I believe that Jesus planted a (the) church. In my last post, I wrote that His twelve disciples, plus the 70 or so others were a church. That means that everything that has been added to the church since then is, well, extra. Praise and worship. A sermon. Professional clergy. Buildings, bulletins, committees, small groups, choirs- all extra. These things [...]

This is the last (for now) part in a series of posts. I’m taking the long way around describing what I find to be a more missiologically sound church. Whenever we talk about our theology of church, we usually look back to the “first church” that we read about in the book of Acts. Some read what they’re doing into [...]

Starbucks realizes that coffee drinkers are looking for local, unique, responsible, and sustainable. Independent coffee houses can be all of these things. It’s a lot harder for the mega-corporation, though. They’re too concerned with things like quality control, efficiency, brand, and, of course, money. The things that make Starbucks Starbucks are causing it’s current identity crisis. Now, the global giant [...]

Part 1 of this post set the scene with the story of the rise of Starbucks in relation to smaller coffee shops. Part 2 drew parallels between Starbucks and American megachurches. Welcome to part 3. The similarities between the coffee chain and the megachurch aren’t incidental. The seeker-sensitive movement is built on a corporate model. It doesn’t matter if you’re [...]

In March of this year, Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, announced major changes for the Seattle-based corporation. From the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008, Starbucks’ stock fell forty percent. The market was over-saturated. The brand name had become synonymous with globalization. In his annual address to shareholders, Schultz announced a sweeping overhaul of the company’s strategy, [...]

I’m often critical of the attractional, consumeristic, and pragmatic approach of the American megachurch. From a missiological perspective, I believe the movement does far more damage than good to the universal church. But anyone can criticize. Fellow missionary blogger Guy Muse recently reminded me of my commitment to balance criticism with positive alternative ideas. Lest I be lumped in with [...]

In the comment thread of Ed Stetzer’s recent post introducing a series on megachurches, I wrote: “I would argue that megachurches are intrinsically unhealthy because of the exorbitant building costs, reliance on attractional church programs, and the fact that your pastor doesn’t know your name.” A couple of Ed’s readers responded to my comment with, “I guess I’m not into [...]

Your church cannot be missional and have video venues. There, I’ve said it. I know it’s contrary to what Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler and others are saying and doing. The multi-site trend continues to grow among churches in the United States. It’s been discussed and debated at length in the blogosphere. Perhaps the best discussion took place back in [...]

So here I am- a continent, three cultures, and two months since my last post. A lot has changed. For starters, I’m still working with the IMB. Our regional leadership has been a tremendous support as we’ve begun the “About Europe” meetings and worked to launch the Upstream Collective. My new job is to connect churches with the work in [...]

I’ve been part of a couple of conversations lately about whether or not we still need denominations or associations of churches. Many times, supporters of these associations cite the benefits of smaller churches partnering with larger ones to be more effective in missions. There may be a good reason to hold on to denominations, but partnering for missions isn’t one [...]