Interesting Stuff

Thanks for the link love, Jonathan.

Imbi and I had a great conversation over coffee with Jonathan Chaplin this morning. Jonathan, a Brit who lived in Toronto (and taught at the (Kuyperian) Institute for Christian Studies for years, suggests that Christians desperately need to navigate a middle way together. He would be in agreement with what Howell suggests in this quote from my "We are Stupid" post,

The Church drifts into absurd irrelevance if we do nothing more than baptize one or the other of the prevalent options society has dreamed up. We have our own perspective, which at times seems in sync with this or that policy – but then Bam! …we surprise everybody with a wrinkle, a twist. We are not middle of the road, although when we are most faithful to God we are likely to annoy (and occasionally to please) liberals and conservatives in equal measure.

Bill, I couldn't agree more.

Mystery worshipper?

Well I dunno Jonathan, Jim & Casper go to church was pretty good.

Okay this chap seems to have gone over the top - like who gives a hoot about a water stain on the ceiling and a light bulb that isn't working!

But Pops, Jim and Casper was a different thing. It was a documentary exploring how we see things differently. A mystery worshipper is getting really into marketing.

Interesting article in WSJ (secret worshipers)! I considered doing something similar about five years ago. I contacted the Christian newspapers in the city where I live. They were interested and suggested that I visit a couple of churches and send them reviews.

At the time, we were looking for a church to attend. We visited a couple of churches, and noted the positives and negatives we encountered on our visits. I thought I would share my impressions with those churches first.

You probably know what happened - Those churches (the pastor at one, and the leadership team at the other) were outraged that a first time visitor would find anything negative to say about them - kind of like criticizing God. Both churches were in decline. One has continued to decline since then, and the other has closed.

I know someone who does this sort of thing for a restaurant chain. She is very careful that the restaurants not find out who she is, because the managers and employees sometimes are very hostile to anything negative said about their establishments. As it goes for restaurants, so goes it for churches.

Incidentally, I put my notes in the drawer and did not pursue the idea further. I hate hostility. I am guessing that most churches do not really want to know how visitors see them. As one of the two churches referred to above told me "If you don't like it, then LEAVE!" That same group attributed their decline to "the spiritual decline of the nation".

Sam, lol. Those in decline are in decline for a reason. They are usually not interested in hearing anything and won't until it's too late. Sad.