Vital Posts / Evangelism

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  • Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? ✓
    As if Noah had issued the call, animals of all sorts will descend in the next week upon Episcopal churches throughout the country. Many congregations celebrate the feast of St. Francis with a blessing of the animals. Dogs and cats, of course, a…
  • Beyond the Elevator Speech ✓
    The phone call got off to an awkward start. A barely audible, frustrated sigh on the other end of the line suggested I hadn’t really answered her question. But hadn’t I? After a long pause, the priest who’d called to find out what I was doing…
  • Talkin’ About My Generation ✓
    Around this time last year the Pew Research Center published a major study called Religion Among the Millennials. I downloaded the report and read it the instant the news flashed across my computer screen. My interest comes from the fact that I…
  • Riding Shotgun ✓
    The holy golf bag rode shotgun in the mini-van for a couple of years. Who knew a golf bag could double as a holder for the processional cross and torches? Two Rubbermaid totes rounded out the portable church supplies, one filled with albs and the o…
  • 15-Minute Marketing: From Picture to Postcard
    Be funky. That’s the name of the website I discovered last week that offers a free and fun way to create quick marketing materials. First, find a picture that is compelling. In my situation, I wanted to promote summer camp, so I found a pic…
  • What Happens to Moses?
    We had only been dating for a couple of weeks. It was dreary, cold fall day so we decided to spend the afternoon watching TV. Our channel surfing landed on The Ten Commandments, Charlton Heston-style. We watched as the Egyptians chased …
  • Confession of a Priest’s Wife
    I don’t want to share my friend with church. In January my family moved to a new community and church. The parishioners have been wonderful, and the community has embraced our children. It has been a good transition. But let’s be ho…
  • Cha Cha Slide
    It’s time to add the slide to our pew-aerobics repertoire. We all know the rule of real estate: location, location, location. Of course, this is true in the pew as well. Prime spots tend to be about a halfway back, close enough to be …
  • Witness
    Sometimes, it’s as if God is showing off. With toes tunneled into the soft, cool sand, I watch the kids ride one wave, then another, their heads thrown back in full laughter, their bodies rocking with the ebb and flow. The sun heats like I …
  • UP2U
    On the trip down to Florida, my sister shared some gum. Her church had handed the packets out on Palm Sunday.  The message: it's up to you to invite someone to church on Easter Sunday.  Every time she has offered me a piece of gum, s…
  • Extending the Invitation
    Whenever I hear about how hard it is to evangelize in the Episcopal Church, I immediately think about five of my closest friends. These five friends are wonderful people. They’re thoughtful, socia…
  • Church Smackdown? Not in this Town
    What if we didn’t see other Christians as competition but as fellow collaborators in the kingdom of God? It was our church’s turn to host the monthly meeting of the community welcome wagon. But this isn’t a Chamber of Commerce, co…
  • Claiming Your Place
    Nancy Davidge is at the Episcopal Communicators conference this week. This morning she attended a workshop on Claiming Places; prompting us to rerun her Claiming Places blog: Last night Bill and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary …
  • Will they know we are Christians?
    The man’s displeasure is evident. He grumbles on the walk through the doctor’s office, then rips into the technician. He had an appointment. Other people just walked in. He had to wait 20 minutes. He doesn’t appreciate the lack of servi…
  • The (Written) Word Made Flesh
    Sometimes telling the story can feel less important and more removed from the mission field. After all, a story about repairing a roof in Appalachia or cooking meals for the homeless isn’t dirty-hands, feet-on-the-ground ministry. Or is it? A…
  • Are we there yet?
    In a series about search engine optimization, we’ve been driving home the importance of preparing your website so that visitors can find you when they Google. The problem now is: they’ve found you but are you ready for guests? Most …
  • A Secret Key to Keywords
    So we’re agreed: keywords are important. They elevate your website’s standing in rankings on search engines like Google and Yahoo. The exercise of listing keywords helps you hone in on content, and the combination of keywords and search e…
  • Post Christendom to Missional Church
    Tom Ehrich and Frank Logue are right. Christendom* ended in the early 1960s (in the USA). My trip to Iceland helped me to see this more clearly. An island, not quite midway between Northern Europe and North America and settled in the 9th centur…
  • Unlocking Keywords
    In Google, keywords are key. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing use different methods of determining which websites get top billing when a user enters a search. But despite the varying methods, they all rely heavily on keywords. …
  • Adventures in Technology in a Mom and Pop Store
    My parents have a small vintage furniture and collectibles shop in San Antonio, TX. As I’ve written in a prior post, it’s a family affair: I remember my mom starting this business when I was in the fifth grade and then my father jumping in to hel…
  • Will You Give Me a Hand?
