Page 3970 – Christianity Today (2024)

Before New England churches made headlines with allegations of sexual abuse, I found James Cobble’s materials on protecting children in the church’s care. I was convinced we needed some policies to safeguard our kids, and I passed the kit on to Robert Fricke, a member of our Christian education board. He was equally impressed with Cobble’s materials.

Robert presented the materials to the church board, and they instructed him to research and draft a formal policy.

The new guidelines require children’s workers to submit to an in-depth application, an interview with the pastor, a criminal background check, and training on abuse and appropriate conduct. Our policy also prohibits activities involving children without at least two adults present.

Both the board and our church’s lawyer approved the policy. But to implement it, we needed the church’s approval, too.

Initial opposition

The board distributed written copies of the proposal to the church membership and scheduled a question and answer session three weeks later. At that session, the board encountered three objections.

Predictably, some in the church asked, “We’ve done children’s ministry for years without a policy like this; why do we need one now?”

The board answered with news and statistics on sexual abuse. Their most convincing argument was the desire to protect the children, our church’s reputation, and our church in legal matters.

Others thought the background check would be an invasion of privacy. The board explained that nearly all secular volunteer organizations that work with children or the elderly require these checks. One child-sex Web site even directs child predators to apply at churches, knowing how reluctant churches are to do thorough investigations.

The most troubling objection was to the two-adult rule: “How can we make two adults available for every ministry? We can hardly come up with one. We’ll have to cut back on programs or combine classes.” That was a legitimate fear. The board could not guarantee our current ministries would remain unaffected.

But the church rallied when they saw the value of ensuring the safety of our children and the integrity of the ministry. Protecting our children became a cause that brought people forward to volunteer, if only to ensure that a second adult would be there to safeguard the kids. No ministries were cut. No classes were combined. In fact, adopting the policy infused the church with a new enthusiasm for children’s ministry.

A public trust

We implemented the policy in 1996. Since then we’ve had neither complaint nor difficulty. In fact, the policy has made the church a more trusted friend to the community.

One summer a mother in the area was looking for something to do with her three children during the school break. She noticed our advertisem*nt for a summer vacation Bible school.

When she visited during the registration time, we gave her a tour of the facilities and explained how the VBS would operate. She took particular interest when we explained the policy and our two-adult rule.

“How comforting,” she commented, “to bring my children to a church and know that they will be professionally supervised.”

Debbie Killeffer is the wife of Pastor Rob Killeffer at First Baptist Church, Braintree, Massachusetts.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

For 13 years now I’ve observed pastors from the other side of the pulpit. I’ve watched them chair meetings, preach sermons, wrestle with finance committee spreadsheets, encourage volunteers, and so on. It’s not always been pretty, but it’s given me plenty to think about. You see, I was a pastor for ten years, and I keep seeing myself in them.

I cringe a lot.

I’ve served my local church in a variety of capacities since becoming a layman—everything from teaching classes, to serving on the executive committee, to shoveling snow from the walks. In such capacities, ironically, I’ve learned a lot about pastoring. It’s clearer than ever that as a pastor I ministered by a handful of assumptions that did not serve my churches well. If I again experience the call to ministry, I’m going to put the following five items on my office wall and read them daily.

Administration IS ministry

During the years when the ink was drying on my seminary diploma, I fancied myself a preacher, teacher, and curate of souls. These were the noble tasks of ministry, things no one else in the church was equipped to do. Lay people were perfectly capable of crunching the budget, putting out the newsletter, recruiting Sunday school teachers, and ordering new stationary. As for me and my ministry, I would avoid administration.

All well and good—up to a point. There’s no taking away the pastor’s unique roles. On the other hand, I’ve noticed as a layman that when the pastor doesn’t attend to the administrative details of the parish, congregational life begins to feel ragged and neglected.

The little things become noticeable: shortage of worship bulletins, torn pew cushions, dated bulletin boards, lack of pew pencils, weeds growing in sidewalk cracks, burned out light bulbs in the men’s room, ripped hymnal pages …

For better or worse, it is in such details that the church as an institution meets the lay person. When these things are not attended to, the little irritations can become a river of frustration: Who in God’s name is running this place!?

No, it isn’t the pastor’s job to replace pew pencils. But it is the pastor’s job to ennoble and monitor such “quality of life” issues as pew pencils, hallway lighting that works, carpets that are clean, signs abundant and clear, and so on. No, the pastor may not be there on Saturday afternoon changing light bulbs, but it is his attention that accounts for it getting done.

A pastor IS a diplomat

On my last Sunday in the pastorate, I goofed. Again.

I had listed the junior high and high school graduates in the worship bulletin and, you guessed it, I inadvertently left someone off the list.

As I shook hands after the service, I heard about it and “the hurt it had caused.”

My heart sank; I couldn’t believe that some family’s self-esteem hinged on whether their son’s name got printed in the bulletin of a church with 75 in attendance. I fumed about it for weeks.

But getting names right is symbolic of all those acts that make people feel important and respected, or not.

The list of a pastor’s diplomatic duties is endless—asking a key deacon his opinion about the upcoming budget, calling the head of the women’s group to ask how she’s doing, telling Mrs. Brown how much you appreciate her (failing) soprano voice.

As a pastor, I desperately wished to get beyond such niceties to the real work of calling people to discipleship and world evangelism.

But now, as a layman, I see it so differently: How am I supposed to believe the church is a “caring place” if the leaders don’t seem to care what I think, or if the pastor fails to thank me for reading the morning’s Scriptures in the service, or doesn’t ask about my son who is away at college? It’s hard to feel much enthusiasm for following a pastor into the depths of Christian discipleship when the simple acts of discipleship—gratefulness, attentiveness, love—seem to escape him.

Few parishioners will study theology—and that’s okay

In the beginning, I imagined that through the enthusiasm of my preaching and teaching I could get everyone in the church as interested in the Bible and theology as I was.

Perhaps I thought of the church as a Bible and theology club, where we would regale one another with spiritual insights gleaned from our studies. So I encouraged people to buy Bible dictionaries and Bible atlases and commentary sets, and I enthusiastically recommended (with a straight face) books on ethics, church history, and ecclesiology-pleading that it was important that we love God with our hearts, souls, and minds.

Then I became a layman.

