Cultivating Communication

23 Sep 2009

cult

I’ve got to admit I feel slightly behind on planning my trip to Chicago for the Cultivate Conference; after all it’s little over a month away.

This is a conference I’ve been looking forward to for along time. Why? Well for 1500 years the church preached. For 500 years the church has printed. And then the 80’s happened. Nothing noteworthy, I just love the 80′s. What I’m getting at is the world was a very different place than it is today in 2009. One of the most startling differences is the penetration and saturation of mass media in the developing world and it’s absolute conquest of our post-modern society. It is difficult to fully appreciate the challenge of reaching people today with multi-mediums and platforms. Communication has changed, but the gospel hasn’t and our reach has just gotten longer.

By design Cultivate has been developed to break down the traditional approach and make the experience interactive, collaborative, and conversational. But what I think is more important are the topics that will be discussed, like how to engage with social media, the web, visual communication, and what the future of church communications will look like. I believe know the success of the expansion of the Church will be hinged on how well we communicate who Jesus is and what impact He can have in our lives.

For instance do you know that 93% of all communication is nonverbal, and we process images 60,000 times faster than text. That our brain deciphers image elements simultaneously, while verbal communication is decoded in a linear, sequential manner taking more time to process. Whoa, right! What did Saint Francis say, “Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.” I’ll be unpacking this more during a conversation at Cultivate.

I encourage you to attend this game changing conference. Here is a link to the Top 5 Reasons Why You Need To Be At Cultivate from my friend Tim Schraeder ( Director of Communications at Park Community Church in Chicago, Twitter and Coffee addict ). See you there.

http://rickwsmith.com Rick Smith

I’m a little concerned by the statement

“I believe know the success of the expansion of the Church will be hinged on how well we communicate who Jesus is and what impact He can have in our lives.”

The use of the first person, personal pronoun “we” is very dangerous. “We” have NOTHING to do with the “success of the expansion of the Church.” This has everything to do with God. God has done a great job of “expanding the church” for a very long time. Words like “me,” “I”, “we”, etc are dangerous because it can lead people to believe that the “success of the expansion of the Church” had something to do with them, or their gifts – and thus some of the honor and glory should go to them. (After all, if they were responsible for some of the “success of the expansion of the church” – they surely they are do some of the honor, right? – WRONG. All honor, and glory will go to God. None to us, and all to Him.

Looking at creative ways to share the message of the Gospel, and teach truth to people is something I think we should also be doing. However, we must be very careful of the language we use so we don’t unintentionally give credit, where credit isn’t do.

Bless you as you seek to share truth though creative ways!
Rick Smith

I'm a little concerned by the statement

"I believe know the success of the expansion of the Church will be hinged on how well we communicate who Jesus is and what impact He can have in our lives."

The use of the first person, personal pronoun "we" is very dangerous. "We" have NOTHING to do with the "success of the expansion of the Church." This has everything to do with God. God has done a great job of "expanding the church" for a very long time. Words like "me," "I", "we", etc are dangerous because it can lead people to believe that the "success of the expansion of the Church" had something to do with them, or their gifts – and thus some of the honor and glory should go to them. (After all, if they were responsible for some of the "success of the expansion of the church" – they surely they are do some of the honor, right? – WRONG. All honor, and glory will go to God. None to us, and all to Him.

Looking at creative ways to share the message of the Gospel, and teach truth to people is something I think we should also be doing. However, we must be very careful of the language we use so we don't unintentionally give credit, where credit isn't do.

Bless you as you seek to share truth though creative ways!

http://nathandavis.squarespace.com/ Nathan Davis

God put himself inside of man. Incarnation is the whole point of the gospel. God reaching , communicating to, loving and calling from / through / in other men. God gets all the glory in that "we" were created, enabled and empowered by him but not because we were not used or involved. I get what Matt is saying! Good stuff.
http://www.mattknisely.com Matt Knisely

I agree with you wholeheartedly; strike the pronouns. I was trying to make a bold statement for bold times. In a day and age when more churches are closing their doors and less churches opening theirs, I’m concerned. The shocking reality we are living in a Post-Literate and Post-Christian society; this saddens me. For instance 21-23 percent – or 40-44 million – of the 191 million American adults are illiterate and will only learn visually or threw experience. Now more than ever, people need to know who Jesus is and what impact He can have in our lives. We (People) are nothing without God and God is everything.

