Moving in 3 Days!!

Brian Spahr — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:18:03 +0000

There really isn’t much to be said about it. We are moving!! In three days!! The last few weeks have been pretty hectic. I have chronic back trouble that has been severely acting up for the last few months, so I have been trying to manage the pain while remaining productive. Just something fun to add to the already stressful mix of graduating, packing, moving, planning for the start of a new church, buying a house…can you tell I need your prayers. Seriously, things are actually moving forward fairly well despite all of the challenges, but I would greatly appreciate your prayers over these next few weeks as we try to get settled in our new home in Charlotte. Thanks. The blog might be a little quiet in the transition, but I will be back up and running shortly after we get settled in.

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Launching a new church - How do we meet people?

Brian Spahr — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:22:20 +0000

Beyond the “So do you have a building where you will meet?” question, the number one question I have been getting lately as I tell folks I’m preparing to launch a new church is, “How will you gather people? Seriously? You are starting from scratch?” Yeah. I am starting from scratch, but I am already making contacts with folks in the area that I know from my college days and other friends/acquaintances of friends, etc. It is an overwhelming thought that currently Graceway Church consists of me, Michelle, and Zachary, but I really believe that God has called us to be there and if that is the case, it will somehow come together. I do, however, want to be smart and strategic about how I begin to meet folks. Are the traditional methods of knocking on doors and calling everyone in the phonebook still the most effective ways, or are there new ways that other church planters have found to be effective ways of connecting with their communities? I am particularly interested in knowing how folks are using online, social networking resources as well as other innovations. My cousin is a church planter at Great Park Church in Irvine, CA and the other pastor posted this on their blog:

Church Database System vs. Using Facebook & Meetups | Great Park Church

Does anyone have any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Warnings?

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What to do when you have nothing to do.

Brian Spahr — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:28:18 +0000

I woke up this morning with 2 things on my calendar. 1) a Chiropractor appointment and 2) a visit with the estimator from the moving company. My entire daily agenda was accomplished by 10:30AM. My most recent season of life…this four years of seminary…has been an intense experience. It has been one of constant motion and long, seemingly endless lists of things do read and write and do. Yet today, even with our move to Charlotte looming in the very near future I find myself with no lists, no agenda…nothing. My initial reaction was, “OK, lets go do something fun. Let’s fill this dead space with some kind of family activity that we have been unable to do because life has been so hectic. As I pondered further, however (and as my wife and once again came to the realization that there really is nothing to do in Gettysburg, PA), it became abundantly clear that what I needed to do in this rare moment was to do nothing. So that’s what I intend to do starting…NOW!

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Teaching Gig at Wesley

Brian Spahr — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:32:10 +0000

I spent the day today (and will do the same tomorrow) facilitating a class on technology, multi-media and preaching at Wesley Seminary in Washington DC. It is a diverse group of DMin students with a wide variety of experience and opinions about the subject. I was actually quite honored to be invited to teach. My preaching professor from seminary has expressed great confidence in me and I am very thankful for her trust and for this experience.

Today was a good day. 9AM-4PM is a long time to spend on any subject as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t know if I’m that interesting for that long, but the class went well and I always appreciate hearing different perspectives. One thing that was a really interesting consideration in our discussion today was the concern for how using images on the screen or other technologies would negatively alter the flow of African American preaching styles which rely on cadence and rhythm in their delivery. I had not really considered that before, so I was very thankful to gain that perspective. Everyone in the class will be preaching on Friday but I won’t be around to hear. I would have been extremely interested to see and hear what they came up with. Thanks class for teaching me today!

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Back in Gettysburg…Graduation Day

Brian Spahr — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:45:48 +0000

After a long day in the car we are back in Gettysburg. The Baby Einstein Move & Go Music Mirror kept Zachary occupied for most of the trip, but I think we all have heard enough of the 3 classical music tunes that it plays… and we all know how to say our colors in Spanish, French, and English.

Our search for a home is not yet complete. We made an offer on a house that was turned down and now we are in process of countering. Please pray that we will be able to come to some resolution on this soon. It has been a stressful time. I occupied my time yesterday by staring at my cell phone, waiting for it to ring. That makes for a long day.

Graduation is today!!! I am excited to bring this chapter of my life to a close. Looking forward to celebrating today with friends and family.

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A Long Day

Brian Spahr — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:20:19 +0000

It was a long day of looking at houses, but I think we have some good possibilities. As we were driving around today a lot was going through my mind. While I was primarily focused on finding a place to live, it was impossible to separate the call to this new mission from the home search process. As we drove down street after street I just kept thinking about the people in these neighborhoods…the people who will one day be connected to the life and ministry of our church.

