Bill Easum
and Dave Travis have captured in a simple image something many church leaders
have been trying to define. Bill Easum
and Dave Travis have captured in a simple image something many church leaders
have been trying to define.
Some of us thought the answer to church decline was in moving outside the box and introducing new ideas. Something like colouring outside the lines. It has not been enough.
Bill Easum and Dave Travis begin their book with a short vignette:
A small group of Episcopal priests, wanting to explore the world of Gen-Xers, became engrossed in a dialogue. One of the priests said, "I guess if you want to reach Gen-Xers, you have to think outside the box."
Without hesitation, the Gen-Xer facilitating the discussion replied, "What box? We don't have a box. You have to think beyond the box."
Easum and Travis say we have to "believe, act, and live as if the box never existed." Congregations In-the-Box they note are stuck and dying, doors open but more concerned about protecting their heritage than inviting new people. Those thinking Beyond-the-Box are radically innovative, pursuing opportunities, and multiplying their effectiveness by developing teams. They no longer think in terms of clergy and laity or staff and volunteers - but of everyone in ministry, whether paid or unpaid.
For most of Christian history, the stage has been dominated by the institutional church. Loren Mead, retired director of the Alban Institute, called that the period of Christendom, and brought our attention to the fact that we were living in a new era that for want of a better name he calls post-Christendom. The problem, according to Easum and Travis, is that we have still brought too much of the cultural baggage of Christendom with us. Our understanding of the church, they claim, "is shaped more by Christendom than by Scripture."
They have four solutions. The first is shifting leadership from the one to the many. Congregations need to move away from the idea that clergy do ministry, while the role of lay people is to support them with their contributions.
Second, we have to move from the situation where a core group runs the church, to an emphasis on equipping every member for ministry.
In fact, our minds need to get out of the church box and see ourselves - and this is a little more difficult - as "church-in-a-city" .
Inside-the-box churches, say Easum and Travis, "focus on institutional survival and keeping the church doors open." Beyond-the-box churches ask the question, "How can the churches and the people of God transform this community?" They are open to working in harmony with other congregations and faiths.
Denominational staff may be uncomfortable with this book. Easum and Travis feel they are often a major impediment to congregations thinking beyond the box.
The fourth solution is for congregations to expand their area of influence by going multi-site. At one point Canadian churches moved into new areas by establishing Church Schools or other ministries. A separate congregation could come later. It is that kind of thinking that Easum and Travis are talking about. "At a time when many churches are beginning to think outside the box by adding worship services to an already crowded Sunday agenda or expanding their worship space … beyond-the-box churches are expanding their areas of influence by becoming churches in more than one location."
They see churches that meet in many locations but have the same core values, mission, administration, budget and staff as a single-site church. They add, "Although multiple sites and venues may not be right for everyone, we're convinced their time has come."
They give many examples from congregations they have observed that illustrate their insights. It is a book that will make people think about what it means to be church in our time, a book worth reading and talking about in groups.
Bill Easum & Dave Travis. Beyond the Box. Loveland, Colorado: Group Publishing, 2003.
Congregational News February 2007 Vol. 13 No. 3