Topic for today: Start-up religion
How do you begin a new Church? There is no one "right answer." But what makes good sense would be thinking about what could happen with a budget. Not a fortune, but sufficient to create and staff a TV studio, a web design and web maintenance site, basic hard-copy print needs, and maybe a radio station. Sure, it should be possible to start with less, but I've gotta tell you, personally I am sick and tired of operating with no budget, all expenses paid out of pocket, never any revenue for any of my work. Which is where, I believe, we part company. For you have no interest that I know of in what is a serious problem for me. You don't have that problem, you also have a set of priorities that are altogether valid but different, and "never the twain shall meet." That is how it looks to me. Still, it may be useful to think about what might be done. At some point there needs to be church (lower case) number 1. That means at a minimum renting a building for the purpose. I do not want to sound crass but it would also mean "promotions." Word-or-mouth would be best but my guess is that word-of-mouth would depend on an existing church that people can talk about. Thus, it has to start somewhere else, with seeking to interest people through any available media, a website, a radio program, or a podcast. Broadcast TV would really be nice but that is a serious expense Anyway, I think that production values are important. Sure, perhaps "home made religion" is economical, and it certainly would be authentic, but there still needs to be some kind of budget even if only for the basics. Schweitzer sacrificed his time, he went to medical school to gain necessary skills, he did all kinds of stuff for free, but no way would he have been able to get his clinic off the ground for $0.00. He solicited funds. Some people believed that it was worth a try, and that is where the money came from. The story is more complicated than this, but as a rough idea. That is, I have written out an overview, but if all I can look forward to are suggestions for doing still more stuff for $0.00, then I'm not interested. I do not have a $100,000 per year job that I can draw upon. Thus my best option is to do what I can do with what resources I do have, and not plan for any kind of major organizing effort. But with a TV studio, with a professional website, with the ability to print brochures and bulletins and the like, maybe with access to radio, a heck of a lot could be accomplished. Yet church # 1 is essential. It has to actually be successful as a church with actual people who want to make it a success. My guess is that it should be clear in a few weeks after service # 1 whether this can happen. If it is, then: Go into production with "how to" videos, with materials for people who want to become involved at various levels, maybe especially former pastors who are inspired by the concept and are willing to give it a real try, who believe in the idea. As I've said before, I admire pastors and know perfectly well that their range of skills is necessary for something like this. But there must be commitment to the vision; the idea is not carte blanche for one more liberal church or one more Pentecostal church or one more independent Evangelical church. This is where the videos would be very, very helpful, for putting into words, with some good film clips, maybe some nice looking diagrams, what this is all about. "Here's what you need to know, here's what can be done, here's how to get started," and we are here to help you when you need us. The videos could be via YouTube or streaming. Let's say that in a year or so, this actually works. At that point there would be a terrific opportunity for a social media start-up. A "dedicated" start up for members of the greater Church. To share ideas, to talk about anything at all related to faith. And to create "meet-ups" all over the map. These are some further thoughts. Billy -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
