‘Beam Me Up’…Pastor? Holographic Technology Allows Pastor To Be in Nine Locations at Once

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May 12, 2022

Pastor Randy Bezet of Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, Florida, is using something straight out of Star Trek to preach to the church’s nine campuses simultaneously.

Bazet uses a new holographic technology called PROTO, a device that, according to its developer, “lets people beam themselves to a location thousands of miles away and interact with people there.”

The holographic technology allows Bezet to interact with those in the congregation, even though he’s not actually there. The PROTO Epic model has a camera on it, so the pastor can see the people he’s “beaming” to. Unlike a traditional live video stream, Bazet can actually hear sounds from the congregation.

“This really is, I think, putting me in nine locations at one time or has the potential to do that and make it much more personal than if it was just a video or kind of a flat-screen,” Bazet told Fox 13 News.

The hologram producing device can be operated with an iPad or cell phone and can be used to play pre-recorded videos as well. However, the tech doesn’t come cheap, starting at a hefty price tag of $100,000.

Bazet said, “We’ll do whatever we can to actually reach and impact as many people as we can, and, in this case, try a new technology like this.”

The church says that “whether it be through our high-energy weekend services, small groups, missions trips, youth services, counseling, or growth classes, Bayside believes in giving you the tools you need to gain a deeper relationship with God.”

Samuel Rodriguez, senior pastor of New Season Church in Sacramento, California, used similar technology to deliver a sermon on July 4, 2021 to a church in New Zealand. Rodriguez described the experience to CBN News as an “encounter between Star Trek and Christianity.”

Conservative Christian Leaders Blast Democrats for Attempting to Codify Abortion Rights

By

Jesse T. Jackson

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May 12, 2022

thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

“You can no longer pretend to support life and vote Democrat. Period,” former Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee member Rod Martin tweeted yesterday after Senate Democrats forced a vote in an attempt to codify the right to an abortion into federal law.

Every Senate Democrat except Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia voted in favor of advancing the bill, called the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA).

The bill would have not only preserved abortion rights but would have allowed for abortion to take place up until the moment of birth, as long as a medical professional deem the pregnancy a threat to the mother’s life. (Emotional health is included in that evaluation.) Further, the bill would have barred states from placing any restrictions on abortion.

The Senate vote failed 49-51, because Manchin voted with every Senate Republican to strike the bill down.

Democratic Senators pushed to pass the bill in light of last week’s leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion, which signaled the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “For the first time in 50 years, a conservative majority—an extreme majority—on the Supreme Court is on the brink of declaring that women do not have freedom of their own bodies.”

“All of us will have to answer for this vote for the rest of our time in public office,” Schumer told fellow Senators before the vote. “Before the day is over, every member of this body will make a choice to stand with women to protect their freedoms or stand with MAGA Republicans to take our country into a dark and repressive future.”

After the bill failed to receive the necessary votes, Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters, “Sadly, the Senate failed to stand in defense of a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.”

In a statement released by The White House, President Joe Biden scolded Republicans for not supporting the WHPA.

“Republicans in Congress—not one of whom voted for this bill—have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives,” the statement said.

“To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House,” Biden continued. “If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January, and put it on my desk, so I can sign it into law.”

Reiterating his commitment to codifying Roe, Biden said, “While this legislation did not pass today, my Administration will not stop fighting to protect access to women’s reproductive care.”

Last week, Biden said he believes that being “a child of God” gives someone the right to an abortion.

‘Good, Good Mother’—On Mother’s Day, Texas Church Worships God As Female

By

Stephanie Martin

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May 12, 2022

At Austin New Church in Austin, Texas, several parts of last Sunday’s Mother’s Day service featured feminine pronouns and imagery for God.

A video shows the worship team altering the chorus of the song “Good, Good Father” by Housefires featuring Pat Barrett. Also during the service, female pronouns for God were used in recitations of Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer.

Austin New Church describes itself as a progressive community “based on belonging, not beliefs.” Brandon and Jen Hatmaker founded the congregation in 2008 but are no longer mentioned on the church website. The couple divorced in 2020, after 27 years of marriage.

Austin New Church: ‘Now We Know Better’ Than To Limit God

In her message, Creative Pastor Samantha Beach Kiley says, “We profess that we all bear the image of God, but how can we see God in ourselves if we don’t see ourselves in God? If God is only male, if God is only white, what possibilities does that limit for those of us whose identity markers are different?” She quotes from Christena Cleveland’s book “God Is a Black Woman,” about how a “narrow” view of God restricts our imagination.

Kiley admitted the topic was daunting and full of “landmines”—including the risk of “just setting up another binary” by labeling God as female.

About Psalm 23, Kiley says, “David wrote as if God were Father. How could he not?… That was the outermost tree ring of revelation during his time, but now we know better… We get to read our Scripture with a more expansive method of interpretation.” She adds, “Even when David wrote to God as Father, God was already Mother. God was already both. God was already neither. Even if David couldn’t see it yet.”

Kiley was joined by her mother, Nancy Beach, who shared some Scriptures that use mothering imagery for God and Jesus. Then Beach asked, “What if God transcends gender?… How would our picture of God and our relationship to God be different and more whole if we could embrace this idea of God as Father as well as Mother?”

‘Great Faith Systems…Have Always Understood’ God As Female

In his message, Lead Pastor Jason Morriss said that as expansive as God-as-Mother might seem, it’s something “we should always have understood—that God is not contained in the binaries of our linguistic symbols.” For example, “We have always known that God is relentless in pursuit…and unconditional in love. These are the hallmarks of mothering.”

David Platt’s McLean Bible Church Prepares for New Elder Election Following Lawsuit

By

Dale Chamberlain

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May 12, 2022

McLean Bible Church, an evangelical multisite church with several locations in the Washington, DC area, is preparing to elect new elders for the first time since a legal dispute surrounding the congregational voting process in June 2021.

