In times of lean staffs, your church can become volunteer-centered

Five steps in making your church a more effective volunteer-led congregation.

By James Higginbotham

With the recent economic downturn, some churches are closing their doors due to lack of money. Many are choosing to downsize their facilities or abandon their multi-million dollar buildings in an effort to stay open. Churches are often forced to lay off staff members, some of whom were recently hired. Now, churches are trying to find out if it is possible to keep the 
church running smoothly while running with lean staff.

One church that has been running with a lean staff for many years is Calvary Austin [ www.calvaryaustin.com ]. They currently have five staff with about 1,000 members. During their early years, the church existed in a low income neighborhood, generating lower-than-average offerings from its membership. Running with a lean staff was essential to cope with their increased growth.

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From volunteer baristas for their onsite coffee bar to volunteer-based building maintenance, they learned that not all church activities had to be performed by the staff. When volunteer resources were not available due to time or lack of specific skills, they contract to local businesses. This not only extended their skill set beyond the membership, it offered opportunities to get to know local businesses and invite them to weekend services.

Volunteers reduced labor cost

As they began to outgrow their current building, they started a building campaign to raise funds for a new location. The cost of the new building, renovations and materials were beyond their means, so they again turned to their volunteers for help. They purchased a building previously occupied by a grocery store and converted it into their new church building using their volunteers to reduce the cost of labor.

Utilizing more than 200 volunteers, they converted one-third of the building into their new church location in just six months. Tasks the volunteers performed included project and volunteer coordination, financial tracking and reporting, preparing meals and babysitting for work crews, landscaping, painting, demolition, stage setup, media setup and cleanup.

While they have experienced additional growth during this time, they still utilize a lean staff and depend heavily on volunteers to accomplish much of their church operations.

Using volunteers well

How did they do it? Let’s examine five steps you can take to become a volunteer-centered church.

1.) Have a well-defined vision. A volunteer centered church requires that your volunteers know and understand the vision of your church. Volunteers are often occupied with a career and family, so having a focused vision will help them to know if the work they are doing for the church is contributing to this vision.

Create a short, memorable vision that helps focus your volunteers. The more complicated or wordy the vision, the more likely they will forget it. Make sure the vision is easily visible and permeates throughout your printed materials, sermons and signage.

Volunteers have short memories. Be sure to communicate it often, as volunteers are busy and need to be reminded on a routine basis. It will also help them to make better decisions during their day-to-day volunteer work, as they will use your vision to guide them.

2.) Limit your programs. The natural desire for a church is to attempt to address every opportunity that comes its way. The result is a drive to add more ministry teams and staff to tackle these opportunities. The problem with this approach is that it isn’t a scalable solution. There are always more opportunities than you can handle and never enough money or people to go around.

Limiting programs allows your volunteers to select from a limited list of serving options. While it may seem that more programs mean more opportunity for volunteers to signup, marketing research indicates that more choice can paralyze rather than encourage decision making. Restricting your programs makes it easier for volunteers to find a way to use their skills while still providing plenty of opportunities to serve their church.

3.) Invest time with your volunteers. Staff members are often inside the same building and are able to spend time together on a personal level, creating camaraderie. While volunteers should be focused on the tasks at hand, they desire the same fellowship and personal growth as your staff. Your job as staff is to create this kind of environment not only for yourself, but for your volunteers as well.

Encourage your leaders to create quarterly team meetings that are casual, allowing volunteers to share in recent successes and discuss upcoming projects. Have them spend one-on-one time with volunteers over coffee outside the normal work time. Reward your volunteers often with praise and small gifts from the church, such as a gift card to their favorite restaurant or handwritten thank you note.

4.) Provide guidance and opportunities for growth. Volunteers need guidance from their staff and leaders during difficult times, but they also need room to grow. Every volunteer brings a unique mix of personal experience and talent to the church. Find the balance between micro-managing your volunteers and failing to give them the support they need.

A great way to create this kind of balance is to break larger tasks or projects into smaller milestones. Each milestone should have a small list of tasks to accomplish toward the larger goal. At the end of each milestone, review the tasks accomplished, provide some feedback, and discuss the next milestone. These smaller milestones can provide great teaching and discipleship moments, help the church improve their volunteer process and ensures that volunteers are on the right track.

5.) Constantly develop and train volunteer leaders. Raising volunteer leaders is essential for churches with a lean staff. These leaders will be directly involved with their team’s day-to-day effort and will know the volunteers that are excelling or require special ministry needs. They can also identify candidates for future leadership positions within the church.

The most effective way of developing volunteer leaders is through consistent training. Finding or developing a core set of training materials will provide the foundation they need during difficult leadership situations. It also demonstrates the staff’s desire to invest and support their leaders.

Servanthood focused

Finally, remember that a lean staff must learn to be servants of its volunteers. Don’t let your staff perform all of the big projects and leaving the leftovers to the volunteers. Instead, let the volunteers own the projects.

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This may require more time, training and course correction, but it will create a more creative and independent volunteer base as time goes by. Plus, it will reduce the burnout of your lean staff.

James Higginbotham is the editor of www.VolunteerCentered.com, a website focused on helping churches with volunteer management, leadership and recruiting.

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Learning from lean staffs during lean times

With many congregations facing tighter budgets as they weather the worst economic recession in decades, a survey earlier this year of U.S. church leaders by Christianity Today International and Leadership Network shows that a small percentage of churches are able 
to continue doing ministry while keeping staffing costs — the single-biggest expense for nearly every church — well below national averages. Lean Staffing survey of 735 leaders 
of Protestant and evangelical churches shows that one in seven spends less than 35 percent of its annual budget on staffing costs.

Responses included churches of all sizes, from attendances of 50 to 20,000. Among 
findings:

• Lean staff churches do a better job with volunteers and lay leadership development.
• Lean staff churches invest a noticeably higher percentage of their budget beyond the
• walls of their church.
• Growing churches spend a smaller percentage of their budget on staffing costs, so
• they’re “leaner” than plateaued or declining churches.
• Staff costs become leaner with size — as overall weekend worship attendance increases, but not dramatically so.

Historically, churches in recent years spend, on average, about 45 percent of their total budgets on staffing costs — and sometimes more. The Lean Staffing study separated 539 respondents to generate the “lean staffing” comparison: 15 percent of that group spends less than 35 percent on staff, while the rest spend between 35 percent and 65 percent. The study used 35 percent or less as a benchmark since it represents a sizable decrease from national averages and helps with statistical comparisons. A 46-page report on the survey results is available for free at store.churchlawtodaystore.com/lestsure.html.  — RK

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Knowing more about volunteercentered.com

VolunteerCentered.com is a website that provides in-depth articles on volunteer leadership, management and recruiting. They also offer a variety of resources, including a free eBook on volunteer recruiting.

In addition, they offer consulting to churches that desire to improve their administration, church building campaigns, technology and volunteer management processes.

Full-time staff members and church volunteers will find a number of resources to help make a positive impact with volunteers and community.
— JH

‘HIGH NOON’ at Coral Ridge: Dissidents challenge the leadership of a new pastor

The high costs, but eventual victory, of replanting an old line congregation.

