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LA Times

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LA Times

After almost 5 months in Louisiana, our family is quickly making a home in West Monroe. God has planted us in a wonderful church at First West. In Lead Pastor Michael Wood and throughout the rest of the First West team, we sense God’s hand and favor on this place.

I moved into the Executive Pastor’s office at First West and hit the ground running on Monday, August 2nd. The pace has been brisk, but God is doing a great thing!

What’s the best part of the job? It has to be the people—both paid and volunteer—on this team. They are high-capacity leaders with a sincere desire to see to it that no one misses the grace of God. I am pumped about 2016!

Continue reading to find out more about Suzy, William, Daniel and Katie.

Suzy. Suzy accepted a 4th grade teaching job (and calling) with the Ouachita Parish School Board in July. It’s great to see her excel at something she was clearly meant to do. She started a women’s LIFE group at First West and made new connections with the women and wives on our leadership team. Suzy has made a home for us all in West Monroe, and I am thankful!

William. William started his senior year at West Monroe High School in August. He’s made new friends and he continues to develop his love for singing. And for the first time, I’m known for his singing, rather than him being known for mine. He sang Tenor I in All-State Choir this semester down in Baton Rouge. William stays busy working at Chick-fil-A as he continues his college search.

Daniel. Daniel started his 10th grade year at West Monroe High School on our first day in Louisiana. After our Sunday evening reception in Collierville, we drove the entire distance to West Monroe so he could start band camp the next day. After a great Fall semester and a memorable marching band season, Daniel is taking trumpet lessons at ULM (The University of Louisiana at Monroe). His perseverance in developing his talent is an inspiration to me!

Katie. Katie is a 7th grade student at Good Hope Middle School, a short 5 minutes from our new home. She’s got the perfect GPA and loves music almost as much as our cat (named Leo). She earned top marks with her clarinet at solo-ensemble festival and had her first choir solo at this year’s school Christmas concert. The highlight of my Fall was a dad and daughter trip to New Orleans for the Louisiana All-State Youth Honor Choir concert.

The prayer that Suzy and I have had for our family throughout our move to Louisiana is that we would each uncover and refine the core of who we are. I believe we’ve seen that happen—spiritually, relationally and in other ways—in each member of our family.

When everything is stripped away, what remains?

That’s the question we wanted our kids to answer now, and not next year or later on in their lives. They (and us) have learned that true significance doesn’t reside in a place, in friends or even in a church building.

Who we are is all about WHOSE we are.

And that’s the Big Idea.

Resources

Family, Friends and Faith

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Family, Friends and Faith

When my young family and I moved back to Collierville in 2000, the ministry tag for Collierville First Baptist Church (CFBC) read “Home for Family, Friends and Faith.” As I reflect on our years here, that statement perfectly describes what both church and community have become for Suzy and me, as well as our children, William, Daniel and Katie.

My family has a long and blessed history with both Collierville and CFBC. It began when my father was called as Minister of Music and Youth in 1969. I was a precocious 1 year old and Collierville was more rural than suburban. Mom and Dad quickly made friendships that would last for the rest of their lives.

It’s fun to read the official church history version:

Bill Spencer from the Baptist Church in Iuka, Mississippi, was selected in the fall of 1969 as a full-time staff member, filling the position of Music and Youth Director at $8,500 per year. The church bought a house on South Street for him to live in.

We lived in that house with red brick and the long driveway (and the $8,500 salary) for almost 4 full years. Our 8mm home movies tell the story of a fruitful ministry in small town America. Families with kids who were a part of Dad’s student group have stayed in touch for the last 45 years.

