Which Multi-site Church Will Be the 1st to … HOLOGRAPH the Pastor?

One of the persons in the picture above is a hologram. Can you guess which one?

Tony Morgan blogged recently (TonyMorganLive) about the coming use of holographic technology by multi-site churches. And … oh yea, Tony is on the right. The … uh … hologram is on the left.

Church Relevance blog has also explored holograms and churches.

Below is a demonstration of holography by Cisco‘s CEO during a presentation in India:

Is holography any less holy than video?

Does your church hide Jesus?

Jared Wilson, pastor of Element (Nashville, TN), has a new book out titled Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior.

While reading Ed Stetzer’s blog interview with Jared about his book, I was struck by Jared’s response to one of Ed’s interview questions.

Ed:

You survey quite a few false Jesuses from contemporary culture in the Introduction–Grammy Award Speech Jesus, Hippie Jesus, ATM Jesus, etc. Which one do you think is most prevalent in the church right now? And what is the book’s response to it?

Jared:

I don’t have the research resources that you do, so I can’t put a figure on this, but I can tell you that my biggest concern is actually about an Invisible Jesus. Jesus, the Best Supporting Actor. Cameo Appearance Jesus. The “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain” Jesus.

In way too many churches – just one would be too many, but I know this is a larger problem than that because I have experienced it myself and I hear from many others across the country who have as well – Jesus barely or rarely shows up. He may make an appearance in an illustration or something, but he is not the point of the message. Sometimes his name is never mentioned. Perusing church websites or pastor’s blogs or Twitter feeds, they hardly ever mention him.

It’s bizarre. It’s distressing. But it makes sense given the current state of evangelicalism.

Wow! Something to think about. Is your church hiding Jesus?

Read IMonk’s review of Is Your Jesus Too Safe.

The 7 minute sermon. Seriously.

Can it be?

Innovative senior pastor and church planter Charles Lee, of New Hope South Bay (Torrence, CA), was so inspired by a Japanese architect design presentation approach known as Pecha Kucha that he delivered a sermon based on it.

The Pecha Kucha design presentations are focused, concise, and memorable. They should be. Each presentation lasts only 6 minutes, 40 seconds. That’s 20 PowerPoint slides at 20 seconds each.

So Charles Lee preached a sermon on spiritual disciplines that uses 20 PowerPoint slides to be shown 20 seconds each.

To view the PowerPoint slides and hear the message audio:
GO TO Charles Lee’s blog.

Hat tip to D J Chuang, Learnings @ Leadership Network.

Speaking of Charles Lee, hear him below as he speaks at Catalyst about church planting:

Innovative church bloggers to read

One way to track innovative church trends is to read blogs that are written by innovative church leaders. Here is a list suggested by D J Chang of Leadership Network:

• Mark Driscoll- http://theresurgence.com/md_blog
• Matt Chandler- http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/
• Mark Batterson- http://www.evotional.com/
• Dave Ferguson- http://daveferguson.org
• Mac Lake- http://www.maclakeonline.com
• Troy Gramling- http://www.troygramling.com/
• Perry Noble- http://www.perrynoble.com/
• Craig Groeschel- http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/
• Steven Furtick- http://www.stevenfurtick.com
• Josh Harris- http://joshharris.com
• Bob Roberts- http://www.glocal.net
• Dino Rizzo- http://www.dinorizzo.com/

Try using a blog reader to help you keep up with multiple blogs. Check out my favorite: Google Reader.

Saddleback Worship Conference 2009

A special message from Rick Muchow, Music Pastor of Saddleback Church:

This year’s conference has many exciting things in store that you and your team are not going to want to miss.  In addition to the whole Saddleback team (including Pastor Rick Warren) you will enjoy Steve Fee, Francis Chan, Tim Hughes, Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown, Vicki Beeching, Sara Kelly, Carlos Whitaker, Meridith Andrews and many more.  ISRAEL HOUGHTON just confirmed that he will do a concert and 2 workshops!!!  It’s going to be an exciting and fulfilling time together.

Visit Rockbridge Seminary’s information table and talk with Dr. Sam Simmons, who will be at the Worship Conference representing Rockbridge Seminary. We especially recommend attendance for the student who is worship leader in his or her church, ministry group, or small group. 

Special student pricing

Saddleback Worship Conference INFORMATION

REGISTER for conference

What is “ancient-future” worship?

What is “ancient-future” worship? Here’s a brief overview written by Drew Dyck:

Ancient-future worship involves the melding of contemporary forms of worship with ancient ones. But according to the late Robert E. Webber (who coined the term “ancient future”) it is far more than a paradox of style. By connecting us to the early church, ancient-future worship allows us to taste, as Webber wrote, the “communion of the fullness of the body of Christ” while rooting us in God’s story and mission in the world.

Webber believed that the church’s worship had become vapid and self-centered. According to Webber, the sad state of worship was the result of losing sight of God and his historical narrative. By adopting worship practices from ancient Israel, the early church and other epochs of church history, we could enact God’s story in our contemporary world.

