Comments on: Top 5 things I’ve learned from 6 months of being nobody’s pastor

By: 9 Months of Being Nobody’s Pastor . . and Yet | achurchforstarvingartists

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:14:44 +0000

[...] by this post written by Landon Whitsitt, I’ve been thinking about what I’ve learned after 9 months [...]

By: landon whitsitt

landon whitsitt — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:57:00 +0000

Perhaps, but I’m referring to anything in a worship service that seeks to draw attention away from God to oneself, regardless of the degree to which it occurs.

By: rjw918

rjw918 — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:17:52 +0000

>>Plus, anything that smacks of a performance? Boo.

That word has a lot of varying meanings and nuances.

I’m thinking the word was used here in the Matthew 6 sense of acting a role as hypocrisy…

By: landon whitsitt

landon whitsitt — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:30:22 +0000

Well, I’m glad to know I’m not the only crazy person in the world.

I think I agree with you about worship (I like an eclectic service), but it’s when we get into other areas that I’m finding this to ring true.

By: landon whitsitt

landon whitsitt — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:27:53 +0000

Thank you, Michael. I deeply appreciate that.

By: Michael Gizzi

Michael Gizzi — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:19:16 +0000

Ah, but you have been many people’s pastor these past six months, in a virtual sense through your blog and other writings. #Justsaying.

By: Mike Williams

Mike Williams — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:56:09 +0000

I came up with a similar list during a recent sabbatical but think that number 4 is the most challenging. Sticking to “what you do” limits the potential for the diversity that the church is called to exhibit to the world. Going beyond what we do well may make for some messy worship moments even with the best of planning – but I found those congregations more engaged and more engaging.

By: landon whitsitt

landon whitsitt — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:41:30 +0000

I agree that competing for church shoppers is a losing strategy. I’m not sure that’s what I’m advocating here because I’ve been a critic of attractional models of church.

Truthfully, the post could just have easily been titled “5 things I was (even a little wrong) about when I was a pastor.”

By: landon whitsitt

landon whitsitt — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:38:48 +0000

#4 & #5 were the ones I found the strongest reaction to. There comes a point where no guiding direction is more of a hurt than a help. I’ve noticed in some churches that people feel off balance if there is not a strong vision pointing a particular way.

As I said, people should feel free to follow God’s call where it leads, but (on the whole) having a central rallying point is helpful. For instance, one church we’ve regularly attended supports a water program and it is a touchpoint for the whole congregation.

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:37:47 +0000

Landon,

I’m surprised at how consumeristic this list comes across. I agree that these are pragmatic ways to appeal to church shoppers but I can’t agree that these are the most important leadership capacities for “this changing landscape of whatever church is and is becoming.” Conversations that focus on attractional models of church are helpful to a certain extent, but they don’t get at the adaptive nature of the current leadership setting. In my experience they often lead to work avoidance, where churches focus on worship style, better preaching, and shinier welcome brochures when other, more difficult work is needed. Competing for an ever-shrinking supply of church shoppers is a losing strategy.

This list would have fit right in with the Church Growth Strategies class I took from Peter Wagner at Fuller Seminary, right alongside his homogeneous-unit principle.

Craig