Magazinial Outreach?

November 15th Synchroblog: Money and the Church

"Magazinial Outreach"

**About a year ago, I wrote a post as a reaction to the huge quarterly magazine my CLB publishes. If you'd like to read that original post, you can find it HERE. Be aware, there is cussing and tangible bitterness in that one.

My CLB is a megachurch with all the trimmings, including the publication of a 20-30 page full-color quarterly magazine (or at least last time I checked). This magazine was printed in vast quantities and made available for free in the church foyer. For a number of years, I was an eager consumer of said magazine: enjoying the inspiring articles, appreciating the details about programs, ministries and classes, and believing it was an excellent way to inform people of awesome things going on there. In my mind, it was an "outreach".

About a year ago (about two years post-church), my husband went to a service at our CLB and brought home a copy of the current church magazine. My reaction surprised me; I no longer appreciated this publication; instead, I was thoroughly irritated at this behemoth icon of modern consumeristic church, appalled at myself for ever having "subscribed" to it.

I recognized this reaction as a change in my mindset. Suddenly, it represented meals which were not on the plates of children in my community, people being evicted from their homes and the elderly who cannot afford their medications. And I was entirely surprised at the passion and depth of this change in my heart. As in the original post I referenced, this passion involved a great deal of cussing.

Recently there has been talk about a certain megachurch's admission that they may have missed the mark in their creation of attractional programs and outreach. Some reactions to that admission have spoken of the difficulty in changing the ways of a megachurch; or like Amy Grant sings, "It takes a little time to turn the Titanic around". Often, this is used as an excuse not to even try, because it honestly seems impossible to convert an attractional church from its ways. Maybe we emergissional types are to partly blame for that "impossible" attitude. We may seem to desire an instantaneous change in these Titanics; asking far too much as evidence of change.

A few years ago, Readers Digest initiated a "Change One" campaign, aimed at helping people improve their health by simply changing one bad habit at a time. I wonder if the same could be applied to church...rather than demanding systemic change in a megachurch, what if we askde the leadership of these churches to simply change one thing? (At least for now). One suggestion I have is to consider discontinuation of the big honkin' church magazines, dedicating the savings to real-life outreach, rather than "magazinial" outreach.

Assuming a large church might normally spend as much as $15,000 (or more) on a quarterly publication, every three months this magazine possibly equals:

• Help putting food on the tables of 100 families. - or -
  
• Help for 100 families with their rent/mortgage - or -
  
• Help with the medical expenses of 100 or more people.
• Or some combination thereof.
  

Instead, all that money sits in neat little stacks on cute little tables by every church entrance, eagerly waiting to go home with someone, and let's face it, eventually ending up in the trash or recycling. It's not feeding anyone, housing anyone, or improving the health of anyone.

I understand an obvious concern with making important information available to people who need it. However, this church has a comprehensive and expensive website where this publication is available for download. Many American churchgoers do have internet access; why not print a small quantity of simple, black-and-white flyers for those who don't? These flyers could contain all the pertinent information, without the bells and whistles such as photos and articles, and this could be done quite inexpensively. Then, simply ask the congregation NOT to take a copy of this flyer if they have internet access.

I understand to some people, even this small step will seem like an impossibility.

To others of us, it might seem like too little, too late.

However, is just "One Thing" really a bad thing? Could we emergissionals learn to recognize small changes, being appreciative of the all the "One Things" some churches are changing? Could we encourage small changes as part of bigger change? Yes, and Yes.

The magazine is simply one example; there are many "One Things" for a large church to choose from.

However, I, for one, no longer believe church magazines are an outreach of any kind.

Thanks for reading.




This post is part of a synchronized blogging event; please visit my fellow synchrobloggers. I will update this list with post links as they become available. If you'd like to participate in this monthly event in the future, e-mail me and I'll hook you up.

Money and Church is the topic. Follow the links, and watch the fur fly!

The Check That Controls at Igneous Quill by Adam Gonnerman

Trusting God: A New Perspective at Eternal Echoes by Sally Coleman
Greed and Bitterness at Square No More by Phil Wyman
But I Gave at Church at The Assembling of the Church by Alan Knox
Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood at Be the Revolution by David Fisher
Money and the Church: why the big fuss? at Mike's Musings by Mike Bursell
Bullshit at The Agent B Files by Agent B
The Bourgeois Elephant... at Headspace by Lainie Petersen
The Church and Money at Khayna by Steve Hayes
Pushing The Camel at Fenando's Desk by Fernando Gros
Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz at Hello Said Jenelle by Jenelle D'Alessandro
Walking with the Camels at Calacirian by Sonja Andrews
Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story at The Pursuit by Lew A
Coffee Hour Morality at One Hand Clapping by Julie Clawson
Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies at In Reba's World by Reba Baskett
Money's too tight to mention at Out of the Cocoon by Paul Walker
When the Church Gives at Payneful Memories by Leah
Greed at Hollow Again by Dan Allen
Tithe Schmithe at Discombobula by Sue
Silver and Gold Have We - Oops at Subversive Influence by Brother Maynard
What if We had Nothing by Tim Abbott
Who, or What, Do You Worship at Charis Shalom by Bryan Riley
Zach at Johhny Beloved by Zach Forrest
Wealth Amidst Powers at Theocity by Kirk Bartha