ChurchHacks.com

My wife, kids, and I moved to my home state to live near and reconnect with family. Even before the move, we started looking for a church that was similar in beliefs and ministry philosophy to the church we had been involved in for the last several years. Being an Internet-savvy guy (ok, I’m a geek!), I decided to church shop in the comfort of my own home using the vast resources of the World Wide Web. Having spent many years as a full-time web site developer and using the Internet for most of my waking hours, I have an excellent understanding of how it all works and how to quickly and effectively search for what I’m looking for. In fact, I pride myself in being able to locate useless bits of trivia and legitimately useful information at a pace that would put my name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

However, this had me stumped. I spent 4-5 hours over a period of two days trying to find a church for us to attend. My various searches revealed several churches but none of them met our criteria. What was more perplexing than being unable to find a church that would fit us was that the search in itself was so difficult. A simple search for churches in our area didn’t provide us with any useful results. Finally, after throwing my hands in the air in frustration and shaking my fists at the heavens, I discovered a church listed in a small advertisement in our free, weekly newspaper… the most unlikely place to search for a church.

I concluded that either the Internet isn’t set up well for churches to be listed, the web is so populated with junk that it is crowding out legitimate sites relevant to your search, or churches aren’t using the Internet and its capabilities to their advantage. Since there is very little I can do to restructure the entire Internet, I decided to help churches by instructing them on how to use the web and their church web site to help church shoppers to find their church with minimal effort.

If you don’t have a church web site, much of this isn’t going to help you. The first step for you is to make haste and purchase a domain name and get a web site for your church. For those of you who do have a site, get with your resident web geek and consider making some of the following suggestions happen.

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Email: either you love it or you hate it; you control it or it controls you. ITSecurity.com has compiled a list of tips and hacks that will enable you to utilize email more effectively, securely, and politely. Since incoming and outgoing email is a probably a big part of your day and is an important method of communication with some of you, look through their list and see what tips you can implement to communicate better and free up your time for worship and people ministry.

When people read out a phone number, they use “phone rhythm.” No one has to explain “phone rhythm,” we all just seem to do it automatically, “…713…555…12…34″. Similarly, when we answer a phone call we all say, “Hello.” No one taught us to do that, but somehow we all seemed to pick it up.

So why is it that when it comes to emails, there are no accepted standards? Even though 6 billion emails are sent every day, almost no one agrees about simple things like email etiquette, how to organize a note, or whether emails are considered private or not.

The 99 tips in this article make up the best in email practices. From how to ethically use the ‘BCC:’ to what attachments will make your mobile emailing compatible with everyone else’s, this list covers everything you need to know about emailing.

Hack your email 99 different ways (via Lifehacker)

In order to communicate the plans to implement differentiated worship, Jamie Overholser, Pastor of Worship at Parker Hill Community Church, wrote a parable to help explain how different people groups prefer and enjoy different worship styles. Following is that parable, reproduced by permission. I’ll leave the application of this parable about worship in the church to your imagination and the comment section at the end of this post.

Thanks, Jamie!

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A little light on cash this holiday season… or all year round? Pastoring, in many cases, is not a well-paying business to be in and sometimes pastors need to have an extra source of income to supplement a low salary at the church. As Dave Ramsey says, there are two sides to the equation: income and outgo. Perhaps your income is low because you’re fresh out of college and this is your first pastorate, you are in small church that can’t afford a full-time pastor’s salary, your position is only part-time, or the church flat out isn’t paying you enough. On the other hand, maybe your present lifestyle is exceeding your income, you have debt because of school loans or poor choices in the past, or life happened and you’re having to pay medical bills from a serious illness. For whatever reason, you need to earn income from another source and your spouse is already working or is staying home to care for your family.

As an aside, let me say that pastors should be paid well and, if possible, be able to support his family adequately with his income alone. It is generally accepted, except in those churches that believe they should keep their pastors humble, that a pastor should earn an income representative of those in his congregation. 1 Timothy 5:15 (ESV) states, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.”

Following are some guidelines you can try to follow when looking for ways to supplement your income as well as specific sources of extra income.

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When you’re in the midst of auditioning singers and band members to join your crew, what types of things should you look for and what questions should you ask to determine if they’re skilled and versatile enough to meet the demands of a worship team. I am assuming that you do have a worship team and the requirements for joining are a little more than standing upright and having opposable thumbs. If your worship ministry is backed by piano and organ or a kazoo choir and a cowbell, I’m not sure this article will scratch you where you itch. For those of you who utilize a full band, a few instruments, or just an acoustic guitar, it is essential to find qualified volunteers to serve in this ministry. Because of my background and love of music and my commitment to worship, I prefer to have the bar set high because we don’t want the song service to crash in embarrassment like a bunch of chubby, uncoordinated pre-teen cheerleaders. (That, I think, is going to be the name of my next band.)

