America is a land of wide open spaces, vast expanses with enough room for buffalo to roam. The frontier ethos of our country evokes an individual, self-made spirit that pervades many aspects of our culture.

Most people in America, however, do not live where the deer and the antelope play. They live in cities. In the book Megapolitan America, authors Arthur C. Nelson and Robert E. Lang reveal that two-thirds of the U.S. population lives on less than 20 percent of the privately owned land in this country. While our country’s average population density remains relatively sparse, the average is misleading.

Fewer people are moving into rural areas, and more people are moving into urban areas. The open ranges are becoming less populated, and the cities are becoming more populated. This trend is expected to accelerate through 2040 as current metropolises converge and become megapolitan communities.

The United States is becoming more urban. As a result, several key demographic trends are emerging. Cities are becoming denser at faster rates. In 1900, 60 percent of U.S. residents lived in rural areas. Today it’s only 16 percent. Within three decades, most of the population will live on a land mass comparable in density to Western Europe.

Additionally, cities are becoming more ethnically diverse. Over the next few decades, minorities will account for 90 percent of the population growth. By 2042, the United States will be minority white. Cities are also aging, as many megapolitan communities will see substantial increases in the senior population.

These emerging megapolitan communities will need megapolitan churches. Let me share the presuppositions of these coming mammoth urban areas and how the new megapolitan church might respond.

Scale
The megapolitan community will encompass major cities and counties, sharing a common culture, geographic features and transportation networks. The extensive size of these communities will necessitate larger churches. Most churches are small.

The median church size is about 75 people. However, most people attend larger congregations. The largest 10 percent of churches have half the people and resources in the United States. Bigger churches are getting bigger at faster rates than other congregations, and this congregational trend is accelerating in every community and in every denomination.

The demographics of more people moving into fewer urban areas also apply to churches. Larger churches will continue to get larger as more and more people migrate to the biggest congregations.

While I struggle with making a qualitative judgment about this trend (I believe small churches can be effective), the reality is large-scale megapolitan communities will need large-scale megapolitan churches. Cultural relevance in these communities will apply to size as much as any other factor, as it already does in many areas.

Regionalism
Globalization will force U.S. regions to merge in order to stay competitive. Economic and population growth will continue to occur unevenly (in favor of urban areas), which means more collaborative regional planning across multiple communities in the future.

As a result, more people will identify with a large region as opposed to a specific, local community. These megapolitan communities will attract the bulk of visionary leaders with the capability of managing complex systems.

The megapolitan church will be led by visionary pastors with the ability to interact and partner with megapolitan community leaders. This church-community partnership will become more vital in these regional areas. Smaller churches in these regions will find it difficult to be the hub of the local community that they once were. And the most successful megapolitan churches will be seen as part of the collective, regional whole as opposed to a separate entity with a separate mission.

Diversity
As megapolitan communities become minority white (some already are), individual neighborhoods will become more distinguished. While regionalism will create a common cultural system, increasing diversity will create neighborhood subcultures within each region. However, this diversity will be based less upon ethnicity and more upon socioeconomics.

These neighborhoods will look more diverse ethnically but will become homogenous based upon income level.
The megapolitan church will continue to grow in ethnic diversity but will struggle to become a place for all income levels.

These churches will have to work hard to be a place not only for all ethnicities but also for people of differing economic classes.

Pace
Megapolitan communities will create more jobs as urbanization accelerates. People will be more mobile, moving to different places at greater rates. Megapolitan churches will be large but also flexible. Due to the transient nature of megapolitan communities, megapolitan churches will have to adapt quickly to the inflow and outflow of people in their region. The megapolitan church that can change quickly will also grow quickly. The churn of people in the community will mean these churches will have to reinvent themselves often.

Many churches are already transitioning to become a megapolitan congregation. More of these churches are needed. These megapolitan churches will take on many structural forms. Some will be multisite, enabling them to reach into new communities. Some will be massive, one-site churches with a self-generating gravitational pull. Others will discover how to be big by being small, reaching multiple niche communities while creating a common, unifying vision for everyone.

The landscape of America is changing. The frontier once summoned people to “Go West.” Today the new frontier is a large-scale emerging urban society. The individual spirit that settled the West is being replaced with a collective mentality congregating in urban cores. As the frontier church reached the early settlers, I have no doubt the American church will respond with new megapolitan congregations for an urban society.

Sam S. Rainer III is president of Rainer Research and senior pastor of Stevens Street Baptist Church, Cookeville, TN. [www.rainerresearch.com, www.stevensstreet.org]

Making the case for church mergers as a viable option for impact and revitalization.

Roughly 80 percent of the 300,000 Protestant churches in the United States have plateaued or are declining, and many of them are in desperate need of a vibrant ministry. Among the 20 percent of growing congregations across the United States, many are in desperate need of space.

These conditions, according to Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird, authors of Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work (Jossey-Bass, 2012), present a potential win-win for forward-thinking church leaders who believe that “we can do better together than separate.”

