The Techno-Savvy Church and the Podcast Pastor

The Barna Group recently published some research on technology and the church. Links to the studies can be found here and here. To engage in two good conversations on the subject click here and here.

What I found intriguing were the stats on podcasts. I listen to three or four sermons a week via podcast. And I was surprised at the prevalence of Christians who listen to electronic sermons, as well as the lack of a generational divide:

The study found that 38% of evangelicals and 31% of other born again Christians had listened to a sermon or church teaching via digital recordings available on the Internet (often called a “podcast”), compared with 17% of other adults. In macro-terms, an enormous audience of roughly 45 million Americans reports going digital to acquire church sermon and teaching content. In all, one out of every four adults - 23% - said they downloaded a church podcast in the past week.

The profile of people who had listened to sermon podcasts cut across generational lines, with older adults just as likely as young residents to listen in. Residents of the South (31%) were twice as likely as those in the Northeast (14%) to access church podcasts. Similarly, Protestants (32%) were more intrigued by such content than were Catholics (18%) and the same held true for non-mainline attenders (38%) compared to mainline Protestants (16%). African-Americans (50%) were very loyal listeners, especially when contrasted with Asians (14%). Furthermore, those who are economically downscale (35%) were more likely to listen to church podcasts than were upscale adults (10%).

Our church is working through an entire website overhaul, and we plan on podcasting the sermons. So this research is encouraging. What about you guys? Any success stories with making your sermons, teaching, or worship music available in Internet hinterland?

Ed Stetzer poses some good, general questions about the church and technology:

There is no virtue in being the cool, high-tech church, or in being the low-tech, minimalistic church. It would do us well to ask ourselves a series of questions when it comes to the use of technology in our churches. For example:

• Does the tech help to magnify the gospel, or does it become the focus?
• Does the tech help develop real community (shared lives) or help create an artificial one?
• Does the tech help overcome natural, or cultural barriers that can interfere with worship and church life?
• Does the tech serve a real purpose, or is it just for show?

The Joy of Cooperation

One of the first phone calls I received when I was called as pastor at First Southern was from another local pastor in the area. He wanted to know if I was open to meeting with him and other pastors from around the community. He was the “veteran” pastor among us – he had been in our community for two years. Most of the other like-minded churches had experienced high turnover with their lead pastor positions.

This pastor was calling all the new pastors in the area to begin a time of prayer for each church. It was his goal for all of us to meet once a month for breakfast, fellowship, and prayer.

His efforts were a success. Our once a month prayer meetings are some of the most edifying times for me. Most importantly, these informal meetings resulted in several tangible benefits for our churches.

Church unity. When like-minded pastors are unified in a community, then this unity flows into the churches. Let’s admit it – our people talk. And when the people of the church are talking about how the pastors are enjoying each other’s fellowship, then it’s a good thing.

More mission work. In our first meeting, I asked the other pastors to pray for our church as we were going to do mission work in New Orleans. After my request, another pastor stated that they were going to New Orleans during the same time period. We learned a lesson – one of cooperative missions. Now we open each mission trip to other church members. The result? Since we are partnering on these trips, sharing the burden, we can do more work.

Stronger fellowship. Guess what? When churches partner for missions, not only is more work accomplished, but stronger fellowship results as well. Last Saturday, I spoke at another church’s brotherhood breakfast. Their pastor wanted me to encourage them to work with our men on local projects. I was surprised to see a few of my own church members there. The fellowship was organic, not coerced. And we’re going to have some extra help on our next local missions project as well.

Needed openness. Sometimes a life change prompts a person or family to consider moving to another church. When these occasions occur, pastors with a strong sense of unity can honestly discuss the process without feeling twinges of competition or suspicion.

Prayer support. Prayer is the foundation of every ministry. I am personally grateful for the continued prayer support from my friends at other churches.

Joy. Perhaps the most unanticipated benefit was the unparalleled joy of working with other pastors and churches for a common mission. When I see the smiles of people from different churches cooperating for the same cause of meeting the community in their own context, it brings a sense of joy to me as a pastor knowing that they have this same joy in their hearts.

This list certainly is not all-inclusive. What other benefits have you experienced through cooperative missions at your church?

Where Church-Swappers Hop

People who change churches don’t necessarily switch to larger, more contemporary churches according to Ellison Research as reported by the Christian Post.

