Open Mike

Gloom & Doom for The Church This Easter? Go Glocal (my article in local news)

[I was invited to write the Easter article for our local N Charlotte newspaper The Lake Norman Citizen. Here ya go - with added pictures]

IT’S EASTER!   And most churches are experiencing low in-person attendance due to lingering concerns and at-home habits from the pandemic.

IT’S EASTER!   And Millennial young adults are leaving the church at historic rates, compared to Xers (“we grunge rock!”) and Boomers (“we classic rock!”).

And yet – I’m thrilled.  Thrilled and amazed at the ongoing impact of Jesus’ resurrection.  And no, those of you who know me at Lake Forest Church, it’s not just because of my naturally excitable personality, although that’s always a thing when I consider Jesus.

Though Christians in Lake Norman may take momentary discouragement from our contemporary and local experience of what seems like a depression of the Christian faith -- the indisputable, factual, historical impact of the resurrection over 2,000 years tells a completely different story.  Let me ‘splain please.

Back to Easter.  On that first resurrection day, among the risen Jesus’ first eyewitness-recorded words to his disciples were these: “Go and tell…” (Matthew 28:10; also John 20:17, Mark 16:7, Matthew 28:19).  And boy, did they ever “Go and tell…”  

To the point that today the church of Jesus Christ is the largest, most multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural institution in the world, and in human history.  2.382 billion souls identify as Christian today, which is 31.11% of y’all breathing on planet earth right now, marking Christianity as the majority religion.  Jesus’ person, Jesus’ message, and Jesus’ work are – measurably – the most compelling spiritual sustenance in human history.  Have you ever thought of it that way? 

An interesting thing about the ‘state of the church’ today is that one of the primary turnoffs American millennials state to me directly about ‘the church’ is its lack of diversity.  When in fact, if we step back and view the church globally and historically, the opposite is true (though yes, we need to fix that here).

 In fact, most of the dynamism in Christian worship and mission in our century is found in the fast-growing churches of the Global South.  “By 2020 fully two-thirds of all Christians were in the Global South, with only one-third in the Global North. By 2050 we anticipate that 77 percent of all Christians will live in the Global South,” according to the Pew Research Center.  And did you know that more Arabic speakers have become followers of Jesus over the past 30 years, than in the past 1,000 years combined?

And let me tell you – I am a witness.  I’ve worshipped in Shanghai with hundreds at a church full of expats from around the world – the Spirit-filled worship team of African and Asian university students radiated the grace and truth of Christ. 

In Cairo I wept in the front row as I experienced the worship of Jesus in original Arabic language songs for the first time, in a congregation of thousands. 

In London, I was joyful during Spirit-filled rock and roll modern worship in an ancient stone cathedral, full of young adults of many ethnicities.

So, if what your heart longs for is to be part of a global spiritual movement that has vibrancy in almost every culture, and that acts for justice and mercy on every continent, I recommend ‘the society of Jesus,’ His church.  Find a local church that’s participating with the global church – a glocal church is the ideal.

There are many valuable insights and practices in the world religions that I have had the privilege to study and experience.  Yet when the message of Jesus has been offered down through the ages, more people have reported life change and spiritual peace through faith in this Jesus, than any other way.  What is His message?  God and I are one (the Incarnation), God is love (the ontology of the divine), God loves you (the disposition of God), God suffered for your suffering and sin (Atonement at the Cross), God conquered death and suffering (Victory at the Empty Tomb), God will and is making all things new (Second Coming).

I hope you’ll ‘go and hear’ about Jesus this Easter at a local church.  I pray also you’ll take up your role in the story and live a life of ‘Go and tell,’ while sending others to do the same globally. In the name and power of the resurrected Jesus.

-credit to Bob Roberts for the term 'glocal' church

What About Female Church Elders & the Bible? + Elders as the Special Sauce of our Church

The quiet strength of Lake Forest Church is our Elders. We believe the Scriptures teach the roles of leadership in the church, including that of elder, are open to both women and men.  We do not operate with a 'quota' system of elders regarding gender, but trust the Spirit to make clear who is called each term.  Thus some years a majority of our candidates are men, and as in this year, sometimes a majority are women. 

I have been told that the role of women in leadership in the church (or not) has become a 'reheated' issue in the Christian blogosphere this year.  Please read to the end if you're interested in why we think the Bible teaches elder and pastors should be from both genders.

Since our founding, we have practiced the biblical principle of submission to authority by having pastors who minister under the authority of congregationally selected elders, and elders who shepherd the church under the authority of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination. No pastor should be an authority unto him or her-self.  No church should be the end-all authority unto itself.  Neither circumstance is wise or biblical.  Run away, run away if you find yourself in a church where the pastor is an unaccountable authority unto himself!

