Casper Goes to Church

Yesterday I read "Jim and Casper Go To Church." It's a book by Jim Henderson (a former pastor)who takes an atheist, whose name is Casper, to different churches with him. They visit the major mega churches and some city ones. They then talk about their experiences by way of critique- the good, the bad, and the ugly. I read books like this, even though my ministry is with a para church group, to learn how people perceive communicating the message of Jesus. Several ideas...almost all churches follow the same format-prelude, music, offering, message, and dismissal. Is that being too repetitive every week? Can the format be changed? How is our ministry always the same? Then another "biggie"- most of the people who met and talked with them were only those who were supposed to. The official greeters/ushers. So it appeared canned. The best experiences they had were when they actually talked to someone not in an "official" capacity. The problem- it rarely happened. Key for us- it's so important to make connections with each other. I constantly remind our adult and student volunteers to not gather with each other, but connect with our the students present. Relationship is so huge in our culture! After all, these are the days my friend.
Jim "Train"