Anne Marie Miller

Category: Church

  • i’m curious – what does going to church look like?

    barna released a report recently identifying five segments of church attendance.

    from the report,

    “The fact that millions of people are now involved in multiple faith communities – for instance, attending a conventional church one week, a house church the next, and interacting with an online faith community in-between – has rendered the standard measures of “churched” and “unchurched” much less precise.”

    so, out of the following…which segment do you identify with more? if you would rather remain unidentified, just type in anonymous for your name and don’t link back to your blog.

    Unattached – people who had attended neither a conventional church nor an organic faith community (e.g., house church, simple church, intentional community) during the past year. Some of these people use religious media, but they have had no personal interaction with a regularly-convened faith community. This segment represents one out of every four adults (23%) in America. About one-third of the segment was people who have never attended a church at any time in their life.

    Intermittents – these adults are essentially “under-churched” – i.e., people who have participated in either a conventional church or an organic faith community within the past year, but not during the past month. Such people constitute about one out of every seven adults (15%). About two-thirds of this group had attended at least one church event at some time within the past six months.

    Homebodies – people who had not attended a conventional church during the past month, but had attended a meeting of a house church (3%).

    Blenders – adults who had attended both a conventional church and a house church during the past month.     Most of these people attend a conventional church as their primary church, but many are experimenting with new forms of faith community. In total, Blenders represent 3% of the adult population.

    Conventionals – adults who had attended a conventional church (i.e., a congregational-style, local church) during the past month but had not attended a house church. Almost three out of every five adults (56%) fit this description. This participation includes attending any of a wide variety of conventional-church events, such as weekend services, mid-week services, special events, or church-based classes.

    what does going to church look like for you? how do you think “going to church” will look over the next ten or twenty years as our world gets smaller with technology?

  • my satanic friends

    ok, my friends weren’t really satanic, but some members of my family thought they were. i was 19, had just called off a wedding, was working 9037 hours a week, partying with two different crowds – my uptown dallas yuppie friends and my downtown dallas music friends.

    even though these particular groups of friends weren’t the best influence on my faith (which at this point in my life, i had pretty much deserted) the friendships that existed were the strongest most intimate bonds i have ever experienced in my life. i sacrificed so much for my friends – time, money, sleep, my living space…and they sacrificed for me. i knew whatever happened – through births, deaths, and divorce, we all stuck together.

    after moving to kansas city in 2001 and recommitting my faith, those intimate seasons with my friends slowly faded. i know i can still call or text some of them even today and they’d be on my doorstep as soon as they could if i needed them, but our constant involvement in each others’ lives has diminished over time.

    several people i know have great relationships, and model great relationships.

    but i still hear a consistent cry of so many other believers that we are lonely. we lack relationships. we lack REAL relationships.

    so really….
    what gives?
    what do you think?
    why is it so different?
    is it so different?

  • 30 hours to thailand

    last night i got to meet a couple from lifechurch.tv who are moving to bangkok. they are both from there, but have been living in the states for a long, long time. god really worked in their lives over the little while and they are pretty much packing up and leaving this weekend to go. talk about crazy quick obedience!

    the woman talked some about her mom, who lives in thailand, and is culturally buddhist. her mom really wanted them to move back, so the woman challenged her to pray. and wow, her prayers were answered quickly! her mom had even been praying for employment to open up and sure enough, the woman’s husband found a job!

    it was so inspiring to see god working in this couple’s life. i would imagine the task of moving 30 hours away to another country would be quite overwhelming (i moved only 4 hours from dallas to okc and i remember how stressful it was). but the only vibe i got from our time was joy! from the job, to finding a place to live, to their excitement about starting this new life…their happiness and vision were contagious!

    the hour i got to spend with them last night inspired me even more to think globally when it comes to the church and reaching people. even though they are moving far, far away, we can stay connected through technology, and we can help support them in their efforts to reach people for christ. and i can’t wait to hear what happens!

