Amanda Pelser… Ramblings of a Communications Director …

I was never taught what to say to someone lying on their deathbed. I never learned anything about hiring and firing church staff. Seminary didn’t teach me anything about managing a church budget.

- Geoffrey Janes in his blog post What You Need to Know…

Go read Geoffrey’s full post.  While you’re at it, subscribe to his RSS feed or make it a point to visit his blog regularly.

Like Geoffrey, there are so many things that I didn’t learn in seminary that I deal with on a regular basis.  Now, that’s not to say that seminary wasn’t worth it or didn’t teach me anything.  And even though my Greek and Hebrew are very rusty right now, it was even worth the time spent learning those languages.  But you see, there are some things that even if my profs had tried to teach me that I still wouldn’t have understood until I’d been in ministry in the real world and experienced it for myself.  Nothing like on-the-job training…

But here’s the real point of Geoffrey’s post:

I want you to know that you have a lead pastor who cares deeply about the people in this church. I want you to know that he is a man called by God to lead this church who wants nothing more than to see people’s lives transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.

I’ve been on staff at Southbrook for four and a half years.  I’ve learned a lot in that time and in three different roles.  I’m thankful to work with Pastor Rob and the rest of the team at Southbrook Church.  When we go through trying times like Geoffrey referred to in his post, I’m even more thankful for the solid leadership of our pastor.  I’m thankful for his vision for Southbrook and his desire to see those far from Jesus come to know Jesus and be transformed into growing disciples.  I’m also thankful for his spiritual sensitivity and care for our church.  Pastor Rob has exciting study in the works for Wednesday nights beginning in January.  If you attend Southbrook, clear your schedule for Wednesday nights.  Make it a priority to be here for this series!

The ABC series “Lost” has become a phenomenon watched in many homes.  We’re drawn into the epic story of a group of castaways whose plane crashed on a mysterious island. What is it about this cast of misfits that captivates us so much?  They are messed up and seemingly unlovable, but in the end we find that they are just like us.  We identify with them and find spiritual truths in their lives and their redemption on the island.

In the Gospel According to Lost, Chris Seay takes us on a journey through the first five seasons of “Lost” focusing mostly on the main characters but also touching upon some of the main themes and mysteries of the island.  Seay’s purpose is not to give theories and explanations of the island.  He instead highlights the historical, scientific, theological, and biblical references woven into the story.

I’ve been a fan of “Lost” since the airing of the very first episode.  My husband and I were both hooked from the beginning.  Our church even did a short series a few years ago using “Lost” as the theme.  As a die-hard “Lostie”, I found myself wanting more and feeling like Seay never really brought this book home.  I didn’t care for his writing style and felt like he rushed through his treatment of each character.  Maybe Seay should have waited until the conclusion of the series to release this book.

– This book was reviewed for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Program –

“I couldn’t help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less compassionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced. …  What is the primal essence of Christianity?”
Mark Batterson in Primal

I received a free pre-release copy of Mark Batterson’s new book Primal (available 12/22) from Waterbrook Multnomah.  (Thank you to Liz Johnson and team!)  In exchange for the book, I was asked to write a review of it and if I liked the book to ask if you’d consider making Primal the first book that you read in 2010.  While I didn’t care much for Mark’s In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, his next book Wild Goose Chase was an excellent and thought provoking book on the Holy Spirit.  I read Mark’s blog and follow him on Twitter so I’ve been hearing about Primal for a while now and was excited to read it.  It kept me great company on my way to my friend’s wedding and back (including a short mechanical delay on my flight home).  I read the last page as the plane was touching down in Charlotte.