McLean lead pastor David Platt had become the center of controversy after speaking to issues of racial justice in America, causing some within the broader evangelical movement as well as within his own church to doubt his leadership, stoking a conflict that came to a head in a bitter dispute over the 2021 McLean Bible Church elder selection process.

According to Platt, a small group of disgruntled church members had begun a whisper campaign against him during the spring and summer of 2021, accusing him of planning to sell church property to a Muslim group to be used for a Mosque. This group also allegedly spread rumors that Platt was going to change the church’s pro-life stance, as well as broaden its definition of biblical sexuality. None of these claims were true.

Nevertheless, on the strength of these claims and the alarm they caused, this group then campaigned to call together members, former members, and inactive members of McLean Bible Church to vote down any elder candidates presented at the June 2021 congregational meeting.

The campaign was successful, and for the first time in the church’s nearly 60-year history, the three new elders presented to the congregation failed to receive the required three-quarters vote.

Aware that a number of votes were cast by former and inactive members who traveled to the church specifically to vote down elder nominees, McLean church leadership presented three new elder nominees in a subsequent meeting, requiring identification for current members and giving provisional ballots to inactive members. The three new elders received 80% of the vote and were subsequently confirmed.

Following that meeting, five members of McLean Bible Church filed suit against Platt and other church leaders, alleging that they violated the terms of the church constitution in order to silence the voices of those who disagreed with them.

Almost a year later, McLean now faces the task of nominating a new class of elders, and McLean leadership is hoping to do so without incident.

To that end, the church’s website is extending an invitation to church members to approve a clearly defined course of action, accounting for the various contingencies that may occur in the election process.

Department of Interior Releases First Report Detailing US Indian Boarding Schools

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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May 12, 2022

(RNS) — The United States operated 408 boarding schools for Indigenous children across 37 states or then-territories between 1819 and 1969 — half of them likely supported by religious institutions.

That’s according to the first volume of an investigative report into the country’s Indian boarding school system that was released Wednesday (May 11) by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“Our initial investigation results show that approximately 50% of federal Indian boarding schools may have received support or involvement from religious institutions or organizations, including funding, infrastructure and personnel,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said at a news conference on the progress of the department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative.

The report revealed nearly 40 more schools than the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition previously had identified in the U.S. — and nearly three times more than the number of schools documented in Canada’s residential school system by that country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

It also recorded the deaths of more than 500 children and identified marked or unmarked burial sites at more than 50 schools across the Indian boarding school system. The department expects those numbers to go up as it continues to investigate.

The findings also compiled previous reports describing an “unprecedented delegation of power by the Federal Government to church bodies.”

The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was announced last summer by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to investigate the history and lasting consequences of the schools. That announcement came as Indigenous groups across Canada confirmed the remains of more than 1,000 Indigenous children buried near former residential schools for Indigenous children there.

The Department of the Interior was “uniquely positioned” to undertake such an initiative, according to the report released Wednesday, because it had been responsible for operating or overseeing the boarding schools.

From 1819 through the 1960s, the U.S. implemented policies establishing and supporting Indian boarding schools across the nation. The report includes the first-ever inventory of those federally operated schools, including profiles and maps of each school.

The boarding schools supported a “twin United States policy” to culturally assimilate Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children and to seize Indigenous land, according to Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe).

‘On the Business’: McLaurin Reflects on Interim EC Post Ahead of 2022 SBC

By

Diana Chandler

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May 12, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Willie McLaurin expresses a difference between working “in the business” and working “on the business.”

“So many leaders, they’re working in the business. They’re putting out fires. They’re crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. That’s working in the business,” McLaurin said. “But I’ve learned how to work on the business.

“That just simply means that on a regular basis, I have to constantly plan [for] the future. I need to be thinking strategically about the future, vision casting, and just thinking futuristically about our work together. So somebody has to be thinking and working on the business.”

With 20 years of service in Southern Baptist leadership, much of it with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, McLaurin is a few months into his post as interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

Between much travel and many meetings in serving an increasingly diverse body of Southern Baptists, he sat down with Baptist Press to reflect on issues related to his job and Southern Baptist life.

He spoke of his appreciation for being warmly received by Southern Baptists, and the joys and challenges of leadership at this particular time in history. The importance and health of the local church, committed pastors, entities he described as Christ-centered and a diligent Executive Committee staff were among topics.

He addressed unity in the SBC, as opposed to uniformity. He views the challenge of restoring unity across the SBC as among the most important faced.

“No network of churches is without its challenges. And I think if you would ask any number of Southern Baptists what the challenges are, that they will articulate those challenges from their culture, from their context or from their point of view,” he said. “We just need to make sure that as a network of churches, a network of Great Commission Baptists, that we are unified around the core issues.

“We’re unified around the Gospel. We’re unified around the fact that there are people that are lost and they’re on their way to hell and they need Jesus, and that we’re unified around the fact that we’ve got to get the Gospel to our nations and our neighborhood.”

McLaurin is accustomed to numbering his days, inspired by Psalm 90:12, that pleads for God to teach His people to number their days, that they might gain a heart of wisdom.

When he spoke with Baptist Press, McLaurin was on his 860th day of service to the EC, where he began in 2019 as vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization, and approaching his 100th day serving as interim CEO and president of the EC, a post EC officers appointed him to Feb. 1.

In Historic Housing Market, the Parsonage Becomes a Trendy Choice

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Scott Barkley

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May 12, 2022

NASHVILLE (BP) – Charlie Houck loves serving as lead pastor at Mesa Church in San Diego. Just as much, he’s a fan of the parsonage that came with the building when Mesa launched in October 2020.

“We love it,” he said. “My family couldn’t afford rent in this city, let alone a home purchase.”