Tomberlin, who lives in Scottsdale, AZ, is an expert in developing and implementing customized multisite strategies for churches. Bird, on the other hand, resides in Suffern, NY, and is the intellectual capital director for Leadership Network. The book, probably the first to deal with church mergers, offers specific, practical advice on best practices in the merger process. The authors claim that mergers have tremendous potential to exponentially expand the impact of strong, vibrant churches as well as revitalize plateaued and declining churches. They note, however, that mergers are not for the faint of heart.

Challenges to overcome
“All mergers are messy and complicated, with no guarantees,” says Tomberlin, speaking for both authors. “Mergers are hard work and require honest assessment of your church and your motives for ministry, even if painful to acknowledge.”

One of the biggest issues is the refusal of the senior pastor, senior lay leaders or influential members of the joining church to release control. Tomberlin says most struggling churches would rather hold onto the steering wheel of their sinking ship than turn the helm over to an effective leader who knows how to sail the ship.

Another challenge is addressing the pain that the smaller or weaker church feels in a merger. “There is no gain without pain,” Tomberlin says. “Struggling churches will not change until the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing.” What the “weaker” church needs to see, Tomberlin adds, is its story as continuing through a new expression, much like a family relocating to join a larger clan. Each family unit is needed, he adds, but the clan does not look the same as any one family that joined it.

Humility is key
It takes humility to make a merger work. Churches that are stuck or in decline need humility to acknowledge they are struggling and need a new start, according to Tomberlin. Likewise, he adds, lead churches need to have humility about their role in shepherding new people toward a new vision and not coming in as though they have the answer to every problem.

Mergers could also look like a takeover. But when trust is earned and faith extended, Tomberlin says the merging of churches becomes more like a delicate dance in which one leads and the other follows. Some churches are almost equal in size and health, he adds, but regardless, one always leads and the other follows.

The best merger scenario, Tomberlin points out, is when the joining church follows the lead church enthusiastically. But if the relationship is not seen as mutually beneficial, the two churches should walk away from the merger conversation, suggests Tomberlin.

“It is easier to do nothing to avoid potential conflict than to try to reforge two cultures together under one new identity,” Tomberlin says. “It may be ‘easier’ not to merge in the short range, but in the long range successful mergers have a potential for greater gain.”

Mergers are built on trust and faith, and more likely to succeed when there is collaboration in areas of common interest. Tomberlin says trust is earned by demonstrating genuine love and concern for the joining congregation, not just their facilities, assets or increased attendance. He adds that faith is extended by the joining congregation when they believe the lead church is trustworthy.

“Mergers have to be approached as two teams humbly uniting around the same vision,” says Tomberlin.

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Four merger types — well, three really

Rebirth — a struggling or dying church that gets a second life or restart by joining a stronger, vibrant and typically larger church.
Adoption — a stable or stuck church that is integrated under the vision of a stronger, vibrant and typically larger church.
Marriage — two churches, both strong and growing although often at different life stages, that realign with each other under a united vision and new leadership configuration.
ICU — two struggling or dying churches that join together in an effort to survive. This is the only model that we do not recommend, but historically it’s been the most widespread model, and it usually fails. — JT

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Merge to serve better

One percent of the Protestant churches in your community are going to close this year. Could those churches be redeemed or revitalized through a merger with your church? Approach those churches with humility and a kingdom of God mindset about their situation and propose the possibility. Meanwhile, serve your community together with other churches. Build bridges of trust with other local church:
Connect: Take the initiative to get acquainted. You share a common geography; why not share friendship
over coffee?
Resource: Share information, materials and training freely. Make your expertise available. Develop coaching or mentoring opportunities.
Partnership: Collaborate together in areas of common interest and for the common good of the community. The community will be better served, local
churches will be strengthened, and the kingdom of God will be extended. Mergers are more likely to grow out of that soil. — JT

When business of the church is interrupted

Just three days after Easter Sunday in 2011, a colossal storm system tore across the country, spawning 359 tornadoes in 21 states. In addition to property destruction, churches faced business interruption on a massive scale – and many were unprepared to recover from it.

Fortunately, there is an insurance product that could help mitigate a church’s financial loss due to an interruption in giving.

“Churches are particularly vulnerable to business interruption because they depend so heavily on giving for income,” says Gaelen Cole, Property and Casualty Program manager for GuideStone Agency Services. “Even if the church’s property is properly insured, lost giving can make a loss’s impact that much more profound. Business interruption insurance is crucial, as it helps churches recoup losses while continuing to serve their communities in times of crisis.”

Two parts of a whole
Comprehensive business interruption insurance includes two main components: (1) standard coverage for lost income and ongoing operational expenses and (2) extra expense coverage. To be able to file a business interruption claim, the church must first have had a covered cause of loss specified in the church’s property policy.

“Churches need to review their policies thoroughly with a knowledgeable agent,” Cole says. “‘Named perils’ coverage only covers loss from a specified event, like fire or storms. ‘Special form’ or ‘all risk’ insures against all causes, but often with many exclusions. It’s important to know what’s covered.”

Standard business interruption insurance includes lost income and ongoing expense coverage. Extra expense coverage is often optional, so churches must ask their agent to add it. Both are crucial to keeping ministry protected during times of interruption.

