So, this morning I went to church. I went three times. Because I'm a sinner and need it. Or an overachiever pastor. Actually both. And I'm going to another in a couple of hours.
I'm sinner and an overachiever... OR I don't have much of a life.
Yes.
I plan to write more when I process this more, but some quick, general observations.
1. If John is any indicator, my Saturday night preaching experience is pretty common.
Like mine, John's Saturday sermon was longer and not as tight as on Sunday. I actually liked it more. There was more historical stuff. He cut stuff on Sunday that I liked a lot. He also got more animated as the services progressed and ad libbed more. Interestingly, they use the Saturday message for the other video campuses, so even if it's not as good, it can't suck as hundreds of people will see it.
2. Prediction: video venues are the way of the future (if not the present).
Menlo is out of room. Saturday was probably at 50% capacity. The traditional 8 am service at 80%, I went to a second site at 9:30 and then back to the main campus for 11, which was at 90% or more. I think the balcony had some seats. The only way for them to grow, is to plant other campuses or build a bigger building (which they can't do as there is no land -- and the world doesn't need another pull barn).
This is only my third time visiting a site where the teaching was done on video, but all three times I WENT asking, "Why would people come to this?" and LEFT thinking, "You know, this might be the service I would go to if I went to this church." I watched John give the same message live on Saturday, and then watched the exact same message on video at one of their video sites. It was better on video. It was just uncanny. But honestly, people were more engaged watching the video.
Now, I think video works for a really large church where the sites are smaller. I'm not sure if it would work for, say, Central. But each of their video campuses are about the physical size of Central... and they were packed. I mean packed. I mean really, really, "I can't find a chair I think I'll sit on the floor" kind of packed. (Again, probably 90% capacity if everyone moved in and sat next to each other).
Here is the thing: What the satellite campuses had, that they main campus didn't have, was informality and intimacy. (You can bring in coffee, it's smaller and more intimate). The reason I wonder if video would work with a church the size of Central is that Central already has informality and intimacy.
But I actually think that video venues work.
There, I said it.
3. If people are excited about something, or if they get the big picture, they will put up with inconvenience.
There are a number of ways I saw this played out, but a big one was children's ministry. I had this idea for our second site and my staff "poo pooed" it -- but Menlo has their children's ministry for their cafe campus, at their main campus (about 3 blocks or so away). So people drop their kids off at the main campus, and then drive or walk to the cafe campus. When I asked, "How do you get this to work? Don't the parent complain? Don't they fear leaving their kids?" the children's person looked at me with this dumb look and said, "No. But we don't have a choice."
This kind of plays into the consumer mentality. I could go on and on about this, but I won't. But it was interesting to see what Menlo didn't offer.
Which leads me to the last one (for now), and this is a big one.
Ready?
Cause I'm going to say it.
Here we go.
4. Central, we do NOT have a parking problem.
Quit whining. No really. Seriously. I mean it. Quit. There are people who parked 5 blocks from the church. Their lot is the size of a postage stamp. (Okay, that is a huge exaggeration, but it's way too small for the church). Now, granted, it's California and the walk was really, really nice. They don't deal with snow. But seriously, if the early church can meet in catacombs under persecution, we can walk a block or two. Really, we just need to get over this.
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8 comments:
#4. amen. i've never actually understood our parking "problem".
but of course, i have a thing against vests. ;)
also: are you going to post that tidbit after lent is over? ;)
I still struggle with big church, and now that I belong to one of these growing monsters, I am trying to get comfortable. I am having trouble watching a pastor on a video screen. I mean, what's the positive here? It's a freaking movie. I can watch this stuff online. Why put up with such an impersonal offering? There is no relationship, no give and take, no live energy. Bah! I say bah.
Well, the relationship, etc comes with the campus pastor. And give and take? When was the last time your pastor did Q and A? There is no give and take in preaching (other than energy). It's largely a one way communication event. And if they did do Q and A, they ask you to text in your answers! Heck, for all we know, those could have been written beforehand!
My point in, strictly from a communication standpoint, once a church is over a certain size, people are looking at the screen anyway. With the screen, you get facial expression, etc that you can't see live. A large % of communication is body/facial. A small dot on the stage doesn't cut it.
Now, I say it again, I'm not sure this would work at a Central kind of church. But it might. In any case, for some churches, it's not only working, but working really, really well.
And here is the thing... if it's not for you, than go to the main campus. But (and I'm not suggesting you are doing this) don't complain and suggest that because it's not for you. it's not for anyone. I talked with literally dozens of people in the last couple of days, representing HUNDREDS of people (of all ages) who love it.
As for watching online... the gathering is more than teaching. There are elements you can't get on line. The command is to gather together. You can't get around that in scripture. But the elements are more flexible.
Yup, video is working. No doubt. I also think it can really appeal to someone who is seeking...its not hard to sit and watch video, it might even be different enough from what they know about church to stir their heart.
The challenge that I feel about video is what it communicates about the laity in the church. If you have so little trust or have equipped so few people in the church that you have to beam video to a second site, maybe thats putting too much emphasis on a single person's ability to communicate an effective sermon.
Also, zooming out and looking at a bigger perspective, what role does video have in the global church, especially where cell/house churches are the primary facility? Same thing with the "simple church" movement that doesnt want any of that jazz.
video works, but its not going to save the church, and its not going to destroy it. Its just video :)
thanks for posting your thoughts paul!
"If you have so little trust or have equipped so few people in the church that you have to beam video to a second site, maybe thats putting too much emphasis on a single person's ability to communicate an effective sermon."
Or maybe the standards of the laity are too high because they demand superpastor.
Paul, thanks so much for thinking about my worry. I wish we could talk on these things in person. I am trying to be open and to give things a chance, but it seems like my own mind has made itself up and won't let me relax. Stated another way, I seem to bring a negative attitude with me to church and I hate that.
One question that I would love an answer to. If a single pastor feels that nobody else can deliver the message but them, doesn't this reek of ego and pride?
"If a single pastor feels that nobody else can deliver the message but them, doesn't this reek of ego and pride?"
Sure, it can. But honestly, that has not been my experience most of the time. Often it's what the people want. In other words, it's not usually the pastor that is pushing for it, it's the people.
Hard truth... there are a lot of churches out there. Some are growing and some are not. Certainly, preaching is not the only thing causing growth, but it IS one thing. Studies show that there are only 10% of pastors who actually have the spiritual gift of preaching/teaching. So what about the other 90%? What if they could focus on what they ARE gifted in and not have to worry about preaching? The same is true with leadership. If I don't have the gift of leadership, why can't I have someone else focus on leadership? Or counseling? Etc.
The other thing is economy of scale. If one person is focusing on preaching, than the site pastor can focus on relationships more. So if I spend X hours on a message a week, and you spend X hours, are we really using our time well?
Hear me -- I understand (and hold) some of the same concerns. But the question I am asking is... if we (the Church) adopt this strategy, is the Kingdom better off? And I was the biggest skeptic out there, but I'm seeing it work well... it's producing fruit.
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