A historic housing boom has seen U.S. home prices jump 34.4 percent and 19.8 percent over the last year, according to Fortune magazine. In San Diego, Houck and other prospective buyers must contend with an average home value of $969,595. Rent for 700 square feet that includes one bedroom, one bath will run you $2,700 a month.

All of it has brought a renewed appreciation to the parsonage – or pastorium, if you prefer. Images bring to mind a one-story brick ranch just across the church parking lot from the main building, simple in style but useful for a pastor and his family.

Today, it has become a critical asset for churches in a housing market that pushes the boundaries of the typical pastor’s salary.

“Many churches have a church-owned home that has served generations of pastors,” Seth Hawkins, director of retirement solutions at GuideStone Financial Resources, told Baptist Press. “This can be a good thing for church and pastor especially in high-cost areas where it may allow the pastor and his family to live closer to the church’s field.”

Jacob Smith is one of those pastors.

“As a young man fresh out of seminary, my wife and I simply did not have the money to purchase a home,” said Smith, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas. “Furthermore, we could not afford to pastor where I am at while also paying rent.”

Those comments came, with permission to share here, from a question posed to a private Facebook group for Southern Baptist church leaders. Alongside those words of appreciation, others added a well-known caveat to the parsonage.

“One of the downsides is that it prevents pastors from building up equity in a home they own,” Hawkins said. “Even if a pastor serves most of his ministry in one church with a parsonage, when he enters vocational retirement, he will lack equity in a home that can then be used to purchase a home for him and his family to live in in retirement.”

“I lived in parsonages for 20 years and can say it was a blessing to not have to worry about housing,” said Chad Hodges, associational missions strategist for Jefferson Baptist Association in Missouri. “But as I got closer to 50 it became more of a concern. I have since changed ministries and bought a house.”

Tony Watson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, agreed.

“There’s a time and a place when it makes sense for both church and pastor in the short-term, but in the long-term it doesn’t really make sense for either, in my opinion,” he said.

First Palestine doesn’t currently have a parsonage, but Watson wouldn’t be surprised if at one point it did. “I lived in parsonages in two churches and they were blessings,” he said. “But I’m thankful to be a homeowner now.”

Hodges shared his appreciation for how a parsonage can be a better fit for a pastor, depending on his season of life.

US Annual Conferences Can’t Just Leave the United Methodist Church, Rules Top Court

By

Emily McFarlan Miller

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May 12, 2022

(RNS) — No, an annual conference in the United States can’t just up and leave the United Methodist Church. At least not yet.

While the denomination’s Book of Discipline has provisions for individual churches wishing to leave the United Methodist Church with their properties, there’s nothing within church law that would allow an annual conference — one of the United Methodist Church’s 53 regional networks of churches and ministries within the United States — to do the same, according to the denomination’s Judicial Council.

The Judicial Council ruled Tuesday (May 10) that only the General Conference, the denomination’s global decision-making body, can determine the process and conditions for annual conferences to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church.

And the General Conference hasn’t done that.

“There is no basis in Church law for any annual conference to adopt stopgap policies, pass resolutions, take a vote, or act unilaterally for the purpose of removing itself from The United Methodist Church,” Decision 1444 reads.

The decision by the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, comes just over a week after the launch of the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination formed by theologically conservative Methodists.

The name and logo of the new "Global Methodist Church,” which is splitting from the United Methodist Church. Image courtesy of the Global Methodist Church

The name and logo of the Global Methodist Church. Image courtesy of Global Methodist Church

It also comes ahead of annual conferences’ yearly meetings, which take place in May and June.

At least two annual conferences — Northwest Texas and South Georgia — were set to consider resolutions to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church at their meetings this summer, the Judicial Council noted in its decision. The Northwest Texas Annual Conference also approved a nonbinding resolution last year indicating it planned to leave the United Methodist Church for a conservative denomination should the General Conference pass a proposed Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation, according to United Methodist News Service.

And the Bulgaria-Romania Provisional Annual Conference already has voted to leave and join the Global Methodist Church over its bishop’s objections, according to United Methodist News Service.

Bulgaria-Romania Bishop Patrick Streiff has requested the Judicial Council rule on whether an annual conference in one of the denomination’s central conferences — including those in Europe, Africa and the Philippines — has the authority to vote to separate from the United Methodist Church. That question remains on the council’s spring docket.

Keith Boyette, who chairs the Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church and will step into the role of its chief executive next month, told Religion News Service he was “very disappointed” by the Judicial Council decision.

The Cross and Flame is the official logo of the United Methodist Church. Image courtesy of United Methodist Church

The ruling, he said, will lead to the kind of litigation the 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders who negotiated a proposed Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation — including Boyette — had hoped to avoid. Now churches and annual conferences potentially will challenge the denomination’s trust clause, which maintains that the denomination — not the churches or their conferences — own church properties, he said.

Louisiana Debates Murder Charge for Women Who Get Abortions

By

Kevin McGill

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May 12, 2022

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A bill scheduled for debate Thursday in the Louisiana House would make women who get abortions subject to criminal prosecution and prison — a position that has drawn opposition from Louisiana’s anti-abortion governor and groups including Louisiana Right to Life and the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Republican Rep. Danny McCormick is pushing the bill despite the crescendo of opposition from traditional supporters of abortion rights allies, for the moment, with some opponents of legal abortion.

“To suggest that a woman would be jailed for an abortion is simply absurd,” Gov. John Bel Edwards, a devout Catholic and a Democrat who has long broken with his party on the abortion issue, said in a news release Wednesday.

“Our longstanding policy is that abortion-vulnerable women should not be treated as criminals,” Louisiana Right to Life said in a statement.

McCormick disagrees, saying a woman who has an abortion should be in the same legal position as a woman who takes the life of a child after birth. “When I give equal protection to the unborn, that’s the possibility,” he said in a Wednesday evening phone interview.

