Church Celebrities Good or Bad?
At this point I must confess that I can be called as a Church Celebrity groupie(see JollyBlogger). There are several preachers that I wish I could met, and even chat with. Two of my top “pastors id like to talk with” are Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll.
In reality I think most guys in ministry are the same as I am, they have certain rock stars, or Celebrity pastors they look up too. I’d rather not call them idols for obvious reasons.
Some guys I know really like D.A. Carson, others like John Piper, others John McArthur, and the list can go on and on.
So here is the question: Is it good to have these Church Celebrities? Do we do churches an injustice when we just focus on one of their leaders? Tim Keller is not the only leader in Redeemer, and Mar’s Hill has 24 elders, but most people just think of Mark Driscoll.
I have friends that visited Redeemer and they said that Keller is sort of whisked away, after he is done preaching.
Here is another question do having these celebrities send a message to other pastors that success in ministry is truly attained when you and your church are on the national stage?
Id love to know if other men in church leadership struggle with these questions.
An Exciting Time of Year
by Sam
Tags: Church, Church Planting, City Reformed, Jesus, Pittsburgh, Urban Missions
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So this is my first year where I will continue to be working in a church both through the summer and the fall.
Alot of exciting things are happening at City Reformed.
- We had a great turn out our first sunday back with students. The total attendance was somewhere around 150, which I think makes it our biggest service since launch.
- Our Small Group Ministry is going well. We are planting two new groups this fall, and adding a second group that will have child-care.
Please be in prayer for our congregation, but more importantly, please be praying for a Christ-honoring expansion of His kingdom in our region.
Pittsburgh Street Car?
I just saw a video about the streetcar project in Cincinnati, they hope to be open in 2009, Imagine if there were a few strategic street cars put in Pittsburgh, it would be great. Here is a link to the video. If you think its a good idea pass it on.
Flight of the Conchords
We are doing a class series about sex and dating, maybe we should intro with this?
This DVD will definitely be on my Christmas list.
Demographics and Church Planting
by Sam
Tags: Church, Church Planting, Contextualization, Gospel, Theology
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I subscribe to the Church Marketing Lab flickr pool.
Yesterday one of the contributors posted this info on a forum:
“Target demographic of our church: people who have never been to church, or those burned out on church and haven’t been in a long time.
Ages: 20s & 30 somethings”
Then today another said his church was “pursuing the un- or de-churched.”
I got to thinking about this and realized that I havent heard of a church seeking to minister to the “60-70 year olds who always loved church” market.
It seems like a few things need to noted. One a church should be seeking to engage its community, if you live in an town where only 20% of the population is 20-30 then I wonder if you are not being faithful to the call to engage your surrounding. Two, of course most people know the stat that says that most people become Christians when they are in their teens and twenties, but when we go after this group only, are we sending a message that says that we are willing to sacrifice today for tomorrow, that we think some how the Holy Spirit has a window of opportunity.
On the opposite side though in my mind it seems kind of like a given that a church is going to put effort into reaching those outside the kingdom. One might make a valid case that if a church is not trying to reach the world with the message of Christ, they have not received that message themselves.
I Love Lawrenceville
Man do I love Lawrenceville. Bohemian, meets yinzer, meets Somalia.
Im sitting in Crazy Mocha, one local walks in and a few others notice, and greet him. Young Urban Professionals quietly read their Post-Gazette,while young college girls chat away by the front window. One guy walks in, he has tribal sleeves, gaged ears that look about as big a saucers, his pitchblack dredlocks barely miss the floor– He is warmly greeted, and gets prompt service.
Our Very Religious Founding Fathers
In my research for my paper on the history of the PCA and their church planting I came across a figure in a paper called “Why Plant Churches” written by Tim Keller.
He points out that in 1776 only 17% of the population of the USA were “‘religious adherents’”.
I find this very intriguing, Keller cites this figure from a book that Rodeny Stark wrote, called The Churching of America
I had always thought that America has been steadily loosing its Christian Influence, so I assumed that at its inception America had a very religious population.
Chicago, Baltimore, and NYC: Visit Pittsburgh
Pop City Media, one of my weekly reads about Pittsburgh, has recently put up an article featuring the fact that the NY Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Balitmore Sun, all have recently featured articles about the benefits of Pittsburgh.
Here is one quote from the Baltimore Sun:
“Pittsburgh struggled during its painful transition from manufacturing town to the medical and banking center it has become. But it has blossomed again, while maintaining its intimacy and down-to-earth qualities.
On my way home, I called my husband and told him that it might have been a mistake to leave all those years ago when we thought the city was dying.
“I could have told you that,” he said.”
Another Great Quote
“The missional church does not ask how can you serve me but how can we unite as the people of God for something larger than ourselves, to believe what our presbyterian principles are–that we can do far more corporately as a church, than we can do individually, to believe that deeply and profoundly.”
Bryan Chappell 2007 PCA GA
Cheney on Invading Iraq
I normally post on church matters, but this was a very interesting clip.
This is not to say Im for or against the War in Iraq, I just thought it was interesting.
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