Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Churning
As the economy of the US has moved increasingly away from manufacturing and agricultural it has not necessarily moved into a "service" economy, it has moved into what I would refer to as a "churning" economy. That is to say there is money to be made by simply moving money around - quite a bit as a matter of fact.
Have you ever really thought about the number of non-profits floating around that really do little but move money from donors to receivers, but taking a cut in salaries and fund-raising costs in between? Consider all the "Committes for..." and "Foundation to..." that there are out there.
And just like anything else, such an "industry" is going to develop it's own supporting businesses - consultants, PR types, etc.
Now, if you are in the churning industry support business and you want to expand your market, what are you going to do? How about look at some old school non-profits and try to take them "new school"? - which would make them clients.
Couldn't help but think of that when I read this post:
But the idea is not to fill pews and plates - the idea is to build disciples. See the church really isn't part of the new service economy - it's part of the old manufacturing economy. Running it by the rules of the new service economy will change it into something it is not supposed to be.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: church, worhsip technology, worship music, disciples, Christianity, The Great Commission
Have you ever really thought about the number of non-profits floating around that really do little but move money from donors to receivers, but taking a cut in salaries and fund-raising costs in between? Consider all the "Committes for..." and "Foundation to..." that there are out there.
And just like anything else, such an "industry" is going to develop it's own supporting businesses - consultants, PR types, etc.
Now, if you are in the churning industry support business and you want to expand your market, what are you going to do? How about look at some old school non-profits and try to take them "new school"? - which would make them clients.
Couldn't help but think of that when I read this post:
My brother Andy is a broadcast engineer and attends the National Association of Broadcasters convention each year. He noticed that once again there is a separate conference being held at the convention on "worship technology".Which took me to this re-post at Jollyblogger.
The upshot of this is that, if you are seeking to grow and reach out, the style of worship in music is probably not the place to start. If your church is contemporary, a return to traditional forms may not be what you need, and if it is traditional, newer forms may not be what you need. If reaching the lost is what you want to do, it will come through training your people to reach out in their daily lives, not through tweaking the worship service. Having trained the people in evangelism, you can then evaluate the content of your worship with questions like - are we sacrificing substance for style? Are we God-centered in our worship? Is our worship intelligible to our people? and etc..Now I happen to agree very much with David's assertion there, but I think that David and I have a very different "business model" for the church from those that look to music or attend a "worship technology" conference. You see music, etc. is precisely the place to go if view the church as a part of the "churning industry." If the idea is to fill the pews and plates - it's gonna work - all those consultants and technology salesman really do know what they are doing, up to a point.
But the idea is not to fill pews and plates - the idea is to build disciples. See the church really isn't part of the new service economy - it's part of the old manufacturing economy. Running it by the rules of the new service economy will change it into something it is not supposed to be.
Cross-posted at How To Be A Christian And Still Go To Church
Related Tags: church, worhsip technology, worship music, disciples, Christianity, The Great Commission
