barlow2serve

Its not over at High School graduation......Look out college is next week!

2010-05-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

For the past few decades the church as long sent High School students off into the dark (to find themselves and find out what GOD means in their life) with no direction other than a few graduation books that they will never read! If we as leaders, staff, and parents don't step in then church will continue to shirk. The guys and gals at the rethink group in GA and at orangeleaders.com think its time we moved the finish line from high school graduation to a bit further down the line. See its a scientific fact that the adolescent brain is not completely formed until around age 25 but its hard to argue that most of us made some of the biggest decisions in life right after high school. What college do I attend? Do I go to college? What type of career am I interested in? Girls? Guys? Parties? Homework? Living without parents! Making new friends. Major? Minor? Mac or PC? OK that last one was for me! As you can see and most of remember these are hard decisions to make and wouldn't it be nice to have someone to help us, pray for us, pray with us, mentor, guide, or just to know that someone has your back no matter what happens?

Well there are a few out there looking to break the mold and I am one of them. I recently started reading a new book by the folks at the rethink group, The Slow Fade.

The authors of the book The Slow Fade believe (as well as I do), that many churches today have programed a youth ministry that finishes at twelfth grade. Now at our church we have a "college ministry" and it is doing a great job prepping and connecting with those who are going or in college. I believe, as do the authors, that we could do a bit more to insure that 80% of those who go to church in high school don't turn into the 6% that continue in church through college and their 20's. One way suggest that this can be done through intergenerational relationships as a way to stop the slow fade away from church.

I am encouraging everyone to reach out to one high school graduate and follow them through the first few years of college (beyond would be great), and just simply be there. Help them connect with the campus ministry. Write them notes on facebook, email or text. Visit their school if within driving distance. Get your church to send semester final care packages. Just do something to help encourage and guild them through this fantastic time in their life! Most of all make it fun for you and them.
Peace
Chris

what do cameras and churches have in common?

2010-03-01T08:39:00.001-08:00

I believe as Reggie Joiner who wrote Think Orange believes, that the church and family are at a crossroad. Things are shifting around us rapidly, and the test for many leaders (and churches) will be in how quickly and completely they are willing to make a change.

Our senior Pastor Adam Hamilton has mentioned the story about cameras using Polaroid as an example there is another key story about how much and how quickly change happens. In 1991 Kodak offered the first digital camera weighing in at 8 pounds and costing $13,000.00. Nikon however was the first to make a digital SLR, a single-lens reflex camera, and it was released in 1999. The SLR allows a photographer to use interchangeable lens on the same camera and it truly helped Nixon dominate the market for professional photographers. They designed the camera body that could be used with all their existing lenses so those photographers wouldn't have to purchase new lenses. It made sense, but it meant that Nikon needed to use a smaller computer chip to capture images.

Canon took a different approach. Canon completely reinvented the digital SLR camera, releasing the EOS D30 in 2003. It required all new lenses, but it had a larger chip and better technology. Can you guess what Nikon customers did? They dumped their Nikon gear and jumped to Canon, making Canon the new leader among professional photographers.

By 2003, Kodak was struggling technologically and financially, even though they had been the first to introduce a digital camera. They severely miscalculated how fast the shift to digital would happen, Kodak executives had estimated the shift from film to digital would take about eight years. In 2005, digital cameras outsold film cameras for the first time. Kodak missed the estimate by six years and almost completely lost the company!

The problem with Kodak was speed.
They just didn't make the shifts they needed to make fast enough.
So they lost the potential to reach a number of customers.

The mistake that Nikon made was a lack of commitment.
They made only a partial shift; they went only halfway.
In an attempt to keep their customers happy, they gave their customers what they wanted. They were afraid too much change might alienate loyal Nikon users. Instead, they lost some of their most faithful fans.

Cannon was right on target.
They took a risk and made the change.
They didn't try to put old lenses onto new cameras because their priority was quality, not convenience. They were focused on the future. They were not preoccupied by the customers they were trying to keep, instead took a risk so they could ultimately reach new customers. They didn't react to change; they led change.

Has it ever occurred to you that the very parents in your church who complain about changes you make may also blame you one day if you lose influence with their kids? Many of them would jump at the change to go somewhere else if it might potentially increase their ability to influence their own children! Leadership doesn't mean giving parents what you think they want; it is giving them what you as a leader know they need.

Churches today need to make a shift for the sake of a generation,

A shift that integrates your strategy
A shift that synchronizes your message
A shift that reactivates the family
A shift that elevates community
A shift that leverages the influence of the next generation and mobilizes them to be church.

If you really believe two combined influences will make a greater impact than just two influences, then maybe its time to make the shift.

Chris Barlow
twitter.com/barlow2serve

you will never get everyone on the same page until you consistently get everyone in the same room

2009-12-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks I have been reading Reggie Joiners new book "Think Orange". Since September when I have felt a call to family ministry I have been putting some thoughts and ideas on paper about how 'Family Ministry' looks now days. I have struggled to find other authors who share my ideas and thoughts. Well that all changed a few weeks ago with Think Orange by the "reThink" group. I am very excited about this new adventure so stay tuned as I try to figure this what this looks like for my family and Church.
The main idea about the new family ministry models are family needs the church influence and the church needs the family influence. Most church programs do a great job for children, teens, men and women all separate but rarely do you see any kind of program that brings the family together for worship, study, and service.
The main goal is to help parents be able to continue to give the positive influence and topics such as bible study and small group discussions in order to become more deeply committed Christians.
As the outline more defined I will share more of it but this gets a good taste of what and where I am.

Peace

Chris

THANKS giving

2009-11-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

What is Thanksgiving to you? Just football and food? What about those that don't have food? What about those families that are broken? What about children that don't have a home or family?
This year even if you can't serve in a kitchen or bring someone in need some food please stop and pray for them. Pray that GOD will use them in great and mighty ways that we can only imagine. Then pray that you can be more involved to help stop the hunger and poverty problems in our nation and world. We can make a difference. We can Change the World, together as families.

Family Ministry

2009-11-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

Why is it that most family ministries are focusing on only marriage and not as families working together to build a better community? Where marriage is very important the title of "family ministry" should be a focus on the family and how family can be "family-in-ministry".

One step we could be closer to seeing what this looks like is to create environments where Christian families can get together with other Christian families for worship, fellowship and service.