The research reveals some counter-intuitive findings on those who change churches:

When choosing size, Americans are nearly evenly divided between a larger or smaller congregation. Forty-three percent of American Protestants have moved to a larger congregation and 45 percent switched to a smaller one. Just 11 percent switched to a place that is about the same size of the place they left.

Only 31 percent of Protestants say their current church has a more contemporary worship style while 42 percent say their new church is more traditional in worship.

The above findings add support to the research in my book, Essential Church, in which was found that most people do not drop out of a church because of worship style preferences. But the Ellison research pointed to other intriguing findings:

With the rise of megachurches over the past few decades, and the increase in the use of contemporary forms of worship such as rock music, drama, or the folk mass, two common concerns are that traditional forms of worship are dying out, and that small churches may become a vanishing breed. There has been a slight trend toward more contemporary worship styles among people who switch where they worship, but certainly not a wholesale move away from traditional styles.

And there has been just as much movement toward smaller congregations as toward larger ones. Observers may worry about people leaving small congregations and going to the megachurches, but they need to realize there are about as many people moving down in size as moving up.

Lastly, this pithy tidbit:

Theologically, 53 percent of adults who changed their place of worship say their current place is about the same as their old one; 28 percent moved to a place that is more theologically conservative; and 12 percent switched to one that is more liberal.

Style, venue, size, and location are important considerations for a church. But they are not primary. What does seem to be of some importance is the theology of the church. What’s your take?

A Brief and Urgent Life

Today I graduated from Southern Seminary. Dr. Al Mohler, the president, gave a wonderful address on staying mighty in the Scriptures like the eloquent Apollos of Acts 18. But it was a prayer during the ceremony that captured my heart. My father had the honor of offering a prayer for the nations to be reached for Christ. Though the words he prayed meant much, it was the sense of urgency behind them that touched me.

I doubt anyone at the graduation would downplay a go-and-tell-life. But no one outside my family truly understood the gravity of his urgent desire.

A few days ago, a traumatic event occurred in my father’s neighborhood that shook our entire family. Dad takes a daily walk through his neighborhood for exercise. During his walk last week he picked up my call on his cell phone. He slowed as he conversed with me.

The phone abruptly cut off. I assumed that he had either dropped the phone or the call had been dropped. In reality, he cancelled the call in order to dial 911.

A car had run a stop sign at over 35 mph, slammed into the fence along the walking trail, and hit a man stretching after his run. My father’s neighbor was tossed in the air and landed hard on the pavement.

The driver of the car was a scared 16 year-old who tried to back up to leave the scene. He had been text-messaging a friend and had not been looking at the road. The witnesses stopped him from leaving while my father ministered to the man and his family.

As of this writing, Dad’s neighbor is still in critical condition. One leg has been amputated. He has a long road of recovery in front of him. Pray for him and his family, as well as the teen who struck him.

Through this situation, my family was reminded of the brevity of life. We praise God that He kept my father from being hit. Dad was only twenty feet from the man when the car slammed into him. Had he not been on the phone with me, my father might have been struck as well. We rest assured that God is sovereign, and His ways will be accomplished.

But God also sent me a reminder through my father that we take much for granted. We are not entitled to the next day or even our next breath.

Most importantly, this unfortunate and tragic incident gives me a greater sense of urgency with the gospel message. Did the man know Christ? Does his family understand the amazing grace of our Lord? My father continues to try to make contact with them – he did not know them before this incident. And he is learning updates through other neighbors.

Life is too brief to worry about ancillary things. We have a great primary mission in our life, no matter how brief or long it may be. We glorify God with everything we have, and we share His message of salvation through Jesus Christ by the light that is within us and the spoken words of our mouths.

Today at graduation, I hung out with my cousin, David Rainer. I had the honor of graduating with him. We went out to eat and shot the breeze. It was a moment that I will cherish because I will not see him and his family for quite some time. He, his wife Melinda, and newborn Luke are headed to Shizuoka, Japan to share God’s message of salvation with an unreached people. As we parted, I couldn’t help but think I was looking at someone who has the passion of Elliot and the heart of Judson.

David, thanks for your sense of urgency in this brief life. It is my prayer today that I will have the same fire as you and my father.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I’m in Nashvegas today working on materials for my book, Essential Church. It’s now available for pre-order - check it out!