McCormick’s bill has come under high scrutiny in light of last week’s leak of a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion indicating the high court is preparing to overturn decisions upholding a constitutional right to abortion. But it was introduced in March, on the legal theory that it could end abortion regardless of what any court does.

In addition to rewriting homicide statutes to include abortion, it declares that any federal law, regulation or court ruling that allows abortion is void and that any judge who blocks enforcement of the bill’s provisions could be impeached.

Members of the committee that advanced the bill last week expressed doubt about its constitutionality. Edwards called it “patently unconstitutional” on Wednesday.

Edwards joined critics of the bill saying it criminalizes some types of contraception and parts of the in vitro fertilization process. McCormick on Thursday said forms of contraception that don’t destroy a fertilized egg are not affected by the law. And he disputes that the contention by Edwards and others that the bill would criminalize some aspects of in vitro fertilization, pointing to state law that already grants rights to an “in vitro fertilized human ovum.”

Arrested Hong Kong Cardinal a Fiery Critic of Beijing

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AP News

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May 12, 2022

HONG KONG (AP) — Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 90-year-old Catholic cleric arrested by Hong Kong police on national security charges, has long been a fiery critic of Beijing’s control of religion and political monopoly, along with efforts by the Vatican to reach a working arrangement with the ruling Communist Party.

Zen left a police station on bail Wednesday night following his arrest alongside other former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Support Fund, which provides assistance to people arrested during 2019 anti-government protests. The former Hong Kong archbishop has not yet commented on his arrest.

A police statement said the former trustees were suspected of endangering national security by making requests of foreign countries or overseas agencies and calling for sanctions against Hong Kong.

Widely condemned abroad, the arrests further a campaign to quash all forms of dissent in the city under a sweeping national security law passed in 2020, a year after authorities subdued pro-democracy protests that challenged China’s rule over Hong Kong.

The crackdown is increasingly penetrating into the city’s long-respected economic, religious and educational institutions, along with non-governmental organizations, many of which have closed down their Hong Kong operations. The city was promised that it could keep freedoms of speech, assembly and judicial independence when it was handed over from Britain to China in 1997, but critics say Beijing has reneged on its guarantees.

China’s Foreign Ministry fired back at the criticism, with spokesperson Zhao Lijian saying, “We are firmly opposed to any act that denigrates the rule of law in Hong Kong and interferes in Hong Kong affairs.”

“Hong Kong is a law-based society, where no organization or individual is above the law, and all illegal acts will be punished by law,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.

Separately, the ministry’s office in Hong Kong issued a statement saying that “safeguarding national security is justified, foreign interference is purely in vain.”

Zen had once sought to build bridges with China’s Communist Party-controlled Catholic church by visiting Beijing-approved seminaries in mainland China. But he also said those experiences showed him the lack of religious freedom in China and fed a deep distrust of the officially atheist ruling party.

China broke off relations with the Holy See in 1951 after the party took power and established its own church. Foreign priests were expelled and many of their Chinese colleagues spent decades in prison or labor camps.

In recent years, the Vatican, particularly under Pope Francis, has been eager to reach a deal with the Chinese government and unite the churches.

Zen was especially scathing of attempts by some in the Vatican to reach an arrangement with the party on the appointment of bishops on the mainland, a power traditionally wielded by the Holy See which Beijing claims for itself.

6 Things You Can Do Now to Grow More Confident

By

Gavin Adams

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May 12, 2022

How confident do you feel in your daily life?

I suspect there are elements of your day when you feel supreme confidence. There are also aspects or moments in your day where your confidence probably wanes.

Before we work on our confidence, take a second and consider when you naturally feel confident and when you struggle with self-confidence. Do you see any patterns? Do you feel more confident with people or projects?

What Is Confidence?

When you hear the word confidence, what comes to mind. Or better yet, who comes to mind?

When I think about confidence, I tend to think of a person. My mental picture is also the person I’d pick to play me in the movie of my life. My picture of confidence is Samuel L. Jackson. This guy is supremely cool. And confident. At least, I think he is. But he’s also an actor playing roles of secure and influential people. Perhaps he lives every day like Jules Winnfield, his character from Pulp Fiction. I doubt it, though, as he’d be in jail for life.

So back to our question. What is confidence?

Confidence is the faith that you can do something. Self-confidence isn’t a guarantee that you’ll accomplish a goal or task, but it is a belief that you will. That you can. This means confidence is a feeling even when it’s not yet a reality.

Our internal beliefs are highly critical in our life. Beliefs create behaviors that generate results. Take failure as an example. If you believe failure is an opportunity to grow, not a reflection on your ability, your behaviors and future results will reflect this belief. Beliefs drive all of our behaviors. Harnessing this particular belief will lead to better behaviors and outcomes.

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. (Theodore Roosevelt)

But there is the side of confidence most people miss, and, as you may expect, what’s missed often holds the greatest opportunity for us. Confidence is faith that you can do something. Confidence isn’t a guarantee that you will do it well the first time or that you’ll never stumble along the way. As we said earlier, confidence is faith that you can do something over time, even if that something requires a bit of failure, learning, and growth.

If past accomplishments dictated our confidence, our confidence would only grow, change, or evolve as our outcomes occurred. But confidence isn’t limited to a belief in your past self. Confidence must also live in our hearts as faith that we can figure out what is facing us. That we can learn, grow, and improve. Therefore, we can experience confidence in a future project, task, or client presentation when we begin believing we can learn, grow, and improve from previous experiences.

Church Salaries in the Midst of Inflation

By

Brian Dodd

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May 12, 2022

So, what do we do with our team’s salaries in the midst of all of this inflation? Here are a few things to think through as you approach the salary conversation with your leadership and staff.

Watch the conversation or view the transcript.

Read the Full Transcript

Hey there, it’s Matt Steen with another Chemistry Conversation.