By Ronald E. Keener

Tullian Tchividijian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham. There, that’s out of the way. But maybe even more important in his bio is the fact that he took over the congregation of D. James Kennedy after his 2008 death. But it was a transition that did not go easily when a number of members, including Kennedy’s daughter, tried to oust Tchividijian.

The matter became a messy public dispute, and the dissidents eventually left to form their own church after a vote did not go their way. Tchividijian, 38 this month, merged his New City Church with that of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

His newest book, released in June, is Surprised by Grace (Crossway), and his next book, tentatively titled Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything, is based on Colossians. “It’ll be used to tell the story of what happened with me in 2009 [the dissidents challenge], and how God helped me rediscover the Gospel.

“Colossians showed me that when we are united to Christ, we don’t need to spend our lives trying to earn the approval and acceptance of those around us, because Jesus has already earned God’s approval and acceptance for us.”

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The congregation now has 2,400 members and 1,800 to 
1,900 people in worship in two services on Sunday morning. Since the merger one year ago, the church has grown by about 600-700 people — and that’s with about 500 leaving to start another church. Says Tchividijian: “So Christ is clearly rebuilding his church at Coral Ridge, and we are all amazed and humbled at what he’s done in just one year. It really is one new church!”

Church Executive asked him some pointed questions about the church’s quarrel. He notes  too that Coral Ridge Ministries, the media arm of Dr. Kennedy’s content that also has a strong political emphasis, is entirely separate from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

Did you or the elders have any inkling about the coming dissension when you interviewed for the position?

Interestingly, I never inter-viewed for the position. Coral Ridge came to me three times over the course of eight months inquiring whether I would consider becoming the pastor. Twice I said, “I’m honored and humbled that you would ask, but I’m not interested.” When they came back a third time, we began discussing the possibility of merging New City Church — the church I had planted five years earlier — with Coral Ridge.

After examining that possibility for nearly three months, both sides concluded that this was what God wanted. We knew it was going to be difficult — and we turned out to be right. We knew that Coral Ridge — which had been in decline for nearly 10 years — needed to be replanted. We knew that while the majority understood this and wanted it, there was a small, politically charged minority that didn’t.

Were any of the elders on the side of the dissidents?

Yes. While we didn’t know who they were at the time of the merger, we knew that there would be some who opposed me and my team from the get go. When the two elder boards were combined, we ended up with about 30 elders. Of those 30, eight resigned over the course of the first 10 months. So there were many more with us than there were against us.

What was your first tip-off that there was trouble brewing?

Trouble started brewing before the merger was complete. Those who wanted everything to stay the same, who wanted nothing to change, circulated letters and developed anonymous blogs calling my leadership, theology and character into question. Those who wanted Coral Ridge to maintain its focus on politics were the loudest.

Coral Ridge had become widely known for what it was against much more than what it was for. And I vowed to change that. I wanted the city of Ft. Lauderdale (my hometown) to know that we were going to become a church in the city, for the city. I made it very clear from the outset that we were going to be a church that rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty in service to our city. I said that if our ministry was not attracting the same kinds of people that Jesus attracted, then we were not preaching the same message that Jesus preached. Most people loved that! Some hated it—and they made it known.

You have said that you hope and pray that the church “will respond to this conflict in a way that demonstrates for the watching world the reconciling power of the Gospel.” Any evidences of that reconciling power?

Yes. Handfuls of people who originally left have come back. Now that the dust has settled, people are seeing more clearly. The Gospel is winning. People are being changed and transformed. The church is growing. People have apologized and repented. I’ve never seen the transforming work of the Gospel happen so quickly and tangibly as I have over the last four months or so. Personally, I’ve been changed and transformed by the Gospel. For instance, I never knew just how dependent I’d become on human approval and acceptance until God took it away. Through this painful trial, God helped me rediscover the freedom that Jesus plus nothing equals everything!

You’ve noted that Frances Schaeffer “once said that division inside the church gives the world the justification they’re looking for not to believe.” Isn’t this just as true when preachers talk about the Satanic effect in Haiti and other outrageous statements that poke Christianity in the eye?

Yes. The Bible makes it clear that we have permission to offend people with one thing: the Gospel. We don’t have permission to offend them in any other way. They will know we are Christ’s disciples by our love.

You’ve said that the dissidents did not take their grievances to the church, but took them to the streets, and did not invoke Matthew 18. In your ministry have you seen Matthew 18 invoked and used well? Is our society too contentious to use — and submit to — the results of Matthew 18?

I haven’t seen Matthew 18 used nearly as often as it should be. I think what saddened me most was that those who stirred up the most trouble had never even attempted to come and see me, they never once asked to meet with me face-to-face, which indicated to all of us that the issues they were raising weren’t the real issues: wearing a robe, preaching politics, the exclusive use of Evangelism Explosion, traditional music, etc.

The real underlying issue was a perceived loss of power. When new members join the church, they promise “to promote the unity, purity, and peace of the Church.” One of the quickest ways to break this vow is to gossip — to “chatter idly about others behind their back.” This seemingly innocent activity can cause a world of hurt. The corrective is found in Matthew 18.

I’m convinced that most divisions in the church would never happen if we took God at his word and scrupulously observed Matthew 18. When we sin against our brother or sister in Christ we sin against ourselves. A sin — such as slander — against any one of us is a sin against all of us. It’s like shooting ourselves in the foot, only much worse.

In the months following that final vote, what has the church and its leadership done to move ahead in healing and reconciling the church?

We spent the first two months after the second vote meeting with people, sending letters to the members, and doing everything we could to answer people’s questions, address their concerns, and clarify their confusion. But since then, we’ve focused our energy and attention on the future, not the past. And that has proven to be the thing that has healed our wounds quickest. We have a super excited, brand new church that is ready to press on.

What goals, strategic decisions, and plans does the congregation have for 2010 and beyond?

Once the dust has completely settled, we want to multiply the work God is doing at Coral Ridge by expanding our media ministry, planting churches, developing satellite campuses, and in other ways extending God’s great redemptive work that he’s accomplishing here at Coral Ridge. As I mentioned earlier, we wholeheartedly believe that God is doing something special here, and we have both the responsibility and privilege to steward what he’s given us in bold and courageous ways. We want to see God’s kingdom come “on earth as it is in heaven” — we want to spread the fame of Christ — and we are willing to do whatever God tells us to do in order for that to happen. We are dreaming and operating as if ceilings don’t exist!

How will your goals and hopes for Coral Ridge differ in coming years from Dr. Kennedy’s?

I’m not sure because I didn’t know what Dr. Kennedy’s goals and hopes for Coral Ridge were. I know that, like Dr. Kennedy, I want to reach the lost and change the world for Christ. We are super serious about replanting, recasting and renewing this church with the Gospel — by the Gospel. We really need to massage the Gospel deep into the fabric of this one new church so that she can get healthy.

The new mission statement is: “Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church exists to spread a global passion for the renewing power of the Gospel.” We want to see the Gospel work concentrically: it changes individuals, which changes the church, which changes the culture. So, we believe in the individual dynamic of the Gospel, the communal dynamic of the Gospel, and the cultural dynamic of the Gospel.

