SCD Ideas

With the death of the Titans three weeks ago, I basically watched the Super Bowl for the ads.  While the Steelers’ win was no surprise, there was an upset in the competition for best TV Super Bowl Advertisement.  This year two unemployed brothers from Indiana, Dave and Joe Herbert, won the top honors in the Super Bowl Ad Meter.  Both in their thirties, the brothers entered a contest sponsored by Doritos who promised a prize of $1 million to the best Doritos video sent to them by customers.  The top two winners also had their commercials aired during the Super Bowl, the most expensive TV time slot in advertising ($3 million per 30-second slot). 

Beating 51 big advertising companies was quite a win for the brothers and probably sent shivers down the spines of advertising executives on Madison Avenue.  Why should companies pay millions for one of their spots, when two nobudies can do it on a dime and a prayer?

This is just one more example of what Andrew Keen talks about in his book, The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is killing our culture.  Keen contends that amateurs, like the Herbert brothers, are threatening our most valued cultural institutions.  Blogs, YouTube videos, and webcams let anybody anywhere broadcast their views to anyone everyone.   While book publishers are lagging in sales, companies like lulu, a self-publishing online bookseller, are flourishing as they allow anyone with a manuscript to self-publish his or her book for less than $50.00. 

Which raises a powerful question: who is the editor?  Traditionally editors provided the service of making sure what ever was written, produced, or broadcast was of a certain level of quality.  For example, words would be spelled correctly and put in the right order (grammar anyone?).  They also would push authors to fact check their work to make sure it was accurate.  But with the power of the internet, writers and video artists don’t need a fliter that was caused by the economics of getting something published — today they just need to write and click on the right box to published in a blog or on a website. 

While this is a great threat to some, it also provides an opportunity for the listener.  In the midst of the unfiltered voices truth and genius may be found.  Those nobudies out there might have something to say to all of us.  And that is the dilemma that we find ourselves in today.  A world where anyone can be an author, and where the reader now becomes the editor – sorting out what is true, real, and of value on his or her own.  So as you enjoy your Doritos and dream of winning next year’s contest be aware of the implications.  As we all become the producers of our own content, who will decide what is good, of value, and important for all to hear?

To see the ads go to:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2009admeter.htm

Last nights CMA Awards, broadcast live on ABC, is Country Music’s night to shine. It’s by no accident that many of the award winners thanked the songwriters.  For the singers know, without the songwriter there is no song to sing.

Over the last couple of months I have been privileged to take a songwriters class at the Blair School of Music in Nashville.  Each week a songwriter shares his or her story and helps the class look at the craft of songwriting.  Most of the members of the class are songwriters themselves and in many of the sessions they share their music for critique by the speaker and the class.

This last week Laynge Martin, who has written songs like Elvis Presley’s “Way down” and Trisha Yearwood’s, “I Wanna Go Too Far,” was our speaker.

What impressed me about Laynge was his passion for his craft and his desire to be heard.  Some of his advice could be applied to us all.

About music itself he noted that in movies, music is always used to bring the message home.  At the most dramatic point in the story people sing.  For Layne, “songs are really accelerated meaning.”  This reminds us that unlike any other form of communication, music goes straight to the heart.  Lyrics, melody, and rhythm combine to take the listener to a different place of understanding and insight.  The best song becomes your song because it opens a window into what is really important in life.   

Another comment by Layne has importance for us in everyday communication, that “everything we say has a melody and a rhythm.”  The cadence of our speech is really music without the notes.  The tone of our voice, the words we emphasize, and our inflection constantly tells others the state of our emotions, what is important to us, and where our passion lies.

Daniel J. Levitin, author of The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature says the following: “Music, I argue, is not simply a distraction or a pastime, but a core element of our identity as a species, an activity that paved the ways for more complex behaviors such as language, large-scale cooperative undertakings, and the passing down of important information from one generation to the next.”  In his book he says there are basically six types of songs that have formed who we are as humans: songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion, and love.

I might add to this the following thought: before there was speech, culture, and civilization there was music.  Too radical for you.  If you are a parent, my guess is the first form of communication you formed with your infant child was a song.  Maybe it was a coo or a soft hum.  Whatever it was it made a connection that soothed and comforted.  In a sense you became the songwriter as you formed a bond with your child.

Layne made another comment during our time together that really stuck, “what you do everyday becomes your life.”  Days turn to weeks which turn into months which becomes years.  What you do each day has great implications for what you will become in the future.  What you do each moment matters. 

