Model Church .com

Hurricane Indy... Peeps, Where Are You?

2008-09-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. I thought this was interesting... a church in Louisiana is blogging (and getting 'comments') as a form of keeping in touch with members during their hurricane crisis.

[check it out]

Let's consider this as part of OUR emergency preparedness. Ok?

-Pastor Paul

Dr. John Franke lectures at Indy Heights

2007-07-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

[Caveat: Continue to remember the unique nature of ModelChurch.com and 'Indy Heights Community Church'.]

This video is just one of the several links at ModelChurch.org -- a wiki-development toward a better understanding of what the Church should BE... and DO.

Video: Church On The Move

2007-02-16T15:22:00.001-08:00

9 Marks of The Church?

2006-12-20T17:15:00.000-08:00

[Hey this looks interesting, folks. What do you think? How close does Indy Heights Community Church fit this description? And if not, what could we do about it in 2007? Comments? ...'Pastor Paul']

"We believe the local church is the focal point of God's plan for displaying his glory to the nations. Our vision is simple: Churches that reflect the character of God. Our mission is to cultivate and encourage churches characterized by these nine marks..."

[continued at 9marks.org]

"Be Our Guest"

2006-11-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

**********************

["Not-YetReady-For-Prime-Time Worship-Team?" LOL. Enjoy. ...Pastor Paul]

"How To (Not) Botch An Altar Call"

2006-10-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

[For those of you who might have wondered why we do things the way we do at Indy Heights Community Church... here are some wise counselors I try to pay attention to. Hat-tip Adam.Skinner... among the DeliciousChristians.]

Excerpt from "How To Botch An Altar Call"

"Give them the impression that God is so good
He won’t send anyone to hell.
Don’t present the whole counsel of God
or they might realize He is so good
that He’ll see to it that justice is served
and that all unrepentant sinners will
be punished in the fire that is not quenched."

.

Mega-church downsizes, cuts non-essential members

2006-09-01T02:57:00.000-07:00

Friends... Enjoy the following 'story' from LarkNews. Admittedly fictitious, it's instructive. Thought you'd enjoy a little humor about a great topic. YBIC, 'Pastor Paul'

WINSTON-SALEM — Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in July asking them to "participate in the life of the church" [or else!]. Or else worship elsewhere.

"They basically called us freeloaders," says Julie.
"We were freeloaders," says Bob.

In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked "non-participating members" to stop attending.

"No more Mr. Nice Church," says the executive pastor...

[continued at LarkNews.com]

Church GPS

2006-08-30T16:40:00.000-07:00

Folks...

Ok, ok, I can take a joke as well as the next guy. Y'all are hilarious. So thanks, whoever, for the special contribution in the offering bag last Sunday.

LOLLLLLLLL. Yeah I really did a double-take when the deacons came carrying this into my office after church, along with your note. LOLLLLLL.

"Where are we?"

and...
"Which way should we go?"

But these devices aren't cheap, so I'm willing to give it back to whomever is responsible. Just let me know. Maybe leave me another note made of your magazine-cut-out-letters. Nice touch. LOL.

And btw, in answer to your question... "No. I don't think Moses would have been better off with one of these -- He KNEW where he was taking them... they just didn't want to go do what God 'directed them' to do.

Hmmmm. Maybe there's a sermon there somewhere.

Anyway, thanks for the 'Church GPS'.

Warmly,
'Pastor Paul'

P.S. Let me 'direct you' to a great article by that name.

Are we 'missional'?

2006-08-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Whaddaya think, folks?

Are we 'missional'?

Seems like a great topic for Sunday morning.

See all of you then.

Come prepared.

Warmly,
'Pastor Paul'

WWJD... in the 21st Century?

2006-08-02T04:27:00.000-07:00

Folks... About last Sunday's sermon...

While most of you readily appreciated the change **LOL** I did get some negative feedback.

3 people disagreed with some aspect of the content.
1 person thought the whole thing was sacrilege.
1 person (Maudie, of course -- sorry to name names, but thankfully she doesn't read blogs) wondered what I did last week with my 20 extra hours of NOT having to prepare a 'real' sermon.
1 elder wanted Chris Malott's phone number, perhaps to interview him as my replacement. LOL.

Btw, as promised, here's the link to his article which I simply read aloud Sunday before sitting down.

YBIC,
Pastor Paul

Blended Church?

2006-07-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

A local church here in Indy is blogging the question...

"Do you believe that there IS racism in the Church? Isn’t Sunday the most segregated day of the week? Aside from language barriers, should there be white churches, black churches, hispanic, korean, etc.?"