So, a lot of conversations I’ve been having lately are about what do we do with our team’s salaries in the midst of all of this inflation? So, I’ve heard of denominations setting minimum increases for teams. I heard one denomination say 5.3%. I’ve heard a lot of churches and Executive Pastors talking about having an 8% cost of living adjustment at the end of the year. Others at 4%, and I’ve heard some that are just saying, hey, we have to reduce salary this year. We don’t have the ability to do this.

And so, I thought this was a good time to kind of come back and revisit some of how we approach salaries here at Chemistry. So, we don’t necessarily go in and say, hey, it needs to be this much … it needs to be that much. What we do is we tell churches that you need to be as generous as you possibly can while at the same time being good stewards of what God has entrusted us with. Okay? Now, some people may say, hey, that’s consultant-speak and you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth… and yes I am. I am. And so, you are welcome. But what we say when we do this is you do need to be as generous as you possibly can with your staff team, but you also understand that this is a finite resource.

So, there are some principles that we encourage churches that we lean into as they are setting salaries. And we encourage them to set salaries knowing that there are people in your church that understand what it costs to live where you are. What it costs to live with families with kids where you are and to kind of tap in on that. There are other resources like datausa.io, which is a great resource that Deloitte puts out, churchsalary.com is a great resource, and then your local school system should be more than willing to share their pay scale with you because that’s all public knowledge. So, I would lean into those as things that help you understand what’s fair and what’s liveable. Tap into some of the people in your congregation that would be willing to share, you know, what it’s like to live with kids and family and all that. But kinda tap into some of these principles.

The first one is this: Number one, we want our pastors to be able to model generosity as much as they can. Okay? What do I mean by model generosity? Every Girl Scout in the entire church is going to hit up the pastor with a box of Samoas at some point. Okay? Every kid that’s going on a mission trip at some point is going to come up to the pastor and say, hey, will you sponsor me on this mission trip? Every Boy Scout is selling popcorn. You kind of get where I’m going here. You may get into a building project and want the pastor to be able to lead the way in giving to this. And so one of the things that we try not to do is get to a point where, when you set up a salary for a pastor where they are going to have to choose between being generous with what God has given them and paying for groceries that week. What we’re trying to do is prevent the fights and harsh conversations between husband and wife when they say, hey, you bought a five-dollar box of cookies and we really needed that for a gallon of milk. And so, keep in mind that one of the things that you want to have happen is that you want your pastor to be able to give generously to the Kingdom, to your church, and to other entities.

Okay, so that’s one thing.

5 Practices of Leaders Who Develop Leaders

By

Dan Reiland

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May 12, 2022

Developing leaders is an art. It’s a great responsibility and one of the most meaningful things you can do as a leader. Personally, I love it! It’s life-changing, Kingdom advancing, and spiritual legacy in the making.

It’s nearly impossible to accomplish your God-given vision by yourself, therefore developing other leaders becomes essential.

It’s rare that anyone would disagree with that, and yet a surprising number of leaders acknowledge the lack of intentional development on their staff and among their volunteers.

Pastors talk about their desire to develop others but say they just don’t have the time.

I get that.

Leadership development isn’t something that screams at you to make it happen. You have to fight for the discipline to stay with it.

Developing leaders helps you break through your leadership lid.

Here’s one personal example, for so many years, I used a program I created called Joshua’s Men.

I led one group a year with 7 or 8 guys. My passion was high, and the results were good, but my strategy was poor.

Today I have 6 leaders leading the J-Men groups at 12Stone Church, and they are incredibly gifted at it. I call that Kingdom math. I can develop 8 guys a year; the leadership team can develop 48 per year. That’s a lid buster!

You can also get some help in developing your leaders through expert resourcing.

A unique and creative opportunity is happening on March 3-4, called She Leads Church: A Summit for Women in Church Leadership. It’s a fantastic opportunity for developing women leaders that serve in your church! And this online event is FREE! Register for your free ticket here.

There are specific practices among the best developers of leaders, and I’m sharing five of them with you here.

5 Practices of leaders who develop leaders:

1) Continuous improvement in self-leadership

You don’t have to become a leadership expert to develop other leaders, but you do need to keep improving your own skills and self-awareness.

If you can’t lead yourself well, it’s difficult to lead others and nearly impossible to develop other leaders.

There’s no magic bullet or quick fix to self-leadership. Improving your personal habits and leadership skills is a life-long endeavor.

Here are a few helpful questions:

How consistent is your prayer life? Do you sense God’s presence and voice in your life?
How are you leveraging your greatest skills and abilities?
What skill-gap are you working on that would help you achieve your current top organizational priority?
How would you answer this question? I’d be a better leader if: _________________________.
Do you have someone who coaches or mentors you?

The best mindset you can have for this is not one of another task on your to-do list that you must accomplish this week, but one of a life-long pursuit that you take one small bite at a time.

2) Intentionally gather potential leaders

The best developers have the ability to gather potential leaders.

You don’t have to have a big personality or be a top communicator, but you need to be intentional. Eagles don’t flock; you have to go get them one at a time.

What are you doing to discover and meet potential leaders? You can start by praying for them.

What you pray for, you look for, and what you look for you find.

Pray for leaders!

Develop them. Here’s a tried and true approach that will help you get started in developing leaders. You can read it here.

Here are some common traits among those who can gather potential leaders well.

They have a positive, faith-filled attitude.
They love life.
They believe the best in others.
They are encouragers.
They want more for people than from them.

3) Demonstrate productivity in leadership endeavors

Leaders who develop leaders need the credibility that comes from building something they lead.

Build anything, something small, something large, but build. It’s not a scorecard, but it does something intangible and immeasurable for you to know that you can lead — that you can grow what you lead.

It does something for those who follow you and embrace your development. You don’t have to have all the answers or a big church, but progress is important.

Here’s some encouraging news, you can do both simultaneously. Sometimes that’s how it happens. You develop some leaders, and they help you break through to the next level.