While each band member can’t have a master’s degree in performance and each vocalist can’t have years of professional experience, your worship team should be comprised of those who are moderately skilled at their craft, be able to work together as a team, and have the flexibility to work through challenges. Here are some things you should consider when auditioning for band members and vocalists. Some are questions you should ask the individual and some are areas you should observe during the entire audition process, including the one-on-one audition and six month trial period. An unfavorable answer to one or a few of these questions shouldn’t necessarily break the deal but this is good information to collect during the interrogation audition process. Now, let’s fire up that bright light, sit them down in a metal chair, and ask them some questions.

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Are you preparing to go on a missions trip outside of the US or packing your bags to enter the mission field? Read Wikipedia’s “List of faux pas” to acclimate yourself to the unique do’s and don’ts of many countries around the world so you don’t inadvertently offend someone you’re trying to share the gospel with or trying to serve alongside.

For example, in Bangladesh:

• While it is acceptable for men to shake hands in greetings, women are only permitted to nod.
• Eating of rice should be done with only the right hand.
• The American thumbs up gesture is considered obscene.
• Closing one’s eyes during a meal is said to invite demonic possession of the hosts.

If you’re familiar with other faux pas not listed, help a brutha out and contribute your own to Wikipedia’s massive list. Of course, list them in the comments here first! (via Lifehacker)

Tim Challies at challies.com posted an informational article about spiritual gifts. He compiled a list of gifts from the Scriptures (the three main passages as well as other generally agreed upon gifts) and discusses the validity of gift assessments and inventories. Tim also touches on how many of us make the process of discovering our gifts too complicated.

The Scripture tells Christians to exercise their gifts, but does not place a great deal of emphasis on searching for these gifts, especially through means of inventories or assessments….

If you want to learn what your spiritual gifts are, the best place to begin would be with reading the Bible and praying. Allow God to speak to you through His Word, showing you where He has gifted you. Ask Him to give you a passion for your gift and to provide desire and opportunity for you to exercise this gift. And having done that, ask your Christian friends and family, your pastor and elders, what they think your gifting is. I believe this may be a far more valuable means of assessment, and probably a more accurate means of assessment, than a spiritual gift inventory.

How has God uniquely gifted you through the Holy Spirit? Share your thoughts on spiritual gifts as well as how you came to discover your gifts in the comments below.

Finding Your Gift - Challies.com

Your worship ministry is one of the most visible ministries a church offers and is probably the most talked about and valued (or scrutinized) next to the preaching ministry. Your style and approach to worship is often a representation of the philosophy of the rest of the church. First time attenders make an impression of your church within the first few minutes in reaction to what happens on the platform: the leadership, the music style, the presentation and ability of the band and singers, and the overall quality of the service. If a church service were a pep rally, the worship team members are the cheerleaders - praise prompters, if you will.

There aren’t too many things more embarrassing than an uncoordinated, corpulent cheerleader trying to keep up with the rest of the squad. In fact, she’s doing more harm than good when she claps a fraction off the beat, falls to the ground after a simple lunge, performs a cartwheel like my three-year-old daughter, and moves her appendages like wet, limp noodles. That may fly in seventh grade but I guarantee you won’t see that on the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad. After all, the Cowboys want their fans motivated, not nauseated.

What can you do to make sure your praise prompters are giving honor to God and pointing others to Him? Populate your worship team with believers who are pursuers of Christ and are qualified musicians by using an effective audition process.

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We’ll be focusing on worship teams this week. I’ll get the discussion started with a question:

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In my previous youth ministry, I encountered an unusual phenomenon I had not experienced before. It was a paradox of nature and sociology that couldn’t be explained. There were a group of highschoolers who had grown up in the church and were highly involved in the youth ministry. They were model kids who served in the church and were considered to be leaders. They attended every event with enthusiasm and contributed to the small group discussions as we studied the Bible.

Once they entered their senior year, they advanced in maturity, at least their own perceived maturity, by about five years. Suddenly, they disassociated themselves with almost everything that was going on in the youth ministry. They chose to go out with their friends instead of coming to youth group unless their parents made them go. On those occasions where they did attend Sunday School or youth group, they would assume the classic teenage I’m-too-good-for-this pose with arms folded and eyes rolled as they stared off into the corner of the room scoffing every immature comment and gesture made by the children in the room.

Graduation came and went and we launched the graduates into the world of Big Church and out of the youth ministry as we welcomed a new crowd of pre-pubescent youngins into our group. Here’s where the unusual happened. After a few months, the recent graduates started showing up to events. They wanted to attend the high school Sunday School class instead of the one for their age group. Their age group, by the way, was now 18-65 year-olds. It was as if they were sophomores or juniors again and they had never left the youth group instead of being freshmen in college or full-time employees in our small community. I let them be involved but only to the extent that they would exercise some responsibility within the group. After all, they were adults now. It worked and it didn’t because they were still trying to hold on to their teenage years instead of embracing adulthood.

It’s difficult to run a single youth ministry comprised of such a wide age span (sixth through twelfth grade) and work to meet each of their spiritual, emotional, and relational needs. In hindsight, I realize I should have done things a little differently. I should have tried harder to take their thoughts of superiority and molded them into leadership. I could have taken advantage of their experience and years in the youth ministry and given them ownership of it through more responsibility.

So, what do you do with 18-25ish year-olds? What kind of a break is there from adolescence and adulthood?

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