I worked 45 to 50 hours a week in publishing. I coached my children’s soccer teams. I volunteered at a homeless shelter. I played softball for the company team. I remodeled our second-floor bathroom. I sat on the adult education committee. I worshiped weekly. I mowed the lawn. You get the idea.

As much as I continued to love theology, there was no time to squeeze in study. I discovered that I had previously been an avid student not because I was such a dedicated man of God, but because a congregation had generously freed up my time to do so.

As a layman I have become increasingly dependent on my pastor’s reading and Bible study. I look to him for leadership in this area.

To be sure, no Christian is exempt from studying God’s Word on his own. But in the real world, my study can never match that of the pastor. And if the pastor doesn’t do it, I’m the one who ends up shortchanged.

The church shouldn’t be the center of everyone’s life

As a pastor I assumed that lay people should be highly committed to the church.

I beamed when I noticed how one lay person served on the education committee and led a small group and sang in the choir and prepared the newsletter for mailing and ran the stewardship campaign and taught fifth-grade Sunday school. This was committed discipleship, an example for the rest of the congregation to follow, I hoped.

Now I see that all this church activity simply means that this person is unavailable to be a Christian witness in the community.

After I left the pastorate, I assumed I would still give myself fully to the church, just as I had expected people to give themselves to the churches I pastored. But it soon became clear that every hour I worked in the church was an hour stolen from the community—from neighbors, from the homeless shelter, from coaching kids basketball, from the myriad activities that put you in contact with people who don’t know Jesus.

I recognize that in our Protestant way of doing things, the church is the people. But I wonder if we might reconsider this proposition. Maybe it’s the pastor’s job to do much more of the institutional work of the church so that the people of God can have time to be salt and light in the world. In the real world, of course, the pastor can’t do everything.

If I were a pastor again, I would make it my goal to have as few people as possible working in the church to free up as many as possible to be active Christians in the world.

Budget time is not the time for spiritual euphemism

When I listen to sermons on stewardship, I hear the sermon behind the sermon.

Sermon: “The Lord is calling us to expand our Sunday school facilities so that we can minister more effectively to our children.”

Sermon behind the sermon: We’re having trouble finding people willing to teach in our cramped, dingy classrooms.

Sermon: “God would have us expand our ministry opportunities.”

Sermon behind the sermon: The pastor wants an administrative assistant so he can really take one day off a week, and the assistant pastor is probably going to quit if we don’t give him a raise.

I understand the need to speak about finances from a biblical perspective. Money is ultimately a spiritual issue, to be sure. But as a layman who works in a business setting, I also understand that in many ways money is money. Sometimes I would be more impressed with less euphemism.

This year our pastor got it right, I think. In the middle of a recession, he was trying to get us to raise our church’s giving by some 10 percent. In one sermon he talked about “ministry opportunities” and “the Lord’s money” and I just kept thinking, Blah, blah, blah. There’s no way we’re going to make the budget; this is a year we should be cutting back.

Then at the end, he said in so many words: “If we don’t move our assistant rector to a full-time position with a full-time salary, he’s going to be looking for work elsewhere.”

I like our assistant rector, and that matter-of-fact pitch is what finally convinced me to support the new budget goal (which we made, by the way). He would have come across as crass had he not set the spiritual context of the budget. But it would have seemed like vague idealism had he not mentioned the real-life issues at stake.

If I were a pastor again, these are the freeing and challenging insights that would influence my ministry.

Mark Galli is managing editor of Christianity Today in Carol Stream, Illinois.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Editor’s note: Calvin Miller reviewed Eugene Peterson’s new book, The Unnecessary Pastor, in the Summer 2001 Leadership. Now Peterson turns the tables.

Did you know that an angel has recently been sighted who has the specialized assignment of helping preachers get their preaching back? His name is Sermoniel, the Angel of Homiletics.

He is especially astute in detecting homileticus horribilis, a virus that infects an alarming number of pulpits. The men and women who occupy these pulpits are especially at risk, often developing sermonic sclerosis, the leading cause of death among preachers today.

And did you know that the fat cows of Bashan, so dear to the heart of the prophet Amos, have begun appearing in congregations across the country? They compose an informal order of lay critics devoted to the improvement of sermons. They are a tactless bunch, and pastors take no pleasure in having them around. But they have enormous value—they know how to get a preacher’s attention.

Sometimes they say just the right thing in just the right way, the meaning of which would be obscured if said nicely. One named Emma Johnson has lately come into some prominence.

Pastor Sam will already be well known to you, if not in name, at least in feelings and circ*mstance. Sam is one of us, ordained to stand in a pulpit each Sunday to do, in the angel’s words, “the loneliest, cussedest, blessedest work in the world.” But Sam isn’t doing it very well. And he knows it. But Sermoniel, the Angel of Homiletics, and Emma, the Bashan bovine, show him what to do about it. With Calvin Miller, they take him in hand and make a preacher out of him.

Miller is one of the funniest, most perceptive, serious, and passionate preacher/pastor/professors in the country. In The Sermon Maker (Zondervan, 2002), Miller takes on a huge subject that vitally concerns every preacher and every Christian who slips into a pew—the sermon.

Sermoniel, Emma, Sam, and Calvin collaborate in writing a book to rescue those perishing from sermonic sclerosis. This is serious business indeed. But the gravity, the sheer weightiness of the subject, doesn’t weigh the reader down. There is not a sluggish or ponderous sentence in the book. The rapier wit stings us to attention; the dance of metaphors releases adrenalin.

In one sense, the book is not about homiletics. There is little in these pages about technique, no tricks guaranteeing interesting sermons, no effusions over the largesse available to the preacher on the information superhighway.

Miller and friends show us that sermons are born in a passionately felt and pursued need for God. If there is no personal need for a savior, a comforter, a sovereign, there is no sermon. No amount of technique or rhetoric can substitute for this perpetually renewed and nourished passion.

They also insist that sermons, like the Scriptures that shape them, are narratives. Sermons require personal, narrative speech. Do we want to involve our listeners? Then go easy on the abstractions and propositions. Forget about cleverly fooling around with words to get attention. Nobody makes a better case for narrative preaching, while acknowledging our resistances and hesitations, than Calvin Miller in these deft and sparkling pages.

