Leadership on the Front Foot 1
Zachary Veron
Anglican Press Australia, Sydney, 2009. 204pp.
Pragmatism is always dangerous.
Passages like 2 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6 and 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warn against methods that may seem to get results and gain listeners for the message you preach.
But pragmatism is also commended.
Passages like Matthew 10:18 (in the context of a gospel preaching mission) and Luke 16:8 (in the context of using your money to make friends for eternity) both recommend ‘shrewdness’ or ‘astuteness’ in ministry dealings, rather than stupidity.
Therefore, in the weeks ahead I plan to review Zac Veron's new book Leadership on the Front Foot.
The publisher's blurb explains,
This new book by Youthworks CEO, Zac Veron, outlines 23 principles to inspire and encourage church leaders. Practical guidance is offered for all aspects of parish ministry with application guides at the end of each chapter for further reflection, planning and decision making.
In just over a decade, Zac led a parish in gospel growth, which saw new congregations planted, attendance increase approximately sevenfold and offertories increase tenfold. This occurred in a multicultural area of Sydney (rather than in an middle-class Anglo Bible-belt) where the number of nominal Anglicans was falling fast.
Zac is a friend and colleague of most of the panellists here. But because Zac is unashamedly a practitioner (and an effective one), he's dangerous.
Actually, I don't really think he's dangerous. Zac's theological commitment is the Bible-based conservative evangelicalism typical of Sydney Anglicans and Moore College graduates. But his book could be dangerous when read by people without those theological convictions, or by people who fail to filter what he says through the grid of Scripture.
But Zac is also to be commended. And we need to learn from him.
I loved reading Mark Dever's book The Deliberate Church Before Dever was appointed Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, the search committee asked him if he had a programme to implement for church growth. He replied that he didn't really have any great plans, but that he was armed with the four P's: he would Preach, Pray, develop Personal discipling relationships and be Patient! Not being a great visionary or big picture thinker, I appreciated the simplicity of this vision.
However, Zac adds a fifth P: Planning! Under God, we need to plan. In this regard, Zac's book moves from the personal, through the operational (day-to-day) and the tactical (what do I do), to the strategic (big picture; why do I do it?)
And so I gladly purchased 20 copies of this book to distribute to my pastoral staff, parish councillors, congregational ministry team leaders, and Synod representatives before I'd even read it myself. Now having read the book, I do not regret doing so, even though I find myself disagreeing with individual parts.
(Stay tuned for part 2 in this series.)
I’m about to start reading Zac’s book, and I’ll be looking forward to your review, Sandy. I agree Zac ( a friend) will have much to teach us.
Perhaps you will think I’m pedantic, but I really don’t think we should use the word ‘pragmatism’ to describe the astuteness and shrewdness (note: with innocence!) the NT commends.
Pragmatism carries with it concepts that are foreign to the New Testament. I realise the term has often been qualified by the adjective ‘principled’ but in the current climate of rampant unprincipled pragmatism (see Mark Thompson’s excellent Anglican Church League AGM address) I think we need to abandon this word altogether.
My boss read it and gave it to me. Reading it the second time.
@ Philip G -
I agree about what you said re pragmatism - we should drop the word and the practice. (Which Diocese are yin? Did you study at SMBC?)
Looking forward to your review Sandy.
I’m always drawn to books on leadership because I feel my need for any counsel I can get in this area. I’m looking forward to Sandy Grant’s on-going interaction and review of the book.
Since I’m so interested in this topic and don’t have ready access to the book here in America, I went over to the Youthworks website where I was able to read a sample chapter that dealt with electronic giving. I was very disappointed. What I found in that one chapter was the kind of pragmatism that harms the church. Does electronic giving work? Evidently it does, but it takes away from a vital dimension of our worship. If we believe giving is an act of worship, then shouldn’t the offering be taken during our corporate worship services? If we can worship by giving online, can we also download a sermon and worship via preaching online? That would be convenient and possible increase the “attendance” at our services.
