I am convinced the lay point of view is the missing ingredient in the recipe for church success.
In 2011, I started a blog. I wrote about church issues from the lay point of view, because it seemed the discernment process of church leaders invariably resulted from dialogue among clergy with any lay representation comprising a few non-clergy who enjoyed a “stamp of approval” at the regional level and not likely to provide a differing viewpoint.
Between 2011 and 2017, I wrote almost daily on all kinds of issues, pointing out where the lay point of view, if considered at all, was presented with prejudices so embedded in church life that they are cliches. As cliches, they go unchallenged. Perception is reality, they say,
It wasn’t long before I noticed my blog had a world audience. At first I noticed some pingbacks—a few seminaries had referenced some posts. Then I started hearing from small church leaders from around the world.
Blogging provided amazing experiences.
- I became friends with a husband and wife team in Kenya that took in Ugandan orphans.
- A pastor from Nairobi asked for ideas for a summer program.
- A pastor in Pakistan wrote about the oppression his members experience as a minority religion in a Muslim-dominant world.
The Pakistani pastor asked me to advertise their need for warm children’s clothing for the coming winter. I wrote a blog about it.
A reader in Michigan was looking for a service project for her middle school daughter. She helped her daughter and friends collect clothes to send to Pakistan. The only trouble they ran into was the cost of shipping three large boxes of clothing from Michigan to Pakistan. For a while, they wondered if their efforts were for naught.
I wrote about this.
An automobile parts distributor offered to fit the boxes into a shipment of auto parts bound for Pakistan.
A few weeks later the Paksitani pastor sent pictures of him distributing the clothes. The Michigan youngsters who had collected the clothes were delighted. “Hey, that’s my jacket!” They were inspired to repeat their effort.
It wasn’t long ago that this type of direct engagement was impossible. We relied on regional and churchwide agencies to be the deliverers of good deeds fueled by congregational offerings. Congregations rarely saw their offerings at work. Today, it might be better, perhaps even more cost-effetive, to train congregations to use their new powers themselves!
Then an even more unusual thing occurred.
The Pakistani pastor asked me to connect him to my contacts in Kenya. He knew a pastor who was planning to visit Africa.
With permission, I connected three pastors: A Pakistani, my reader from Nairobi, and the husband and wife team in rural Kenya.
The Pakistani pastor visited the Nairobi pastor first. They rented a van and traveled to the western border of Kenya to meet the husband and wife team.
My little one-person blog was having a world impact.
Imagine the power your church has with an active internet ministry.
FOR A GUIDE ON HOW TO START A BLOG MINISTRY