There is more: The story of Sam’s rehabilitation is told on the lefthand pages; the righthand pages have quotations appropriate to the story from some of our finest and most thoughtful American preachers while Miller carries on a running commentary with them. The result is most satisfying—we are invited into a conversation with respected peers who share our conviction that “Preaching is neither a career nor a finished art. It changes and retreats, advances and lives.”

Eugene Peterson, professor emeritus, Regent College,Vancouver, British Columbia

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

A college student wrote me requesting counsel concerning a personal problem, and the last sentence in her letter was “Please don’t tell me to read a book!”

She was smart enough to know that reading a book doesn’t automatically solve your problems any more than reading a prescription (if you can read it) instantly makes you healthy. You have to process the material you read and then act upon it by faith.

In times of pressure and difficulty during more than fifty years of ministry, I’ve often turned to these books for enlightenment and encouragement:

The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis.

It’s available in numerous editions. Mine is a sturdy pocket edition published by Oxford University. Read slowly and meditatively, and don’t try to hide or put up defenses. The book brings you back to reality—and to God, who is the source of reality.

Sacred Songs and Solos (Marshall Pickering, 2001), compiled under the direction of Ira D. Sankey.

A hymnal? Yes. Only the words are in this handy volume, but what words! (I don’t sing them—I read them carefully.) Drinking again and again from these “old wells” has brought me untold peace and joy, and also conviction.

Christian Perfection (Harper and Row, 1947), by Francois Fenelon, edited by Charles F. Whiston.

This is a collection of Fenelon’s “spiritual letters” and other writings, and they are rich treasures indeed. As you read, pause to think and pray. Saunter. You’ll miss too much if you run.

The Pursuit of God (Christian Publications, 1982), by A. W. Tozer.

Like Fenelon, whom he admired and read, Tozer compressed a great deal of truth into brief sentences that immediately start you thinking. He calls me back to spiritual priorities, to the importance of solitude, to seeking to please God alone. Calm down! God is still on the throne!

The Biography of James Hudson Taylor (China Inland Mission, 1965), by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor.

There’s also a Moody Press edition called J. Hudson Taylor: God’s Man in China (1982). I never tire of reading how God took time to make a man and then used that man to make a ministry that serves God faithfully even today. How Hudson Taylor learned about the “exchanged life” and shared the news with others is a gripping story—and you and I can be in it!

A Minister’s Obstacles (Revell, 1946), by Ralph G. Turnbull.

My friend Ralph Turnbull knew God, knew his Bible, and knew the ministry; and all three are woven together in this book. Brief penetrating chapters deal with “The Paralysis of Pride,” “The Peril of Privilege,” “The Snare of Substitutes,” and other topics we didn’t hear much about in school. This book needs to be reprinted.

A Diary of Readings (Oxford University Press, 1955), compiled by John Baillie.

Baillie explored the writings of the great, the scholarly, the godly, and the forgotten to give us an incredible anthology of spiritual truth “to engage serious thought” (the compiler’s words). It’s arranged for daily reading, but I don’t apologize for occasionally opening the book at random and reading it.

Henry David Thoreau advised, “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” I don’t know what books will be best for you, but these books have been among the best for me.

Warren Wiersbe was senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, 1971-1978, and radio teacher on “Back to the Bible” until 1989. He is a regular speaker at Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire conferences. The 46th of his “Be” commentaries, Be Distinct: 2 Kings, will be released this month.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Worship on the Porch

When I was a missionary in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named Rafael came and sat on my porch. I went out to see what he wanted. He responded, “Ham, henek met.” I asked what I could do for him, but the answer was the same: “I don’t want anything; I have just come near.”

I understood what he was saying, but not its significance. A veteran missionary explained that Rafael was honoring me. He only wanted to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure being near me.

“What brings you here, my child?” the Lord asks us.

Can we say, “Ham, henek met”?

Source: Stuart Sacks, Villanova, Pennsylvania

Psalm 27:4; Luke 10:38-42; James 4:8-10; 1 John 1:3Fellowship, Meekness, Worship

Following Jesus Exactly

My friend bought a 19-foot jet boat and invited me along for her maiden voyage. We put the boat in the North Fork of the Snake River. The water was low because of a drought. My friend eased the throttle up until we were racing across the surface at 35 m.p.h. Suddenly we hit a sandbar, and the boat stopped. We stepped out, into one inch of water. Another boater came along, and after three hours of digging and pushing, we freed our boat. Our rescuer knew the river well and offered to lead us to the landing. “Follow exactly behind me,” he said, “to avoid hidden obstacles.”

We fell in line, skimming the water at 35 m.p.h. Then, my friend steered just a few feet to the right of the lead boat’s path. In seconds we hit a gravel bar, and I was thrown into the windshield. When he returned, the lead driver said, “I told you to follow me.”

Source: David Gibson, Idaho Falls, Idaho

Matthew 16:24; John 10:27; Galatians 6:7-8; 1 Peter 2:21Discipleship, Disobedience, Imitation of Christ

Movie clips to show or tell

Ruby BridgesRated G(Disney, 1998)Scene 1 begins at 00:25:00 (2.5 minutes)Scene 2 begins at 01:11:53 (4.5 minutes)Adversity, Forgiveness, StrengthLuke 23:34

Set-up: Ruby Bridges was six years old when she became the first African-American child to attend an all-white public school in New Orleans. Integration of the schools in 1960 was marked by anger and violence. A jeering mob greeted little Ruby, her mother, and the federal agents who escorted the child to her classroom every day. Through the months of taunts and threats, Ruby was brave, unusally brave. A psychiatrist who offered to help the family through the stress wanted to know why.

Synopsis of scenes (show or tell):Scene 1: Ruby’s mother was putting the children to bed, when she told Ruby she could not go to school with her the next day. Ruby’s mother had to return to work. “Do you think you can be a brave girl and go to school by yourself with the big men?” she asked. Ruby hesitated, and hugged her doll close. Her mother continued, “You know Jesus faced the mob, too, baby, just like you. You know what he did? He prayed for them, because the Bible says, ‘Bless them that persecute you. Bless them and curse not.'” Ruby reluctantly agreed.

Scene 2: For months Ruby silently braved the mob. One morning she broke from the agents for a moment, turned to the shouting crowd and spoke. Later the psychiatrist asked what she told them. “I was praying for them. Every day I pray for them. ‘Please, God, forgive these people, because even if they say these mean things, they don’t know what they’re doing; so you can forgive them, just like you did those folks a long time ago when they said terrible things about you.'”

