God grows His church, but a new book on economics set me to thinking about we can help reverse the decline of the American church. Since 1964, “the incomes of doctors, schoolteachers, plumbers, and other tradesmen (here let me include pastors) remain limited by the number of customers they can serve. The size of the economy doesn’t change that. The pay of entertainers and other successful entrepreneurs grows larger relative to the pay of the typical workers, not because these innovators charge customers more. If anything, they are charging customers less and less. They earn more because they have more customers.” For “more customers,” read more people into the life of the church. Author Edward Conard goes immediately to information technology. “These tools increase their ability to serve customers more effectively and to find and commercialize new innovations that are beneficial to everyone.” (“The Upside of Inequality,” 16, 18).
We are in the third great communication revolution in history: The invention of the alphabet, the invention of the printing press, and now information technology. If pastors and congregations “remain limited by the number of customers they can serve,” should we think about using IT to reach more people in church AND community? Here’s a bulletin announcement from one congregation. “We have a Bible Class in the church basement while other Sunday School and Bible Classes can be accessed through the main school doors…. Grades 1-8 all meet in the Choir room.” That’s a past paradigm. Imagine also offering an Internet Bible Class during the week! This is more than having a church web page. Imagine church-goers participating in that Internet Bible class during the week and inviting their unchurched friends to participate. Is the Internet integral to the life of your congregation’s ministry? For most probably not. Reread Conard in the light of evangelism possibilities.
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