Ancient-future worship seeks not only a broader historical context, but a wider spiritual view of worship as well. It calls for awareness that worship is not merely a human affair. 

The home page for ancientfutureworship.com describes Webber’s final book this way:

With the many models of worship available, choosing a style to worship God can be a bit overwhelming. Is it better to go with traditional or contemporary models? Christians may find themselves asking how early believers worshiped and whether they can provide insight into how we should praise God today. Rooted in historical models and patristic church studies, Ancient-Future Worship examines how early Christian worship models can be applied to the postmodern church. Pastors and church leaders, as well as younger evangelical and emerging church groups, will find this last book in the respected Ancient-Future series an invaluable resource for authentic worship.

God has a story. Worship does God’s story. There is a crisis of worship today. The problem goes beyond matters of style–it is a crisis of content and of form. Worship in churches today is too often dead and dry, or busy and self-involved. Robert Webber attributes these problems to a loss of vision of God and of God’s narrative in past, present, and future history. As he examines worship practices of Old Testament Israel and the early church, Webber uncovers ancient principles and practices that can reinvigorate our worship today and into the future. The final volume in Webber’s acclaimed Ancient-Future series, Ancient-Future Worship is the culmination of a lifetime of study and reflection on Christian worship. Here is an urgent call to recover a vigorous, God-glorifying, transformative worship through the enactment and proclamation of God’s glorious story. The road to the future, argues Webber, runs through the past. Robert E. Webber (1933-2007) was, at the time of his death, Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, and served as the president of the Institute for Worship Studies in Orange Park, Florida. His many books include Ancient-Future Faith and The Younger Evangelicals.

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online seminary course “The Theology and Practice of Worship” may be helped by reading the full Dyck article and by exploring the ancientfutureworship.com website. 

READ full Drew Dyck article (Off the Agenda blog)

GO TO Ancient Future Worship website

Personal worship enhanced by Examen.me

Since discovering Sacred Space (daily prayer online) from Tony Jones’ book The Sacred Way, I’ve found my personal worship helped by following online-directed prayer and worship pathways (but only after some intial skepticism).

That’s why I was particularly interested to learn more about a new online devotional website called Examen.me.

What I found is a personal worship tool that offers more function than Sacred Space- the ability to type devotional thoughts and prayers that can be stored and reviewed later. 

“Examens” (prayer and meditation pathways you can choose) are offered for Scripture (Gospel, NT, OT, Psalm), Prayer (prayer of examen, center out prayer), and Journal.  

Rockbridge Seminary students who completed the online seminary course “Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines” may find this spiritual disciplines tool to be useful.

(Hat tip Cynthia at The Digital Sanctuary)

PD Summit- Watch via webcast free

Can’t attend the 2009 Purpose Driven Network Summit at Saddleback Church May 19-21 in person?

View Rick Warren’s five messages during the PD Summit via Webcast for free. 

Listen to Rick Warren’s audio invitation

More information about 2009 PD Summit

REGISTER FOR WEBCAST HERE

Grassroots community of worship leaders

Looking for an online community of worship leaders? Check out The Worship Community.

Here’s more from the site: 

TheWorshipCommunity.Com (TWC) is a grass-roots community of worship leaders, artists, singers, musicians, and technicians from all over the world.

TWC was launched in the Spring of 2007 by Fred McKinnon, a worship pastor and small business owner.  Fred has been involved in bring worship “online” for years, with the original HighestPraise.Com site that was offering free downloads of original worship music more than decade ago.  He continues to blog about worship, ministry, and leadership each week at www.fredmckinnon.com.

“Version 1″ of TWC launched with public forums for discussions about worship, technology, songs, and planning.  “Version 2″ of TWC launched in July 2008 with the new “e-zine” format including articles, how-to, reviews, featured videos, and interactive discussions.

One of the things that sets TheWorshipCommunity.Com apart is the grass-roots nature of the content.  Our articles are written by contributors all over the world who are “in the trenches” …. leading worship in small, medium, and large churches.  We combine exclusive content with re-published articles from what we discover as “the best of” from worship and ministry-related blogs, discussion forums, and resources.

Rockbridge  Seminary students who have completed the online course “The Theology and Practice of Worship,” especially those who are worship leaders, may benefit from this learning community focused exclusively on worship.

Go to TheWorshipCommunity.Com

(Kudos to Cynthia at The Digital Sanctuary)

Taking Another Look At Liturgy

I don’t think I’m alone … taking a fresh look at spiritual practices used over the centuries that could enhance my worship of God. For the first time in my life, I walked the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday and found it very moving. 

Several days before, I was fascinated to read a discussion about liturgy among an Eastern Orthodox priest, an Anglican priest, a Southern Baptist pastor, a Roman Catholic, a United Methodist pastor, and a Lutheran pastor. 

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online seminary courses ”Church History I/II,” “Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines,” or “The Theology and Practice of Worship” might find the discussion quite interesting. 

Read blog discussion on liturgy (hosted by Internet Monk)