    Like most people, I like to be helpful, and I’m usually happy, and sometimes flattered, when I’m asked to give someone a hand. Perhaps this is the reason I keep showing up at St. Lydia’s. I arrived one Sunday and I was immediately put to work…
  • Google: Your Way to the Top
    Search engine optimization sounds vaguely mechanical and very hard. So I tuned out when folks first started talking to me about it. This is, as you can imagine, not the best way to address a problem. I decided to start learning more abo…
  • Seeing Jesus
    As we parked, my daughter whispered: “I hope I make at least one friend today.” My husband and I exchanged the glance that roughly translates into our willingness to cut off an arm so that this could happen. “You will,” we reassur…
  • Nametags: Opposites attract
    If you’re still debating the merits of nametags, then this post isn’t for you. I’m a fan. I think nametags are a sign of welcome to visitors, making it easier for them to focus on conversation instead of imprinting names into memory. …
  • Episcopal Dirty Words
    I love to do something that really is not typically Episcopal. In fact, in the Episcopal Church it is like a “dirty word.” A study taken ten years ago suggests that half of you will stop reading this article once the subject is revealed! …
  • A New Church Begins
    After weeks of praying and planning our vestry and bishop on Tuesday night founded GEORGE: The “Church in the Round” Community Center. With a unanimous vote a new model for ministry was born. Here is a brief description of what has come into be…
  • Making Room
    At the time, I didn’t think much about it. But when we left the church two years later, the woman stood up and shared the story.  On her first visit to the church, she was bewildered. It had been a long time since she sat in a pew – and nev…
  • Community and Security
    How much is too much? I’m grappling with this question as I re-evaluate our policies about security and the Internet. There are mean, scary people out there, and I want to do my part in protecting people of the diocese. At the same ti…
  • Doing a New Thing
    (The next in a series on the new Church in the Round Episcopal mission in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle.) The most exciting outcome of the design process that we have used to create the Church in the Round has been the impetus to begin …
  • A Clever Social Media Tool
    I lie awake at night trying to dream up a way to “Groupon” church marketing and evangelism. Many of you are familiar with Groupon, the Internet company that uses the customer and social media to market their advertisers and to sell coupon…
  • December 2011 Editor's Letter
    Advent is the season for preparation and waiting: Watching for signs of God’s presence as we await the birth of Christ. And, as we wait and pray and listen and look, opportunities to heal and reconcile the brokenness in the world appear. For …
  • Partnership in the Round
    Monday night we completed the nine-week design process to launch the Church in the Round. It has resulted in a concept of partnership that will invite in three new ministries or programs to join our existing groups and launch five more brand new e…
  • Which Way to Worship
    As you may have followed from earlier blogs, we at St. Andrew’s, Seattle, are in the midst of launching a brand new Episcopal mission expression in a northeast neighborhood of Seattle. We inherited a fascinating building whose architecture gave t…
  • Make it Personal
    While data and statistics do not tell the full story about the vitality and vibrancy of a denomination, the recent numbers on Episcopal Church membership and Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) are somewhat sobering. Over the past ten years, Episcopal …
  • Broken Windows
    Who would think that cleaning up graffiti and cracking down on jaywalkers could lower crime rates? This is the main premise of the broken-windows theory, which posits that a cleaner, more orderly neighborhood is less likely to attract criminals…
  • e-Newsletters: Tips and trends (or How to get people to read your stuff)
    I’ve been using electronic newsletters for almost a decade, and, just like any tool of technology, they have changed dramatically over time. In the early days, the newsletters were little more than text sent to bulk e-mail accounts. Our mai…
  • Church in the Round
    We have now officially launched our design team to re-establish an Episcopal mission in northeast Seattle that we have named, “Church in the Round.” As you may have read in my earlier blog posts, my parish has been asked to re-open a closed Epi…
  • The Baptist Bus Driver
    Herb beckoned for my husband to come to the bus door. My daughter found this book for me, Herb said. It is really amazing. I’m learning all kinds of new things. Have you ever seen a book like this? The words “Holy Scripture”…
  • Old Dogs, New Tricks
    I love how God flips our expectations upside down. Sixty years separate the two couples. The first couple is in their 90s, the husband dapper in a tie and white slacks, whose likeness to Bob Barker always requires a double take. He steadies h…
  • What to Do When a Ministry Outlasts a Church?
