Stetzer Betrays Church and Chicanery: The Unchurched Do Not Dig Willow-Fullerism!

We need another conference for retraining.


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Totally Awesome Contest with Prizes At the Popcor...":

Ed Stetzer's surprise: The unchurched prefer traditional churches: http://scotkinnaman.com/2009/04/13/880/

"The ruminations of a Lutheran cleric on liturgy and the Divine Service, Lutheran culture, sermons, devotional writing, and tidbits from some of the projects I am working on."
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LifeWay Research finds unchurched prefer cathedrals to contemporary church designs
Written by Tobin Perry

NASHVILLE, Tenn.– People who don’t go to church may be turned off by a recent trend toward more utilitarian church buildings. By a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option, unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than what most think of as a more contemporary church building.

The findings come from a recent survey conducted by LifeWay Research for the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN), a group of church-focused facilities development firms. The online survey included 1,684 unchurched adults – defined as those who had not attended a church, mosque or synagogue in the past six months except for religious holidays or special events.

“Despite billions being spent on church buildings, there was an overall decline in church attendance in the 1990s,” according to Jim Couchenour, director of marketing and ministry services for Cogun, Inc., a founding member of CKN. “This led CKN to ask, ‘As church builders what can we do to help church leaders be more intentional about reaching people who don’t go to church?’”

When given an assortment of four photos of church exteriors and given 100 “preference points” to allocate between them, the unchurched used an average of 47.7 points on the most traditional and Gothic options. The three other options ranged from an average of 18.5 points to 15.9 points.

“We may have been designing buildings based on what we think the unchurched would prefer,” Couchenour concluded. “While multi-use space is the most efficient, we need to ask, ‘Are there ways to dress up that big rectangular box in ways that would be more appealing to the unchurched?’”

“Quite honestly, this research surprised us,” said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research and LifeWay Christian Resource’s missiologist in residence. “We expected they’d choose the more contemporary options, but they were clearly more drawn to the aesthetics of the Gothic building than the run-of-the-mill, modern church building.”

Stetzer suggested that the unchurched may prefer the more aesthetically pleasing look of the Gothic cathedral because it speaks to a connectedness to the past. Young unchurched people were particularly drawn to the Gothic look. Those between the ages of 25 to 34 used an average of 58.9 of their preference points on the more ornate church exterior. Those over the age of 70 only used an average of 32.9 of their 100 preference points on that particular church exterior.

The Gothic style was preferred by both unchurched Roman Catholics and unchurched Protestants, according to the survey. The average unchurched Roman Catholics gave the design more than 56 of their preference points.

“I don’t like modern churches, they seem cold,” said one survey respondent who chose the Gothic design. “I like the smell of candles burning, stained-glass windows, [and] an intimacy that’s transcendent.”

More than half of the unchurched indicated the design of a church building would impact their enjoyment of a visit to church. Twenty-two percent said the design of the church would strongly impact their enjoyment of the visit and 32 percent indicated it would have some impact. More than a third said it would have no impact whatsoever on their visit.

Stetzer noted that despite these survey results, most of the churches that look like a cathedral are in decline. Just because someone has a preference for the aesthetically pleasing, Gothic churches doesn’t mean they’ll visit the church if that’s the only connection point they have to the congregation, he said.

“Buildings don’t reach people, people do,” Stetzer said. “But if churches are looking to build and are trying to reach the unchurched, they should take into consideration the kind of building. Costs and other considerations will play into the decision, but the preferences of the unchurched should be considered as well.”

What the unchurched look for in other parts of the church
The survey also looked at what the unchurched thought about other elements of church design. While still favoring a more traditional look, the preferences of the unchurched were less pronounced on internal elements of church design. Respondents allocated more than a third of their preference points to the most traditional worship space option they were given – which received more than twice as many preference points as the most contemporary choice.

The more church design mattered to unchurched respondents, the more likely they were to prefer the more traditional and ornate worship setting. Those who said church design would affect their worship experience allocated an average of almost half (47 points) of their preference points for the most traditional worship space.

The unchurched also preferred the traditional-looking church foyer, although the preference allocations were more even for this question. All of the foyers received an average of at least 20 preference points. While older unchurched people (70 years old and older) were the least likely to prefer the more traditional exterior, they were more likely to prefer the traditional foyer than the youngest segment surveyed.

Places for the unchurched to connect
Finally, the survey looked into what sociologists call “third place” gathering spots. First place gatherings are where a person lives. Second place gatherings are where a person works. Third place gatherings are where a person comes “to hang out,” according to Stetzer.

“In the last few years churches have begun creating third place environments where the lost can come and just hang out,” Stetzer said. “This study asked the question, what kind of places do the unchurched like to come to do this?”

More than three times as many people chose a sit-down restaurant (47 percent) rather than any other single response. Other locations that topped the list include: a bar or nightclub (15 percent), a local coffee shop (13 percent), and a sporting event or recreational activity (5 percent).

According to the survey, the reasons they meet with friends where they do is because these places are relaxing (62 percent), casual (55 percent), and fun (29 percent). When asked to describe in their own words design features of the kind of place they’d like to meet a friend, 16 percent of respondents referred to a quiet environment. Another 14 percent mentioned comfortable seating as a factor, and 12 percent said that the spaciousness and openness of the setting was important.

“CKN wanted to give churches another tool for churched and unchurched people to connect well to each other,” Stetzer concluded. “One of the things this study revealed is the importance of space in relationships. Insights into these preferences enable churches to include space in which community can be built.”

The online survey was conducted on Feb. 4 and 5, 2008. The representative, national sample was controlled for a variety of factors including age, race, gender and region of the United States. The sample of 1,684 unchurched adults provides 95 percent confidence that sampling error does not exceed 2.4 percent for the total sample.