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What would Jonah do?

Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels started out as a series of sermons I preached right in the middle of the dissent. It proved to be a functional lifeline for me, not because of things I learned about Jonah (everything we learn about Jonah we learn by way of negative example). But because of things I learned about God’s amazing, sustaining, pursuing grace.

I learned that God’s capacity to clean things up is infinitely greater than our human capacity to mess things up. I learned about the “stubbornness” of God to accomplish his will, regardless of how hard we may try and thwart it. In fact, as I reflect on that painful season of my life now, I can honestly say that I am genuinely thankful for all the ache I experienced. For, it was during this trying time that God helped me recognize the practical relevance of the Gospel — that everything I need and long for, in Christ, I already possesses.

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The theme of Surprised by Grace is that most Christians assume that the Gospel is something non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, but after we believe it, we advance to deeper theological waters. The truth is, however, that once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the Gospel, but to move them more deeply into it. After all, the only antidote to sin is the Gospel — and since Christians remain sinners even after they’re converted, the Gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day.

For me, it was through probing the story of Jonah that I came face-to-face with the fact that the Gospel is not just for non-Christians but also for Christians. Jonah is a storied presentation of the Gospel, a story of sin and grace, of desperation and deliverance. It reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther. This story shows that God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels — a label that ultimately applies to us all — and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery so we might become truly free. I wrote Surprised by Grace because we all need to be.  — TT

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‘Daddy Bill’  wanted to ‘set things straight’

In working your way through the conflict in the church, did your grandfather give you any counsel on the matter? Did you have an opportunity to spend time with Billy on the porch of the Montreat home and discuss the conflict and how to work through the issues?

Yes, my granddad (we call him Daddy Bill) gave me great counsel on numerous occasions. When the subject of the two churches possibly merging first came up, he was against it. He knew that, while Coral Ridge had been used by God in some very mighty ways, it was now struggling.

And so he was concerned that it would consume me and get me off track. In other words, he was concerned that I’d become so busy trying to keep the church from dying that I would not have time to focus on my primary calling which is to preach. But as he saw walls coming down and God moving the two churches together, he recognized the invisible hand of God’s providence at work and began praying very hard for my protection and the church’s success.

When all of the opposition began to emerge, he couldn’t sleep! He was so sweetly concerned about me that he wanted to come down himself and “set things straight” on my behalf. Of course, because of his health, he couldn’t. But he kept praying and telling me that God was in this and doing something uniquely strategic. He comforted me by telling me story after story about things people had said about him over the years and how badly he wanted to defend his name, but instead kept silent.

He encouraged me by telling me to trust in the sufficiency of Jesus and refuse to let these attacks get me off track. He reminded me, in fact, that Jesus plus nothing equals everything and that everything minus Jesus equals nothing. He exhorted me to allow even my harshest critics to teach me about sin, grace and the Gospel. He reminded me of all the times in history that God used unjustified, slanderous criticism of men to develop character, focus, and a deepened sense of call and mission.

Being with him over those months was one lifeline God threw me to keep me attached. I thank God for Daddy Bill! —TT

By Ronald E. Keener

Silo thinking; we’ve all seen it in our churches and organizations. Usually a staff member — it’s always the other guy — can’t seem to think in lateral terms, across department boundaries and grab the “big” picture.

Jeffrey Cufaude calls himself an architect of ideas, working to build communities of ideas and idealists. He makes his living, at Idea Architects in Indianapolis, IN, helping others think across the boundaries we put up in our organizations that impede creativity and getting the job done.

Church Executive asked Cufaude how silo thinking gets in the way of church staffs working more effectively:

What is an unhealthy silo mindset in any organization, church staffs included?

Perhaps we should begin by thinking about a healthy silo mindset and what it would entail. Silos exist in agriculture to store and protect grain. In an organization a healthy silo mindset is one that appropriate stores certain functional responsibilities and protects accountability for their results.

We need some division of responsibilities, but when that division becomes divisive it has crossed over into unhealthy territory. An unhealthy mindset is one in which individuals take almost exclusive interest in and accountability for only their part of the whole, without regard for how their contributions affect others and determine overall success for a church’s efforts.

They close themselves off from others’ feedbacks and treat their functional area as a gated community open only to select individuals to whom they grant access. But being healthy isn’t a permanent state, so we have to regularly monitor our organizational wellness in how the work is being done.

When hiring staff, how can a pastor guard against the silo mindset?

For any quality you hope to hire for I think a pastor has to exercise due diligence and examine how that quality is promoted and assessed in every aspect of the hiring process: the position posting, the job description, the application, the interviews, the reference checks, the employee performance reviews and compensation rewards, etc.

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If you want to attract candidates not predisposed to silos, you need to send a clear and consistent message that the church’s culture is one of interdependence among colleagues and not independence between competitors. Then you need to talk with candidates about times they’ve worked in interdependent and collaborative cultures and what they learned from doing so, how they see themselves supporting their colleagues and contributing to their success, and how they will assume accountability not only for their own specific responsibilities but also for the success of the church in its overall strategic objectives.

Briefly, describe a healthy mindset in the best of all organizations.

I’m a big believer in Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership philosophy. It’s not about us. We are here to service others consistent with our stated purpose and to achieve a desirable future that others will find valuable. Each of us brings unique experiences and strengths to this work and has specific responsibilities to perform.

But the organization will only be successful when we blend our respective capabilities and gifts with those of our colleagues in ways that allows us to collectively achieve more than is possible individually. Doing this will require open and honest dialogue and a willingness to entertain perspectives different from our own. At times this will create conflict, but let the conflict remain confined to ideas and initiatives, not personalities or politics.

How might leadership at a church transition from a silo mindset to cross functional teams without firing everyone and starting over?

Whenever you are attempting cultural change you need to have very frank conversations about the way things currently are and the way you want them to be in the future, a before/after set of stories. You need to explain the benefits of the new story for individuals and the organization.

Then you need to help people talk about what elements of the existing culture they would hate to lose and the meaning behind those elements. You can then begin to identify ways (if appropriate) to reflect that meaning in the new story and culture you are creating.

You have to recognize you’re changing the rules and some may resent that. They were hired with a certain understanding and now that’s being changed. They may feel this is unfair. So you give them an opportunity to enroll in the new story, to opt-in or opt-out. You offer them support regardless of their choice. Some may opt-out and that’s OK. Don’t try to hold people hostage.

We thank them for their service and do everything we can to help them transition to a new setting where they will feel more comfortable. And for those who opt-in, we need to keep discussing the transition and ways people can support each other, and solicit their feedback regularly. A great resource I would highly recommend is Managing Transitions by William Bridges. It’s a classic.
[ IdeaArchitects.com ]

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HOW SYSTEMS THINKING IMPROVES OUTCOMES

We asked Jeffrey Cufaude about another organizational approach called systems thinking: Just what is it, and how does it make for a positive influence for a church staff?