If you don’t have a lot of experience or success in developing leaders, start where you are and with who you have. Start with one person or with a group of three. Start small but start.

Leadership development was never designed to be a big event. Leadership events can be incredibly helpful with strong content and inspiration, but at its core, development has to be personal.

4) Adept at integrating art and system

Some leaders are better at the art and some better at systems; the best can do both.

In most of my younger leadership, I leveraged my strength in the “art” of developing a group of leaders. It came naturally and was largely intuitive.

But I wasn’t strong at the overall strategy for developing hundreds or thousands of leaders. I’ve made a lot of progress in those systems over the years, and I’m still learning.

Which side are you best at? How can you develop the other?

The art is to lean into connection, selection, reading the room, spotting the catalytic moments, and paying attention.

The systems are more about how to move from developing a few to developing many.

5) Empowering those who have been developed

There is one step beyond developing your leaders, and that is to actually empower them to lead.

Sometimes it can feel like you are handing the car keys to your teenager; no matter how smart or responsible they are, you know they might wreck the car. But you have to trust them with the keys, or they can’t drive.

Here’s a quick outline on how to empower from my book Amplified Leadership and a blog post that gives you more content.

Clear steps of empowerment:

Trust with responsibility.
Train for competence.
Unleash with authority.
Communicate clear expectations.
Believe in each one for maximum potential.

This article originally appeared here.

4 Great Internal Church Communication Tools

By

Bryan Haley

-

May 12, 2022

Internal communication can make or break an organization. When an organization is running on all cylinders, everyone on the team uses the internal tools. The right tools keep everyone engaged and informed while also providing avenues for sharing knowledge and being productive. Internal communication is about more than productivity—it also promotes community and collaboration. On the other hand, when a church—or any organization—feels chaotic behind the scenes, one cause is often a lack of buy-in for the communication tools or other systems and processes. When it comes to church communication tools, striking a balance between proper structures for internal communication while maintaining an agile culture can be difficult because churches often deal with paid staff, volunteers, committees, councils, and the congregation. Getting the proper setup for your church should help provide clarity, build community, and improve your communication—first with one another, then with outward-facing communication.

At Church Juice, we’re part of a ministry distributed across several states and provinces, time zones, and various programs. Like your church, ReFrame Ministries includes several smaller initiatives and programs that make up one cohesive ministry with one joint mission: “Relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we create contextual media resources that proclaim the gospel, disciple believers, and strengthen the church throughout the world.” While our team is likely a bit more dispersed than the staff at your church, the reality is even in a local church context, people aren’t together all the time. Ministry calls people to be out with people or serve at various times with different schedules. Having a structured plan for communicating with one another can be helpful. Here are the tools we use at Church Juice and ReFrame Ministries, including how we use them to help our internal communications thrive in a fast-paced ministry environment.

4 Great Internal Church Communication Tools

1. Slack

Slack is our primary communication tool throughout the week. If you’re not familiar with Slack, it’s an evolution of earlier Internet instant messaging combined with chat room features. Slack offers direct, one-to-one messaging. It also offers public and private channels to involve several people around a common topic, project, or interest. You can have as many channels as you’d like, and people can create their own.

We use Slack for direct, instantaneous communication. Our team expects that everyone is online and available on Slack when working. It’s easy to update your status on Slack to let everyone know if you’re busy—like focusing on a project, in a meeting, or running an errand.

2. Email

Email isn’t going anywhere, but our team relies sparingly on email among the rest of our ministry team. We send emails when we’re addressing something more formal or conversing with people outside of our ministry (meaning they’re not on Slack). We expect an email to receive a response, but probably not immediately—usually within 24 hours during the workweek.

3. Google Workspace

Document storage and collaboration have gotten much more accessible in recent years. Our team uses Google Drive and Google Docs for our file storage and document creation. Using Google Workspace helps ensure everyone has access to everything they might need. Our team utilizes shared drives across the ministry, expecting that most files are on a shared drive unless. We create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations using Google Docs, which allows the team to collaborate and work together in real-time.

I recently worked with a couple of collaborators on the annual budget for my church. The people I worked with didn’t use Google Docs, instead insisting on emailing Microsoft Excel files back and forth. Every time one of us shared an updated version of the spreadsheet, it needed to be saved as a new file. Fifty-seven versions (and files) of the budget later, we finally had a “Final Budget.” The whole process made me have a deeper appreciation for the collaboration tools that Google Workspace offers.

4. Asana

The last tool in our internal communication toolbelt at Church Juice and ReFrame Ministries is Asana, our project management software. Asana manages tasks and project collaboration across our entire team. The expectation for our team is that we include all jobs and projects in Asana—this helps the whole team see what others have on their plate, creates an organized system for managing needs, and provides accountability for everyone on our team. Having a tool like Asana offers an organized way for everyone to work together on larger projects. It also means there’s a place to keep track of individual tasks—and even a place to “brain dump” ideas or things to get to in the future.

These are the primary internal church communication tools we use at Church Juice. While any given service might not work for every scenario, I hope, at a minimum, it gets you thinking about how you might adapt your tools or find a solution that meets your church’s unique needs.

If you need some additional assistance to figure out how to build a system that works for your church, reach out to our Church Juice team. We love working with churches to use effective church communication tools!

This article about internal church communication tools originally appeared here, and is used by permission.

10 Ways to Attract and Empower Small Group Leaders

By

Reid Smith

-

May 12, 2022

Not everyone connects in the same way. Church leaders have found that offering multiple entry-points into their church’s community life helps more people build relationships and find a small group so they can be more committed to their ongoing spiritual growth. There are more approaches than ever to helping people connect and grow together in Christ, which create opportunities to attract and empower small group leaders.

In other words, you can identify and empower small group leaders when you help people connect in different kinds of ways. As a result, individuals who never saw themselves as a leader will take their first steps in serving as a community-building agent for the Kingdom of God! This post will offer ten strategies you can implement so that you can attract and empower new small group leaders.