Lost income and ongoing expense coverage protects just that: the revenue the church is likely to lose while the doors are closed, and the expenses the church incurs keeping even the most basic operations going. These might include rent or mortgage payments, utilities, payroll, health insurance premiums and the like.

Extra expense coverage helps cover the additional expenses churches face while recovering and rebuilding. This includes things like the cost of renting an alternative meeting place or putting in another phone line. It can also mean the difference between a quick recovery and a lengthier one.

Know the specifics
“Because budgets are often tight, churches are always looking for ways to keep premiums as affordable as possible,” Cole says. “Churches can be hurt by limits, deductibles or coinsurance that seemed like a good idea when they were trying to lower premiums. In the event of a claim, these decisions can cost them serious money.”

Deductibles. Business interruption deductibles are measured in time rather than dollar amounts. The deductible is the amount of time that’s allowed to pass before the church’s coverage kicks in, usually 24-72 hours. In general, the longer the deductible, the lower the premium, making longer deductibles attractive to churches looking to control costs. However, deductibles can have huge and potentially unforeseen impacts in the event of a loss.

“If possible, churches should have a 24-hour deductible. This helps them manage costs while providing protection for their most important operational days,” Cole says.

Limits. Business interruption coverage has a limit that’s separate from other policy limits. Typically, the amount covered is based on the previous 12 months’ documented income and expenses. Because churches are rarely out of operation for 12 months, they will not need the full amount covered. “It’s critical to keep good records of income and expenses, and have backups in a secure place,” says Cole.

Many church insurers offer a flat limit of $150,000 in coverage. For smaller churches with annual incomes below $500,000, this limit is generally adequate.

Churches with annual incomes greater than $500,000 will need to consult with their agents to figure the right amount of coverage.

Coinsurance penalties. For larger churches that need higher limits, coinsurance penalties may become an issue. Insurance companies require the church to carry a certain percentage of the potential total value of their loss, based on 12 months’ worth of documented income and expenses. If the church does not carry that percentage, they will incur a coinsurance penalty, and only a portion of their total claims will be paid. “These things are complicated,” says Cole.

Protection is in the details
“Under the umbrella of ‘business interruption coverage,’ there are a few more coverages churches should consider,” says Cole. “The two that are most common are utility interruption and equipment breakdown.”

Utility interruption coverage reimburses a church for ongoing expenses and lost income resulting from a disruption in utilities – even if the church property itself isn’t damaged. Equipment breakdowns such as heating or air conditioning failure must first be covered by the church’s property policy. “If they have that coverage, the church should also specify that they’d like the resulting business interruption covered. Without it, their lost income and ongoing expenses aren’t covered.”

“Aside from insufficient or the wrong kinds of cover-age, disorganization and poor record-keeping are two things that really hurt churches when it comes to getting claims paid,” Cole says. “Churches should focus on three main areas: (1) have a good relationship with their agent, (2) keep thorough and secure records, and (3) make sure everyone knows their role: who to contact for accounting, for property info, for disaster response, etc. Without all three, they are likely to run into trouble.”

Jennifer Carter is a senior marketing communications editor for Dallas-based GuideStone Financial Resources. www.GuideStone.org

Most churches in America average less than 100 in attendance on any given Sunday. While there have been lots of attention given to megachurches (2,000 or more in attendance) and gigachurches (greater than 10,000 on a weekend), can we still learn from these average-size churches?

Many large churches provide regular tours, seminars and conferences on their strategy for reaching the lost, attracting the faithful and growing numerically as a result. Yet, most believers this weekend will be heading to a service near them at a church that is small. Small in size also means limited programs, modest worship and few people on staff.

Considering that many, if not most, of the leaders of our mega- and gigachurches were likely nurtured and discipled at a small church, we’ve asked an executive pastor from one of the fastest-growing multisite churches in the country about these questions.

Ken Behr is Executive Director of Ministries at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He is one of those increasingly utilized second-career executives, having spent more than 20 years at Ford Motor Company before embracing his executive pastor role the past 10 years.

Why do many pastors seem to have an obsession with numbers, particularly when it comes to the size of their congregations?

I don’t think it’s an obsession. I think there is a combination of three factors that make objective numbers like attendance and numerical growth important. The first is the fact that there are not a lot of measurements that are easily quantifiable. Pastors know that it isn’t just attendance but spiritual growth, personal transformation and becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ that is the real objective. However, while it is easy to measure attendance and activities, like how many people are attending the new believers class or how many people are involved in small groups, it’s more difficult to measure true spiritual growth.

Secondly, there is a strong support for the saying “Healthy things grow.” Bill Hybels may have been one of the first to popularize this saying and those who look to churches like Willow Creek can inadvertently focus on growth opportunities. Numerical growth, however, is a very powerful indicator of doing things right. Along with numerical growth comes things like economies of scale that allow mega- and gigachurches the opportunity to offer powerful worship services and great programs ranging from attractive children’s ministry to recovery programs.

Thirdly and finally, attendance growth changes things, and pastors know that they need to prepare for more growth with extra services, more employees, additional space and even added campuses. A 10 percent growth in a smaller church may fill a pew, but a 10 percent growth in a gigachurch means another megachurch.