So the next time you listen to a song remember the muse that lurks in the shadow, for if you listen closely the secret of the songwriter will be revealed.

The U.S. Census has released new information that has great implications on the way we create new churches and transform the ministry of existing congregation.  Here are some facts that get your attention:

 - By 2042 the U.S population will reach 400 million, an increase from 305 million.  In short, we will increase 25% in the next 31 years.

- Also, by 2042 non-Hispanic whites will lose their majority status, much sooner than previously expected.

-  The growth in the immigrant population is much larger than previously reported, with dramatic growth among Hispanics/Latinos and Asians.

The challenge for the United Methodist Church is to gather our resources in such a way that we create new faith communities that connect to this growing population.  Both new churches and existing churches have great potential to connect with these growing populations. 

Next year’s School of Congregational Development which will be in Chicago, Wednesday, July 29 to Sunday, August 2, 2009,  is the next opportunity for congregations to bring teams so they can create the strategies they need to connect with the American reality of rapid population growth throughout much of our country.

Go to the link at USA Today to find interesting charts and information about the growth of the U.S. Population.  Also check out 7 Myths of the United Methodist Church (www.gbod.org/7myths) and Chapter Three: We Have Too Many Churches which talks about the 10 Megapolitians where most of the growth will take place.

Link to USATODAY:

 http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2008-08-14-census_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

For those of you who will participating in this year’s School of Congregational Development, you are asked to bring information with you about the community where your church is located.  Using www.zillow.com, the real estate site that tells you an estimated value of homes in your area, you can easily find information about your community.  Use the instructions below and fill in the template to paint a quick picture of your community.  This is only a starting point.  Through the Research Office of GBGM  (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/ecg/research/profiles/) and other companies that provide demographic information you can get more detailed information about your church and your community.  So using this as a starting point, fill in the data below and bring the information with you.  This is material you will be able to use as you develop a Ministry Plan for your church.  You also can go to the Page button on the sidebar of this site, and get the chart as well.

Your Community Profile

1.  Go to www.zillow.com
2.  Type in your address or an address of a house in your
target area
3.  When you see the street address on the map, click on the address to see a
report on the value of the house
4.  Scroll to bottom where it says, “The main types of people are.”
Click on See  more   _________ data.
5.  On the left-hand side you will see a box.  Click on People and fill in the data  below:

Relationship Status:          Homes with Kids:
Married   _________       With Kids    _______
Single       _________     Without Kids _______
Widowed _________
Divorced  _________

Age Distribution        Commute Time
-10 _______            10 min or less    _______
10s _______            10-20 min.         _______
20s _______            20-30 min.        _______
30s _______            30-45 min.        _______
40s _______            45-60 min.        _______
50s _______            60 min or more _______
60s _______
>70 _______

                                                      Your Town    National
People Data
Median Household Income:____________/__________
Single Males:_______________________/__________
Single Females:_____________________/__________
Median Age:_______________________/__________
Homes With Kids:___________________/__________
Average Household Size:_____________/__________
Average Commute Time:_____________/__________

Who Lives Here? The Main types of people are:

In this neighborhood, a larger number of people have these
characteristics than in surrounding neighborhoods:

www.scdumc.org

In preparation for this year’s School of Congregational Development here is a list of books from some of our leaders that you might want to read:

7 Myths of the United Methodist Church

Written by Craig Kennet Miller and with contributions from leading edge pastors 7 Myths talks about the things we say to ourselves that keeps us from growing.  This is a must read for anyone who wants to get a fresh look at the current state of the United Methodist Church or who wants to lead a study in his or her local church to see their church in a whole new light.

Go to www.gbod.org\7myths for more information.  You also can download presentations to share with your congregation.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=541308

Deeping Your Effectiveness

Dan Glover and Claudia Lavey

This is has been a best seller at the School of Congregational Development since it came out.  It gives great insights of how to develop a discipleship system for your local church in a way that allows you to impliment its principles in your congregational setting.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=343629 

Touch

Rudy Rasmus

Touch tells the story of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Houston, a once dying church that is now one of the largest churches in the country.  As Rudy tells his story of redemption you can’t help but be encouraged to take a new look at your ministry and to view the people in your community as God’s gift to your church.

http://www.amazon.com/TOUCH-Pressing-Against-Wounds-Broken/dp/0849919851/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215114547&sr=8-1

Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God

Jim Walker

Dirty Word is an honest and sometime raw theological story of church mission and ministry with people who are turned off by the practices and appearances of the traditional church.

http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=564487