His response:

In short it is looking deeper and considering the whole versus managing the moment and selective components. It goes beyond considering what’s happening now and explores why this might be happening, what policies or organizational choices might be causing current events, or what mindsets and mental models people hold that could be behind current behaviors.

Rather than fight fires, systems thinking asks us to focus on what might be the kindling or catalyst for the flame and to direct our attention there. The discipline of systems thinking has much to offer those who lead organizations and is well worth being a part of their ongoing professional development. As a starting point I would recommend people subscribe to The Systems Thinker, a monthly newsletter from Pegasus Communications.

Systems thinking provides a language and tools that a church staff could use to manage the genuine complexity of its efforts instead of trying to reduce problems to simple if-then frameworks that rarely are accurate. Churches are complex entities with a myriad of relationships involved. Systems thinking can help better understand the interconnected nature of these relationships, the various influences at play, and what interventions might more likely produced the desired results.
 [ IdeaArchitects.com ]

The benefits of long-term incentives

A well-defined benefits approach will attract and retain ministry talent.

By Sherre Stephens

Effective and gifted employees are essential to a growing church or ministry. Their services impact ministries and their communities. By offering long-term incentives, churches will have better employee retention. Other than traditional benefits, there are additional programs that keep ministerial staff engaged over the years.

Some churches offer a sabbatical commensurate with accumulated service. Other ministries fund travel abroad that enriches the employee’s ministry discipline. Also, churches will fund the cost of an advanced degree or extra classes.

Taking that a step further, churches can establish and fund a scholarship in the employee’s name at his or her Alma mater or seminary of choice.

Still, traditional benefits typically account for about 40 percent of a minister’s total average compensation package. In an economy where employees face rising costs of everything from food to gasoline, benefits are increasingly important for employees considering a new position.

The value of health insurance

Recent research shows that most Americans value their employment-based health benefits far greater than the actual dollar amount that employers pay toward the coverage. In fact, a 2009 Health Confidence Study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that when asked to choose between $7,800 in employment-based health benefits and $7,800 in taxable income, 72 percent of those surveyed chose the health coverage.

Economic factors and trends affect ministries. A 2008 Southern Baptist Convention Compensation Survey found that the denomination’s senior pastors change jobs, on average, every seven years (six years for other ministerial staff). This is comparable to professionals in the secular world. The Department of Labor cites that professional secular employees change jobs an average of every six years. Not surprisingly, benefit coverage factors heavily in attracting and retaining ministry talent.

A well-designed benefits approach is effective in attracting and retaining talented and gifted employees. Depending on the location and ministry needs, the addition of certain incentives can give any church a leading edge. A judicious and well-balanced benefits package reflects the value your church places on the staff — and valued employees naturally focus more on their ministry assignments.

Establishing a salary and benefits package entails some research. Often a compensation committee takes on this role. Benefits package design should take into account the wide range of  options available on the market today. It is important to align the ministry assignment with salary and benefits that are comparable and consistent with churches in your region.

Many view healthcare coverage as the foundation of all benefits packages. Although expensive, it is an important way for churches and ministries to provide for the welfare of their staff. To reduce plan costs, church leaders can have staff members pay the difference for family coverage. Alternatively, they should consider a cost-sharing approach.

Next level health plans

There are new options that take health plans to the next level, mitigate the cost to the organization and attract staff known as Consumer-Directed Health Plans. These insurance plans are getting a lot of attention, both from the media and from potential employees. That’s because these plans allow employees to assume greater responsibility for the level and cost of healthcare, while the organization saves on plan costs.

Consumer-Directed Health Plans use three separate and distinct programs provided by the IRS:

1. Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Employer-owned funds that save employers money yet also allow them to provide first-dollar benefits for their staff. When used in conjunction with high-deductible health plans, the savings in premiums provide funds to reimburse employees all or a portion of their deductible expenses.

2. Health Savings Accounts: Employee-owned accounts that allow employees to save for personal healthcare expenses in a tax-free and portable vehicle. You must use an HSA only with a qualified high-deductible health plan.

3. Flexible Spending Accounts: Completely employee-funded, and contributions are good for one calendar year plus a three-month grace period. They allow employees to pay approved out-of-pocket expenses with pretax dollars.

When employees plan for the future they should consider the possibility of disability, accident, serious illness and even death. Offering both short-term and long-term disability plans is an excellent way to protect an employee’s financial security.

The most common type of retirement plan for churches and ministries is a 403(b) plan. For employees who are maximizing contributions to their 403(b) plan, consider offering a non qualified deferred compensation plan.

Beyond the traditional benefits package of retirement and health/life/disability insurance, here are some additional employee benefits offered by an ever-growing percentage of ministries:

Long-term care coverage: A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that people who reach age 65 have a 40 percent chance of entering a nursing home. And about 10 percent of those who enter a nursing home will stay there for five years or more.

Enhanced disability coverage:  Look for disability plans that offer a greater percentage of income replacement.

Milestone rewards/ recognitions: At a set number of years, add another week of paid time off, increase employer-matched funds or contribute a dollar amount to an employee’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan.

Relocation reimbursements: Make a down payment on a home and/or cover moving and transition costs.

Financial and estate planning: Reduce personal concerns by assisting with financial and estate matters.

The right benefits package can factor heavily in whether pastors and staff members commit to a life of serving your church.

Sherre Stephens is director of executive services for GuideStone Financial Resources, Dallas, TX. [www.guidestone.com]

By Sam S. Rainer III

In 1988 General Motors started an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at lowering the average age of Oldsmobile buyers. The ad theme, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” did not work. The slogan not only alienated loyalists, it did not attract the next generation. The brand that represented respectable middle-class achievement in the 1960s and 1970s lost to the “cool factor” of the 1980s and 1990s.

Ultimately, it became a victim of its own brand. The attempt to distance the Oldsmobile from everything it once stood for failed. The brand was phased out totally in 2004.

There is a new U.S. demography on the horizon. The demographics in several key areas are shifting in the early 21st century. They aren’t your father’s population trends, and the church must be positioned to better serve the changing culture.

There is much to be learned from the spiritual successes of previous decades, but there are also new challenges in society today. No church body desires to phase out because they didn’t attract new people. How local churches address these macro changes in demography, however, will either help or hinder their part in God’s Gospel mission.

The Brookings Institution, one of Washington’s oldest think tanks, awhile back released a report on the latest population trends re-shaping the nation’s largest 100 metropolitan areas. These metro areas account for two-thirds of the U.S. population and they represent the driving force of cultural shifts in our nation. The researchers pulled data from a variety of U.S. Census Bureau sources and examined several population trends currently reshaping Metropolitan America.

Let’s look at some highlights of a new metro demography:

Staying put — for now. Within the industrialized world, the United States has the highest rate of internal migration. In other words, Americans move a lot. Domestic migration across state lines and to other metro areas, however, has slowed substantially in the last two years. In fact, across state movement has been sliced by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the millennium. Places that were once attracting new people are not seeing as large of influxes.

For instance, Florida saw a net decrease in domestic migrants last year, the first time in its history. Additionally, cities that were losing people are seeing slower declines. In the Midwest, 30 of the 44 large metro areas either gained more people or lost fewer people.