Concluding statement: Later, the psychiatrist wrote: “I learned that a family and a child under great stress can show exquisite dignity and courage because of their moral and religious values. They had a definite purpose in what they were trying to accomplish. This purpose made them resilient . …Having something to believe in protected Ruby … and gave her a dignity and a strength that is utterly remarkable.”

Production note: the scenes include additional material. You may wish to open the sermon with the first scene and close with the second.

—Submitted by Jerry DeLuca, Montreal West, Quebec

New movie clips are available each week from PreachingToday.com, our online journal and illustration service.

Twain’s Wife Loses Faith

From what I can tell, Mark Twain was not a Christian, nor did he claim to be when he began courting. Olivia Langdon came from a professing Christian family that would not allow their daughter to marry an unbeliever. Twain took on the guise of a spiritual seeker who needed the support and prayers of Olivia’s family in order to clean up his life.

Twain wrote to his mother after his engagement: “My prophecy was correct . …[Livy] said she never could or would love me—but she set herself the task of making a Christian of me. I said she would succeed, but that in the meantime she would unwittingly dig a matrimonial pit and end by tumbling in—and lo! the prophecy is fulfilled.”

Influenced by Olivia’s prodding, Twain presumably converted. Olivia’s family permitted the marriage. But was Twain’s conversion an illusion? One scholar insists that Twain “was a man in love, wooing a woman he hoped to marry. His ‘religious’ feelings at that time, expressed in love letters to Olivia, disappeared as soon as the nuptials were over.” After their wedding, Twain ridiculed his wife’s beliefs and devotion. Soon Olivia’s optimism waned, and her fervent faith cooled. Eventually she forsook her religion altogether, and a deep sorrow deluged Olivia’s life.

Mark Twain loved her, but he broke her spirit. He said, “Livy, if it comforts you to lean on your faith, do so.”

She replied sadly, “I cannot. I do not have any faith left.”

Twain often wished he could restore Olivia’s faith, hope, and optimism, but it was too late.

Source: Susan K. Harris, “The Courtship of Olivia Langdon and Mark Twain,” (Cambridge University Press, 1996);

Deuteronomy 7:2-4; 1 Kings 11:1-8; 2 Corinthians 6:14Dating, Faith, Marriage, Peer Pressure

Salvation Prayer Answered after 29 Years

The story of Christie [Borthwick]’s dad vividly illustrates the need to persevere. With the exception of the “Billy Graham Crusade,” he seldom expressed spiritual interest. In fact, for years he aggressively resisted, citing the hypocrisies of the church and the hard-to-believe content of the Bible.

On one occasion, we talked through the “bad news” aspect of the good news—that people without Christ go to hell. He resisted this message so strongly that he retorted, “If there is a God who allows people to go to hell, then I don’t want to go to heaven to live with him. I choose hell.”

A few years later, after the sudden death of Christie’s 47-year-old brother, her dad was again belligerent. When we asked if he would like to receive God’s gift of eternal life, he snapped, “Eternal life is a myth; there’s no heaven or hell. Just put me in the grave. The grave is all there is.”

Christie kept praying—tenaciously. We called friends and asked them to join us in prayer, and we marshaled the prayers of more than 500 friends and associates using e-mail.

Two weeks later, her dad’s heart softened. He indicated an interest in a relationship with God. We invited him to pray a simple prayer—”Jesus, have mercy”—and he responded. For the first time in our lives we heard him pray, “Jesus, have mercy on my soul.” His countenance changed. His striving was over. God had finally answered Christie’s prayers of 29 years!

Her dad died two weeks later.

Source: Christie and Paul Borthwick, “Don’t Give Up on Your Family,” Discipleship Journal (Issue 126)

Psalm 145:17-20; Philippians 4:6-7; James 5:16Conversion, Family, Prayer, Witnessing

Winners Refuse Cool Million

A recent promotion by H & R Block offered walk-in customers a chance to win a drawing for $1 million. Glen and Gloria Sims of Sewell, New Jersey, won the drawing, but they refused to believe it when a Block representative phoned them with the good news.

After several additional contacts by both mail and phone, the Simses still thought it was all just a scam, and usually hung up the phone or trashed the special notices.

Some weeks later, H & R Block called one more time to let the Simses know the deadline for accepting their million-dollar prize was nearing and that the story of their refusal to accept the prize would appear soon on NBC’s “Today” show.

At that point, Glen Sims decided to investigate. A few days later he appeared on “Today” to tell America that he and his wife had finally claimed their million dollars.

Sims said, “From the time this has been going on, H & R Block explained to us they really wanted a happy ending to all this, and they were ecstatic that we finally accepted the prize.”

God wants a similar ending as he offers salvation to every unbeliever.

Source: “Today, ” NBC (7/09/01); submitted by Loren McBain, Tucson, Arizona

Luke 15:7, 10; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; Revelation 22:17Good News, Redemption, Salvation

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

A psychologist friend speaks often about “double binds”—two contradictory expectations placed on a person. Both expectations cannot be met; it’s impossible.

When faced with a double bind, no matter what you do, you are inevitably wrong.

As a country singer might put it, “When you’re wrong, you’re wrong, and when you’re right, you’re wrong.”

Pastoral ministry has more than its share of double binds. DBs can be hard to detect, because one (or sometimes both) of the contradictory expectations never gets spoken. You don’t discover you were in an impossible situation until you fail.

As a rap singer might put it, “You don’t find the bind till you’ve lost your mind.”

Here, for example, is a list I started of Double Binds for Pastors (spoken from the viewpoint of churchgoers):

• We want you to guide us and help us grow, but don’t change anything substantial in the church because we like it the way it is.
• You should have a model family, but we also want you to pick up when we call and be present at evening meetings
• Be intimate, caring, compassionate. Hold a hand, put an arm around a shoulder, meet with people alone to hear their deepest concerns. But don’t put yourself in a compromising situation, and you can’t have sexual desires or drives.

A close cousin to the Double Bind is the Double Standard:

• We can get angry with you, but you can’t get angry with us. The farthest you can go is to be “concerned.”
• I can move away to take a better job, but if you do, Pastor, you have to couch it as God’s leading you—against your will.

Of course, pastors sometimes put themselves in Double Binds:

• If the church grows, God is blessing; if it doesn’t, it’s my fault.