What works for large churches in terms of attracting people and growing numerically?

Personally, I think that the most important criteria is having a heart for the lost.  Increasingly, the fastest-growing segment of our society is the unchurched.  If you are really interested in attracting the people that are unchurched, you have to be willing to do things differently. Churches that are growing are often nondenominational or are denominational churches that look more like nondenominational churches. While it can be debated why this is happening, these growing churches are typically nonliturgical. They embraced contemporary worship because they knew it would attract new people, not pacify their members.

One of the biggest trends has been the “simple church” movement where pastors have focused primarily on the weekend worship services and small groups. There have been a lot of reasons for this and one of the big advantages is that church buildings and meeting spaces are no longer limiting factors.  Since people are using homes, restaurants and other nonchurch buildings, the costs of running very successful small-group programs are minimal. Over time, however, many of these simple-church model churches likely will embrace more on-ground classes for the very same reason as given above – they have a heart for the lost and have a passion to see people grow in their faith, and they know that often this requires a more structured approach.

What can large churches learn from smaller churches?

One of the things successful smaller-church pastors know is that limited resources doesn’t limit ministry. Large churches can learn to stretch existing resources and be creative in using space. One of the most utilized resources at a small church is often the one room that functions as a midweek gathering space, a Sunday school room and a place for potlucks and hospitality. Just like the local public school’s CafeGymatorium, these multipurpose rooms are churches’ best bangs for the buck.

When resources are known to be limited, ministry expectations are set appropriately and there is less time spent in budget meetings, administration, maintenance, decorating and set-up, and more time is spent in actual ministry.

Another resource that typically is not wasted in the small church is a willing volunteer. Church choirs are seen as opportunities for people to sing and “make a joyful noise.” It provides a great outlet for both the talented and not-so-talented. Women often find more opportunities to serve in a smaller church where gender stereotypes take a back seat to pragmatic leadership.

While all people are not gifted equally, all should have an equal opportunity to serve and use the talents that the Lord has given them. Just as major league baseball has their farm teams, larger churches need to find opportunities to develop younger and less refined talent from within.

How can large churches create a sense of community?

Large churches always need to think small.  Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings.” Small churches, because of their size, have a distinct advantage in creating easy opportunities for people to connect, serve and grow in their faith. Conversely, larger churches need to make themselves seem small and they do that through encouraging the formation of small groups.

In smaller churches, groups form naturally. They happen when people decide to go out to lunch after the service; when the ladies bring in some food during a “clean-up” Saturday; and when families get together to help another family through a crisis. Small groups also happen when a visiting missionary stops by and shares his or her experiences and the miraculous things that God is doing in a remote part of the world.

These are exactly the same types of gathering and learning experiences that larger churches need to create. When people eat together, when they work together and when they pray together, strong bonds of friendship are formed and God does truly miraculous things. Creating a sense of community happens when the restraints are kicked away and small group leaders are recruited, trained and released.

Community also occurs in volunteer teams, and successful churches know that volunteer team leaders need to be trained to facilitate the natural formation of close friendships and a feeling of family.

It is essential that large churches understand the difference between being friendly and becoming friends. Small churches don’t need enhanced visitor welcoming team, hospitality tents, pre-service greeting videos or weekly guest receptions. These are necessary in a mega- or gigachurch where it’s likely many can’t immediately tell if the person walking through the entrance is one of the founding members or someone that is brand new.

Being able to call people by their first name and knowing them well enough to share a meal is likely the dividing line between being friendly and actually being friends. Large churches seem small when people don’t just shake hands with each other during a 60-second transition between songs, but when they become the kind of neighbors that Jesus encouraged them to be.

How should church leaders define success?

Success should never be defined exclusively by numerical growth. Identifying a strategy, developing objectives towards fulfilling that strategy, and measuring milestones along the way is likely a good start in defining success.

All too often vision statements don’t define the local church as much as they restate the Great Commission. I’ve always appreciated when a pastor knows and can articulate the vision that God has given his church. Churches should define who they are trying to reach, what they are trying to teach and to whom they are called to serve. When a church is focused everywhere, they are focused nowhere. Defining their strategy is a church’s first step to defining metrics that help measure success.

There are many reasons people flock to mega- and gigachurches. These large churches are determined to provide quality sermons and excellent worship experience.  At the same time, learning some lessons from the smaller churches is important. Churches need to provide opportunities for people to grow, get connected, serve and lead. They need to make every effort to not only appear friendly but for people to become friends. All of these will help make a large church seems small in all the right ways.

A former injection molding plant is turned into a unique gathering place for young people.

3 Mile Project is a non-denominational ministry center for youth ages 5th grade through 12th grade,  a place where teens can come for recreation and social engagement in a safe, spiritual setting and where adult leaders can play alongside the youth and offer friendship, role-modeling and spiritual guidance. Activities include indoor sports courts (which accommodate 1,200 seats for concerts), video game arcade, contest arena with seating risers, table games area, skate park, reball arena and three  theater “pods”– all free with the $5 entrance fee – as well as a subsidized café and bookstore.