Much of this pattern can be attributed to the slower economy, specifically the housing market. Once markets rebound, migration will likely pick up. What is not known is where people will flock, to what degree, and how soon. This trend may not last in the long-term, but it will still be influential in the next five years.

Diversity spreads out and gets younger. Both the source and destination of the foreign-born U.S. population has undergone major shifts in the last several decades. In 1970, only 30 percent of the foreign-born population came from Latin America and Asia. Today that number is 80 percent. In fact, half of the nation’s growth since 2000 is attributable to the Hispanic population.

Previously, immigrants of all backgrounds clustered in urban cores of traditionally diverse cities. The new geography of immigration now includes metro areas that are not accustomed to this diversity. Additionally, the U.S. population is predicted to turn minority white by 2042, but the preschool population will cross this point in 2021. Diversity is spreading geographically and it is becoming younger.

Riding the aging boomer wave. The first of the boomers will hit 65 in less than two years. As a result of this wave, the senior population will grow 36 percent from 2010-2020. Boomers are the first true “suburban generation,” a large segment of them living the majority of their lives in the suburbs. It is likely that many of them will remain in suburban areas, and these areas will “gray” faster than urban areas.

The massive growth of aging boomers will occur in areas unaccustomed to housing older people, specifically in the suburbs of metro areas. The metro areas that are expected to gray the fastest are in the intermountain West, the Southeast and Texas. The senior population will expand by as much as 70 percent in some of these places.

The new metropolitan demography calls for new approaches from the church. Not every change will affect individual churches or communities, but almost every church and community will be influenced by at least one of these newer trends. How might some ministries change in response to these cultural shifts?

1.) An outreach ministry less dependent on new residents. Due to decreased domestic migration, some churches will need to become less dependent on new resident outreach. There are churches that have depended entirely on new residents for their outreach focus. Understandably, someone had to reach out to new people in the community. Unfortunately, these opportunities are not as great in many areas now.

Local congregations should not intentionally neglect ministering to any one segment of people, but there will be many communities that experience substantial drops in new residents. This stoppage may be temporary. During the migration halt, however, these churches would do well to refocus their outreach strategy on existing lost residents. Once migration resumes, they will be well positioned to minister to new and existing people.

2.) A fundamentally different senior adult ministry. With waves of boomers rushing towards the senior adult life stage, churches will need to adjust how they minister to the first suburban generation. Many churches are already experiencing the “I’m not part of that group” mentality with existing senior ministries trying to get older Boomers to join. In short, there is a generational divide.

Boomers are less likely to take fellowship trips or go to group entertainment events. Boomers are more likely to have experienced divorce and have differing family dynamics. Boomer women are more likely to have occupied professional and managerial positions in the workplace compared with previous generations. Boomers are more educated than previous retirees. These reasons plus many others mean that churches will have to rethink how they minister to Boomers as they enter the retirement life stage.

3.) A fundamentally different children’s ministry. Not only will older adult ministries change, but also children’s ministries as well. As diversity spreads out geographically, and as preschools become more diverse, churches must prepare for a different type of ministry to children. Specifically within predominantly white churches, ministry leaders should begin to think about how to accommodate for an influx of children from differing ethnic backgrounds.

While the year 2021 is over a decade away, many metro communities are already beginning to see these types of changes in the preschools and grade schools. Now is the time to begin preparing how your church will respond to the unique make up of your community.

4.) An attitude shift from homogeneous to heterogeneous. As the younger generation ages, they will not recognize the homogeneous unit principal that was championed in the early years of the church growth movement. Basically, this principal states that people desire to worship and serve in church with other similar people, and the best way to reach people is with others who are similar.

The younger generation, as an ethnically diverse group, will not know homogeneity in the same way as previous generations. Many of the younger generation are third culture worlders. Third culture is a sociological term used to describe a person who has spent significant time in another culture, thus incorporating their birth culture with a second culture and creating a third culture. (See Rainer’s article on this in the November 2009 Church Executive.)

The term is typically attached to children who spend large portions of their developmental years outside of their parents’ home culture. Churches should be at the forefront of breaking barriers associated with differing races and ethnicities. It is these churches that the new, more diverse generation will see as normative and culturally relevant.

A new U.S. demography is coming. In many ways, these changes are upon us. There is much to take with us from previous decades and generations. But there is also much we must do in order to reach a changing culture for Christ.

Sam S. Rainer III is president of Rainer Research, and recently became senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Murray, KY. [www.rainerresearch.com, www.fbcmurray.org]

By Cindy Sanders

Does it seem like the boys and girls in your ministry walk in each week, sit down and wait to be entertained? Do they think of church as something to check off their list as another thing they have to endure just because their parent or guardian said so? Imagine what it would be like to have the children involved in the ministry. Actually “being” the church instead of church “being done” to them?

First you need to understand why it is critical to reach kids at an early age. Then, work on changing the trend of losing them at an alarming rate.You may need to make adjustments in the way you lead and minister. Are they worth it to you? Will you make the sacrifice to keep children coming to church?

Children’s ministry probabilities

In his book Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions: Why Children Should Be Your Church’s #1 Priority (Regal, 2003) George Barna reports these statistics:

• Children between the ages of five and 13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.
• The probability of accepting Christ drops to 4 percent for those who are between the ages of 14 and 18.
• Those older than 18 have a 6 percent probability of accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Barna’s research also discovered that a person’s lifelong behaviors and views are generally developed when they are young — particularly before they reach their teen years. The disappointing news is that the statistics show us children are dropping out of church as soon as they can convince their parents to let them stay home.

In the book Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It (New Leaf Publishing/Master Books, 2008) by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, the 20 to 29-year-old evangelicals who attended church regularly but no longer do so, report:

• 95 percent attended regularly during elementary and middle school
• 55 percent attended during high school
• 11 percent were still going during college

The most alarming conclusion of this information is that 40 percent of these kids dropped out in elementary and middle school. We automatically think that we lose them when they go to college, but we are losing them much earlier. So, what is the solution?

Take a good look at the children’s ministry in your church. An even better idea is to have an outsider come in and look with fresh eyes and give input. What does the environment say to a parent, child, and guest? Does it feel welcoming, warm and comfortable? Is it kid-friendly, safe, clean and appealing? What about your class time? Are you being a good steward of the time you have with kids? Does every child feel special? Is there a greeter at the door and someone to pay attention when the child who doesn’t fit in needs a friend?

After you have assessed the basic environment and class time, focus on using the natural tendencies God put inside each child to involve them in ministry. Some of the first words a child learns to say are, “I can do it myself.” Children must feel they belong. They need a purpose beyond attending a class or worship service. Spiritual gift surveys and basic personality tests are a great way to help kids realize their potential.

Every Christian can learn to share their faith with others. When kids accept Jesus as their “forever friend,” they have a story to tell. Writing out a short testimony of their experience gives them confidence and boldness to share.

When children know what you expect of them, they will rise to the occasion. Talk to them about the importance of consistent attendance. Give them responsibilities in the classroom and during the services. They can greet guests, lead worship songs, pray, dramatize the lesson and create illustrations. With training, some can even be responsible for sound or lighting. Never assume kids can’t do something until you let them try. Regularly offer service projects and watch the children in your ministry blossom and mature.