Lord, tonight I pray for the people of SE Charlotte. May I be graced with the opportunity to shepherd many of them as pastor.
AMEN

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In Charlotte…it begins.

Brian Spahr — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:36:27 +0000

Well, I am not here to stay…yet. Michelle and Zachary and I are in Charlotte for the next few days to look for a house. It will be interesting to see how the places we have been Virtual Touring online translate into actual bricks and mortar. We are nervous and excited. We really view wherever we land as a missionary outpost of sorts. It isn’t just a place for us to live, but a place where we hope to gather folks in community and join in God’s mission. So, we pray not only for a place to live, but for our future friends and neighbors as well.Zachary took his first plane ride today. It was pretty exciting for him, and apparently exhausting as well.

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Missional Leadership Paper

Brian Spahr — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:21:06 +0000

My independent study this semester focused on Missional Leadership and here, if you are interested is my final paper. It is very much a work in progress…I mean it is done and turned in for the sake of my grade (I passed), but there are some obvious holes at this point. This is just one step in a long journey of discovery. If you want to wade through 25 pages, feel free. I welcome your feedback.

Click the following link for the paper:

Missional Leadership Paper

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“Shout to the Lord” on American Idol

Brian Spahr — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:48:34 +0000

Now, I have to admit I am long since tired of the song “Shout to the Lord” but it was a pleasant suprise to hear it as a featured song on last night’s “Idol Gives Back” show and as the lead performance of the result show tonight. What struck me the most about the song was hearing performed in the “Idol” setting. It was the perfect example of how the lines between the sacred and secular are blurring. Sure, there were probably some that were offended at the blatant use of Jesus’ name in a popular television show, but I think for most it probably seemed quite natural. People are open to Jesus and open to spirituality but are becoming more and more skeptical of the church as we know it.

I try very hard to observe culture deeply and I am working hard at learning to ask better questions. So as I was observing this collision between church and pop culture and the question that I can’t help but ask is, what can we learn about being the Church from something like “Idol Gives Back?” I’m not talking about musical styles or light shows or over the top personalities. I’m talking about things like where the Church should be spending our time and resources beyond the worship gathering. We don’t have a platform the size of American Idol, but how might we through the efforts of our local church communities impact the world, using our blessings to be a blessing to others?

Any thoughts?

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Living Out-Carnationally - Journal Reflection

Brian Spahr — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:45:52 +0000

By living incarnationally we not only model the pattern of humanity set up in the Incarnation but we also create space for mission to take place in organic ways.In this way mission becomes something that ‘fits’ seamlessly into the ordinary rhythms of life, friendships, and community and is thus thoroughly contextualized. Thus these ‘practices’ form a working basis for genuine incarnational mission. But they also provide us with an entry point into an authentic experience of Jesus and His mission.

This quote is from a blog entry by Alan Hirsch from earlier this month. At first glance, the title might imply that Hirsch is simply trying to create a new word (I’m tired of new words that are simply playing on other buzz words), but the article is really about living out incarnational ministry. Incarnational ministry, according to Hirsch, “essentially means taking the church to the people rather than bringing people to the church.” Last spring while I was on internship I had a conversation with a neighbor who was not connected to any church. We were talking about the church in general and how the church I was serving was struggling to grow and he said that he doesn’t understand why the church is so set on trying to get people to come to them. He said, “There are a whole lot more people not in church than in. Why doesn’t the church just spend their time going where those people are instead of expecting everyone to show up on Sunday morning?” He, of course, did not recognize the importance of the gathering to equip and send God’s people, but his point is well taken. We have long considered the Sunday morning worship gathering as the primary evangelistic entry point. We have made it in many settings “seeker friendly” and we have challenged our people to invite their “unchurched” friends to these gatherings. I’m not saying this bad or wrong necessarily, but I think we need to consider how we spend the rest of our time. In the post, Hirsch describes the missional efforts of a few communities. He says,

In the Seattle/Tacoma region, two churches (Soma and Zoë) have chosen to collaborate in reaching students and musicians by actively moving into the social rhythms of these groups and ‘de-churchifying’ their previous expressions of ministry. In order to do this they have rented and purchased buildings and developed them as night clubs, coffee shops, and have established recording studios with direct links to the various musicians in the area. Zoë in particular has taken drastic measures to limit the attractional appeal of the ministry in order to wean members off the consumptive attendance at a ‘service’ and to get them all involved in local expressions of mission. Whilst passive attendance at services is down, the community is now highly engaged in various expressions of local community and the missional reach has been significantly increased through incarnational practices. They all feel that they are now much closer to what it means to be disciples in community.

For so long the measuring stick has been “worship attendance”, which if we are being honest can have as much to do with the offering generated as anything else. Are we willing to develop different ways of keeping score? How do we better measure ministry “success” without attaching it to the bottom line?

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