The project is the brainchild of four businessmen with a history and passion for youth ministry. After surveying 750 young people about their desires for the facility, the owners challenged the architects to create a place that would efficiently and securely accommodate the program activities and cause users to say, “WOW! You did this for me?” upon entering.

The owners chose a 30-year-old former plastic injection molding plant as the venue. The design team drew on the industrial nature of the building for aesthetic inspiration and detailed to the gifts and skill-levels of volunteers. They also fabricated and installed key design features themselves, continuing an emerging trend in their architectural work nationwide. Primary materials include framing lumber, OSB panels, corrugated sheet metal, polycarbonate panels, carpet squares, sports flooring and indoor/outdoor carpeting.

Youth-created collages
Café tables were made from particle board rounds covered by youth-created collages on a variety of themes – sports, candy wrappers, movie tickets, cars, fly-fishing and even facial hair – followed by four coats of clear resin.

Quilted-vinyl shipping blankets were used as acoustical wall treatment in the theater pods and as upholstery for booth seating in the café. Additionally, acoustical wall treatment in the café was made by shingling panels of heavy-duty grey industrial felt accented with brightly colored craft felt.

Media monitor arrays were made from a spider’s web of raw lumber, aircraft cable and clear blue compressor hose. Also, the facility includes large pendant lamps shades over the concourse surround industrial fixtures and are made of spiraled layers of deer fencing, hardware cloth and insect screening.

Repurposed components
Guardrails in the three café skyboxes, which overlook the sports courts, are made from repurposed bed slats from IKEA and wire shelving components.

Digital “fire pits” surrounded by semi-circular seating tiers are made from livestock feed tanks with two layers of acrylic sheet sandwiching two inches of crushed tempered glass (from a glass supplier’s dumpster) illuminated from within by LED panels.

The store service counter is covered in 64,200 strips from brightly colored t-shirts knotted on chicken wire – the painstaking work of a senior women’s prayer circle.

3 Mile Project was privately funded and relied on donations of materials, equipment and labor amounting to more than half the construction value. Renovation expenditures came in at less than $22 per-square-foot a small price to pay for a richly creative environment that has seen attendance rapidly grow to more than 1,500 per weekend and a success by any measure.

Steve Fridsma is principal architect for Elevate Studio, Grand Rapids, MI. www.elevatestudio.net

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Show and tell: taking the virtual video tour

You can tell me about your dream and vision for your new church facility or renovation, but you won’t sell me on it until I can see it in my mind’s eye. When I can visualize it, I come a long way toward embracing the project as my own, and contributing to its success.

Ask the director of a film and he will tell you that he wants to immerse the audience into the actor’s life, events and feelings to successfully tell the story. The result is a visual and emotional journey as the story unfolds, that will bring you to a place of deciding for yourself whether to embrace or reject the connection with the characters or events of the story.

There are two distinct parts of your show and tell; this is the “what” and the “why” of your vision.  3D animated virtual tours are a great tool for illustrating the “what” of a project before it is ever built. Often this is a bricks and mortar portion of the leadership’s vision for a building or a renovation.

In the last few years, technology has increased to allow photo-real cinematic videos. The animated short films render fly-throughs, fly-overs, walk throughs, and sweeping camera moves of the proposed building with a real life feel far above the CAD and BIM software. Live video clips, a message from the pastor, interviews and testimonials of church members can be inserted to help communicate the message and heart of the churches’ plans to the viewer.

This video piece stresses the “why” of the vision, the greater purpose of life change, real events as a result of the ministry of the church.

“We found that a key way to communicate our vision for the North Campus at Prestonwood was through the use of a 3D animated virtual tour,” says Jack Graham, pastor of 30,000-member Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX. Prestonwood has three campuses.

“It allowed us to show our people and to ‘virtually’ place them in the facility before it is was even constructed. Communication is integral when it comes to vision-casting, and this proved to be a powerful medium for us during this building campaign.”

Sherry R. Keesee, Director of Business Development, 3Dream Studios, Tulsa, OK.
www.3DreamStudios.com

Carillon of 23 bells plays automatically by a computerized system with more than 500 songs in its library.

Over the centuries, the world’s most prestigious cities have built majestic cathedrals that stand as enduring symbols of faith and beauty, illuminating the architectural, civic and spiritual landscape of our cities.

The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, TX, within the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, was dedicated in 2008 as a spiritual home for all people of all faiths.

The challenge was to build a cathedral for the ages, of profound spiritual expression and enduring artistic quality, contemplating a 500-year planning horizon. A design team traveled to Europe, visiting scores of cathedrals, immersing themselves in the rich history and architecture of the magnificent structures.

Monumental in scale
The composition of the architectural elements, entrusted to Ziegler Cooper Architects, were intended to be monumental in scale and larger than those in other buildings. Built on a three block location in central Houston, selected for its high visibility and easy accessibility to more than 1.3 million Catholics, the cathedral faces south towards the future plaza, inviting expansion of diocesan buildings around the plaza.

The copper dome crowning the cathedral supports a 17-foot-high, gold leaf cross, one of three adorning the cathedral and bell tower that serve as beacons of faith amid the downtown skyline.