I was trying to make the point that traditional means or mode of communication is not effective. And see a day that if no radical moves are taken to be more culturally relevant than the Church will continue to slide. So how do we communicate the saving grace of our Lord in this new age? I’m not sure, I do think there needs to be more diversification in our method of communication. We live in a PULL verse PUSH culture now. People regardless want what they want, when they want it.
What we cannot do is not remove the inspired word or the book because we need that as the point of continual reference.

Additionally believe we’ll always need to preach the word. But I firmly believe diversification (through as many avenues as possible) is the key to reach people today.

http://intensedebate.com/people/rickonline8610 RickwSmith

I see what you're saying.

Curious – where do you find the stat about so many churches closing their doors?

Also I"m not sure I would agree that the "traditional means is not effective." – "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" – curious how that text "plays" in to our method. We need to be sure that our teaching is from the text, and we are preaching the text not preaching illustrations, or stories.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mknisely mattknisely

Our communication paradigm is evolving. Thats the point here. If we don't evolve with it we'll have a farther reach when it comes to the word. The shocking reality is American church statistics (1) have reported:

· In America, 3500 – 4000 churches close their doors each year
· Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion growth
· Churches lose an estimated 2,765,000 people each year to nominalism and secularism

Furthermore, in Europe Christian Research has previously suggested that churches may be heading for extinction by 2040 – with just two per cent of the population attending Sunday services and the average age of congregations rising to 64. (2)

And when it comes to the "the traditional means of communication," as previously stated there are many ways to communicate the message and I believe preaching is primary mode. However as I mentioned we do live in a visual world and are a Post-Literate Society. I've been apart of Marketing and Advertising Focus Groups which fully back up that statement. But will throw in something more Scientific and Mesasuarable. Basic knowledge is learned through one of the 5 senses and is the primary method used by academia day in and day out.

· Seeing 83 percent
· Hearing 11 percent
· Touching 3 ½ percent
· Smelling 1 ½ percent
· Tasting 1 percent

Now the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare has shown that we learn best by doing.
People learn best when they hear, see and do. People generally remember: (3)(4)

· 10% of what they read
· 20% of what they hear
· 30% of what they see
· 50% of what they hear and see
· 70 % of what they say as they talk
· 80-90% of what they hear, see and do

1. George Barna, Twentysomethings Struggle to Find Their Place in Christian Churches, http://www.barna.org/
2. Ekllesia, February 28, 2006 Survey, http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20629&sec…
3. Kline’ M., Mathematics, A Cultural Approach, AdisonWesley Reading, 1962.
4. CIA, Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Chapter 10, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-…
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/mknisely mattknisely

Our communication paradigm is evolving. Thats the point here. If we don't evolve with it we'll have a farther reach when it comes to the word. The shocking reality is American church statistics (1) have reported:

· In America, 3500 – 4000 churches close their doors each year
· Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion growth
· Churches lose an estimated 2,765,000 people each year to nominalism and secularism

Furthermore, in Europe Christian Research has previously suggested that churches may be heading for extinction by 2040 – with just two per cent of the population attending Sunday services and the average age of congregations rising to 64. (2)

And when it comes to the "the traditional means of communication," as previously stated there are many ways to communicate the message and I believe preaching is primary mode. However as I mentioned we do live in a visual world and are a Post-Literate Society. I've been apart of Marketing and Advertising Focus Groups which fully back up that statement. But will throw in something more Scientific and Mesasuarable. Basic knowledge is learned through one of the 5 senses and is the primary method used by academia day in and day out.

· Seeing 83 percent
· Hearing 11 percent
· Touching 3 ½ percent
· Smelling 1 ½ percent
· Tasting 1 percent

Now the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare has shown that we learn best by doing. People learn best when they hear, see and do. People generally remember: (3)(4)

· 10% of what they read
· 20% of what they hear
· 30% of what they see
· 50% of what they hear and see
· 70 % of what they say as they talk
· 80-90% of what they hear, see and do

1. George Barna, Twentysomethings Struggle to Find Their Place in Christian Churches, http://www.barna.org/
2. Ekllesia, February 28, 2006 Survey, http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20629&sec…
3. Kline’ M., Mathematics, A Cultural Approach, AdisonWesley Reading, 1962.
4. CIA, Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Chapter 10, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-…

http://intensedebate.com/people/Beaconhillnw Jim

i dig the people behind this conference and the people involved in it. It will be an amazing day. I'll be here in my techno-dojo until the budget changes or the rapture happens…hopefully both, soon.

http://www.mattknisely.com Matt Knisely

Domo arigato, mr. roboto, techno-dojo like the sound of that.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Beaconhillnw Jim

The new ninjas don't hide…they speak and share…

http://www.jimgrayonline.com/ beaconhillnw

Ninja…u rock…don’t stop rockin!

