Comments on: Churches as businesses http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/ Church Planting, Technology & Culture Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:12:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Have you seen any good church logos? | Logo Design Love http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-186534 Have you seen any good church logos? | Logo Design Love Tue, 20 May 2008 08:06:48 +0000 http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-186534 [...] Effective church logos aren’t easy to spot. Why is that? Budget? Priorities? Understanding? More and more, it seems Churches are run like businesses. Disregarding the question of morality, I’d expect branding to be given more thought, if only to attract a larger congregation. [...] [...] Effective church logos aren’t easy to spot. Why is that? Budget? Priorities? Understanding? More and more, it seems Churches are run like businesses. Disregarding the question of morality, I’d expect branding to be given more thought, if only to attract a larger congregation. [...]

]]> By: D. Goodmanson http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4038 D. Goodmanson Sat, 24 Dec 2005 20:27:36 +0000 http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4038 Great thoughts Bill. I agree. If our focus is anything less than God, it's idolatry. Great thoughts Bill. I agree. If our focus is anything less than God, it’s idolatry.

]]> By: bill streger http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4033 bill streger Sat, 24 Dec 2005 15:39:13 +0000 http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4033 Drew, this is good to think about. One of the things I've loved so much about Acts 29 is that our network takes seriously the call to engage the culture and contextualize the Gospel, but at the same time it keeps the Gospel in the forefront driving all we do. I love that most A29 guys preach solid, expository sermons verse by verse through books of the Bible. I love that Jesus is the hero. I think the line we cross is when our "customer" is no longer honoring God and asking first "what would please him?" and we begin asking "what would please unchurched people?". Now, it's Christmas Eve, so I've got to leave my $3m home and get into my $15m hellicopter to take me to finish up some Christmas shopping. Drew, this is good to think about. One of the things I’ve loved so much about Acts 29 is that our network takes seriously the call to engage the culture and contextualize the Gospel, but at the same time it keeps the Gospel in the forefront driving all we do. I love that most A29 guys preach solid, expository sermons verse by verse through books of the Bible. I love that Jesus is the hero.

I think the line we cross is when our “customer” is no longer honoring God and asking first “what would please him?” and we begin asking “what would please unchurched people?”. Now, it’s Christmas Eve, so I’ve got to leave my $3m home and get into my $15m hellicopter to take me to finish up some Christmas shopping.

]]> By: D. Goodmanson http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4031 D. Goodmanson Sat, 24 Dec 2005 01:19:37 +0000 http://www.goodmanson.com/2005-12/23/churches-as-businesses/#comment-4031 The Economist identifies some criticism in the article: There is no shortage of criticisms of these fast-growing churches. One is that they represent the Disneyfication of religion. Forget about the agony and ecstasy of faith. Willow Creek and its sort are said to serve up nothing more challenging than Christianity Lite— a bland and sanitised creed that is about as dramatic as the average shopping mall. Another criticism is that these churches are not really in the religion business but in the self-help trade. Mr Osteen and his equivalents preach reassuring sermons to “victors not victims”, who can learn to be “rich, healthy and trouble free”. God, after all, “wants you to achieve your personal best”. The result is a wash: rather than making America more Christian, the mega-churches have simply succeeded in making Christianity more American. Moreover, it is a wash that is extraordinary good for the pastorpreneurs themselves, who prosper by preaching the gospel of prosperity. The wonderfully named Creflo Dollar, chief pastor of World Changers Church International in Georgia, drives a Rolls-Royce and travels in a Gulfstream jet. Joyce Meyer, who promises that God rewards people with his blessings, counts among her own blessings a $2m home and a $10m jet. The Economist identifies some criticism in the article:

There is no shortage of criticisms of these fast-growing churches. One is that they represent the Disneyfication of religion. Forget about the agony and ecstasy of faith. Willow Creek and its sort are said to serve up nothing more challenging than Christianity Lite— a bland and sanitised creed that is about as dramatic as the average shopping mall.

Another criticism is that these churches are not really in the religion business but in the self-help trade. Mr Osteen and his equivalents preach reassuring sermons to “victors not victims”, who can learn to be “rich, healthy and trouble free”. God, after all, “wants you to achieve your personal best”. The result is a wash: rather than making America more Christian, the mega-churches have simply succeeded in making Christianity more American.

Moreover, it is a wash that is extraordinary good for the pastorpreneurs themselves, who prosper by preaching the gospel of prosperity. The wonderfully named Creflo Dollar, chief pastor of World Changers Church International in Georgia, drives a Rolls-Royce and travels in a Gulfstream jet. Joyce Meyer, who promises that God rewards people with his blessings, counts among her own blessings a $2m home and a $10m jet.

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