  • picked up on the side of the road

    pastors.

    i talk with pastors a lot.

    i email with pastors a lot.

    i love pastors.

    maybe because i was a pk.

    hmmm…i don’t know why.

    i just know i do.

    so yesterday, i was talking to a children’s pastor. he has a budget of $500/year. in a church of about 150.

    he didn’t have a chair for his office. he’d been using an old metal chair.

    so he went shopping.

    by driving around.

    and he found a chair on the side of the road.

    picked it up.

    cleaned it off. says it’s better than new.

    he was SO excited. it was really the highlight of our conversation.

    wow.

    we take so many things for granted.

    every time, before i spend that next dollar, i’ll think of my friend…

    his mismatched bookshelves.

    and the chair he picked up on the side of the road.

  • the BIG announcement – February 10, 2008

    A few months ago, Carlos asked on his blog,

    What could be done if bloggers put the influence of their blogs together to create change in a single moment?

    Well…On February 10…

    From all over the country we will fly to Chicago and meet.
    From Chicago, we’ll head to Brussels, Belgium.
    From Brussels to Nairobi, Kenya.
    From Nairobi, to Kampala, Uganda.

    We’ll spend several days in Uganda with Compassion International, visiting villages, meeting children and sharing this experience with you through video, photos, and our words. We will bring these children to you.

    They need you…

    Here is a list of everyone who’ll be going. Visit their sites. Pray for us. We return on February 18. Over 20,000 miles round trip. I can’t wait.

    Joe Carter http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com and http://www.frcblog.com/
    David Kuo http://blog.beliefnet.com/jwalking/
    Randy Elrod http://randyelrod.typepad.com/
    Chris Elrod http://www.seekersolutions.typepad.com
    Carlos Whittaker http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/
    Heather Whittaker http://whittakerwoman.typepad.com/
    Shannon http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/
    Sophie “Boomama” http://www.boomama.net/
    Anne Jackson https://annemariemiller.com,
    Phil Ware http://blogs.heartlight.org/phil/
    Doug Van Pelt http://www.hmmagazine.com/blogs/doug
    Shaun Groves http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/

    Compassion Staff

    Spence Smith http://spencesmith.typepad.com/spence
    Brian Seay http://brianseay.wordpress.com/

    Photographer

    Keely Scott – http://keelymariescott.blogspot.com/

  • tell me what you think of this

    “Ministry isn’t a job – it’s the outflow of your relationship with God.”

    Discuss…

  • redefining excellence

    nine out of ten anne jackson friends would agree: i am both competitive and a perfectionist. those characteristics can be strengths when used correctly. used irresponsibly, however, and they can beat me up faster than chuck norris on red bull.

    it’s always been easy for me to confuse perfectionism and excellence. one lie many of us believe is for something to be excellent, it has to be perfect. no mistakes. after all – perfection isn’t subjective. when something is completely flawless, everyone agrees.

    excellence is subjective. but generally speaking, i think we’ve been taking the idea of excellence and bending it far out of shape.

    let me give an example. i was recently asked by someone to speak for a general session at a conference. i talked to a couple of friends about it, who all encouraged me to do it. i prayed about it.

    i emailed the conference organizer to talk to him a little more about the opportunity. i wanted all of our expectations to be clear. he shared with me his thoughts, and then shared some of what his audience expects.

    in short, based on feedback he had received through the years, his crowd expects perfection. if someone is “almost excellent,” they let him know very clearly that the person should not have been a general session speaker. i appreciated his honesty in communicating what his audience expects.

    i actually kind of felt ashamed for being that audience at one time. being the one writing those notes.

    although i doubt any of us are perfect at anything we do, i know for a fact i am not your typical conference speaker. i’m pretty much just me, but up on stage. a little quiet. really laid back. deliberate. not charismatic. simple. my nerves show through just a bit. (if you’ve heard me speak before, please feel free to confirm or deny my observation).