And let’s not forget Double Binds for Church Members:

• You should be deeply involved in the community to help reach the world. Come out for all these great church events we have coming up.
• Serve out of your spiritual giftedness and where you have a passion. But as a church we really need you to work in the nursery.
• True biblical stewardship is not just about money; it means you offer all of yourself—time, talent, and treasure. The elders have asked me to point out that we’re behind our budget for the year.

So how do you handle double binds? Recognize them and laugh about them—even better, mock them, like Luther did with religious relics, indulgence peddlers, and even Satan. If laughter can turn away the Devil, it can surely foil a Double Bind.

As a hymn writer might put it (to the tune of Amazing Grace),

Thro’ many Double Binds I’ll go
Take up the double fight
Like Janus looking to and fro,
Caught in both day and night.

Yet single-minded I would be
A servant with one eye;
My only hope of sanity
A clown with whipped-cream pie.

Kevin Miller is editor-at-large of Leadership and executive editor of PreachingToday.com.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Young married couples think they know each other pretty well. They’ll say things like, “You always do that.” Ironically, it’s the older couples who keep saying, “I never knew that about you.” That’s because it takes time to see the mystery in each other.

Preaching invites people to see the sacred mystery of what God is doing with their lives. The longer a preacher stays in a particular congregation, the more his or her relationship with those people will change. This is part of the unfolding sacred mystery that keeps preaching exciting and fresh.

I’ve just begun my tenth year as the pastor and preacher of the congregation I serve, and here are a few of the changing dynamics I have noticed:

1. The sermons eventually connect. When two new friends begin to talk to each other, and certainly when a newly married couple talks, they essentially have to lean forward in the chair to make sure that what they are hearing is really what the person meant to say. Similarly, it takes a while for a congregation to understand a preacher’s vocabulary. You can almost see them straining to get it.For example, I love to preach about God’s grace, but by that term I am referring to God’s initiatives in our lives. Sometimes that grace feels pretty good, and sometimes it feels severe, but since it comes from God it always leads to our salvation. When I first began preaching at our church, however, the congregation was accustomed to thinking about grace only in the sense of forgiveness of sins. It took a while for them to realize that I was stretching the term to include other mercies as well.
2. It takes time for preachers to find their groove. After the first couple of years, I discovered that I was no longer being introduced as “the new pastor.” That also meant, thankfully, that people were no longer deciding what they thought about the new guy every time I stepped up to the pulpit. This left me with a tremendous sense of freedom. It was only then that I felt secure enough to try stepping away from my notes so I could look the congregation in the eyes as I spoke holy words to them. And it was only then that I dared to take on some of the controversial topics, like sex and justice issues, that sooner or later every faithful preacher has to address.This is true of any relationship. When the relationship is new and fragile, and you are terrified of being misunderstood, you measure your words and choose to overlook the things that probably need to be addressed. After a while, though, you’ve gained enough trust and familiarity to relax, be you, and tell the truth in love.
3. The preacher and the congregation have to keep falling in love. After a while, as in any relationship, it is easy to take each other for granted. If you have preached well during your first few years in a congregation, you’ve set your own high bar, and the congregation simply expects you to clear it every Sunday.By my fifth year of preaching in the same church, I found that mostly visitors filled the line at the door after worship. When members come through the line, they usually have a suggestion about the church ministry. It took me while to realize that the members are still appreciative of the sermon, but they assume that I know that by now.As a church leader, it is my responsibility to challenge the assumptions that strangle the life-giving mystery out of any relationship. The easiest way to do this is to start by asking myself, and my God, Why do I love this congregation? As I see those reasons, my heart is made tender and I fall back in love with them again.I will occasionally end a worship service by saying, “I just want you to know that I love you, and I love serving as your pastor.” They have always found it irresistible to find ways of saying, “I love you, too.”

Craig Barnes is pastor of National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. and editor-at-large of Leadership.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

James Cobble Jr. is executive director of Christian Ministry Resources and publisher of Church Law & Tax Report.

News reports have spotlighted the problem of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, but Protestant churches also have reason to be concerned. Our research indicates that on average, over the past ten years, approximately 3,500 churches per year have responded to allegations of sexual misconduct in church programs involving children or youth.

Thousands of churches have taken steps to reduce this problem. Yet much more still needs to be done.

Screening workers is essential to protecting children from sexual predators. Churches are making progress in screening paid employees, but screening volunteer workers remains problematic.

Nearly 3 out of 4 churches use a written application for paid workers, up from 47% in 1993. Yet, the vast majority of churches-almost 70 percent-do little to screen volunteers.

A bill pending in Congress would create a central agency to process criminal background checks and coordinate information from all 50 states.

Until that happens, however, the system is still entrusted to local agencies, and it can be slow and even costly. But screening workers is vital, for two reasons.

First, churches can be found liable for the negligent selection of a volunteer, just as they can for a paid employee. Second, our research indicates that volunteer workers are just as likely to be the perpetrators of abuse as are paid staff members.

The main goal of a church-screening program is to ward off individuals who have an intent or history of abusing children. A church that establishes a screening program sends a message. Predators do not want to be in such a church.

Now is the time to review your church's the screening process and childcare supervision policies.

Two kinds of molestersTime magazine estimates the prevalence of adults who are sexually interested in children (pedophilia) at 4 percent of the population. That does not include the percentage interested in teenagers (ephebophilia), which psychiatrists don't classify as an illness. The point is that the number of adults interested in sexual activity with minors is higher than one would imagine.

The two general profiles of child molesters are important for church leaders to understand: preferential molesters and situational molesters. (These are identified by Kenneth V. Lanning in Practical Aspects of Rape Investigation, Elsevier, 1987.)

Preferential molesters. These molesters have a preference for children, often of a particular age and gender. While these individuals are few in number, a single perpetrator can molest hundreds of children. Preferential molesters pose a unique and serious danger to churches. Such an individual may appear as the ideal worker for children. They enjoy being with children and will spend lots of time socializing with them. Since most churches find it hard to recruit adults to work with children, finding someone who enjoys being with children and who is willing to invest significant time in church programs may be viewed as a blessing. Thus, the church's guard may be down.

The best way to ward off preferential molesters is to develop an environment that puts the molester at risk rather than the children. That process begins with a thorough screening program for both paid and volunteer workers, and some healthy skepticism among the leaders responsible for recruiting and training workers.