A carillon of 23 bells rings out from the campanile that stands on the southeast corner of the city block encompassing Co-Cathedral. The bells were cast with a bronze alloy of mostly copper and tin by The Royal Eijsbouts Bellfounders in The Netherlands and installed by Chime Master Systems located in Lancaster, OH.

The non-traditional carillon is played automatically by a computerized system that has more than 500 songs in its library. Cathedral musicians can play the bells and store additional music using a monitoring system inside the church. The music is categorized by liturgical season so that the bells always ring appropriate selections on the automatic ringing schedule.

The carillon was designed with room for two more octaves of bells. The layout of the bells and installation of the electric action was done in such a way to allow the carillon to be fitted with a more traditional baton style keyboard that can be hand played by a Carillonneur.

Range of strike tones
The two octaves of bells range in weight from 4,800 pounds with a diameter of 60 inches to 100 pounds with a diameter of 16 inches. The four swinging bells strike tones are middle C, D, F, and G with weights of 4,800 lbs., 3,400 lbs., 2,000 lbs. and 1,400 lbs., respectively.

The four largest bells in the carillon were blessed and named for important women who led four congregations of religious women that played prominent roles in serving the people in the Diocese of Galveston at its founding.

The Cathedral has seating for 1,800 worshippers. A wide center aisle of marble stretches from the front door to the altar. A 12-foot, 1,800-pound, crucifix presides over the sanctuary. Two major shrines devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception grace the transepts.

Sarah De Ita is senior associate with Ziegler Cooper Architects, Houston, TX. www.ZieglerCooper.com

Church is not always safe for the wife of the pastor.

The October 2011 issue of Church Executive carried an article on “Pastors’ wives under pressure in husbands’ ministries.” One response to the article came from Mary Henry, a pastor’s wife from Lamoine, ME, who describes herself as a mother, spiritual director, mentor and writer. From the latter perspective, Henry is researching a book about pastors’ wives and welcomes comments to krmds@roadrunner.com.

Here she shares her own experiences as a pastor’s wife, which weren’t always friendly — or Christian.
Church life. I’m sure many people think of it as being a nurturing environment, safe, transparent and honest. There may be some churches out there that are this way. However, it seems to me many churches present themselves this way, and act quite another way behind closed doors. Ask any pastor’s wife.

First, there is the pressure applied by other pastors’ wives who feel they are co-pastoring the church with their husband, for free of course. Shortly after I got engaged to my husband, a pastor, we attended an association-of-churches meeting. I was taken by surprise when one after the other the pastors’ wives asked me if I was nervous about becoming a pastor’s wife. They all offered me advice.

One woman said she kept a file for each type of note she needed to write; thank you notes, sympathy, holiday, birthday, births, baptisms; you name it, she had a file for it. Another told me it would be good if I taught Sunday school. And, the one I remember the most vividly, told me all I had to do to be a good pastor’s wife was to memorize the Bible, back to front, front to back.

Left feeling inadequate
By the time we left the gathering, I felt totally inadequate, even though I had a great business background, had a great job, was active in my community, and had a jail ministry I absolutely loved. I wanted to scream and run the other way.

My husband was a 47-year-old bachelor in a small town church. When we started dating, one of the women in church who thought she would be his wife, treated me like dirt. For the 12 years I was a member of this church, this woman never talked to me, ignored me when I tried to talk to her, and went out of her way to alienate me. Did I mention she was married?

Another woman at church told me I was the worse minister’s wife she had ever known. She told me I should be on every committee, involved with all aspects of Christian Ed, and should be providing child care every Sunday. She tried to get my husband fired, and when that didn’t work, she and her husband left the church.

Another member of our church yelled and screamed at every annual business meeting. Every year it was the same thing, “Why should you get a 3 percent raise when I only got a 2 percent raise? And you only work one day a week.” My husband has a Ph.D. in systematic theology, this man had a high school diploma. Congregants sat in silence and let him rage. I was appalled to have 20 to 25 people talk over whether or not my husband should get a raise.

Church takes toll on family
Life in a church can take a tremendous toll on the pastor and his family. The young woman who told me I just needed to memorize the Bible to be a good pastor’s wife, admitted to her church, several years later, she had an eating disorder. She had hoped the church would support and pray for her.

Instead church members wouldn’t let their children go to her house to play with her children, nor would church members invite the wife, her husband (the pastor) or their children, to their homes anymore. This pastor’s wife had nowhere to turn, no one to talk to, not even God, who she felt had betrayed her in her own church.

I visited her in a psychiatric hospital where I found her devastated by the church’s treatment of her. The church asked the husband to resign. While he was waiting to decide how to handle this, his wife committed suicide, leaving her five children and her husband behind.

Churches are families, and every family has its secrets, its dysfunction. When these secrets are kept in the dark, they grow powerful, they breed discontent, jealousy, anger and resentment — and they destroy. The secrets and dysfunction hold us hostage in an environment we thought was safe.

Pastors’ wives struggle with alienation, loneliness, betrayal, judgment, fear and the demands of church and pastor. To whom do we turn to tell our secrets without getting our spouses fired? Who in our community is a safe person? Who can save us from the self-destructing thoughts that come when we are being abused in a church?