Nathan Davis

I love the post and agree. God uses people – that is us – to make contact / reach / commincate to other people hence our approach and understanding does effect the impact / success of this whole thing. May God enlarge all of us at this conference. Can’t wait to see all of you!
http://nathandavis.squarespace.com/ Nathan Davis

I am so pumped for this conference and the amazing people involved in it. God is working powerfully through his people and I love it when we rethink the whole idea of how we are gathering and learning. Looking forward to hearing the session and being with more of the Church as we seek to be used of him on a more potent level.
http://intensedebate.com/people/tonysteward tonysteward

Matt great post!

Love your focus on how people are listening (relational and new channels) versus how the church often prefers to communicate (traditional and lecture). I am excited to see the personal implications and applications that will come from these conversations at Cultivate. Getting a chance to collaborate on what we've all been learning concerning how people hear and how that has adjusted how we obediently communicate the gospel is like a powder keg of TNT when it comes to conversations.

Looking forward to connecting with you and others there!
http://intensedebate.com/people/GordonMarcy GordonMarcy

A statistic I've only recently learned is that 85% of churches in America are in a state of decline. It's been said, "anything short of sin" to address the problem of the US Church losing it's impact for Christ. That position may be controversial to some, but the rate at which evil is advancing would seem to make it worth considering.

At any rate, it is very encouraging to see more churches using creativity, innovation and the new communication technologies to advance the Kingdom. It is a sign of hope.

I'm not quite an absolutist about the fate of traditional Christian media. Those folks, still doing good work and reaching millions, need our prayers. Who knows what new innovations and collaborations may come out their trial.

Wish I could be at Cultivate.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mknisely mattknisely

Gordon you will be missed at Cultivate. Please don't think I'm attacking the Christian media, although bad at times, does serve a valuable niche. I'm merely stating it's time for radical steps for the Church to keep a foot hold in society.

What makes me sad is that no matter how industrialized we have become, our current landscape is very similar to Christ time. Back then culture was Pre-Christian and Pre-Literate. Today we are Post-Christian and Post-Literate. Hum! People are not picking up books and are turing to screens and images.

Not sure what Paul would think of this, but I have a feeling he would be analyzing it to death. And would probably say, we live by faith not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) Yet I think of what Jesus would think or even do for that matter. The key for the communication of the word is as poignant now more than ever. No matter how you cut it, Jesus was a master "narrowcaster." He would reach into culture by telling memorable stories, often with humble imagery, each with a single message to appeal to certain demographics of people. The end of the day everyone walked away with a nugget; a memorable moment. Those moments today can come in many shape, sizes and colors.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mbstockdale mbstockdale

Our God, by his very nature, is creative and relational. Being created in his image means we are too. That's why I love the structure, or lack of, for Cultivate. I am looking forward to connecting w/others whose kingdom mindset is to work together. Talking heads replaced by conversation, questions, ideas, dreams. I expect it will be a God-honoring gathering. Can't wait to meet online friends/encouragers there.
http://blog.ourchurch.com Paul Steinbrueck

Good post, Matt. Looking forward to meeting you and the whole experience at Cultivate.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mknisely mattknisely

Look forward to it Paul. It's going to be a blast.

http://www.rhettsmith.com Rhett Smith

Matt,

Good post….I'm really looking forward to Cultivate. I love its size, and I think we are going to have some really great discussions among each other.

I'm a part of the PCUSA, and if I'm correct, they were the fastest declining denomination last year. I'm sure there are many reasons for that, but one of the reasons I believe was failure to be more creative in how we communicate God's Word, rather than spending that time locked up in political battles over the Book of Order. But that's just my two cents.

I have always loved St. Francis maxim to "preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." I've heard many critique that before as if it implies that words are important…but I think St. Francis gets at the heart of the matter, in that our actions, those things that people see us do, speak as loud as anything we can say.

Rhett
http://intensedebate.com/people/brettaljets brettaljets

Matt–great article. The Church needs to see and grasp the constant changes around it. It's not changing the unchangeable Word but adapting and changing how that Word is communicated. It's much like how Jesus saw the needs around him and at that point chose, what was considered, unorthodox ways to communicate the Truth. Wish I could be there. Praying for you guys and Innovate Team.

Brett (bfam)

mattknisely.com

Pages

Email Subscription

Twitter

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Cultivating Communication