It'll be interesting to follow the comments & reactions. Surf over and drop 'em a comment.

YBIC,
'Pastor Paul'

**********************************

But beware. I'm guessing that strategy will get them voted off the "Top 50" island.

'Top 50 Churches'... eludes IHCC yet again

2006-07-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Congregation...

I'm sorry. I take full responsibility. Please forgive me.

Friends, I'm sorry to report to you yet again this year, that Indy Heights Community Church has failed to break into the "Top 50 Influential Churches".

I can only encourage you to persevere for another year. I promise you some changes. And I beg of you a few changes as well. Pardon my hastily compiled list, but we need to act quickly if we're to have a chance...

I'll call some church-growth consultants, and we'll get a capital funds-drive started immediately. Bring your checkbook Sunday.
I'll download some of these guys' sermons (or we'll beam 'em in, starting Sunday).
Nobody get sick or hospitalized. Please.
We'll slate some new elders when we see the results from the pledge cards.
We'll pull the word 'Community' out of our church name so no one will think we're in a 'Community Churches' denomination.
Our neighborhood prayer network has changed its name to 'World Prayer Network', and will start enlisting folks from across the country shortly.
Our community outreach team will begin rounding up proxies needed at the next Neighborhood Association meeting to vote a parking variance as soon as possible.
Please start calling the associaton officers now. [And I'll start blogging about it shortly.]
Btw, we're entering into merger & acquisition talks with some other pastors who called me this week after seeing the new list.
We may need to amend our statement of faith just a bit, to be more 'inclusive'.
I'll stop talking about sin if you will.
We'll need to start 'emerging' in a few new ways. I realize I can't overtake the 'cussing pastor', but perhaps there's room for a 'gambling pastor'... y'think?
Be with us Saturday evening for "Texas Hold 'Em". Bring your neighbors. And your checkbook.

Oh... and one more thing...

Start 'texting' the word 'IHCC' to 1-800-555-5555, and get all your friends to do likewise. Start now!

Hope this all helps.

YBIC,
'Pastor Paul'

P.S. Any of you that believed this and show up Saturday night, I'll see you in my office Monday morning.

ChurchBeauty.com

2006-07-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

I just entered Indy Heights Community Church website in a beauty contest.

Well, sort of.

I recommended it for review at ChurchBeauty.com -- a new site to help provide some great examples of church websites. It's a Digg type of rating system by users.

And no, I'm not going to encourage you to buzz right over there and vote for our site -- that was not at all the point.

The point was the same as always... to effectively ask ourselves WWJD?

Or in this case, WWWWWJD?...
"What World Wide Website Would Jesus Design?"

So here's what I really liked about ChurchBeauty.com -- you can browse gallery by keyword... Clean, CSS , Video , Fresh , Simple , Edgy , Organic , Classic , Color Scheme , Photography , Well Written , Usability .

What IS most important to Jesus, anyway? Comments anyone?

YBIC,
'Pastor Paul'

P.S.... Btw, now it's got me thinking about entering the 'American iPastor' contest! LOL

Ten Surprises... about the 'Unchurched'

2006-05-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wow. These 10 points are surprising ok!

People, this is a really helpful article for us, here at Indy Heights Community Church. I'm guessing it will help us to find increasingly great opportunities to get to know our neighbors the way THEY WANT to be known.

Warmly,
Pastor Paul

'Me Church'

2006-05-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Folks, I hope not to offend those of you who have been seriously worried about the new-member campaign by 'that other church' down the street.

But, sorry... I had to laugh when I finally saw their ad on tv yesterday....

And 'no', we won't be calling a special elders meeting to revisit our mission.

Pastor Paul

Tag, You're It...

2006-02-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Turn to your neighbor and say, "Tag, You're It."

Hmmmm. Tim Bednar is at it again. Says the Church is the people, and that the internet is changing everything. Now he's saying 'tags' are changing the church... and perhaps the Church?

[outstanding article in his series... "20 Memes Changing Your Congregation"]

[hat-tip, Frank Johnson, Strategic Digital Outreach]

The Innovative Church?

2006-02-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Excerpted from Chris Charron, VP of Research at Forrester Research (Consumer Forum 2005):

"Consumers aren't listening to you anymore....
They're listening to each other."

"Your customers are smarter than you are...
Tap into their innovative power."

*****************************
[Anybody see an application to the Church? Or a model church?]

Mega Church Game

2006-02-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

*********************************
Pastor Paul's editorial note: (Speechless -- then LOLLLLLLLLLL)

After discussing this in our egroup, we decided to seize this great opportunity. We've now ordered a boat-load of these games to give away at next week's meeting of the New Members Class in progress. [Current members may also request one if they'd like to participate.]