Situational molesters. Far more situational molesters exist in our society than preferential molesters, but they have fewer victims. This person engages in misconduct when a situation develops or exists that makes the abuse possible. Screening may ward off some situational molesters. More important are policies that provide supervision of workers and ensure multiple workers in classrooms.

From a legal perspective, a church must engage in the same duty of care in the selection of volunteers who work with children and youth as it does in the selection of paid staff members. In both cases, the selection process should reflect the standard of reasonable care. Here are some suggestions:

Raise the threshold

Start by establishing requirements that must be met before an individual can serve in a position working with children or youth. For volunteers, attention should be given to two factors: (1) how long the person has been part of the congregation, and (2) the level of involvement the person has in the church.

1. The six-month rule. Start by establishing a length of time the person must first attend the church, such as six months, before he or she can volunteer to work with children or youth. The purpose of this rule is to prevent molestor from gaining quick access to potential victims. A predator will not want to stick around a church for an extended period of time waiting to get access to children, especially when he can go elsewhere and have almost immediate access.
2. Membership or equivalent. This requirement focuses on the individual's commitment to and involvement in the congregation.

Volunteers who work with children should be involved in the church, and able to list two other church members who can serve as informed references concerning that involvement. This is especially important in large congregations where staff members may not know every member well, and yet depend on large numbers of recruited volunteers to assist with church programs.

It is not enough for a person to have attended the congregation for six months. He or she should also be active enough in the life of the church that other members can provide a reference.

Implement formal screening

The screening process for volunteers is similar to that of paid employees. It should include the use of a written application, reference checks, a personal interview, and in some cases, criminal records checks. Make sure that all information is maintained as confidential. Forms for these applications and interviews should be developed and approved by the congregation and reviewed by the church's attorney.

1. Use a written application form. While using a written application form may sound obvious, our data indicates many churches still do not use one. Sample applications may be available from other organizations such as the local school district or the YMCA. Christian Ministry Resources has developed separate application booklets for clergy, paid church employees, and volunteer workers (which are available for $3 each at 800-222-1840). Make sure the application you use contains a release form. In many states, a signed release form authorizes you to collect information from references, and enables the references to share legitimate concerns about a former worker without fear of legal liability.
2. Conduct reference checks. Once the written application is complete, the church should conduct reference checks. Normally, for prospective job applicants, the references should include former employers as well as personal and professional references. As noted above, volunteers should list at least two church members. These people should be contacted for input concerning the volunteer's qualifications for working with children or youth. Often this is done either in person or over the phone.Document in writing all efforts in collecting the reference, and the information you receive. Once you are finished, keep all forms and notes with the application.
3. Conduct a personal interview. Once reference checks are complete, conduct a personal interview. Use the interview as a time to explore more fully why the volunteer wants to work with children or youth.You can also use this time to provide training to the volunteer as well. It's a good time to cover church policies and procedures regarding the supervision of children.
4. Conduct a criminal records check. Once a provisional offer of employment for a paid position is made, many churches then conduct additional background checks, including a criminal records check.Some churches conduct criminal records checks on all volunteers, as well. Minimally, the church should request a criminal records check for volunteers who have frequent and unsupervised access to children or youth. The phrase "unsupervised access to children" appears in both state and federal legislation to identify individuals requiring a higher level of screening and accountability. Unfortunately, the phrase is vague and its exact application to specific situations within a church is not always clear. The committee report that accompanied the federal National Child Protection Act contains the following comment that provides some clarification:"[Not] all occupations and volunteer positions … merit the time and expense of criminal history records checks. There are other means available to protect children from abuse, including the checking of prior employment history and character references and proper training and supervision of employees and volunteers."Currently, only about 3 congregations in 10 do anything to screen volunteer workers. Of those that do, 6 in 10 also conduct criminal background checks. Such checks are becoming more common and less expensive. Churches interested in criminal records checks or other background checks can obtain more information at our Web site: www.screenchurchstaff.com.

Ask the tough questions

What kinds of criminal convictions disqualify an individual from working with youth or children in the church? A criminal conviction for a sexual offense involving a minor would certainly disqualify an applicant. In the case of pedophilic behavior, such a conviction should disqualify an individual no matter how long ago it occurred (because of the virtual impossibility that such a condition can be "cured").

Other automatic disqualifiers would include incest, rape, assaults involving minors, murder, kidnapping, child p*rnography, sodomy, and the physical abuse of a minor. Other crimes strongly indicate that a person should not be considered for work with minors in a church.

Some crimes would not be automatic disqualifiers, because they would not necessarily suggest a risk of child abuse or molestation. Some property offenses would be included in this list, particularly if the offense occurred a long time ago and the individual has a long history of impeccable behavior.

Churches should interview all applicants for children's or youth work prior to using them in any such program or activity. When conducting an interview, use a standardized and written list of questions.The interview also provides opportunity to offer review with applicants church policies and procedures.

It is also important for the church to identify a person who will conduct these interviews and for this person to be trained in interviewing.

Following the interview, there should be written notations on the interview form identifying the person who conducted the interview, the applicant who was interviewed, the date of the interview, and a summary of the applicant's responses to the questions.

All information, whether collected on a form or during an interview, should be kept strictly confidential.

Legal and moral obligations

At a minimum, when screening either paid employees or volunteer workers, a church should: (1) use a written application, (2) do reference checks, (3) interview the volunteer, and (4) provide training. To our knowledge, no church that has done these four things has been found liable of negligent selection.

The recent attention given to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church establishes an important point. American society and church members themselves will not excuse churches that do not protect their children. The safety of children outweighs any other consideration, and no jury will tolerate any excuse, especially one that merely protests that screening is inconvenient.

For more information about screening, supervision, responding to allegations of misconduct, and training church members, visit www.churchlawandtax.com.

James F. Cobble, Jr. is co-author of Reducing the Risk of Child Sexual Abuse in Your Church.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Hank had been a Christian for 50 years. By the time I came to pastor Hank’s church, he was an old cranky guy. He had been a member there since he was a young cranky guy.

Hank complained about his family, he complained about his job, and one day, he began to complain about the church’s music. He stopped people in the church lobby—visitors, strangers—and said, “Don’t you think the music in this church is too loud?” We sat him down and told him he had to stop that. I figured that was the end of it.