    Editor's Note: Earlier this year, Bishop Rickel (Diocese of Olympia) approached Peter Strimer and the vestry at St. Andrew's to ask if they would consider taking over operations at St. George's Episcopal Church which closed in May.  Peter wrote abo…
  • If You (Re-)build it, Will They Come?
    When I began to redesign our diocesan website, I had a few clear goals in mind: Improve navigation. Increase user satisfaction. Update the look and feel. I’ve shared this journey with you on Vital Practices because I think it’s helpful to s…
  • Spiritual but not Religious?
    You bore me. That’s the conclusion of a UCC pastor in her superb, pointed commentary. I’m not normally a Facebook re-poster, but her blog was so compelling that I thought it was worth sharing. Who knew that it would ignite? Fr…
  • Back to Church Sunday
    I’m not normally a fan of made-up national-something-days.  They sometimes seem contrived, like National Uncles who Once Took You Fishing Day (and you can buy the card at Hallmark). But I might be willing to …
  • The Bible Challenge
    Note: Check out Marek's Tip Sheet for creating a Bible Challenge in your own congregation. Episcopalians take pride in reading more scripture aloud in church on Sunday than most denominations, but few Episcopalians have read the entire Bib…
  • What’s Your Claim to Fame?
    How or what is your congregation known for in your community? In my town, the two Episcopal Churches may be best known for their fundraisers. Both St. Michael’s and St. Andrew’s Episcopal churches in Marblehead, Mass have long established f…
  • Drum Roll Please ... a Look at Great Facebook Users
    I’ve been a Facebook lurker. I promised in Monday’s blog to show some examples of good Episcopal Facebook pages, so I spent a few hours surfing. The good news is I found a lot of Episcopal churches across the country on Facebook. The …
  • Archbishop LIKES Facebook
    Facebook -- or at least social media -- just received the Anglican equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury encouraged the flock to use new means of communication and social media to spread…
  • Space invaders
    The air conditioner died, not with a bang but a whimper. Because of problems getting the parts, it would be a month before the company could install a new unit. With early June temperatures in the 90s – and the priest already prone to sweat…
  • How Does Your (Church) Garden Grow?
    I had lunch with Brian Sellers-Petersen of Episcopal Relief and Development and heard about ERD’s Abundant Life Garden Project. We are adapting that program along with the RENEW curriculum from the Lutheran Church for our Back to the Garden: Rene…
  • Building Community -- at a Campground -- and Church
    Campers could share a lot with parishioners when it comes to building community. We travel frequently with our children – my son was seven weeks old when I flew to New York City for a business trip. I wasn’t ready to leave him yet, so we …
  • Starting from Scratch
    If you were asked to start a new Episcopal Mission from scratch, how would you go about it? What principles or values would you put in place from day one? What first steps would you take in the those first days as you began? Our church may have …
  • Gotta Share
    Over the weekend, Bill and I finally watched ‘The Kings Speech.’ In the opening moments, I was reminded of how the advent of radio changed not only the relationship between Great Britain’s royal family and their subjects but also the speed wi…
  • The Cacophony of Children
    I’m a firm believer: Children should be seen and heard in church. About eight years ago, we started an Episcopal church in a fast-growing area with few community buildings. Our only option for a meeting site was a small, one-room township h…
  • Undercover Rector: Coffee and Conversation
    Coffee hour can be a lonely place. In this episode of Undercover Rector, the priest is disguised as a visitor. The greeters, having watched previous episodes of Undercover Rector, have graciously invited the visitor to coffee hour. The worshi…
  • Losing Your Pew, Gaining ground
    Prepare to lose your regular pew this Sunday. Churches are full-to-the-brim on Easter Sunday, with twice-a-year, Christmas-and-Easter guests and first-time visitors feeling inspired to make more of the day than egg hunts and candy-swapping. …
  • Episode II, Undercover Rector: LOL
    I saw a post on Facebook the other day about a friend’s father who had taken a turn for the worse. Another friend posted, “Prayers heading your way. LOL.” Wait a minute. I thought LOL meant laughing out loud. I’m guessing (hoping) thi…
  • Undercover Rector
    I’d love to see an episode of Undercover Rector. Taking a cue from reality TV, the rectors would cast off the alb, dye their hair and magically  transform into someone unrecognizable. They would visit the church a few times during the week, …
  • Blessing (and welcoming) the bikes
    What would you do if a bunch of bicyclists rolled their wheels up to the front of your sanctuary? Would you bless them? For the past 13 years, St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City has welcomed bicyclists for an annual Bless…
  • Online News as Evangelism
    Many congregational growth success stories point to becoming more relevant to the neighborhood where your church is located. So many of our struggling congregations are "legacy" parishes where most Sunday worshippers have some historical connection t…
  • The Ides of March, George Clooney, and the Episcopal Church
    A new sign hangs in the fellowship hall of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, located in the college town of Oxford, Ohio. “George Clooney ate here.” During the first week of March, cast and crew for a movie, “The Ides of March,” fi…
  • Ashes to Go
    Priests in Chicago took to the streets yesterday. For the second year, congregations in the Diocese of Chicago took to the streets on Ash Wednesday, bring the rite of imposition of ashes to the streets, coffee houses, and transit stations. T…
  • Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!