Women heal in community with each other. Confessing what we are feeling and thinking takes the power out of it, and brings into the light the darkness that builds as we try to be what others want us to be, or, as we try to desperately hold onto to our authentic lives within a church.

I am encouraged by Trudy Johnson’s Colorado retreats (www.anesisretreats.com), the websites that allow pastors’ wives to share their stories with other pastors’ wives all over the country, and Vision New England’s new Pastors’ Spouses’ mentoring ministry (www.VisionNewEngland.org).

It is good to know secrets are being exposed to the light.

Yorba Linda Friends Church sees the entertainment business as a mission field ripe for harvest.

By now I’m relatively familiar with Hollywood. Entertainment’s hub and hometown is just up the I-5 freeway from Friends Church in Orange County, CA where I serve as teaching pastor. In October of 2010 my wife Tammy and I began to minister to a group of Christian entertainment professionals.

Since founding their group, {l.a.}god, they have been able to disciple an ever-growing collection of people united in filling a void where they saw a “lack of much needed mentorship and protection from the hazards of the entertainment industry.” Out of {l.a.}god’s mass of talent was born a Christian music label, {l.a.}godMusic, whose namesake band released their debut album Shake the Earth in November 2011.

Within 24 hours the album jumped into the top-25 on iTunes’ Christian genre chart. When successful, professional session and touring musicians take up the challenge to live out their faith in the midst of

Hollywood, a small mission is born. When those same musicians write worship songs and now desire to play in churches or other Christian venues, it becomes a transformational ministry. You’re probably asking yourself, “How on earth does this affect me and my church?”

Mission field
A missional church is one that identifies a need, sees an opportunity and launches a strategy to affect culture for Christ. Probably the most influential industry in the world today is the entertainment industry — it is a mission field ripe for harvest.

But it’s also a stronghold and will not be influenced by the faint of heart or those who don’t understand the culture. That poses a challenge, as I don’t work in the entertainment industry: I am a pastor and that is my calling. Rather, Tammy and I partner with people who know Hollywood’s nuances and share a desire to advance Christ’s kingdom.

{l.a.}god and its offshoot music label are examples of what can happen when churches begin to seek out and implement strategic partnerships. This can be with the wealth of creative talent that is present, but often untapped, amongst their attendees or via other partnerships outside of their own membership. The early church was noted for its willingness to take risks and partner with believers in other cities and regions: all with the ultimate goal of advancing his kingdom. We would be wise to follow their example.

Strategic partnerships involve identifying and mobilizing individuals with unique gifts that can manifest themselves for Christ through myriad media and collaborative projects. Every church has a “hidden” opportunity waiting to be discovered. Those opportunities may require that we form alliances outside of our denominations and comfort zones, but the Holy Spirit is always birthing wonderful new ideas and dreams of what is possible with God. It behooves us all to seek the leadership of the Spirit to discern the right cultural fit for our unique congregations.

Congregation did film
Take some of the projects at Friends Church. Recently it completed post-production on a film, Not Today. Making a movie. Being a church. They don’t really seem to go together and yet a few churches have started breaking out and making films.

What resulted was a movie that utilized people within the church (Brent Martz, producer; Jon Van Dyke, writer/director) placed in a strategic partnership with people from without (Mark Clayman, executive producer). It took the church being able to say, “Let’s partner up with people from outside ourselves to make this project happen.” Friends actively sought out and partnered with like-minded individuals who weren’t members and the result was a film that not only entertains, but also reflects Christ’s love and how it can be shown in the context of India’s Dalits.

The film looks at the social realities of the caste system in India and their implications for the people who live under them: not in an airy, theoretical way but in a gritty, in-your-face manner. Now there is a product that raises both social and spiritual awareness. And it wasn’t just people who were “in the know” who got involved around the church — many non-industry churchgoers acted as extras, runners, assistants and donated various props and locales to make the film happen.

Suddenly there’s a product that raises both social and spiritual awareness and incorporates members from the church both with specific talents and who just want to be a part of the project. In the end, all of this culminates in a cinematic ministry for Christ that allows the entire church body to be involved and is driven by strategic partnerships.

Another way Friends Church implemented strategic partnerships was music. Singer/songwriter Caitlin Crosby released a single recently entitled “FLAWZ.” The music video for the song features various people being interviewed about their flaws while Caitlin sings about God’s love in spite of our humanity.

Using music strategically
When Caitlin came to speak at the church about the song as part of a message series, she played it live.

Afterwards, she asked the entire congregation to write their flaws on sheets of paper provided and hold them up for a picture. They did. What resulted was a beautiful moment of vulnerability and togetherness.

The congregation wasn’t necessarily involved in the artistry, but they were a part of its movement.

Friends Church partnered with Caitlin and made that moment — a moment where everyone stepped out and came together as the body of Christ, flaws and all. No small feat at a place like Friends with more than 4,000 weekly attendees.

Friends Church may be a bit of an anomaly – it’s admittedly huge – but at the same time there’s no telling how much of a wealth of talent is in the pews every Sunday until you look.

It would be impossible for me, {l.a.}god, or Friends Church to do any of what’s been done by themselves.

