Innovation Manipulation
Ben Arment wrote an interesting article. Here is a snippet…
It cracks me up when I see a blog or a magazine list “the most innovative churches” in America. The list reads like a high school yearbook where the same homecoming king gets crowned every year because he looks like a Ken doll and stars on the football team.
Somehow, we’ve changed the meaning of innovation to popularity. We’re not measuring innovation as much as we’re rewarding impression. The same mondo churches win every year because they’ve erected something close to Space Mountain in their children’s wing.
Coming from 9 years of portable church to Buckhead Church I definitely see his point.
What we had to pull off at Sandals in order to have church on Sundays included duct tape and hangers.
Ben points to the flaws of lists like these.
So in the spirit of healthy conversation…
What is your definition of an innovative church and is your church innovating?
Los
I’ll go first.
My definition of an innovative church is a church who does not care about the word innovation because they naturally innovate.
Make sense?
I think my church is being innovative be realizing that most people will never step foot in our church building.
So.
We are going to them to create safe places to talk about faith.
Los
Churches that are breaking new ground, utilizing or (in LifeChurch’s case) inventing new technology. I’m about to plant a church (my first to be on staff, 3rd overall and 4th portable church) and I know what you mean by duct tape on hangers. I think the larger churches are still innovative but as in most cases necessity is the mother of invention.
Being innovative?…I think it means coming up w/ new ways to get folks to church. Whether that be the actually church building, a small group, a volunteer opportunity or even a bar…
I don’t think it has anything to do with building size, first impressions or the coolness of its children’s programming. Although sometimes those are the things that attract people to a church…
GCC is definitely innovative. It’s not important for us to be “attractive” (as Ben says) to anyone other than those that don’t yet know Christ.
personally, and there is no haterade intended here, i mean this with the utmost respect and honesty, i feel we should just rename the top prize to the “lifechurch” award anyway. internet campus, second life campus, lifeshare, youversion, iphone bible app, church metrics, open, one prayer, their radical dedication to their mission AND equipping other churches with everything i already mentioned FOR FREE… i honestly can’t think of a more innovative church. they are the bar, in this respect.
innovative- using or doing something that’s never been done before. Or being resourceful and using something in a way its never been used before.
There’s nothing innovative about screens and guitars on stage and big buildings. Its cool but not innovative…maybe 20 yrs ago it was… (I am so guilty of this)
Good point Los.
I think being innovative is thinking outside the box. If that means building a coffeehouse instead of a church (NCC in DC) because you reach more people with coffee than with a church building or if it means the Buckhead Music Project, or whatever it means in your community. The point is as you said, the majority of people are not going to step inside your church building. So to me, being innovative is meeting people where they’re at and loving them and building relationship with them. It also is going out into your community and making it a better place, even if your church doesn’t get recognition. Of course, that isn’t really all that innovative, since thats what the early Christians did.
Just my two cents.
hmmm…i’d say any church that does the work to understand the community they hope to reach for Christ AND resources the creativity within their own body AND grows the Kingdom (and those in the Kingdom) is necessarily an innovative expression of the Church…it will happen.
and…what los said
OK. I’ll bite. I love Ben’s blog. I love your blog.
I’m not so sure that innovation is the point. I kind of like what you said, Los. Churches who are innovative are not concerned with being innovative.
Churches should be designed to meet a need. That’s what Christ did. Feed the poor. Heal the sick. Better their community by educating people in areas of finance, relationships, responsibility, marriage, parenting. All in the context of the love and grace of God.
Innovation? Maybe it’s simply being aware of the needs around you and having the balls to do something different and meet those needs. Then people come. Then people are healed. Then relationships are restored. Then the light of Jesus Christ begins to shine brightly in that community and then the “church people” begin to notice and write articles about them and how ‘innovative’ they are.
Our church is exploring this right now. Shame on us for losing that vision so easily.
I think innovation is simply reading a context, determining what are the best ways to bear the Gospel into that context, and then figuring out a way to do it. For example, in reaching out to their relational network, the members of one of The River’s communities encountered a HUGE number of working parents who didn’t attend church because they didn’t want to be separated from their kids on the weekend since that was the only “family time” they had. So, we changed the look of that gathering to a family-focused format where parents and children do church together. And it is working being our wildest dreams. We started this with two families about three months ago, and this past Sunday there were ten families!
Innovation…
A ministry that is not full of itself enough to create ministry that works in reaching real people, rather than just to be “cool” or a popular church you read about on lists.
A lot of us can be creative. But why are we innovating? Great discussion here.
I think that I agree with what most everyone is saying. I think that, nowadays, being innovative is actually being the hands and feet of Christ. Sounds so simple. I think that it’s being a church that’s less focused about legalities and more focused on loving people, being authentic and transparent, meeting people at every level which may mean not being in a church building or holding a service in the park at 11:18 am on a Wednesday. Technology is wonderful because it’s an awesome tool that we can use to continue reaching people sometimes considered “unreachable” but I don’t necessarily think that cool buildings and technology are always a good indicator of innovation… just my 2 cents
There is nothing wrong with innovation, large churches, small churches, lists, etc., if those that are doing the innovation, leading the church, compiling the list are actually seeking God and doing what he says. I could care less if a church is innovative and cool if they are not actively seeking to do what God want THEM to do. My frustration comes at churches (denominations, magazines, etc.) that think that because God told Church A to do something that automatically God will bless Church B when they do the exact same thing. Innovation should be about following God not seeking after innovation.
