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Current Church Models Lead to Large Churches And Large numbers of Unchurched @ e-Church.com
Posted by Mike Boyink
Here is my guess based on intuition and cobbled together reports. I tend to believe that the unchurched are sophisticated, smart and self-sufficient. They do not think they have “felt needs” nor do they want their spiritual formation programed. Why? Because formation is a mystery like the creative process.
http://www.e-church.com/blog-detail.asp?EntryID=637&BloggerID=1
Some interesting numbers from Barna study are linked to here.
This Sunday
Posted by Mike Boyink
(Posted by Ed and Lois, moving here so it will get seen..;)
We’ll be at Centennial Park again this week, even though it’s Father’s Day and some of the group are away on vacation. Come at 6:00 p.m. for worship and sharing. Perhaps we can come up with some ideas on how to handle situations like “Beaten Down.” In talking with Ed about what we desire for Manna, it occured to us that not everyone will be happy with what we do and how we do it, but one of our goals should be that no one leaves our fellowship feeling hurt. How can we hold each other accountable for that?
How to Post to this Site
Posted by Mike Boyink
OK, first some definitions:
-This site, specifically this home page portion of the site, is a blog, short for “Web-log”. It’s a blog because it has date-based content, new content appears at the top of the page, and pushes down older content. As more and more content flows through, it will get archived by month into the right hand column.
-There are two ways to interact with blogs - posting and commenting. Posting is initiating and commenting is reacting to an existing post.
-This, what you are reading right now, is a post.
- In order to create a new post, you must be registered and logged into the site.
- Anyone can comment on a post - registered or not. If you are registered/logged in you will get a simpler comment form. If you are not registered or not logged in you will get more fields to fill out (Name, email, location, URL, etc).
- If you leave a comment, and then someone else does, you will get an email telling that someone else has commented. You can unsubscribe to these by clicking a link contained in the email.
How To Post
- Register on the site.
- You’ll need to confirm your registration via email.
- Once registered/confirmed, use this link to get you to the Manna Control Panel:
-You may need to re-log in, it’s the same username and password you entered on the website.
- Click the “Publish” link in the upper left.
- You’ll get a New Entry screen with several “fields” to fill in. I’m hoping to simplify this Entry screen, but for now the only things you need to fill in are the Title and the Body fields. Pretend it’s email, and the title is the subject of your email, and the body is the text of your email.
- Once your text is in, you can either Preview or Submit, found in the upper right corner of the Publish screen. Preview gives you a chance to re-read your work before putting it live. Submit puts it live on the Manna site.
- Once you Submit, visit the Manna home page again (http://mannis.org). If you don’t see your new post, click the “Refresh” button in your browser.
That pretty much should cover the how of posting, what’s more interesting (to me anyway) is what to post. If all we ever do here is post meeting times and the “About Us” stuff I think we will have missed an opportunity.
Church on the Mall
Posted by Ed and Lois
Lois and I tonight drove up to Grand Rapids for the opening concert of Blues on the Mall. We had gone once last year and I remembered then being struck with the abundance of community being displayed openly in public. Tonight we again witnessed community as I think God intended. People of all races, ages, hair colors, and piercings gathered together to celebrate. A Matthew party at its finest. There were blocks of vendors selling hot dogs, beer and ice cream.(and soda pop) Kids rolling down grassy knowles and laughing out loud. The music was incredibly loud and you could feel the bass thumping in your chest. People dancing and singing and having a good time. It was the best church picnic we’ve ever been to. God shows up in some incredible places, but why should we be surprised.
Blind Lemon Ed
Beaten Down
Posted by Crissa Boyink
Last night my family went out for dinner. Two men sat down at the next booth. One man stated that he hadn’t attended church for a while and felt that that no one had missed him.
The other, a pastor began talking (and seldom came up for air).
- I did notice your absence, and I’m disappointed.
- I’m so busy—just today I’m visiting three people (you’re the second), I’ve been in staff meetings, writing sermon notes, etc.
- I’ve kept tabs on you, even though I haven’t communicated with you (nevermind that my “source” provided me with incorrect information).
Why couldn’t this pastor just say, “I’m sorry. What can I do for you right now?,” rather than accuse and make excuses?
My heart ached for this man! I just wanted to interrupt the conversation and shield this man from the haughty words spoken by the pastor. Where was the love? the grace? the reflection of Christ?
I pray as Manna (un)officially kicks off in July that I become better-equipped as a disciple of Christ so that next time I’m in this situation, I’ll be able to react rather than sit by and watch another soul beaten down.