10 Ways to Attract and Empower Small Group Leaders

1. Personal Invitation

There is no greater “strategy” than one friend encouraging another to journey with him in Christian community. This strategy involves small group leaders helping their group members invite others by encouraging it and equipping them with tools (print or digital) to do so. See “To Invite, or Not to Invite: That is the Question!” at www.reidsmith.org for more on this strategy. Invitation can be a group member’s first big step into their own leadership journey where they intentionally disciple others and eventually start their own group.

2. Pair Up

If we follow the examples of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, we will purposefully develop others as they serve alongside us (Luke 6:12–13; 2 Tim 2:2). Build on the relationships people already have by encouraging those serving in any leadership capacity to ask a friend to join them in the journey. There’s good reason why Jesus sent out His disciples 2×2 (Luke 10). This also creates built-in encouragement so new small group leaders don’t drift away or drop-out (Ecc 4).

3. Campaign Strategy + “Two Friends” Approach

As Steve shares in his book, Planning Small Groups with Purpose: “A campaign is forty days of intensive, churchwide focus on a particular aspect of spiritual growth for each age group.” (p. 110) It encompasses all activities in the church and one of the goals of campaigns is to start new groups. Saddleback then encourages anyone who has at least two friends to start a group with their video curriculum and begin to progress through their leadership development pathway after the first study (cf. 137).

How to Preach About Jesus to Kids at Your Church

By

Mark Harper

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May 11, 2022

Have you wondered how to preach about Jesus to kids? Don’t make the process unnecessarily complex. Instead, stay age-appropriate, enthusiastic, and welcoming.

I use these 10 steps in developing all my children’s ministry curriculum. I hope the insights about how to preach about Jesus to kids serve as valuable reminders.

10 Easy Steps: How to Preach About Jesus to Kids

Keep these 10 tips in mind while preaching every children’s church sermon, Sunday school class, or chapel service.

1. FOCUS!

Narrow the key message to just one per week.

2. THINK LIKE A KID.

Use a kid filter for everything you teach and preach. Adjust the message based on kids’ ages and developmental stages.

3. TEACH IN A SERIES.

This can be a huge plus, especially for older kids. A series helps listeners know where you’re going.

4. BE VISUAL.

Use short films, PowerPoint slides, object lessons, and dramas. Engage and involve children with the message whenever possible.

5. TELL STORIES.

The best preachers are good storytellers. After all, consider how many parables Jesus used in the New Testament!

6. KEEP IT MOVING.

Change what you’re doing every five to seven minutes. That way you’re less likely to lose children’s attention.

7. STAY CURRENT.

If you package an eternal message in an old wrapper, it seems like an old message. Although you don’t have to bow to culture, be aware of it…and of current best practices.

The Satanic Temple Will Protect ‘Religious Abortion Access’ If Roe Is Overturned

By

Jessica Lea

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May 11, 2022

In response to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft indicating Roe v. Wade could be overturned, The Satanic Temple is taking steps to ensure that women have access to its so-called “abortion ritual.”

“The news that Roe v Wade will likely be overturned is extremely distressing,” said The Satanic Temple in a statement posted to Twitter on May 5. “The Satanic Temple (TST) has nevertheless positioned itself to protect religious abortion access for our members.”

The Satanic Temple’s ‘Abortion Ritual’

On its Twitter page, The Satanic Temple describes itself as “the only federally recognized international (non-theistic) religious Satanic organization.” While TST is classified as a religion (and is therefore tax-exempt), members do not actually believe in the supernatural or in Satan as a real being. The Satanic Temple is not the same as the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey.

The stated mission of TST is “to encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble pursuits.” TST adheres to seven “fundamental tenets,” the third of which is, “One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.”

This is not the first time TST has offered its “abortion ritual” as a solution to abortion restrictions in the U.S. On Sept. 1, 2021, an abortion law went into effect in Texas, banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks into pregnancy.

What sets the ban apart is its enforcement provision, which grants power to civilian whistleblowers and intentionally makes court challenges difficult. The Satanic Temple responded to the law by offering to help anyone in the state who wishes to undergo the “Satanic Abortion Ritual.”

“The Satanic Temple stands ready to assist any member that shares its deeply-held religious convictions regarding the right to reproductive freedom,” TST said on its website. “Accordingly, we encourage any member who resides in Texas and wishes to undergo the Satanic Abortion Ritual within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy to contact The Satanic Temple so we may help them fight this law directly.” TST has filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas on the grounds that by restricting abortion, the state is infringing on the religions rights of TST members.

Russell Moore: Do Christians Who Commit Suicide Go to Hell?

By

Jesse T. Jackson

-

May 11, 2022

Russell Moore suicide — Screengrab via YouTube @The Gospel Coalition

In a video shared on The Gospel Coalition, director of the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today Russell Moore answered the difficult but often asked question, “If Christians commit suicide, do they still go to heaven?”

Moore, who authored Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel, explained that it pains him when a Christian asks him this question, because he often fears the person asking is contemplating taking their own life.

“Suicide is murder,” Moore said, adding, “Suicide is the attacking of the image of God. And suicide is horrible. Not only a sin but also a sin that leaves wreckage and devastation all over the place.”

Before Moore answered the question, he pleaded with anyone who might be thinking about suicide to seek help, reassuring them that life is worth living.

Moore further expressed that this question isn’t just asked by people contemplating suicide, but also those whose loved one has died by suicide and who are worried that their loved one will be judged by their last act on Earth: murder.

Do you go to hell if you commit suicide?

Many Christians fear that when someone who loved Jesus commits suicide, they will go to hell, even if they had previously repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus. Moore states that this belief is not true.

“This person is in Christ. That means the blood of Christ covers that person’s sins in the past, present, and future,” Moore explained. “We’re not saved on the basis of the last thing that we do being something that is acceptable to God. We’re saved by the grace and mercy of God. We’re saved by the grace and mercy of God.”