When it comes to elders and pastors, we have performed a delicate dance of mutual submission to one another out of reverence for Christ in healthy ways for all of our years.  The elders give each of our Lead Pastors priority of calling and position as a 'first among equals' when it comes to vision, direction, and theology for the church, particularly.  And our pastors have a vote in all key decisions because we are elders also.  But elders outnumber us pastors on purpose when it comes to voting (our constitution calls for a 2-1 elder to pastor ratio).

When pastor-types gather and sit around and swap horror stories of elder meetings, pastor-elder-deacon conflict, etc. I sit quietly and thank the Lord for the unity we have enjoyed.  In 23 years, we have never had an elder or former elder leave the church in anger or disharmony - we have only lost elders when they moved away.

That unity is partly due to the caliber of our first elders passing it down (the 'founding fathers:' Rusty, Sam, Jack and Dave), partly due to a rigorous and lengthy selection process and criteria, partly due to specific practices we built into our elder rhythms from the beginning.  Some examples:

-we meet three times monthly so we can build a relational community of spiritual leaders, not a board of directors/deciders

-we meet frequently for nimbleness of decision-making and so we never have to raise a big or contentious issue at the same meeting a decision is needed - because that's when people feel manipulated or coerced against their conscience

-we don't seek unanimity, but we always insist upon unity

-when an issue is clearly gray, we choose to err on the side of grace as far as we can tell what that is

-as Lake Forest has grown from 42 to a few thousand as a family of churches, we continually adjust role differentiation between elders and pastors/staff

-no one is a successful elder candidate unless they have been fruitfully shepherding souls in some manner at Lake Forest already

-we measure a lot of stuff as elders, but we primarily measure church health by God-stories of 1. conversion and 2. spiritual growth of followers of Jesus

-we set a tone in the first year that vigorous discussion and disagreement between elders and me (or now also Aron/Michael/Victor/Terrell as Lead Pastors) is not only helpful but encouraged; and that I can disagree vigorously (usually with more words :) ) in return. That's healthy.

-ultimatums and fit-pitching are simply not allowed nor tolerated in our elder/pastor culture. If this ever happened in a meeting (it has not thus far), I think the response would be laughter

-we never invite someone to become an elder to begrudgingly fill the sick (but common) role of 'loyal opposition'

-elders are not selected or appointed to represent any 'constituency' in the church body - we avoid that like the plague because it leads to factionalism in the church

-we keep the active elder group (who serve a three year term) to a manageable size, even between our several Family of Churches, so the group can remain a community and lead-able.  we invite all inactive elders (not currently serving a 3 year term) to participate in director-level hiring interviews and the annual elder strategy retreat in August up in the mountains, in order to keep unity with the larger elder body

-the elders' responsibility for our whole Family of Churches, and each elder team for the local churches, is 'to discern the mind of Christ' on behalf of the health and future of the church. the elders of each LF Church meet 2-3 times a month, and the active elders of The Family of Churches meets monthly over a meal over shared identity and shared ministry (aka church planting)

It is elder affirmation and election weekend at Lake Forest right now. The elder search team has recommended candidates that our Ministry Partners (aka 'members') will vote on this Sunday.

One of our Ministry Partners asked me this week for a helpful overview of why I teach that the Bible invites women into leadership in the church, so I thought I would pass them along to you as well.  Here are my two favorite succinct treatments on the subject.

If you ask me about this in my office during a conversation, I will become most animated and pointed as I open up I Corinthians 11 with you, and read verse 5 where Paul asserts about details 'WHEN a woman prays or prophesies/preaches' in church.  I will then leap to Romans 16, then to the Old Testament examples of female headship over men and society spiritually and otherwise, then back to other female leaders in the New Testament. So pay particular attention to each paper's elucidation of I Corinthians 11.  Also, both papers deal forthrightly with the passages that appear to forbid female leadership in the church - check it out.

This is written by my friend Gerrit Dawson, a scholarly pastor and leader in our denomination (currently pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge LA): Download Women Ordination Paper _ Gerrit Dawson (2011)

This resource is from the Evangelical Covenant denomination, which shares our same commitment to the authority and infallibility of the scriptures for Christian faith and practice.  I've posted it before: Download Women-called-and-gifted-booklet-2.10-1

Thank you to the elders of Lake Forest for the gift of humble mutual submission you have give to me and the other pastors these years.  Thank you for the burdens you have borne heavily and quietly on behalf of our church.  May you find joy in your calling as an elder at Lake Forest Church this year!

[this post is an edited version of a blog entry of mine from 2015]

The quiet strength of Lake Forest Church is our Elders. We believe the Scriptures teach the roles of leadership in the church, including that of elder, are open to both women and men.  We do not operate with a 'quota' system of elders regarding gender, but trust the Spirit to make clear who is called each term.  Thus some years a majority of our candidates are men, and as in this year, sometimes a majority are women. 

I have been told that the role of women in leadership in the church (or not) has become a 'reheated' issue in the Christian blogosphere this year.  Please read to the end if you're interested in why we think the Bible teaches elder and pastors should be from both genders.