Over the next several years, my father served some wonderful churches, but the family’s connection to Collierville was always there. A brief recap of my mom and dad’s ministry tells the tale of a remarkable return to Collierville in 1985:

  • 1969-1973, CFBC
  • 1973-1974, Daniel Memorial Baptist Church, Jackson, MS
  • 1974-1985, Germantown Baptist Church, Germantown, TN
  • 1985-1986, CFBC

My father’s second tour of ministry at CFBC ended on April 23, 1986 when he suffered a fatal heart attack. It was both an unexpected and transformative moment in my life, altering our family’s course and sending each of us down paths that we could never have orchestrated on our own.

But God was in control then, as He is in control today. He led me to Virginia, where I met and married Suzy and found a renewed call to ministry. He moved us to California and Texas, where we discovered a zeal for doing whatever it takes to reach unchurched people. And then, He led us back to Collierville.

The opportunity to follow my father’s footsteps in ministry at CFBC was something only God could do. I am so thankful for Pastor Gary Watkins and the CFBC personnel team for seeing in me the rough leadership and character traits that would translate to effective ministry in metro Memphis.

Our first Sunday at CFBC was June 13, 2000. What followed were 15 years of incredible, Spirit-filled ministry. The church doubled in size, the worship ministry multiplied to over 600 members and I grew to accept new responsibilities as a church leader. I will always be grateful for the personal, spiritual and leadership investment that Pastor Chuck Herring made in me.

As we embark on a new adventure at First West in West Monroe, Louisiana, we thank God for our years at CFBC. We will remember Collierville as a place for:

  • Family – William was 2 years old and Daniel was 10 months old when we bought our first home in 2000. Two years later, Katie was born and our family was complete. Collierville schools (and friends) are the only ones my kids have ever known.
  • Friends – We have made friends and formed ministry partnerships that will last for the rest of our lives. Generous church members, pastors, and friends, along with some gifted ministry team members, have enriched our lives far beyond anything we could have hoped or imagined.
  • Faith – My kids have grown in both faith and maturity at CFBC. William, Daniel and Katie were all baptized here, and a multitude of preschool, children’s and student leaders have invested in our family. We are forever indebted to them for instilling in our kids a passion for Jesus Christ!

So what’s the Big Idea?

My family has a long and blessed history with both Collierville and CFBC. As we embark on a new adventure at First West, we thank God for our years at CFBC.

Resources


Source

Bernice Taylor Cargill, A History of the First Baptist Church, Collierville, Tennessee (Memphis: Castle Books, 1994), 52.

3 Ways to Measure Church Health

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3 Ways to Measure Church Health

We have long measured outward signs of church health. They tell the story of needs met, people reached and lives changed. But do traditional measures of health tell the most important parts of that story?

Most churches measure the usual things and count them as measures of success or failure. While that can be a useful exercise, there’s more to church health than attendance and money. Andy Stanley and the North Point team say it this way:

Too many church leaders have bought into the myth that to clarify the win means establishing attendance goals and raising a lot of money. These can certainly be indicators about the health of your organization, but strong numbers in these areas do not necessarily mean you are winning.

Consider how you know your church is winning. Healthy churches are known for their worship and their witness.  They are purposeful places of discipleship, ministry, evangelism and missions. They are Great Commission and Great Commandment places of authentic Christian fellowship and community.

The key is knowing with certainty whether or not those words accurately describe your church. You may intuitively know the answer based on experience and anecdotal evidence, but dig deeper to build an evenhanded picture of church health.

Consider 3 ways to measure church health objectively:

  1. Research who you are and where you’ve been. Research helps you know precisely where your church is at this moment. It helps you answer important questions about the people who populate your church (and the ones who don’t). Compile data and gather information on the journey your church has traveled and where it is right now. Map the trend lines over a period of several years so you can visualize areas of strength and areas of opportunity. Read more
  2. Ask the right questions. Analyzing the data you’ve gathered may take some time and effort. It may also require a brainstorming session of your ministry staff team and other church leaders. Pray over the results of your research. Examine the numerical data closely and stay true to what it tells you about your current situation.
    • Ask “why” and “how” questions. Read more
    • Don’t stop asking questions. Read more
    • Consider the sample questions below.
  3. Consider past and present definitions of success. Focus on outputs vs. inputs. Inputs tell you what ingredients go in to something. Outputs tell you what comes out on the other side. Move beyond simple input measures to the more significant outcomes you’re aiming for. Find ways to measure success quantitatively. While qualitative measures are subjective and experiential, quantitative measures, or metrics, are objective and numerical. In most cases, quantitative measures are the best way to measure outcomes without bias. Read more

So what’s the Big Idea?