True relationship

If children enjoy the environment and feel like they belong to a group, where does the true relationship with Jesus Christ come into play? Kids need consistent, authentic faith modeled by significant people in their lives. Although parents are the primary spiritual leaders, they need church leaders to partner with them. Kids also need intellectual knowledge from people they can trust about current issues they face.

A biblical foundation must be built in the lives and hearts of children. Because of the Word of God, they will think differently and live differently in order to be faithful to that Word.

Point the parents to Deuteronomy 6 and remind them to teach God’s Word all the time, in everyday life. Provide resources, a link on your church Web site, or email activities to the home. Encourage interaction and family service projects church-wide as you emphasize the importance of time together. As life happens, parents will begin to use teachable moments to discuss the ways of God.

The facts state the problem and demonstrate why we can’t keep doing church the same way we have always done it. Assess your environment and make some needed changes. This first step might be to get some new children in the door and make the ones already there feel some anticipation of change. Focus on spiritual gifts and watch your children shine.
Next, build relationships with the kids, parents and ultimately with Jesus Christ. Introduce Jesus and His love in everything you do and watch your ministry change. In Mark 10:14, Jesus says, “Let the little children come.” We want to do everything we can to keep them coming!

Cindy Sanders is a children’s ministry consultant for Life Catalyst Consulting, Flower Mound, TX. [www.lifecatalystconsulting.com]

Ministry to children cannot thrive unless leadership is intentional about its role

Too often the leaders in charge of the children’s ministries are caught up in the management of week-to-week programs. Attention to the big picture of the church’s role or vision can be neglected.

This mentality can dilute and negate the value of ministry to young children, presuming it to be a “no news is good news” ministry in the eyes of pastors and other church leaders. A challenge exists to those leading young children to rise up, lead and connect. A challenge exists for pastors to invite this connection and let it evolve appropriately for that age group of participants.

Methods for making this connection will be as varied as each individual church. The key to the connection is not the style, but the source.

The four sources

Consider four sources for connecting the children’s ministries to the foundation, or what I call, the big church.

1. Connect to the center. The center of a child’s life is the adults who care for him day to day. Children’s ministry needs to connect to the home. Direct methods can include offering parenting classes or newsletters, providing good customer service and developing relationships with the adult arms of the church through things like class adoptions and new mom representatives.

2. Connect to the core. The core of an individual is their eternal capacity; their soul. Excellent tools, such as curriculum, craft books, toys, CDs, staging and lighting saturate the market for children’s ministry. As vital as these are, they are still simply tools. A connection takes place when the organization knows what they want to accomplish by using the tools. Connecting to the eternal capacity comes from intentionally knowing what spiritual milestones a ministry wants to see children reach as they grow and promote through it in stages.

3. Connect to the community. The community of a church is the tangible location and the individuals who live and work there should not be untouched by that church. Connecting to community involves getting the church moving among and serving the lives and businesses around it. Children’s ministries are no exception to this connection.

A little creativity on the part of a leader can open opportunities to serve or encourage local day cares, nursing homes, family services departments, public servant offices, local food banks, homeless shelters and more.

4. Connect to the commission. There is a purpose for the church being established. It is stated in scriptures. This commission is for the church to be organized in preaching, teaching and giving foot to the Gospel. Alongside this commission individual churches often lay out visions particular to them. The role of a leader in ministry to young children is to connect that ministry to these overall goals. If the goal of a church is to send people to other countries with the message of the Gospel, is the children’s ministry engaged in assisting that somehow?

Intentionally connecting to the big church involves planning and often additional money. Leaders of children’s ministries, who have the responsibility of creating ministry plans and using budgets, should challenge themselves to connect these to the source.

Kim Williams is director of Preschool Ministries, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA. [www.fbcw.org]

International Network Holds Conferences

The International Network of Children’s Ministry (INCM) is a nonprofit, denominationally independent organization located in Castle Rock, CO. INCM is the premier organization in America for training and resourcing Christian leaders from around the world who minister to children and families, and its mission is to train, encourage, motivate, network and resource Christian leaders.

INCM stages the Children’s Pastors’ Conference (CPC), which is the foremost Christian conference focusing on children’s and family ministry. CPC includes four life-changing days presented by experts in children’s and family ministry. Quality speakers and professional performers are scheduled throughout the conference.

Since networking face-to-face with ministry colleagues is important, the registration fee includes six meals connected with each general session. Conference participants have the opportunity to browse the largest gathering of children’s and family ministry resources available.

CPC offers two location options in 2010 for nearly identical events that together attract 4,000 leaders:

January 4-7 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN and March 14-17 at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego, CA.

The “CPC Experience” offers more than 140 breakouts choices, including a Pastors’ Track with topics such as “The Joy of Leading with Joy” and “How to Wire Families for Serving and Church Growth.” Academic credit is given through Trinity International University.

Inspirational speakers, meaningful worship, excellent focus groups, a jam-packed exhibit hall and an abundance of fresh ministry concepts make CPC the event that cannot be missed for those working with children. Details at www.incm.org.

Children’s Ministry Resources

• Web site suggestion for spiritual gift information and testing: www.mintools.com
• Books for service projects: Hands-On Service Ideas series by Group Publishing and The Big Book of Service Projects from Gospel Light. www.group.com and www.gospellight.com
• Teach your children to share the plan of salvation: www.cefonline.com

By John Welches

When Phil Hotsenpiller became the teaching pastor at Yorba Linda Friends Church, Yorba Linda, CA, writing a comic book was the last thing on his mind. In fact, the thought had never occurred to him. Little did he know that one of the comic book industries most talented and controversial artists, Rob Liefeld, attended his church. Neither Hotsenpiller nor Liefeld ever imagined what would happen next.

Over Labor Day weekend in 2006, Hotsenpiller decided to do something very different at the church. “I thought it would be pretty cool to have an entire weekend dedicated to studying the End Times. We figured ‘Why not?’ It’s supposed to be a light weekend, what with vacations and all,” Hotsenpiller laughs. “We ended up having more than 8,000 people present. It was like Easter!”

Liefeld was among those who attended the weekend sermons at Yorba Linda Friends Church, which typically sees an average attendance of 5,200, and he was mesmerized and enthralled by Hotsenpiller’s interpretations and theories that merged current events with biblical End Times prophecy.

Signed to Marvel Comics at 17

Liefeld has been creating comic books since he was 17 years old, when he was signed to Marvel Comics.

Since then, he created the popular “Youngblood” series, co-founded Image Comics (the publisher of “Spawn”) and sold more than 65 million comic books.

“I was completely taken in by Hotsenpiller’s teaching,” Liefeld says. “The way he meshed historical and current events and then brought it all back to Scripture was radical. I knew something was there, but that it was bigger than a comic book.” Liefeld has never been one to sit still. “I just walked up to Hotsenpiller after a service and told him we should do a graphic novel,” Liefeld says. “I explained what a graphic novel is to him and he was like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ And then we just made it happen.”