Easter Tuesday

Peter Paul Rubens, Doubting Thomas


KJV Luke 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them. 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things.

Easter Tuesday's reading reminds us about the agreement in the Gospels about the resurrection of Christ. Simon Greenleaf, as a lawyer, tried to reveal all the inconsistencies. He attacked the Word to undermine the Word but found himself converted by the efficacious Word. However, how we have people embracing methods and being converted by these marketing and business methods to faith in themselves, their dreams and visions.

On Easter Sunday the Eleven were gathered in the locked room. This group title does not necessarily include every single disciple. Nor does it exclude those not numbered in the Eleven. A modern example is a meeting of the Council of Presidents, even if some of them are missing, without the meeting name being changed due to missing men or some extra visitors.

The disciples rushed back from Emmaus to tell the Eleven about the first appearance of the risen Lord. They told the disciples about the appearance to Peter. During their excited (but still frightened) dinner discussion on Easter Sunday, Jesus suddenly appeared before them. John and Luke tell the same story in different words, with different details. The locked doors are in John; the new arrivals from Emmaus are in Luke. John's Gospel unifies the Four Gospels by including essential details and the sermons of Jesus, never repeating what the readers of Matthew, Mark, and Luke already know.

This account in Luke has the wonderful effect of confirming John's Gospel and preparing the faithful for Doubting Thomas Sunday, when Easter Sunday and the following Sunday are discussed in the Fourth Gospel. In Luke's Gospel we find the same anxiety and confusion which John's account addressed. The risen Lord taught them the meaning of His Passion. He also displayed again His divine ability to appear at will. He was not a ghost or spirit. He ate with them.

All these details were essential in teaching correctly about Christ.

Easter Monday

Supper at Emmaus, by Bassano

KJV Luke 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Those who appreciate the liturgy and the historic pericopes read the selection above on Easer Monday. It is the very first appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. Two disciples were walking toward Emmaus when Jesus met them, but they were restrained from recognizing Him at first.

One man gave the name Cleopas, so the two were from the outer circle of followers, perhaps the 70, not from the 12. Cleopas' answer revealed that all of Jerusalem was talking about the resurrection, not just the followers. This is an important clue about the rapid growth of the early Church. How could the stranger not know what everyone from Jerusalem was discussing! As Lenski wrote, the answer did not address the actual question, so Jesus asked again, "What were you actually discussing?"

So we have this beautiful early description of the events immediately after the resurrection, plus a summary of Jesus' ministry from a follower. The statement sounds like a creed, poetic in nature:
1. Jesus of Nazareth was a great Prophet
2. In Word and deed before the the people and God.
3. Our leaders delivered Him over to a sentence of death.
4. They crucified Him.
5. We hoped He would ransom Israel.

They had great faith, but they were confused and perplexed. They knew the empty tomb had been discovered, angels speaking to the women, and the tomb's condition confirmed by some of the disciples. No one had seen the risen Lord up to that point. They had many of the facts but could not put them together.

Jesus responded:

O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

This is one of several important passages, showing us that Jesus carefully taught His followers after the resurrection. They were eye-witnesses of the risen Messiah and also well trained in the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection. If anyone wants to know how important Lent and Easter are for worship, simply count the chapters concerning the Passion and Empty Tomb, and estimate the percentage of each Gospel devoted to that narrative.

Jesus expounded the Scriptures - The New Testament did not yet exist, so Jesus taught them from the Old Testament, showing us the unified truth of His message. This unity is clearly reflected in the Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation.

The disciples asked Jesus to stay with them, still not knowing who He was. As the meal started, He was revealed before their eyes. As Lenski noted, they complained earlier about the implication of the Empty Tomb "but Him they did not see." They were telling the risen Christ that no one had actually seen the risen Christ at this point. Now they knew at once, suddenly, that Christ Himself had been walking with them and teaching them from the revealed Word. Jesus left as easily as He did from the sealed tomb, as easily as He entered the locked room later that day, where the disciples were gathered "for fear of the Jews."

John Calvin claimed, "The finite cannot contain the infinite," and yet the Incarnation is proof he was wrong. The human nature of Christ was and is united with His divine nature, but His divine nature is never inhibited by His human nature. Thus a Holy Communion service can be held in sealed bunker in a secure, undisclosed location, when the Word consecrates the elements.

They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning in use, as He was talking to us on the way, as he was opening to us the Scriptures?" The two disciples immediately returned to Jerusalem, where they learned Jesus had also appeared to Peter. How could they not share this news?

First the women discovered the Empty Tomb.
They told John and Peter, who had a race to the Tomb, which they also found empty.
Jesus appeared to the two on the way to Emmaus.
He also appeared to Peter.

The next appearance is read on Easter Tuesday.

Word and Sacrament

Word and Sacrament, by Norma Boeckler

John has left a new comment on your post ""Mine Is the Glory" - Jeske":

Is WELS perfect? Of course not.
But then, neither is ELS, LCMS, CLC, or any other brand of 'Confessional' Lutheran available.

Let us not forget that neither WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, nor ANY OTHER 'Confessional' Lutheran church saves.

No pastor saves, either.

None of the above is The Means of Grace.

Considering the above, isn't it incumbent upon a pastor who presents the Word through the media to inform folks hungering for the truth where they may learn more (catechesis), and where they may receive the Means of Grace through the proper preaching of the Word and the rightful administration of Baptism and The Lord's Supper?

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GJ - The synods have promoted synod-worship most of all, so their ministers preach the synod rather than the Gospel. A letter in Christian News recently claimed the Church Growthy CLC (sic) was "the real Missouri Synod."

The apostates of synod-worship promote personality cults rather than teaching the Means of Grace. Instead of trembling before the Word, the Word trembles before them. They order God to obey their wishes and sing, "Mine is the glory."