(All this is not to bash innovation, I am all for it. It is to bash copying and not seeking after God.)
Rich – Problem being that, even when the church is doing its ministry to reach real people…people accuse it of being cool just so they can make a list. That happens weekly when I tell people I attend GCC.
In the context of the church, Innovation is the ability to keep moving/looking forward. Adapting while remaining consistent to the Gospel and not compromising ourselves in the process. I believe it takes a very diverse group of people to be truly innovative.
Personally, I could not possibly care less how innovative my church is, regardless of how you define it.
I don’t go there looking for anything, but God. Guess what? I’m never disappointed cuz He’s always there! My heart explodes with God’s love every Sunday. Same here in Germany as it was in Indiana and those two churches couldn’t possibly be more different. Tomlin to hymns…Night to day…Young to old….All the same to me though.
As long as the church is based on weekly services (which most are); then the church is NOT innovative.
i love visiting cool churches tagged “innovative.” it’s fun. their bands are awesome. most i’ve visited have kickin’ lighting systems and immaculate sound. and it’s all great because they’re using it to lead people to Jesus.
however, for me, it’s dangerous to get caught up in all of that. buckhead’s doing an awesome job being buckhead. newspring’s doing an awesome job being newspring. granger’s doing an awesome job being granger. but i work at a church called the vine…..and our job is to do an awesome job being the vine. does that make any sense? we need to seek wisdom in the Word daily, pray for creativity, listen to the Spirit, and just be us. our own vibe; our own culture….our own community we’re entrusted with to love people in the name of Jesus.
Los’ first post is right-on. It’s just like people who say they “want to be contemporary.” what?!?! wanting to be something you’re not is striving. people see right through that. if you’re contemporary, you just ARE. your people are. your mindset is. the same goes with innovation.
and i think Pete hit the nail here:
http://withoutwax.tv/2008/09/24/im-tired-of-this-game/
innovative churches must make a timeless message stand out in an over stimulated culture. Jesus was known for loving the lost and the unlovable, and for being radically counter-cultural in light of the Kingdom of God. any church that is actually making an impact that looks like the impact of Christ is innovative.
that does not mean the coolest services, or the most numerical growth in the last fiscal year, even if that’s what always seems to get noticed. let’s reach for something really innovative and be a modern day Jesus to this world.
Anyone can be “innovative” if you’ve got a fat budget to work with. Innovation in ministry is spending the majority of the church budget actually reaching people for Christ and serving the poor instead of creating theme park churches.
For me, I think of an innovative church as one that has a greater impact on the community. Finding new, fresh, and creative ways of engaging in the community OUTSIDE the walls of the church building is HUGE.
A lot of times I think that the ways are already there.. we just have to engage. (like getting groups of musicians to play in local bars) Not trying to brownnose,, but sweet idea. The ARTS are easy bridges.
I think it’s a church that is always evaluating and questioning their methods, and thinking of fresh ways to minister, instead of solely copying “successful” church’s methods. Possibly, bad motives are leading to stale churches. The business model is way too dominant in churches, it seems.
Our church has been innovative, mainly because, we openly recognize that there is no formula to doing church. God designed us individually, so we’re going to bring different things to the table with different results, and growing in in different ways.
I’m not so opinionated when it comes to innovative ideas for churches, but I love that our church plant here in Scotland hired a non Christian drummer for the worship team. He got saved like 6 months later. And he’s a really good drummer too, because he was hired early on. (He’s volunteers his time now).
To me, Innovation is any church that puts aside its own agendas in order to reach the community for Christ. We live in a selfish world and unfortunately our churches are just as guilty of being selfish. We try so hard to protect “what’s ours” our traditions, our preferences, the way WE want things that we forget that in order to reach the lost we must meet THEIR needs, communicate in their terms and on their turf. Jesus said “Go into all the world…” not “make the world come to you…”
Because my church (predominantly white, nondenominational) is so different from my previous churches (predominantly black, Full Gospel Baptist), it all seems innovative to me. : )
The little “cup buddy” cardboard coffee cup holder thingie. When Sandals got those, I knew innovation was afoot.
great question… the term “innovative churches” is over cooked. innovative is the church finding the way to reach people in a way that no one has thought of or done yet. the place (not just a church) that originates an unconventional way of reaching people…that most wouldn’t even dare considering. when it’s voted on and at the top of a list…when it’s at a conference. it’s not innovative anymore. still chewing on this one…
Innovation in the church?
Easy.
“How many people have been saved and baptized?”
One gauge. One stat.
Period.
Too bad that churches are so embarrassed by this number that innovation is measured by the fluffy stuff that involve WAY too many meetings and WAY to little time reaching any further than the parking lot.
Los,
Thanks for pointing out this article. I worked in a portable church for over a decade. Innovation is what it took just to pull things off week in and week out.