Several weeks later, I got a visit from a man from OSHA, the government agency that oversees safety in workplaces. I wondered, Why is someone from OSHA here to see me?

He began explaining dangerous decibel levels at airports and rock concerts. Then I realized what had happened. Hank couldn’t get satisfaction anywhere else, so he called OSHA to report that the church’s music was too loud!

I started laughing. I apologized to the OSHA agent for making light of the situation, but it just struck me as silly. The agent said, “You think you feel silly? Do you have any idea how much abuse I’ve taken at OSHA since everyone found out I was busting a church?”

Fifty years in the church hadn’t brought a smile to Hank. He was just as grumpy as he had always been, maybe more.

How can we help people like Hank grow to be more like Christ?

Great expectations

Hank’s lack of joy wasn’t only his fault. He hadn’t changed, perhaps because we didn’t expect him to. We expected him to attend, to tithe, to serve, and to stay away from certain scandalous things. But we didn’t expect transformation, significant change on the inside and outside.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t helped him to change, either.

In Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds,” the word translated transformed is metamorphoo, from which we get metamorphosis. Paul uses a variant of that word in Galatians 4:19, “Until Christ is formed in you” (emphasis added). The transformation God desires for us is a process of morphing into Christlikeness.

My son was once obsessed with the television show, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The teenagers on this show would yell, “It’s morphing time,” and then they would receive power to do extraordinary things.

I liked that so much I tried to use it at Hank’s church. It wasn’t a liturgical congregation, but I tried to teach the people a liturgy where I would say, “Let us morph.” The people were supposed to respond, “We shall morph, indeed.” They encouraged me to move to Chicago not long after that.

But for Christians, it is morphing time. When Jesus told us the kingdom of God was at hand, he wasn’t referring to a someday promise beyond the pearly gates. The kingdom is supposed to be marked by changed lives and by the fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, and so on. But our churches and pulpits are filled with people who, under the surface, are just as anxious or driven or unsettled or angry or unhappy or ego-fed as anyone outside the church.

Why aren’t the people of the kingdom morphing?

Some years ago, a Christian leader wrote, “One assumption in particular has haunted me throughout my Christian experience—the assumption of the changed life. I was taught that if I was a Christian, people would see a marked difference in my life. I was taught that the closer I was to God, the more spiritual I was, the greater and more visible the difference would be. I believed that Christianity would change you outside, not just inside.

“I don’t believe that anymore.”

He isn’t the only one that’s given up. Spiritual transformation is missing in many churches because failure in the pursuit of it has caused us to settle for less. At least two common counterfeits are passed off as transformation.

Settling for the minimum

Sometimes we mistakenly think the Christian life is primarily about entrance to heaven. We’re content with conversion when God is calling for transformation. Rather than expecting the kingdom of God to revolutionize lives today, we hope it will happen in heaven tomorrow.

Somewhere along the line we swapped out Jesus’ gospel—through him we can be transformed into citizens of the kingdom of God, right now, today—for a gospel of heaven’s minimum entrance requirement.

The difference is illustrated in a scene from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As King Arthur and his knights seek the Holy Grail, they come to a bridge that spans an abyss “of eternal peril.” A bridge keeper allows people to cross this bridge only if they can answer three questions. Get one wrong, and you’re tossed into the pit.

Lancelot is the first to test the bridge keeper. The keeper asks him, “What is your name?” Lancelot answers.

“What is your quest?”

Lancelot answers, “To seek the Holy Grail.”

“What is your favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Right,” says the bridge keeper, “off you go.” Lancelot crosses the bridge, amazed this was so easy.

The second knight similarly states his name and quest. But the third question is now, “What is the capital of Assyria?”

“I don’t know that.”

Suddenly the knight is hurled, screaming, into the abyss.

The third knight, Sir Galahad, is nervous as he’s asked his name and quest, but he answers correctly.

“What is your favorite color?”

Sir Galahad panics. “Blue … no, yellow. Aaaaahhhh,” he screams as he is hurled into the pit.

Finally, the king steps up. “What is your name?”

“Arthur, king of the Britains.”

“What is your quest?”

“To seek the Holy Grail.”

“What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” (Don’t ask. It’s a goofy theme that runs throughout the movie.)

“What do you mean,” asks Arthur, “an African or European swallow?”

“What? I don’t know that,” answers the bridge keeper, who immediately is launched into the abyss. Arthur and his followers thereafter cross the bridge unhindered.

Many people’s idea of the gospel is that some day we’ll get to the bridge to paradise and be asked, “Why should you be allowed to cross?” As long as we answer correctly, we make it across. Answer wrongly, and we’re cast into the abyss. The gospel is redefined to be the announcement of the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven.

In Hank’s church, this is all we asked of him. He knew the words. He knew what his standing before God was based on. But we didn’t know how to transform his life.

Jesus never said, “Now I’m going to tell you what you need to say to get into heaven when you die.” The gospel writers make it clear that Jesus’ good news was that we no longer have to live in the guilt, failure, and impotence of our own strength. The transforming presence and power of God is available through Christ, right here, right now. To live in that power, you must become his disciple, or as Dallas Willard captures it, his apprentice.

Unfortunately, too many apprentices are burning out because they’re seeking spiritual transformation the wrong way.

Only looking the part

A second counterfeit form of spiritual maturity is outward appearance.

In his commentary on Romans, James Dunne noted that first-century rabbinic writing focused on dietary law, circumcision, and Sabbath keeping. Why would the rabbis spend so much time on these ancillary aspects of the faith?

Because all groups want to define who is in the group and who is out. Groups tend to establish “boundary markers” to make this distinction. Sociologists define these markers as highly visible, relatively superficial practices—like dietary laws and Sabbath customs.

Conforming to boundary markers too often substitutes for authentic transformation.

The church I grew up in had its boundary markers. A prideful or resentful pastor could have kept his job, but if ever the pastor was caught smoking a cigarette, he would’ve been fired. Not because anyone in the church actually thought smoking a worse sin than pride or resentment, but because smoking defined who was in our subculture and who wasn’t—it was a boundary marker.

As I was growing up, having a “quiet time” became a boundary marker, a measure of spiritual growth. If someone had asked me about my spiritual life, I would immediately think, Have I been having regular and lengthy quiet time? My initial thought was not, Am I growing more loving toward God and toward people?

