One of the interesting responses to the question I ask on Facebook a few days ago: “What's the most important bit of advice you'd give me, as I start as a pastor...?" was from one of my son's mates reflecting on connecting with the many, particularly younger generations, who might still believe, but don't participate or attend a local church.
Dave, in his late twenties is a talented design professional. "I live where digital, identity and creativity collide. I am an award-winning digital, brand and marketing consultant, with experience working in and with successful start-ups, products and enterprises for over 10 years. I believe the greatest travesty in marketing is a business blind to its own identity. I'm passionate about exploring the role of both business and personal 'identity' and how it creates space for transparency, advocacy and success."
Here's our FB conversation:
David: "All the best on the new gig Martin! And what a great question! I spent four years not doing the 'church thing'. Here's my input for what it's worth:
Address those who are busy. Meet their needs. Some of them need leadership and have no time to receive it. Others have to prioritise every hour and need a reason to put church in that list. It's easy to rebut and say 'church should be a priority' and eventually it does - once you're engaged - but how do you engage a exhausted father at the end of a 60 hour work week? Or an entrepreneur with 1000 thoughts an hour. Or a mother of three with a part time job? Life is getting busier, faster and equally, positively, more productive....
So I suggest you try to think of ways to actively engage a faster, busier, more productive demographic first."
Martin: That's really perceptive, David. Two questions: I'm interested, do you think the exhaustion 'thing' is a growing phenomenon, or has it always been thus? Second question, what would make 'church' a legit priority for busy people - why not argue that 'church' in any form has had its day and move on? In other words, what does 'church' need to mean to move up the list?
Dave: I’ve been there myself and I’ve met countless ‘believers’ who just don’t feel the need for church in their lives. Obviously, I plugged into church and the AHA! moment kicked in when I discovered the value of leadership, fellowship and community… but I remain convicted by the people who are genuinely interested and totally not engaged.
Here are some thoughts:
1. The exhaustion ‘thing’ isn’t new, but it’s more ubiquitous than ever. I find it fascinating actually, we’ve finally reached a plateau-ing productivity optimisation, we’re now leveraging technology to get more out of our sleep so we can make do with fewer hours.
2. I’m late in my 20’s and I think this is the big question over the whole ‘Young Adults in church’ phenomena…
You have GenY who are, generally speaking, both more narcissistic than previous generations, yet are also actively searching to belong to a cause greater than themselves (feeds their inflated view of themselves - and does the world good in the process…), the coming Millenials are ‘always on’ - literally. They’ve never known a world without internet, email, SMS, etc. Hyper-connectivity isn’t ‘cool’, it’s a god-given right as far as they are concerned…
They ‘layer’ … podcasting whilst driving, listening to sermons whilst studying for exams and even an extreme example is a leader using remote groups through Facebook, whilst writing a blog post as a thought leader, all whilst listening to a podcast (at 2x speed, for faster listening) whilst sitting on the bus, on the way to uni…!
This is real… and I find it utterly fascinating.
So does ‘church’ need to move on…? No, the vision stays the same: Jesus.
I think Kodak had the right vision, ‘catch memories on film’, but they had a chance to evolve with a changing consumer need and they didn’t take it, instead they kept making polaroid, thinking it was true to their internal philosophy.
In the same way the vision of Jesus doesn’t need to change, but the strategy does.
So, what does the church need to do, in order to move up the list? I think it depends on everything; location, demographic, local support, cultural nuances, etc.
But the meta-trends underlying your strategy should address:
- the time-poor and self-important.
- the advocates looking for a cause.
- the ‘layering’ habits of a younger generation.
- the ‘always on’ elements of consumption.
- trends in‘content leadership’ and ‘permission marketing'.
I like what others have posted amongst your [Facebook] comments, but most of them seem focused internally on a ‘pastoral’ role.
