Church Interview Paper

From the Project Director’s experience, it is common to hear and feel a sense of gratitude and positive pride that Lenexa Baptist Church (LBC) is an excellent church from both leaders and the small group setting participants. Any faults found are minor and pale in comparison to many of the issues a church could face. LBC is a regional church with multiple campus locations strategically selected for maximum impact to reach Kansas City with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Monday, I went to the local Crossroads Baptist Church, located at 850 Edwards Ferry Rd NE, Leesburg, VA. This was my first time experience as I am Hindu and my parents never exposed me to any churches. Dr. Kenneth K. Baldwin was the pastor at the time I went. Luckily, I got the chance to speak with him after the service. After our brief conclusion, I realized that he had a great vision for his church and is leading it to success through his passion. I sensed his passion for preaching and religious beliefs as they were evident during the service. Despite this being my first visit to a church, I learned a lot of valuable things about churches and Christianity.

“The Reverend Green Johnson and his wife Rachel were the creative force and inspiration behind the building and stewardship of the new church. Members of the Johnson family were active in the congregation for all 87 years it was in use. We are fortunate that Annie Johnson, one of Green and Rachel’s grandchildren, wrote a history of the church, recording major events, dates of changes made to the building, and names of clergy who preached

From my own personal history concerning this church I have heard my Mother speak about the huge numbers of people that attended this church when it had its peak attendance.

Gary United Methodist Church is a small congregation of less than fifty members with an average worship attendance of ten or less. The congregational leaders, known as the administrative council, are looking for ways to increase attendance, which has been dwindling over the last few decades, and find new ways to engage in mission work in their small northern Minnesota community of less than 3,000. A decrease in employment opportunities over the last thirty years and the shutdown of two major employers in the town have led to the mass exiting of families with children. The town has several properties that are either condemned or dilapidated. Recently their schools combined with a neighboring town to offset the lack of enrollment and suspend the closing of both sets of schools.

Hillcrest Baptist Church is a body of believers located in a small mid-west city that has experienced double-digit growth for the past nine years. Over the course of the last forty-two years, God has allowed only three senior pastors to serve. The longevity of the pastorates contributes to the strong lay leadership and positive community reputation. On the surface, Hillcrest appears very healthy. A survey of the average congregants would record this overall disposition. Numerical growth and vibrant services contribute to the attitude of satisfaction. Contrariwise, the systems and structure of the organization pose a serious threat to the continuation of expansion and vitality.

What are the national demographics of your community? Who lives here? What are their hurts? What are their dreams? Where do they spend their time? What is the mission to serve community? What steps is the church taking to fulfill its mission to serve the community? Who have you built relationship with who do you desire to build relationship with? Within the next 3, 5, 10 years where do you

My photo ethnography is based off my experience at a church in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The name of it is Saint Luke Church of God in Christ. Saint Luke is pastored by Elder Earl Shannon, is located in the beautiful city of Olive Branch, Mississippi. They offer a big selection of ministries designed to meet the needs of families in the Olive Branch area. Saint Luke is also nicknamed, “The Ark of the Community”. Saint Luke has a long history dating back to 1925. In 1925 Charles and Millississ Shannon established Saint Luke Church of God in Christ. Saint Luke started out with just about twelve members. Back then each church service was held in the homes of the members. Saint Luke's first pastor was Elder Bonner. Elder Bonner was succeeded

On September 28, 2016, I met with Brady Voss who is the worship pastor at New Life Church. He took this position in February of this year. Below is the summary of the forty minute interview I was able to have with him.

To prepare churches for the challenges of pastoral searches, I recently introduced a fictitious congregation named “St. Barnabas Lutheran Church.” Readers provided a good deal of affirmation for the post, but they also wanted to know how to improve the call process. We go back to St. Barnabas today to start answering that question.

Victory Baptist Church has experienced great success in a short amount of time and is currently in the process of revitalization. The study will include a look into the history of Victory Baptist Churh. This will provide foundational information that will allow one to understand the obstacles and roadblocks that lead the church down the path it is on today. The study will then consider external and internal demographic information so that one will understand the context of Victory Baptist Church. Finally, the study will provide the reader with the plans for revitalizing this local

I was greeted by, and conversed with, different patrons on each of my visits. This is unusual for me because I typically am not approached by strangers, I am not complaining. I was also offered unconsecrated bread by different practitioners on each visit which was the best tasting bread I have had during a church service. The thing that impressed me most, however, was the church member’s commitment to their surrounding community. They welcome anyone to their services, to the coffee hour afterward, to their annual block party, which they host, and to their harvest Sundays, where they collect food from their patrons and feed the local homeless population. The connection with their surrounding neighborhood is strong, but what is truly unique is the connection the congregation has with one another. For example, on the first Sunday I attended after the service was completed I remained in the nave to photograph and watch the community. I talked to one man about his conversion to Orthodoxy as the priest was consoling a young man who seemed distraught. This seemed to change the church from its ritual space to a community space of self or group

6- Did the pastor of the church make wise decisions in selecting the board of trustees, and the deacons for the church?

They recently had celebrated their 20 year anniversary. They still had banners on the wall from the celebration when I attended. I had taken the time to interview some of the members and pastor after the service. The original founder was a young man who had completed the Southern Baptist seminary. Upon completing his degree and ordination he came out to his family and church that he was gay. During that time he had a difficult time, as the Southern Baptist Church, took a hard line against his being a homosexual. He left the Baptist church and moved to South Florida from Arkansas. He discovered that he still loved God and wanted to do ministry. He particularly felt called to work for and in the Gay community. He started the BOC church primarily for the Gay community. His parents who were also staunch Southern Baptist decided their love of God and their child was more important than their church legalism. His vision was a place where regardless of sexual orientation all people would be welcome and

When the bigger names and churches receive attention, there is an emotional, theological, and personal impact on the small church pastor. Emotionally, there should be joy seeing another succeed. If somebody in the same denominational is being successful, it makes sense to be happy for them since they are being successful in presenting a similar message. However, it may be saddening because the small church pastor is attempting to do the same thing, but is failing. Theologically, similarly to emotionally, a small church pastor should be happy because it appears that the masses are hearing their message. A pastor is concerned about having the message preached, and if someone is doing that, he should be joyful about it. However, he may feel called