    when i speak, am i pursuing excellence? yes. i try and pursue it in all i do. i pray, i prepare, i study, i practice & rehearse. however, if i were to speak at this conference, based on history, would this audience think i’m excellent? probably not.

    in our church world, it’s easy for us to see something that isn’t perfect, and deem it as not being excellent.

    one of the best definitions i’ve heard of excellence is doing the best you can with what you have. it is totally between you and what god does through you.

    i am beginning to think that excellence has nothing to do with what other people think. or does it?

    your thoughts?

    edit: i put this in the comments but wanted to make sure it was clarified for those who might not read them…I have nothing but THE utmost respect for this person and the conference. I have enjoyed being an attendee before. I am totally honored they even thought of me! I was thankful we were able to clarify where he is coming from, where I was coming from and decided it wasn?t the best fit. And that is a-okay by me!

    I am speaking from more of an audience standpoint. Because I have sat there and thought, ?this guy does not need to be talking!? Does he? Who am I to judge??

  • sometimes we need a reminder

    Amazing grace
    How sweet the sound
    That saved a wretch like me
    I once was lost, but now I’m found
    Was blind, but now I see

    ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
    And grace my fears relieved
    How precious did that grace appear
    The hour I first believed

    My chains are gone
    I’ve been set free
    My God, my Savior has ransomed me
    And like a flood His mercy reigns
    Unending love, Amazing grace

  • what grinds my gears

    if you watch family guy (‘fess up, sinners) you’ll know where my title comes from. and yes, i do watch family guy.

    anyway, i really don’t have a lot of hot buttons, but one thing that really grinds my gears is when people pick on pastors. even if i don’t know them. i think it has a lot to do with being a PK myself, and it is really easy for me to get defensive…

    there have been a lot of news stories both nationally and locally about how some pastors “live” – and whether or not they lead lavish, luxurious lives (this post is already full of alliterations…yikes!)

    so my little analytical brain started formulating and calculating “what is excess?” and “what is living extravagantly?”

    let’s compare two very different scenarios. we will assume all parties are involved in vocational ministry and i am using dallas housing costs and the same percentage down and interest rates for the numbers.

    scenario 1: we have a young married couple who live in a 1800 sq ft home which cost $160,000. they pay $800/month for their mortgage. that would mean that there is approximately 900 sq ft/person and the cost of living is approximately $400/person/month.

    scenario 2: we have a married couple with three children who live in a 3000 sq ft home which cost $325,000. they pay $1600/month for their mortgage. that would mean there is approximately 600 sq ft/person and the cost of living is approximately $320/person/month.

    Q: of the two above scenarios, who is living more extravagantly?
    A: you can’t freaking tell, so stop wasting your time and move on.

    SERIOUSLY. there is no way on this earth to measure that. you can look up how much a house cost and how big it is, but you can’t and won’t be the judge of whether or not a person is being god-honoring or not with their money. yes, pastors (and christians) should be (and will be held) responsible for what they have been given. but just because a pastor has a nice car, a plane, or a big house doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

    maybe they live on 10% of their salary. maybe any ancillary income they have (speaking/books) goes 100% back into ministry and kingdom work. i know pastors who do all of the above. and on top of that they’re humble and don’t go around flaunting how much money they actually don’t take home.

    i personally know a pastor with a plane (which the church did not pony up for) and i can tell you that plane has saved a heck of a lot of the church’s money in travel as he willingly uses it for church related things. but when most people hear “pastor so and so has a plane” their minds go immediately to how much of an extravagance that plane must be. when actually, it is the complete opposite. he flew me (for free) so I could visit some out of state friends who were coming out of a crisis. he is an extravagantly generous person.

    we will never be able to judge, nor is it our job to. so please, let’s just move on to the things that matter, shall we?

    so there is my annual rant. i hope you have enjoyed your stay.