Graphic novels have been steadily rising in familiarity and popularity among audiences, especially youth and young adults, thanks to the movie industry’s frequent adaptations of stories based on new and classic comic books. A genre of literature distinctive for its extreme art fused with text, the graphic novel format is a visually-stimulating way to illustrate a compelling story.

Liefeld knew that Hotsenpiller’s ideas and storytelling ability would go beyond a Christian audience and the graphic novel presentation would be the perfect packaging to not only get their message across, but also reach the mass population in a relevant way. In developing the characters, both creators had the intention of not making it a solely “Christian” comic book, falling in the genre of “The Left Behind” series that followed believers around while the world fell apart.

Reaching a larger audience

“We quote scripture in the graphic novel and use the Bible as a historical artifact,” Hotsenpiller explains. “The ultimate goal is to entertain, enlighten, and get young people to start asking questions and to stop ignoring the signs pointing to what lies ahead. We want to reach a larger audience because that’s what we’re called to do as Christians.”

This is the main reason for “Armageddon Now: World War 3.” What’s truly unique about this story is how Hotsenpiller and Liefeld implement astronomy, chemistry and other scientific methods to support and inform. You’re immediately introduced to larger than life characters‚ figuratively and literally. Liefeld’s style is known across the industry for the way he draws his characters, often exaggerating muscles and bending the rules of anatomy.

The first installment has received rave reviews from young readers in both the Christian and mainstream groups. Young people are already responding by asking questions, starting discussions, and diving into the next installment of the series, “Armageddon Now: The Beast,” which was released this past Labor Day weekend. There will be a total of seven books in the entire series, plus additional books featuring back-stories on many of the main characters.

“We are pouring so much information and truth into these stories,” Hotsenpiller adds. “Young people, both Christians and nonbelievers, will benefit from reading these books. Both Liefeld and I believe that we were called to create these books not only for the current Kingdom, but to use as an unconventional tool to reach the rest of the world.”

John Welches is an award-winning writer and owner of the branding firm J. Welches and Associates, Yorba Linda, CA. [www.jwelches.com]

For more information on the “Armageddon Now” series, Hotsenpiller and Liefeld, visit www.ArmageddonNow.net.

Saddleback Church, like most congregations, uses audio/visual equipment to enhance services as well as capture teachings and send video to other campuses. Increasingly technology is finding its way from the pulpit to youth ministry too. With youth demographics experiencing nearly every facet of life in Web 2.0 — from the classroom to the playground — why not integrate similar technology into youth worship experiences?

High School Pastor Josh Griffin leads a staff of six full-time employees, three interns and 100 volunteers who dedicate time to assisting Saddleback’s younger community. His enthusiasm for innovative teaching methods brought him to integrate response technology into his ministry, and the ministry prides itself on creative and relevant means to convey Bible teachings to its students.

With an audience that has seen incredible growth in the past year, Josh works at capturing and keeping the attention of his students. He uses tools such as audience response in order to maintain focus and direction.

Chaos with previous system

Previously, the ministry adopted a response system designed solely for classroom environments that used infrared technology. Utilizing infrared equipment — the same technology television remotes employ — often required students to run up to receivers to ensure responses were submitted. With a group of hundreds of high school age students, the system was less reliable and created more chaos than it was worth.

During one of the weekend services, Griffin and his team hosted a “choose your own adventure” series. The program allowed youth to decide on different aspects of the service — from the opening song to the topic of discussion, and everything in-between. Griffin originally wanted to incorporate a response system where the audience could easily vote with the press of a button without having to leave their seats.

He’s now using Turning Technologies’ flagship product TurningPoint, interactive PowerPoint software, and radio-frequency, credit-card size ResponseCard keypads, provided by Interactive Church Resources. Every aspect of the service during the “choose your own adventure” series was determined by the students. The system created an interactive environment and offered insight into a typically uncommunicative audience.

“Often times in youth ministry we talk to students,” Griffin says. “It’s not often that we get to hear from them. One of the fun things we were able to use the ResponseCards for is to create a very specific message based on what they wanted to hear and what they’re interested in. We used the results from surveys during the message to tailor the content to what they were struggling with and what they were dealing with.”

Used in training sessions

The audience response system was also used during several training sessions and conferences. First considered as a way to inject humor into his messages, Griffin quickly discovered that it was capable of collecting hard data as well. When more than 1,000 people joined him for a youth ministry training conference, he inserted a few ice breaker questions to relax and allow the audience to become familiar with the technology.

When he posed the question, “What method of transportation did you use to get here?” he was surprised the find that most participants had driven. By inserting a quick, on-the-fly question slide, he was able to find out how many miles the majority had driven. The answers to those two questions altered the way the conference was marketed and communicated to participants, making it a worthwhile tool in several situations.

Griffin and his youth ministry team have had great success with audience response in a variety of environments. On Saddleback’s campus alone, four different buildings have accommodated the system flawlessly and without any problems. He hopes to continue to use the system in a fun, interactive manner and also apply anonymous polling to uncover real problems that students may feel uncomfortable disclosing.

Mike Broderick is CEO, Turning Technologies, Youngstown, OH. [www.turningtechnologies.com]

By Sam S. Rainer

They are the young family from South Africa that just got transferred to Florida to head up a new division of a Global 1000 company. They are the American military family who has lived in Germany for more than a decade. They are the young family who was transferred to India, adopted two children while living there, one from India and the other from China. They now have five children from three different countries, and each family member has lived in at least two countries.

These families represent a large segment of people: “third culture” worlders. Third culture is a sociological term used to describe a person who has spent significant time in another culture, thus incorporating their birth culture with a second culture and creating a third culture.

The term third culture was coined in the 1950s when sociologists studied the expatriate community in India. But a growing number of people in the North American context are now part of the third culture. They have mixed the dominant first culture with another second culture to form a unique third culture. This third culture world is not another homogeneous bunch, but rather a diverse, heterogeneous combination of people.

It has always existed

Where is home? To some degree, the third culture world has always existed. People migrated and incorporated differing cultures into their family units. During the past few decades this phenomenon has become quite visible in North America. The following are some of the ways this culture views their world.

Neither/nor: In some ways, the third culture exists in a neither/nor world. It is not completely the world of their parents’ culture. Nor is it the world of the culture in which they were raised. As a result, people from the third culture develop different life patterns than those raised in one context.

Either/or: This culture of people does not see the world in terms of either/or. Divergent views can coexist in this culture. They do not feel as compelled to choose either one side or the other. Cultural contradictions do not rub abrasively with them. For example, in most cases third culture worlders are physically different than others around them. They have a different ethnicity, yet they assimilate much easier in the dominant first culture than true outsiders.

Both/and: Dave Gibbons, founding pastor of Newsong Church and author of The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Zondervan 2009), best explains how this culture is both/and. He explains, “We’re seeing the emergence of people and leaders who can live in the intersections between divergent ideas; people who understand the fringes and the margins yet can weave in and out of multiple cultures, honoring each context yet without alienating those on the fringes.” This culture is not white or black, rich or poor, East or West.