It’s the strategic partnerships we’ve sought out and fostered, with a lot of prayer and faith to boot, which have made any of it possible. Until a church is willing to step out, look around and give partnering outside itself a shot, there can only be conjecture as to how far its ministry can reach.

Phil Hotsenpiller is lead pastor at Yorba Linda Friends Church, Yorba Linda, CA. www.ylfc.org. Contributing to this article was freelance writer Andrew Young.

Coppell, TX Baptist church uses environmental projection to tell visual stories during services.

Between Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX sits First Baptist Church of Coppell, where a long-time standing building and congregation wanted to modernize the inside of their sanctuary to stay in tune with the local community.

After seeing a demo and realizing the cost-benefits, the church implemented an environmental projection system, originally developed by local company Visual Worshiper, in order to transform the look and feel of their entire sanctuary with a simple click of a button.

Environmental projection uses video projectors to project images and video onto the walls and architecture of an existing sanctuary, taking its roots from ancient cathedrals and churches where stained glass was used to tell stories. Now it is done digitally, right from a computer. This allows the church to tell visual stories during worship, the message and any other time they want to transform the worship space into something other than four white walls.

Three projectors cast a seamless image around the front of the room, controlled from one computer by a volunteer, with an additional two projectors filling in the extreme side walls for special events which creates a 180-degree visual canvas. This setup allows the church to project not only still imagery, but also seamless motion video to tell a story or enhance the worship.

The church did not have to modify its existing walls or textures. It utilized the existing architecture in the room and mapped the environmental projection to key areas on the walls and ceiling, and at the same time, kept the light out of unwanted areas, such as the eyes of the people on stage and the congregation.

The visual media content is key in a system like this. Most standard images and videos won’t look correct being stretched around a room, but First Baptist received a sample library of content so they were able to use the system right away, with the ability to add more.

The church uses the environmental projection system as a way to foster a mood for worship; projecting images of crosses, stained glass, creation scenes, and anything else that is an enhancement to the worship and message. Motion videos are used as well, but very sparingly as they can be very quick to distract. A favorite among the congregation is a subtle video of snowfall around the room during a Christmas service, or white names of God slowly fading in around the congregation can serve as a powerful reminder.

Using the system First Baptist of Coppell is able to completely transform their worship space for a fraction of the cost and effort than with lighting or with anything physical, such as stained glass.

Camron Ware is founder of Visual Worshipper, Coppell, TX, which produces powerful atmospheres in churches. www.visualworshipper.com

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Project:

• Gear involved:  Five Hitachi Pro-grade projectors, Apple computers, ProPresenter Presentation Software
• Project cost: $25,000
• Project designer: Visual Worshiper

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Salem, OR, has become the first church and the third institution in the United States to purchase the acclaimed Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano. The church last fall took delivery of the 9-foot state-of-the-art instrument.

Dr. Paul Klemme, director of Music Ministries, says “We had an overflow crowd at both services. The instrument was extremely well-received.”

The purchase culminated Klemme’s quest to replace a smaller, aging grand piano in the church’s nave. Parishioners Lester and Marylou Green offered to buy a fine piano in recognition of the church’s rich musical heritage, which includes concerts by visiting artists from all over the world, including Chanticleer, Canadian Brass, Worcester Cathedral Men and Boys Choir and the St. Thomas Episcopal Church Men and Boys Choir.

Looking to the significance of the piano in the future, Klemme believes that the Yamaha will allow the church to attract major recitalists. “We did not have an adequate concert piano to bring major artists to play recitals,” Klemme said, but “now we do. Introduced in January 2010 in the United States, the nine-foot CFX concert grand is Yamaha’s flagship concert grand model.

Church Executive, in this age of praise music and keyboards, asked Dr. Klemme about the significance of the new piano:

What makes the Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano so grand, state of the art?

The thing that separates the CFX from other Yamaha and other concert grands is its true perfection and even scale of sound from bottom to top. It has a rich bass but a mellower top and middle.

The overall sound for the listener is quite a bit louder and fuller than any other grand piano.  It was the goal of the company to build a piano that can play above a symphony orchestra.

Finally the touch is fantastic, very comfortable and even.

What is the extent of the church’s music ministries, especially in a church of 400 people)?

The music ministry at St. Paul’s include two grand pianos, two tracker organs, seven singing choirs, two bell choirs, two guitar ensembles, brass ensemble and a concert series that bring artists from local, regional, national and international locations. We have one full time music minister, plus six part-time.

Is there an organ in the church too?

The piano will be used mostly for special concerts and worship services along with four hand piano music. The church blends many different styles of music into the four services held on Sundays including “contemporary Christian.” The organ is used every Sunday. It is a Gabriel Kney — neo baroque tracker action instrument of 22 stops from 1975.

For people who know pianos, what is it that they listen for when comparing them?

I listened for richness of sound and an even spectrum from top to bottom. It is certainly a taste issue but in my research I found almost every piano I tried to have some inconsistency in this arena. The CFX, however, did not.

This piano has the strength and carrying power to lead a full congregation in singing without the aid of microphone.

What was the purchase price of the piano?

I prefer not to reveal the purchase price, but the suggested MSRP is $150,000.