But 95% of the world you want to talk to exist outside of your ‘pastoral’ environment and completely outside of the four walls of ‘church’, and they'll never sit in a pew unless we stop making Polaroids and start building iPhones.
What I find interesting looking at that list above is that it shows a society that is both educated and intentional, looking to further educate themselves in almost any way, and looking to be intentional and deliberate about their behaviour, in every possible way.
If you want these people to participate in ‘some form’ of church (community, fellowship, leadership) you’re going to give them tools to learn, intentionally, and make use of their time, intentionally… all whilst striving for a higher cause they can, at the very least, empathise with. Stewardship, really - The currency’s just ‘time’.
Martin: That's a really 'rich' response for me to mull over, Dave, thankyou! ... I wonder what are the 'tools' for learning? Do you mean for time-management? Or about making relational connection? Or tools for how to find a cause? What also, is the balance between adjusting to the current culture and market on the one hand - and critiquing it when it de-humanises or fragments? Sadly, I can relate to the guy you mentioned, old though I am, I'm listening to a podcast, doing the e-banking, responding to you and working on three emails and responding to two msgs and drafting a PPT! When does a discussion around having time for solitude and mono-tasking, and face-to-face community need to be put on the table as a gentle pushback. Interesting how vinyl, B&W film, slow-food, locally-roasted beans cafes & neighbourhood markets seem to be re-emerging! Thanks Dave.
Dave: Thanks Martin. Glad to be of help. .... I think we're in a real learning position as the Church now. I think there's an element of church that has to lead and be intentional about mono-tasking, face-to-face community, ethics and accountability. But the tools to build a receptive audience, whether humanising or not, are about engaging and building a critical mass that can be led and held to account.
As far as actual tools go, two of the most valuable growth/engagement lessons I've learned of late:
1. Lean Start-up (http://oanasagile.blogspot.com.au/.../test-driven...) - You can only manage what you measure, so before you start anything, define what you measure and only continue building when the results are productive. One could argue that this removes the Holy Spirit - but I'd say it's 21st century stewardship, and you're going to need the Holy Spirit for you to get creative on what's going to outperform your last test.
2. Crossing the Chasm (http://test.appsterhq.com/7-ways-how-first-time...) - Specifically, number: 3 [on the previous link] "Creating something for Everybody" - Realise that just because 5% or even 10% of the potential audience/local community/etc 'like it', doesn't mean it's reached it's potential (eg. vinyl, slow food, etc), and in-fact, if you want to 'cross the chasm' into mass market engagement, that is, to have a large audience to journey Jesus with, you're going to have to innovate... (see the Lean Start-up link).
See: Creating a Lean Start-up business plan approach
Also see: Why I am not a change-agent
.... I'll look forward to the collective feedback on your blog.
As far as actual tools go, two of the most valuable growth/engagement lessons I've learned of late:
1. Lean Start-up (http://oanasagile.blogspot.com.au/.../test-driven...) - You can only manage what you measure, so before you start anything, define what you measure and only continue building when the results are productive. One could argue that this removes the Holy Spirit - but I'd say it's 21st century stewardship, and you're going to need the Holy Spirit for you to get creative on what's going to outperform your last test.
2. Crossing the Chasm (http://test.appsterhq.com/7-ways-how-first-time...) - Specifically, number: 3 [on the previous link] "Creating something for Everybody" - Realise that just because 5% or even 10% of the potential audience/local community/etc 'like it', doesn't mean it's reached it's potential (eg. vinyl, slow food, etc), and in-fact, if you want to 'cross the chasm' into mass market engagement, that is, to have a large audience to journey Jesus with, you're going to have to innovate... (see the Lean Start-up link).
See: Creating a Lean Start-up business plan approach
Also see: Why I am not a change-agent
.... I'll look forward to the collective feedback on your blog.
So, what does everyone think? How do we keep the Good News but change the paradigm so as to connect with the multi-tasking, busy, time-poor digital natives?
(Thanks to Dave Yeates for allowing me to repost his replies)