    Reason #1,678 why I love the Episcopal Church: We like a good time. Episcopal churches across are gearing up for Mardi Gras. We’ll spend the next six weeks of Lent in prayer and reflection; some will fast, others will make a sacramental c…
  • The Egg of Fame
    Did you catch Lady Gaga’s Red Carpet arrival at this year’s Grammy Awards? If not, you’re probably one of the few Americans who haven’t been talking about her most unique entrance. All Monday, commentators on television, radio and blogs ali…
  • Time to Flip out
    Attention, congregations: It’s infomercial time. Want an inexpensive but highly productive way to share the ministry of your church? Check out the Flip (or another handheld camera). The Flip is a plug-and-play video camera with inst…
  • Website tools: Analytics
    Question of the day: Is your website used mostly by parishioners or visitors?  I asked the same question recently about our diocesan website to a group of leaders. Their guess: mostly parishioners. They were wrong.
  • A Game of Pick-Up-Sticks
    On a dusty shelf I spied one of my favorite childhood games: Pick-up-sticks.  I presented the game to the kids during dinner and explained the premise: Drop the clutch of sticks onto the ground and then pick up one at a time, taking care not to…
  • Balancing the Good News scale
    Please take the pencil sketch of your church off the front of your newsletter.  As a communicator for a diocese, I read nearly every newsletter (print and electronic) each month. More than eight years into this ministry, I’ve found that con…
  • Jesus' Birthday Party (Become one in a million!)
    I make it a daily practice to keep up with what is happening in the world. In the social media world, Advent is proving to be a ‘content rich time’ with YouTube videos, blogs, articles, and events relating to both Advent and Christmas. On Faceb…
  • A Thanksgiving Feast - The Religious Kind
    Episcopalians corner the market on Thanksgiving. Sure, everyone across the United States celebrates Thanksgiving in some way, from cranberries and turkey dinners to lazy afternoons watching football and parades to studious planning of Black F…
  • Back to basics
    The first semester of our experiment ends tonight. My church is a typical county-seat congregation in the foothills of Appalachia. If only Christmas Eve were our typical attendance on Sunday mornings, we’d be a packed 150. Instead, most Sun…
  • And the Gold Goes to ...
    E-mail addresses are gold. By Olympic award standards, the bronze medal goes to snail mail addresses. Cell phone numbers snag the silver. But e-mail addresses rise to the top of the podium. Managing the database for a congregation…
  • Church and Sate
    The separation of church and state is a key cornerstone of the U.S. government. At the same time, everyone at my noonday meeting on Tuesday had cast their vote in a local church. This juxtaposition struck me today as we move from one of the most…
  • Finding a Pulse Among the Dead
    Halloween is a huge happening at Trinity Church.The whole downtown neighborhood of lower Manhattan is invited to one end of the churchyard for theatricality and games for kids, a costumed cocktail hour for adults at the other end, with a packed-ch…
  • GodSquad met at our house.
    The church van picked up the dozen or so students from the elementary school and brought them to our backyard, the kids starving for mid-afternoon snacks and a place to run off their energy.    After several tries to settle the group, we starte…
  • Writing from the 'None' Zone
    I’m Peter Strimer, rector of St. Andrew’s, Seattle, and I write this my first blog from my Berkeley/Yale 30th seminary reunion in New Haven. Back in 1976 as a 22-year old first-year student in my first week on campus I heard a report back from …