Vernon also believes electronic giving will make it easier to invite visitors to our services. If no offering is taken, they won’t be uncomfortable having the plate pass in front of them. But that is also problematic. The old Southern Presbyterians used to say that taking the offering was one way God uses to wean us from our covetousness. If people are unwilling to give, the offering plate may become a means of conviction. The fact that their wallet stays in their pocket or purse may be used by God to show them where their priorities lie. If our worship makes people uncomfortable, they will just have to be uncomfortable. Perhaps if visitors saw God’s people giving generously, emptying their wallets into the plate, they would fall down and say, “Surely God is in this place.”
I realize that Mr. Grant is just getting in to this book, and I hope to follow all of the reviews. Perhaps he will come to the same or similar conclusions regarding this or other aspects of the methods Mr. Veron suggests. When I hear the word “pragmatism,” I become concerned. This sample chapter is a good example of why.
Rhett Dodson
http://www.RhettDodson.com
Hi Rhett, thanks for commenting.
It may interest you to see that Zach Veron’s colleague and successor at his parish, Phil Colgan, and I had a friendly interchange on the area of giving, which you can read here.
You are quite right that the impact of receiving an offertory or collection during the assembly could plausibly have different impacts on visitors. Some may be impressed. But some may also find it a stumbling block: wrongly perceiving it as their chance to pay God back, or being upset that “the church is always after your money”.
Certainly it seems Paul - in his new mission areas at least - was very careful to ensure that his gospel-preaching came free of charge to the unconverted and possibly even the newly converted. I think this comes out in 1 Cor 9:12-19 ff. 3 John 7 also seems to commend ministry that goes out without accepting anything from the Gentiles.
So regardless of how you apply it, I think there is a genuine scriptural concern for ensuring how we handle any monetary collections does not affect visitors and especially unbelievers in a way that inadvertantly undercuts the gospel.
One other thing. You wrote
Rhett, I think you have assumed the truth of a couple of things here. You have asserted
(i) that giving is a “vital dimension” of our worship - could you give us some more evidence for that?
(ii) that it must occur during “corporate” worship services - again where does the Bible mandate that it must occur that way?
I would agree that the way we use our money and in particular our support for gospel ministry and for the poor is part of our worship, but would suggest that our worship is expressed across all of life and not just in the congregational assembly, and this can be true of giving as much as many other things.
As regards to congregational assemblies, I would prefer to reserve “vital dimension” for such central matters as hearing the Word read and preached and prayer, as well as the expression of fellowship and love for one another.
Sandy,
Thanks for your gracious rejoinder. Obviously this isn’t a fundamental of the faith, but I do think the practice of taking an offering in corporate worship is important. I’m going to make just a few brief points in response. You can find a fuller discussion of these points on my blog at http://rhettdodson.com/blog/?p=128.
1. It’s common practice in church, at least in the Presbyterian circles I’m in, to fence the Lord’s Table. This explanation lets the unconverted know what’s going on and why they shouldn’t participate. Churches can, and probably should, do something similar with the offering. “We’re going to worship God with our gifts. If you’re a visitor, were not asking you to give. We’re just glad you’re here, but this offering is a way that we express our gratefulness to God, etc.”
2. Your point that Paul didn’t receive money from the unconverted or newly converted is right on target. But new mission situations are different from established churches.
3. My two “assumptions” are based on what I see to be apostolic practice, especially 1 Cor. 16:1-4, but also Acts 2:42. This practice, I believe, provides warrant for our church practice today.
4. I agree that our giving should be spread across all of life and not limited to an offering on Sunday morning, but I don’t believe that takes away from the necessity for a corporate expression of worship via giving.
5. You would “prefer to reserve ‘vital dimension’ for such central matters as hearing the Word read and preached and prayer, as well as the expression of fellowship and love for one another,” but in my understanding (again, see the blog for fuller discussion), the offering is a part of fellowship and an expression of love to fellow believers in need and the poor outside the church.
I look forward to your continuing review of Leadership on the Front Foot. Let me reiterate that I don’t think public offerings are the end-all and be-all of worship, but I believe they’re important. I’m grateful for the leadership that Zac Veron has given and continues to give to the church in Australia. May his tribe increase! But when they increase, I hope they’ll buy some offering plates!
Commenting rules
If you would like your comment to be considered for publication, please observe the following rules:
Failure to adhere to these rules will result in your comment being quietly deleted.
If you want to give us feedback but don't want your comments to appear on the blog, DON'T use the form below. Instead, please send us an email or click on the button below.
Your Comment
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.