Hi Rowland, Some time ago you invited recipients of your JMM newsletter to contribute ten 'Church best practice' points. Here therefore is my ten cent's worth. 1. Get the theology (particularly as it relates to the Kingdom of God) right. (Read Tom Wright) 'Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God's Kingdom has been launched on earth as in heaven, generating a new state of affairs in which the power of evil has been defeated, the new creation has been decisively launched, and Jesus's followers have been commissioned and equipped to put that victory and that inaugurated new world into practice.' This theology should overtly underpin EVERY aspect of the life of a church. 2. Affirm and celebrate the daily lives of church members, particularly with respect to work. Somewhere (I think Gil Cann wrote it) I read the line that the most important mission field for every church is daily workplaces of the church members. In most churches daily work doesn't rate a mention in prayers, music or preaching. Christians are outposts of the Kingdom in their workplaces, practicing Kingdom values, encouraged to see their work places as God's mission field for them, in the ways they behave, the values they incarnate, the way they contribute, and in their workplace relationships. This is utterly fundamental and should be a top priority, with no services passing without significant input concerning daily work. 3. Get the music ministry right (a pox on an over emphasis on 'Jesus and me' songs). 4. Get church members to participate in services in creative ways — book reviews and pen pictures of their work environments come to mind. 5. Ensure teaching, the gospel, the fundamental tenants of Christianity are related to the world we live in, so world, national and local events and social trends are put through a searching examination and critiqued in the glare of the searchlight of the gospel. 6. Worship should be good theatre. Services are not times to let loose people who can't read, who can't be heard. Services should be carefully planned and rehearsed beforehand. A professionally put together and run sound mixing desk, well away from the front, and from the musicians should be a key resource. 7. Constantly critique the worship from the point of view of someone attending for the first time. Will they be able to follow what's going on? Will they be able to participate? Will they know any of the music? Gordon Powell used to gather the names of all visitors before the service and welcome them by name during the service. I experienced this once. It was wonderful. 8. Churches should be deliberately pluralistic, and overtly cater for a wide variety of practices. For instance, Anglicans should feel safe going to a Baptist Church, charismatics should be made to feel welcome in an Anglo-catholic church. Groups should be established for various 'tribes' within the church. The same comments apply to different nationalities that might gather in various churches. 9. Use the internet to promote your local church, and indeed, Christianity. Web sites should clearly advertise meeting times, advertise the type of meeting (is is Communion?), advertise the various activities, meetings etc of the church, spell out that the gospel is all about. Make sure web sites are well put together, but with an emphasis on content, not 'flash - iness'. The most under utilised resource by churches in the internet world is Google's AdWords. They are very expensive in the commercial world, but would cost cents only to be on the front page of a Google search for churches in a given area. For instance, a search on Google Australia for 'Geelong churches' does not turn up one single actual church. There are only two Adwords, so it would cost about ten cents per click to be on the front page. 10. Be aware of the growing current thinking that the days of doing church in church are coming to an end (Phyllis Tickle and 'The Heavenly Man'). Grace and peace, Andrew Hingeley December 2008.
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