Each participant will be allowed to design just exactly what THEY WANT in a church. Their results will help our coaches direct them to the nearest church within commuting distance that fits their every hope & dream.... for people just like themselves.

For those who instead choose to stay here and build the Church for the neighborhood, please return your game. We're sending them to our inner-city sister-neighborhood church, to help them also sort/redistribute their consumer-driven members.

Btw, we're sorry for interupting the agenda of the New Members Class. However, we believe that with a smaller class (and perhaps a smaller church) we'll be able to make up for lost time as we pick up where we left off... studying what the Bible has to say about 'The Church'.

And then try to become that, in Indy Heights. And accomplish its work.

Blessings All,
Pastor Paul

[More than a hat-tip, to Tim Bednar! LOLLLL. Thanks!]

BetaChurch.org

2006-02-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

[Great minds run the same channels....]

[Visit BetaChurch.org for great new ideas]

[hat-tip, StrategicDigitalOutreach.com]

Hamilton County Christians...

2006-01-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hey check it out... our GEO-strategy continues to move forward. We're now linked among Hamilton County Christians .com -- connecting the Bible-believing churches & neighborhoods throughout the county. And they're connected metro-wide with IndyChristian.com (where you can get the area's daily news for Christians)... and statewide with TransformIndiana.com... and nationally with CityReaching.com.

If you think you'd like to do more to share the love of Christ in YOUR neighborhood, visit Nhood.org -- with best-in-class neighborhood ideas & resources. And then let us know -- we'd like to help you in your neighborhood efforts of faith.

Indy Heights... Blogging Together

2006-01-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

We're now contemplating how the local church blogs together... which begs the question: What is a local church, anyway? Is it a network of Bible-believing Christians, neighborhood by neighborhood... including the existing local (Bible-believing) churches?

And how should it function together? Blog together at least? How might that look in a networked community?

Here's one model... a real, live, blogging church... IndyChurch.org.

About ModelChurch.com

2006-01-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

"What Would a Model Church Look Like, Anyway?"

Hi. Hey before we get into why this .com site exists, first come with me for a moment to the wiki-encyclopedia page developing this topic... ModelChurch.org.

Now maybe you'll better understand ModelChurch.com -- where we're using the internet to playfully sketch out a model of what should someday be built in reality. So we're going to tinker a bit with a fictitious church... "Indy Heights Community Church"... in a fictitious neighborhood community. And our fictitious 'pastor' is the warm, personable character we'll just call 'Pastor Paul'.

We welcome your comments or email.

Or if you'd like to get involved and help flesh-out a core-set of principles from scripture, about the nature & purpose of the Church... consider applying to join the ModelChurch eGroup.

Welcome...

2006-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hi. I'm 'Pastor Paul'. Welcome to the neighborhood church here in 'Indy Heights'. We're here to share life together in the community... for many years to come... and hopefully, eternally.

We not only want to ask W.W.J.D., but importantly (try to) live it out... i.e., Do W.J.W.D.

The Bible is God Almighty's Word to us... our guide, and He rolled it up for us pretty succinctly when He walked the earth...

Go.
Make disciples.
Baptize them.*
Teach them to obey everything I've shared with you.
Love me with all your everything.
Love your neighbors as yourself.
Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
Keep in mind I'm with you all the way.
Other duties as assigned. LOL.
Remember: I'll be back.

* Connect them to the family of professing believers.

The CHURCH is not a building -- it's a collection of people. A team. By the same token, the Church should not be represented only by a single web-site.... but rather, by a whole TAPESTRY of Christ-followers in a local area. A citywide team. Enjoying life together and getting the job done... in our neighborhoods... on our watch.

So here we're starting a sample free & easy site for connecting & conversing among Christ-followers involved in the local church... and throughout the nearby neighborhoods.

'Being the Neighborhood's Church'

and
'Training Neighborhood Leaders.'

... connecting virtually in the city-reaching movement... get our elders & deacons some practice and familiarity with it all -- and hopefully actually writing here from time to time in practical ways. And then someday soon perhaps, we'll submit this blog's RSS feed to IndyChurches.com -- the area's aggregated site for Bible-believing churches.

Blogging is as easy as email -- you log in, write something, and hit the Submit button.

For more info on blogging, see Neil Cox (IndyChristian)... or come visit/train with him... any Saturday morning. More info at UBbloggin.com.