“And that’s also something that’s especially important when we’re thinking of issues of suicide, where often—almost always—those who are committing suicide are in a place of deep, deep anguish and distress of various sorts of mental illness or mental plagues or sense of hopelessness that’s coming upon them,” Moore continued.

Moore said that Christians should respond with compassion toward someone who has died by suicide. Don’t blame or be angry at that person, Moore counseled, telling Christians not to worry if that person is outside of the reach of God’s grace.

“God’s grace covers a multitude of sins, including those that are so hurtful that we hesitate to even talk of them,” Moore concluded.

‘I’m Ok With Going to Hell’: Elon Musk Tweets About Death; Says He Would Let Donald Trump Back on Twitter

By

Dale Chamberlain

-

May 11, 2022

Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has never been one to keep from speaking his mind, regardless of who agrees or disagrees with him.

On Sunday, Musk took to Twitter and alluded to his possible death, leading to a follow up tweet about where he stands with regard to his own afterlife.

“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” Musk tweeted. It appears Musk was referring to Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin threatening him for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-internet system, which has been supplying internet to Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion.

“Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult—no matter how much you’ll play the fool,” Rogozin had said. Musk’s tweet signaled that he was taking the threat in stride and was unfazed enough to joke about it.

Nevertheless, Musk’s tweet garnered over 146 thousand comments, one of which read, “You won’t die before your day, Elon. Anyhow, you are/were a unique figure in this world.”

“I’m only wondering one thing: As a genius, haven’t you [found] out that there is a great creator of this world yet? If you did, make sure you confess this before your last heart beat,” the response continued. “Bless u.”

Musk replied, “Thank you for the blessing, but I’m ok with going to hell, if that is indeed my destination, since the vast majority of all humans ever born will be there.”

Musk, who recently moved the headquarters of Tesla from the progressive dominated Silicon Valley in California to the Republican majority state of Texas, has increasingly become the darling of many American conservatives, and evangelicals in particular.

Musk has even expressed appreciation for Christian satire site The Babylon Bee and has said that “wokeness is an enemy to comedy.”

In a December 2021 interview with the Babylon Bee, Musk shared about the religious influences in his upbringing, saying, “When I grew up, funnily enough, I went to Anglican Sunday school—the Church of England, basically. But I was also sent to Hebrew preschool, although I’m not Jewish. Nonetheless, I was singing ‘Hava Nagila’ one day and ‘Jesus our Lord’ the next.”

In New Book, Baylor Coach Scott Drew Describes J.O.Y. of Putting Jesus First

By

Stephanie Martin

-

May 11, 2022

While overseeing one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball history, Baylor University men’s coach Scott Drew has received numerous accolades. But what matters most to him—and what he’s become known for—is spreading a culture of J.O.Y. that prioritizes Jesus.

Now Drew, 51, is sharing his life story, faith insights, and leadership lessons in a book published by Thomas Nelson. Titled “The Road to J.O.Y.: Leading With Faith, Playing With Purpose, Leaving a Legacy,” the book offers “an insider’s look at the others-first culture that spurred Baylor’s rebound.” Co-written with Don Yaeger, the May 3 release emphasizes that “faith is the foundation for everything Drew does.”

Scott Drew Takes Baylor From Scandal to Championship

When Drew arrived at Baylor in 2003, the team was dealing with drug scandals and the murder of one player by another. During those challenges, the coach says he relied on Jesus’ guidance and wisdom—and was able to point people to his source of help. “When you have what seems like an impossible task,” Drew writes, “don’t forget to ask Jesus to make the impossible possible.”

Baylor, located in Waco, Texas, is the world’s largest Baptist university. During Drew’s 19 years helming its men’s basketball program, he has won 419 games and racked up 13 seasons with 20 or more wins. The highlight occurred in April 2021, when the Bears won their first NCAA National Championship, defeating previously unbeaten Gonzaga 86-70.

Drew has taken Baylor to the NCAA Tournament eight other times and received numerous Coach of the Year awards. But his formula for true J.O.Y.—putting Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last—is what he wants to be remembered for. Speaking to The Christian Post, the coach says, “If you have that order right, then life is a lot more rewarding, fulfilling, and people want to be around you a lot more, that’s for sure.”

Coach Scott Drew Rallies His Team To Rely on God

During the pandemic “bubble” season, Baylor’s basketball team spent much more time together than usual. Drew credits those experiences with helping players and coaches get to know one another “a lot more intimately.”

In “The Road to J.O.Y.,” Drew also details his upbringing in a family who loved God and all types of competition. He followed in the footsteps of his dad, Homer Drew, a former head basketball coach at Valparaiso University. Scott Drew served as an assistant there under his father and then became the head coach after his dad retired. But after just one year at Valpo, Baylor came calling.

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Read the Full Transcript

5 Practices of leaders who develop leaders:

1) Continuous improvement in self-leadership

2) Intentionally gather potential leaders

3) Demonstrate productivity in leadership endeavors

4) Adept at integrating art and system

5) Empowering those who have been developed

4 Great Internal Church Communication Tools

1. Slack

2. Email

3. Google Workspace

4. Asana

10 Ways to Attract and Empower Small Group Leaders

1. Personal Invitation

2. Pair Up

3. Campaign Strategy + “Two Friends” Approach

10 Easy Steps: How to Preach About Jesus to Kids

1. FOCUS!

2. THINK LIKE A KID.

3. TEACH IN A SERIES.

4. BE VISUAL.

5. TELL STORIES.

6. KEEP IT MOVING.

7. STAY CURRENT.

The Satanic Temple’s ‘Abortion Ritual’

Do you go to hell if you commit suicide?

Scott Drew Takes Baylor From Scandal to Championship

Coach Scott Drew Rallies His Team To Rely on God

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