Compassion By Design

The well known definition of insanity, is continuing to do the same thing while expecting a different result.  Expecting the unchurched to come to church, when we continue to do the exact same things that we have been doing for 50 years might fit  this description.  In the two church plants I lead, I lead like the unchurched person that I was.  Not having the benefit of being raised in church, we tried lots of different things with some good results.  Some of our adventures including meeting and eating (after church) in a Chinese Restaurant, and the same in a skating rink.  One of our craziest efforts was a garage sale that required several of the largest roll off containers that we could rent– we didnt make much money, but we sure met a lot of people.  I will always remember our version of a haunted house which had an angel illuminated by a strobe and an actor who was a former motorcyle gang hit man– he could put the fear of God in you!  We met and lead lots of unchurched people into relationship with Christ.  But all we really can take credit for is trying some things that were out of the box– of course, we didn’t have a box (a church building) anyway, so it came a bit easier.   We have to get out of our traditional patterns if we are going to return to sanity– I would love to hear about your efforts.

From the vantage point of Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great,  Needs Assessments that are based in a church planting team or local ministry are like the “Technology Accelerators” that help good to great companies to grow.  In this case, a needs assessment is a practice that allows a local oragnization to build both relationships and insights as they match their resources with critical community needs.  The Needs Assessment which is designed for participatory research (that is, involvement by a volunteer team) is truly an Accelerator for those who want to reach out and serve.