3 Ways Ministry is Like Directing Traffic…

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 / pastorfeltz / Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I snuck away to watch a movie on my sabbath. While I was there, the mall lost power, thus ending the movie a bit too early. Joe was none too happy about it, so I left quickly after getting my rain check from the theater. On my way home, I found out that the whole section of town lost power, and the police were scrambling to direct traffic. It made me realize something; as a pastor, I am a lot like a traffic cop.

In my church, I am blessed with a good number of people who are sharp, and eager to serve and lead within the church. Some of them are stay at home moms. Others are retired business leaders. I’ve got farmers, teachers, accountants, and engineers, all of whom are ready to serve and lead within the church. Here’s where it gets scary:

They’re just waiting on me to direct them where to go and what to do.

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Here are a few reasons why ministry is a lot like directing traffic: Continue reading →

5 Ways to Help Your Church Using Social Media…

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 / pastorfeltz / Leave a comment

Social media is one of those things that churches either seem to get, or they don’t. The only real middle category in between ‘get it’ and ‘what’s social media?’ is ‘trying really hard’. And I think my church, Twin Oaks UMC, is in that category. There are a decent number of us in the church who want to help the church out with social media.

So today I wanted to list some things that people in my church (and really any church) can do to use social media to the benefit of the church:

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Industrial Christianity…

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 / pastorfeltz / 4 Comments

Years ago, the church began to go through a process of ‘industrialization’. Churches streamlined everything: Bible studies, Sunday school, and so on. Everything was packaged to simplify the process and make it more “accessible”. Sunday school classes have their curriculum all written out. Bible studies used catchy slogans to be easily memorable (WWJD is a great example of this).

Industrial Christian

It makes sense. We live in an industrial country, so why not industrialize the church. It makes everything simpler and easer. Teachers are less intimidated by leading. Students can walk away with a catchy phrase or saying to remember the point of the lesson. Win-win.

Here’s the problem:

Disciples aren’t mass produced:
They’re hand crafted.

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Citizens of nowhere…

January 12, 2016February 19, 2016 / pastorfeltz / Leave a comment

Daniel, the man in the bible who famously was saved from being eaten by lions, was a man in exile. He was raised in one culture (Jewish) and living in another (Babylonian). Daniel was faced with the difficult task of living in both. If Daniel lived entirely into his Jewish culture, he would have been killed before having any impact. If he had given into the Babylonian culture, God would not have blessed him.

Daniel was in exile – living in between two places, and ultimately living ‘nowhere’.

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A lot of young Christians are like Daniel, living in between two worlds. A lot of millennials feel like they’re in ‘exile’.

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Bait and switch…

December 2, 2015February 2, 2016 / pastorfeltz / Leave a comment

There was a deli/corner grocery store where I grew up named ‘Troutwine’s Market’ (I don’t care if they’ve since named it ‘Steve’s). This market had a strategy for attracting customers that went a little like this: They would mark down the price on a few key staples – milk, eggs, bread – lower than the bigger chain stores. Then, they would have a price increase on some other items in the store as a way to offset the costs. It’s a form of ‘bait and switch’. “Come in for our cheap milk (and pay more for the yogurt)”.

It’s something that a lot of churches try to do. Tweak one or two things here and there, but keep the same basic culture everywhere else. Churches want young adults, so they try to draw them in. But they don’t want to change to reach them, so they try to preemptively compromise.

Donkey and carrot