Where are churches? It’s a great question and somewhat of a dilemma. Culturally speaking, churches cannot become “both/and.” We are called to be among the people and in the culture, but we cannot become the culture from which we are set apart. Conversely, it’s not wise for the church to be “either/or.” A person’s culture is not itself a bad thing. It just happens to be where they are, and we are called to meet them there. And the mission of churches is obviously not “neither/nor.”

It’s best for a church to see the emerging third culture world is an opportunity. Clearly, people in this culture are more inclined to live with conflicting values and beliefs; they tolerate inconsistencies. But they also have fewer walls, which mean they might be more inclined to hear the Gospel. And it might just be the consistency of God’s truth that grabs their hearts and changes their entire view of the world.

Sam S. Rainer III is an author and president of Rainer Research. [www.rainerresearch.com]

By Ronald E. Keener

Churches are as engaged in the issue of immigration in this country as are other groups, many doing quiet, steady work and providing dialog and attempting resolution that goes well beyond the public clamor that adds little to a real solution.

Adding to that understanding is a new book that brings a reasoned and thoughtful background to the issue. Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate (IVP, 2009) is written by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang.

Soerens is a Board of Immigration Appeals-accredited immigration and citizenship counselor at World Relief DuPage in Wheaton, IL. Hwang is director of advocacy and policy of the Refuge and Immigration Program of World Relief, Baltimore, MD.

Says Hwang: “Immigrants — both those who entered legally and those who entered illegally — are a rapidly growing segment of the church in the U.S. and many predict are going to be at the forefront of the evangelical movement in the U.S. in the next 20 years.

“The undocumented population, in particular, tends to be very hard working, about 95 percent of undocumented adult males are employed, but earning relatively low incomes in jobs that employers say they cannot find anyone else to do.” [www.WelcomingTheStranger.com] Church Executive posed some questions to Jenny Hwang:

What couple issues have prevented the U.S. from dealing with the immigration issue to this point?

The largest issue is just misunderstanding. Very few people have had to interact with U.S. immigration laws, so most people do not understand how antiquated and often unjust the current system is. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions, some of which are passed on by the Internet, radio and television, that have entered into our national consciousness that are just incorrect and often, from a Christian perspective, slanderous. Immigration is fundamentally tied to the economy and labor needs, and while most studies and research have shown that immigration is favorable to the economy, improving immigration policy is a political battle, in which our leaders in Congress have yet to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

So what’s standing in the way of reform?  How can liberals and conservatives come together on this issue?

The divide on the immigration debate isn’t between conservatives and liberals, per se. In fact, it creates some strange alliances between, for example, left-leaning human rights organizations and right-leaning business interests in favor of comprehensive reform.  Also most left-leaning groups don’t want open borders and instead favor stronger border security while many right-leaning groups acknowledge that deporting all undocumented immigrants is not a feasible way to tackle the immigration challenge.

What has blocked political progress on this issue is that the majority (about 65 to 70 percent, according to polls) of Americans who do favor a comprehensive solution that would require undocumented immigrations to legalize their status, are not very vocal about their preference. Thus the small minority of individuals who are opposed to any legislation that would allow legal status to undocumented workers call and write to their legislators consistently, shifting the debate to reflect their perspective.

Many churches are realizing that immigration is affecting them directly because in some churches, almost all of their congregations are undocumented immigrants, while in others, pastors themselves are undocumented immigrants. Thus, many churches are starting to get involved in the debate because it’s an issue that’s affecting them directly.

Can you typify the immigrant (legal and illegal) population in the U.S.?

Immigrants are as diverse as the native-born population, working in every career, living in every state, and with a whole range of cultures and beliefs. Most immigrants in the U.S. are in legal status, either already naturalized as U.S. citizens or with green cards, while another 11 to 12 million are undocumented, meaning they entered unlawfully or overstayed a valid visa (which comprise about 45 percent of the undocumented population).

Mexicans make up a bit more than half of the undocumented population, but there are a great many undocumented Asians (about 1.5 million), Europeans, Canadians, Africans, and Hispanics from countries other than Mexico, so this is certainly not just a Mexican issue. There are also about three million U.S. citizen children living with families where one parent is an undocumented immigrant.

What stereotypes do Americas have of “immigration reform” and coming to a “solution”?

A lot of Americans are wary of passing an “amnesty” that would “reward illegal behavior.” They don’t see that as an adequate solution. Current reform initiatives, however, are not amnesty (which means forgetting an offense, from the same etymological root as amnesia), but would require those who are undocumented to come forward and register with the government, pay a substantial fine for having entered or overstayed unlawfully, prove that they have been working and paying taxes, pass a criminal background check, and earn temporary legal status behind those who are stuck in backlogs to enter the U.S. legally.

To quote Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, to call such a process “amnesty” is to “do violence to the English language.” Immigration reform has also often included a guest worker program. By creating legal avenues through which immigrants can come to the U.S. legally in the future, we decrease pressure off the border and prevent another undocumented immigrant population from growing in the U.S.

What can congregations do to help the situation?

There are lots of ways that congregations can help. The first is to get to know the immigrants in their community — through direct ministry, perhaps by opening up their building to an immigrant congregation without their own space, and by inviting immigrant brothers and sisters to share their stories in Sunday school classes or other venues.

We’ve found, both personally and in the work of World Relief across the U.S., that as individuals and congregations get to know their immigrant neighbors, many misconceptions they had about immigrants dissolve. In fact, we see many individuals and churches transformed by their relationship with immigrants. Oftentimes, as churches begin to befriend immigrants, they begin to understand the problems with the current immigration laws and find ways to advocate for just policies as well.

Can you summarize what solution to the issue you might suggest at this juncture in the debate?

We think that it is important to reform immigration in a comprehensive, holistic fashion, rather than taking a piecemeal approach. That means (1) reducing the backlogs in the current system, so family members of U.S. citizens do not have to wait up to 22 years to be lawfully reconciled with their relatives, as they are in some cases currently; (2) creating a new mechanism for legal entry into country for individuals who want to accept jobs, including jobs not requiring a great deal of education or skill, with an option either to work temporarily in the U.S. if they prefer or to eventually become U.S. citizens; (3) a mechanism for those currently in the U.S. and out of status to apply for the same program, with the additional requirement of paying a fine for having entered or overstayed unlawfully and meeting other requirements; and, (4) smart border security policies that secure the borders of our country while treating detained immigrants humanely.

The best way to secure our borders is to re-direct the traffic from the “back fence” of our country to the front door: to create legal mechanisms by which those who want to work in the U.S., who do not mean us any harm and have nothing to hide from a criminal background check, could enter lawfully. That’s what is missing in current law. Our border patrol agents are overburdened, which distracts them for pursuing the few individuals who really do pose a threat to our country.

_____________________________________________________________

SOURCES FOR INFORMATION

For good, non-partisan data —

The Pew Hispanic Center (www.pewhispanic.org) and the Migration Policy Institute (www.migrationpolicy.org) are good sources.

From a Christian perspective, Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (www.sojo.net/immigration) and the Justice for Immigrants campaign of the Catholic Church (www.justiceforimmigrants.org) are good resources.