Doctrine can also be a boundary marker. Dallas Willard said, “One of the hardest things in the world is to be right and not to hurt anybody with it. Yet Jesus was always right, and he never hurt anybody with it.”

Boundary markers change from culture to culture, but the dynamic remains the same. If people do not experience authentic transformation, then their faith will deteriorate into a search for the boundary markers that masquerade as evidence of a changed life.

A pastor once asked me, “Isn’t your church worldly?”

“What do you mean by worldly?” I asked him.

He answered, “People in the world listen to contemporary music, and you use contemporary music in your church. People in the world use drama, and you use drama. Everybody knows that Christians should be different from non-Christians by being more loving and joyful and all that stuff, but everybody knows we’re not. So shouldn’t we do something to make ourselves different?”

I felt like saying, “In other words, if we can’t be holy, then we should at least be weird?”

Where people are not growing more loving and joyful and truthful and compassionate, Christians have often tried to look different in other areas—weird boundaries disguised as holy differences.

Doctrine, behavioral standards, and even sanctified peculiarities may identify who’s in the club, but they also present a façade of pseudo-transformation, masking an unchanged life within. Authentic transformation happens a different way.

The way to transformation

When Paul writes about being “morphed” in Romans 12:2, he gives a command, but in passive voice. He doesn’t say, “Transform yourself”; he says, “Be transformed.” We can’t make transformation happen ourselves; it is something God does to us. But what then is our role in it—personally and in our churches?

1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Here is the reason many people give up on transformation or accept boundary markers as pseudo-transformation: we spend ourselves trying to be transformed, when the Bible calls us to train to be transformed.

There is an enormous difference between trying to do something versus training to do it. Take for example a marathon. How many of us could run a marathon right now? Even if we tried, really, really hard? But many of us could run a marathon eventually, if instead we trained for it.

While I cannot speak Russian, no matter how hard I try, I can be transformed into a fluent Russian-speaker with training. I’ll need to pass my eyes before a new alphabet over and over. I’ll need to recite with my mouth and with my mind a new vocabulary. Eventually, the training will allow me to become a new speaker.

Training means arranging life around those activities that enable us to do what we cannot do now, even by extreme effort. Significant human transformation always involves training, not just trying.

Too often in our churches, people hear us talk about what an amazing person Jesus is. They leave thinking, I’ve got to try hard to be like him. We’re unwittingly setting them up for frustration. When the trying proves ineffective, they eventually quit or rely on external trivialities to pretend they’re transformed.

Authentic spiritual transformation begins with training, with discipline. As we train ourselves in godliness, we begin to overcome the limits of sinful patterns. The purpose of that discipline is always freedom—training myself to be free of the obstacles that hinder my transformation.

Two types of training

The training required varies from one person to the next, depending on maturity and the particular sins that need to be addressed. Sins can be loosely divided into two categories: sins of omission (not doing what I ought) and sins of commission (doing what I shouldn’t).

Dallas Willard wrote in The Spirit of the Disciplines (Word, 1988) that the spiritual disciplines, the tools of training, can be divided into two corresponding categories: disciplines of engagement, like worship or study or prayer; and disciplines of abstinence, like fasting or solitude or silence.

There is a connection between the type of sins that I wrestle with, areas in which I need to grow, and the disciplines that will train me for transformation in that area. As a general rule, if I’m struggling with sins of commission, then the disciplines of abstinence train me. For example, if I struggle with gossip, the discipline of silence trains my mouth not to speak unbridled.

Likewise the disciplines of engagement train us against the sins of omission. For example, cranky Hank was omitting joy. The discipline of intentional celebration—engaging in activities that celebrate God, life, creation, and other people, and thanking and praising God for all of it—will train Hank toward a life of joy. Hank may not see the results of this training immediately, but that’s the way to rearrange his life around opportunities for the Spirit to increase his joy.

If you are struggling with impatience, training may mean rearranging life around opportunities for the Spirit to increase your patience. Deliberately drive in the slow lane on the freeway. Purposely get in the longer line at the grocery store.

If the Holy Spirit is calling you to break patterns of sin, merely trying leads to frustration, but deliberately training leads to change.

Spiritual transformation is a long-term endeavor. It involves both God and us. I liken it to crossing an ocean. Some people try, day after day, to be good, to become spiritually mature. That’s like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful.

Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on “relying on God’s grace.” They’re like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.

Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in bringing about spiritual transformation. A better image the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it’s a gift of the wind. We can’t control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly.

Working with the Holy Spirit, which Jesus likened to the wind in John 3, means we have a part in discerning the winds, in knowing the direction we need to go, and in training our sails to catch the breezes that God provides.

That’s true transformation.

John Ortberg will be a speaker at the 2003 National Pastors Convention. Visit www.nationalpastorsconvention.com for more information.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

Pastor Kent Hughes of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, almost never preaches a topical sermon series. But shortly after the 9-11 attacks, he sensed the Spirit directing him to interrupt his study of Genesis to preach a 14-week series on pressing, current topics.

College Church’s leadership knew issues like materialism, hedonism, marriage, and sexuality would generate questions. So after Hughes’s sermons, ushers passed out note cards for people to write down those questions. The cards were collected, and the congregation was invited to return that evening to hear the answers.

As people were seated at round tables in the church’s new fellowship hall (called “The Commons”), elder Harold Smith moderated a panel discussion including pastors and knowledgeable church leaders.

“We weren’t sure how the church would respond to changing our Sunday night format,” Smith said. “But by starting time that first night, the Commons was packed and people were waiting outside the door.”

Following the panel’s presentation, the people at the tables discussed the issue further using a guide created by the leadership team. A church leader or teacher was assigned to direct each table’s talk. “We had senior adults, college students, down to elementary students writing in questions and interacting with the message,” Smith said. “Those discussions brought the body together. It created a buzz that is still a part of College Church.”

“Invariably,” associate pastor Marc Maillefer said, “people lingered afterwards to continue discussions. Many have said how encouraging it is to converse with other believers who grapple with the same questions they have.”

On subsequent evenings, the answer team opened the floor for questions. Smith assured participants, if they were nervous about speaking, “This is family talking.”

Attendance for the fall series far surpassed that of the traditional Sunday night worship service, and the church repeated the table talk format in the spring after Hughes returned to his exposition of Genesis.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.