Primal refers to the thing of first importance.  So what is the most important thing in Christianity?  Mark strips Christianity down to this: “We’ve got to be great at the Great Commandment.”  In this, God calls us to love Him in 4 ways: heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Mark describes these 4 ways like this:

• Heart = Compassion
• Soul = Wonder
• Mind = Curiosity
• Strength = Energy

Mark asserts that we have a spiritual love language in the same way that we have a preferred love language with our spouse, family, and friends.  We tend to gravitate to one of these four dimensions of love when acting out our love of God.  We should all love in each of the four ways, but one is likely to rise to the top as our primary spiritual love language.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes and thoughts:

• “But minds often remain closed to truth until hearts have been opened by compassion.”
• “I want to work with people who don’t just care about the work but who care about the people they work with.”
• “Don’t let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can do.”
• …”most of us become so tangled up in our own self-consciousness that we have a hard time experiencing the joy of just being ourselves.”
• Scripture is kaleidoscopic – it speaks to you in a difference way each time you read it.
• “The goal of knowing the Bible is knowing God.”
• There’s no distinction in Jewish thought between knowing and doing.
• We’re losing a love for learning; our educational system is more about cramming info in rather that drawing conclusions out.  This is force feeding rather than unleashing curiosity.
• “Holy curiosity isn’t satisfied by easy answers.”
• “God is always speaking.  The real question is whether we are listening.”
• Strength = servanthood, sacrifices, hard work.
• Our love for God is our reflection of His love for us.
• The reformation for our generation is “Amo Dei” (Love God); a return to the Great Commandment.

I believe that my spiritual love language is mind or curiosity.  Fits with my top strength of learner.

This is, in my opinion, Mark’s best written book so far.  I’m enjoying him as an author more and more with each book.  Primal is also challenging.  It is a reminder that we serve a multi-faceted God who wants us to love him in many ways.  At the same time, that God has created me with a certain bent and shape that I need to cultivate and nurture.

What is your spiritual love language?  How can you be great at the Great Commandment?  Find out!  Get this book and make it the first book that you read in 2010!

Here’s a funny video from LifeChurch.tv about church online:

“I haven’t cared for much of what I’ve heard or seen – either on radio or television. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the efforts of all the well intentioned people who believe in using the media to share a message of faith and hope with the culture. The problem is most of them just haven’t done it very well. …   I’ve discovered for the most part, these are good people with noble intentions, but held back by outdated and out of touch strategies that need to be ushered into the digital age.”

– Phil Cooke referring to Christian ministries usage of media in The Last TV Evangelist

I had the opportunity to watch the interview below live from ConversantLife.com with Brad Abare and Phil Cooke:

Church Marketing Gurus: Brad Abare & Phil Cooke from ConversantLife; on Vimeo.

Phil generously posted his most recent book, The Last TV Evangelist, online in a PDF format for free for 24 hours after the interview.  I’d read his previous book, Branding Faith, and found it very insightful and helpful with what I do at Southbrook.  I had this new book on my “want to read” list and this free copy came at the perfect time…  I settled in over the Thanksgiving holiday with several days off to read and plowed right through this book.

I’m a techie wanna-be.  I like trying out new software and hardware.  I like being an early adopter of new technology.  I like figuring out how we can “redeem” methods and ideas in our culture and use them to spread the Gospel.  It was almost like Phil was preaching to the choir.  I didn’t need to be convinced.  So, what made this book so great for me?

• Presentation of history of using media, specifically radio and TV, for the purpose of reaching our culture.
• Explanation of what “millenials” are looking for and how to reach this next generation.
• Well-formed reasoning for using new media in the context of the church and non-profits.

Here are some of my favorite and most thought-provoking quotes:

• If you want to reach a new generation, putting all your eggs in the traditional media basket is a mistake.
• The new media world is about connection, community, and conversation. It’s about being networked.
• If we don’t understand how to share our faith in the digital world, the church will continue its slide into irrelevance in the eyes of the culture.
  Back in those days, when radio and television – and even movies – were embraced by Christians, it was usually the preachers like Oral Roberts and Billy Graham that jumped into the deep end first. They didn’t really debate about the technology so much from a theological perspective, they just saw it as another opportunity for sharing the gospel. It was their vision for reaching mass audiences for evangelism that drove them to embrace radio and television with little hesitation.
• Take the time to teach your kids about life. Watch TV with them, see movies together, and help them discover how to navigate their place as a Christian in the culture.
• Remember the concept of common grace and start looking for God in the most unlikely places.
• You should reward innovation, not just success. …  If you manage your people by fear of failure, then failure is exactly what you’ll achieve.
  Every generation communicates in a dif erent way. It is no longer how we want to communicate with donors but rather how they want to communicate with us. And if we’re not ready, they’ll take their money elsewhere.
• Are we happy to sit back and watch other Christians damage our witness to the culture by producing lousy movies, or should we lovingly call them to a higher standard?
• How you present your message, and the medium you present it through has a significant impact on how that message is received.
• Yes, people turn away from the gospel. The rich young ruler walked away from Jesus. But just as with the rich young ruler, it would be better if the disconnect was because he couldn’t handle the message. Too often in religious media, the disconnect comes from well meaning but out of touch people whose inability to communicate creates an obstacle that’s impossible for the audience to overcome. They never even get to the message.  …  It’s not about compromising our message, it’s about respecting the audience enough to speak in a language and style they understand.
• No matter what happens, the content of the gospel should be the filter, not our poor or inept presentation of that content.
• In a media-driven culture, it’s not just who you are that counts, it’s how you are perceived. Further, if you don’t work to shape your perception, you’ll spend the rest of your life at the mercy of other people who will.
• This generation has seen the excess and rarely falls for it – a fact Christian media ministries are discovering right now.  …  It’s ultimately about authenticity, which in my experience is the defining characteristic of this generation.
• Be bold. Be innovative. Stop copying other people and explore the right format to showcase your gifts and talents – not look like someone else.
  But when the same thing is done over and over again, it simply loses its meaning.
• Our job as communicators is to see shifts in the culture and change and adapt accordingly so our message is as relevant now as it was yesterday – and will still be tomorrow.
• At the famous Cannes Advertising Festival in France in 2007, the hottest topic was programming content for mobile phones. Right now, that’s the most aggressively pursued media platform because of the sheer number of mobile devices throughout the world.
• Today, it’s not about how we communicate with the audience, it’s about how they communicate with us.
• Millenials want to discover the new, they want to start the trends – this is their unique difference.  …  This means that a new generation not only wants to respond, but they also want to create.
• Simplicity, clarity and lots of white space remain important elements of good design.
• If you don’t begin to control your perception, you’ll spend the rest of your life at the mercy of others who will.
• <Speaking of personality driven ministries>  But with the passing of that personality, some organizations are confronted with the need to change to a more corporate vision, where everything does not hinge on a single person.
• Today we’re dealing with a generation that tends to give, not to be noticed, but because it is the right thing to do.
• Right now, the digital media world isn’t about income, it’s about influence.
• Relate your message to something that matters to people. Keep it short. Find out the questions people are asking.
• From a communication perspective our world has transformed from a one-way model to a two-way, dynamic conversation.
• As the next generation searches for meaning, are we going to continue trying to control the message, or are we going to be more open – allowing the people a voice in how they communicate, relate, and respond?  …  Are you allowing your audience to influence your message? …  Are you acting on the feedback you’re hearing from your audience?  …  Today – media is about personalization.
• Stop thinking “mass” and start thinking “niche.” Small is the new big.
• It’s important to find the story that surrounds your life and ministry. What do people think of when they think of you? If you can pinpoint your own brand story – why you do what you do, who you really are, what your gifts and talents are, and what makes you different – then you can start to find the potential audience that would connect with your message.
• I’m shocked at the number of people that just keep doing the same thing year after year as if the direction of the ministry, audience numbers, response, income – whatever, will magically change. But getting from point A to point B doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by implementing a well thought out plan.
• Life is more about asking the right questions.
• Be open to change. Too many churches and ministries go through difficult times because they’re unwilling to experiment and try something new.
• Don’t chase trends, but study them to see where the culture is going.

This is a must read for anyone who leads a ministry, is involved in teaching in a ministry, or is involved in tech/communications in a ministry.  Well, what are you waiting for?  Go read this book!