Research who you are and where you’ve been. Ask the right questions about the information you gather. And consider past and present definitions of success. That’s the way to take an unbiased, evenhanded snapshot of church health.

Resources

Ask the Right Questions

  • What does the raw data tell you about your church?
  • Is your church growing, plateaued or declining?
  • Are you reaching unchurched people in your community?
  • Does the church reflect its community? (race, age and more)
  • How many church members did it take to baptize one person?
  • Does this number seem unreasonably high?
  • Are you reproducing disciple-making disciples?
  • Does the church show signs of spiritual health?
  • What are age division attendance patterns in small groups?
  • What growth opportunities exist in those patterns?
  • Is morning worship attendance advancing or declining?


Source

Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2004), 71.

The American Church Faces Its Kodak Moment

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The American Church Faces Its Kodak Moment

Kodak is the textbook example of a successful company that failed to adapt to major changes in its core business. In a spectacular example of mismanagement and organizational hubris, it failed to anticipate the transition from photographic film to digital photography.

An organization’s Kodak moment occurs when peak success gives way to rapid changes in culture and the marketplace, producing a diminished organization unable or unwilling to adapt.

Is the American Church facing its own Kodak moment? Has it begun the inexorable slide towards ineffective witness, waning influence and spiritual complacency? Those questions hit me hard as I read John Dickerson’s book, The Great Evangelical Recession.

He documents 6 “Kodak moment” trends of decline in the American Church:

  1. We are an inflated church. – Evangelicals aren’t as big as we think we are. We likely comprise about 7% of the U.S. population or around 22 million people.
  2. We are a hated church. – It’s clear that the host culture is turning against Bible-believing Christianity in the United States. On a wide range of issues from abortion to homosexuality, Christians are seen as intolerant, bigoted and backwards.
  3. We are a divided church. – Evangelical unity has been undermined by doctrinal, political and social divisions that further marginalize and reduce our influence.
  4. We are a bankrupt church. – We are faced with the prospect of declining financial Wresources as older giving generations die off and younger generations give less.
  5. We are a bleeding church. – Millennials and other young people are leaving the church in large numbers. Many see it as irrelevant or unresponsive to their idea of a difference-making faith.
  6. We are a sputtering church. – Evangelicals are not making disciples like we should and we are unable, or unwilling, to evangelize the lost like we used to. As a result, each succeeding U.S. generation is less Christian than its predecessor.

Have we arrived at a point of no return? I believe the American Church is closer than it’s ever been to an irreversible slide to obscurity. With each year, the road back to spiritual vitality grows longer and harder.

But there is hope.

We rightly define growing Christian churches by their worship and their witness.  They are purposeful places of discipleship, ministry, evangelism and missions. They are Great Commission and Great Commandment places of authentic Christian fellowship and community.

We have to be those things again. We must:

  • Love and worship God above anything else.
  • Demonstrate unselfish love for unchurched people.
  • Value Kingdom-oriented, disciple-making outcomes.
  • Do more with less and become focused stewards of limited financial resources.
  • Address culture directly and confront difficult issues graciously.

So what’s the Big Idea?

The way back to spiritual renewal and revival begins with loving the right things. We must love Christ more than the world, love others more than ourselves, and love the Kingdom of God more than our material possessions. That’s the path to a spiritually vibrant and growing American Church.

Resources


Source

John S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church…and How to Prepare (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013) 21-120.

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