should expect to be ready for it through prayers, presence, gifts and service.

As we focus on these 4 areas of Sunday morning, we will also respond in how we dream, plan, implement and evaluate ministry Monday through Saturday. Feedback is always welcomed. But mostly, we want you to be a part of this very cool church that God wants to use to reach out to the community.

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