Since our founding, we have practiced the biblical principle of submission to authority by having pastors who minister under the authority of congregationally selected elders, and elders who shepherd the church under the authority of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination. No pastor should be an authority unto him or her-self.  No church should be the end-all authority unto itself.  Neither circumstance is wise or biblical.  Run away, run away if you find yourself in a church where the pastor is an unaccountable authority unto himself!

When it comes to elders and pastors, we have performed a delicate dance of mutual submission to one another out of reverence for Christ in healthy ways for all of our years.  The elders give each of our Lead Pastors priority of calling and position as a 'first among equals' when it comes to vision, direction, and theology for the church, particularly.  And our pastors have a vote in all key decisions because we are elders also.  But elders outnumber us pastors on purpose when it comes to voting (our constitution calls for a 2-1 elder to pastor ratio).

When pastor-types gather and sit around and swap horror stories of elder meetings, pastor-elder-deacon conflict, etc. I sit quietly and thank the Lord for the unity we have enjoyed.  In 23 years, we have never had an elder or former elder leave the church in anger or disharmony - we have only lost elders when they moved away.

That unity is partly due to the caliber of our first elders passing it down (the 'founding fathers:' Rusty, Sam, Jack and Dave), partly due to a rigorous and lengthy selection process and criteria, partly due to specific practices we built into our elder rhythms from the beginning.  Some examples:

-we meet three times monthly so we can build a relational community of spiritual leaders, not a board of directors/deciders

-we meet frequently for nimbleness of decision-making and so we never have to raise a big or contentious issue at the same meeting a decision is needed - because that's when people feel manipulated or coerced against their conscience

-we don't seek unanimity, but we always insist upon unity

-when an issue is clearly gray, we choose to err on the side of grace as far as we can tell what that is

-as Lake Forest has grown from 42 to a few thousand as a family of churches, we continually adjust role differentiation between elders and pastors/staff

-no one is a successful elder candidate unless they have been fruitfully shepherding souls in some manner at Lake Forest already

-we measure a lot of stuff as elders, but we primarily measure church health by God-stories of 1. conversion and 2. spiritual growth of followers of Jesus

-we set a tone in the first year that vigorous discussion and disagreement between elders and me (or now also Aron/Michael/Victor/Terrell as Lead Pastors) is not only helpful but encouraged; and that I can disagree vigorously (usually with more words :) ) in return. That's healthy.

-ultimatums and fit-pitching are simply not allowed nor tolerated in our elder/pastor culture. If this ever happened in a meeting (it has not thus far), I think the response would be laughter

-we never invite someone to become an elder to begrudgingly fill the sick (but common) role of 'loyal opposition'

-elders are not selected or appointed to represent any 'constituency' in the church body - we avoid that like the plague because it leads to factionalism in the church

-we keep the active elder group (who serve a three year term) to a manageable size, even between our several Family of Churches, so the group can remain a community and lead-able.  we invite all inactive elders (not currently serving a 3 year term) to participate in director-level hiring interviews and the annual elder strategy retreat in August up in the mountains, in order to keep unity with the larger elder body

-the elders' responsibility for our whole Family of Churches, and each elder team for the local churches, is 'to discern the mind of Christ' on behalf of the health and future of the church. the elders of each LF Church meet 2-3 times a month, and the active elders of The Family of Churches meets monthly over a meal over shared identity and shared ministry (aka church planting)

It is elder affirmation and election weekend at Lake Forest right now. The elder search team has recommended candidates that our Ministry Partners (aka 'members') will vote on this Sunday.

One of our Ministry Partners asked me this week for a helpful overview of why I teach that the Bible invites women into leadership in the church, so I thought I would pass them along to you as well.  Here are my two favorite succinct treatments on the subject.

If you ask me about this in my office during a conversation, I will become most animated and pointed as I open up I Corinthians 11 with you, and read verse 5 where Paul asserts about details 'WHEN a woman prays or prophesies/preaches' in church.  I will then leap to Romans 16, then to the Old Testament examples of female headship over men and society spiritually and otherwise, then back to other female leaders in the New Testament. So pay particular attention to each paper's elucidation of I Corinthians 11.  Also, both papers deal forthrightly with the passages that appear to forbid female leadership in the church - check it out.

This is written by my friend Gerrit Dawson, a scholarly pastor and leader in our denomination (currently pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge LA): Download Women Ordination Paper _ Gerrit Dawson (2011)

This resource is from the Evangelical Covenant denomination, which shares our same commitment to the authority and infallibility of the scriptures for Christian faith and practice.  I've posted it before: Download Women-called-and-gifted-booklet-2.10-1

Thank you to the elders of Lake Forest for the gift of humble mutual submission you have give to me and the other pastors these years.  Thank you for the burdens you have borne heavily and quietly on behalf of our church.  May you find joy in your calling as an elder at Lake Forest Church this year!

[this post is an edited version of a blog entry of mine from 2015]