• usingmiles.com (web) – “supports 248+ programs, ranging from airlines, hotels, credit cards, car rentals, trains, dining programs, retail, daily deals and more!”
• traxo.com (web) – “Your Ultimate Digital Travel Wallet”
• awardwallet.com (Android, iOS, web) “AwardWallet keeps track of your reward programs such as your frequent flyer miles, hotel and credit card points…. tracking 562 loyalty programs.”
• mileBlaster.com (Android, iOS, web)
• tripit.com (Android, Blackberry, iOS, Windows Phone 7, web) – Pro version ($) tracks air miles and hotel points

#Q what do you use to track frequent flyer miles, #traxo traxo.com or #usingmiles usingmiles.com or #excel ?

— DJ Chuang (@djchuang) May 18, 2013

I asked my Twitter followers about the apps they use for tracking frequent flyer miles and didn’t get a reply. Maybe bad timing? Add a comment if you’ve got a favorite app or use a web dashboard to stay on top of all these numbers. Aside: and, one big potential down side to these all-in-one dashboards is security, since they have to get all your logins to get access to all your info, so you’ll want to check into how they’ll keep your info safe…

“The best way to convince people you don’t have an agenda is to not have an agenda.” — Kip Jacob via @Qideas

“It’s great to have good friends who truly love me and don’t have an agenda.” — @JanPlansATL

I’m good at not having an agenda, being sincere, unassuming, and helpful. But maybe there’s more to the story, or there’s too much to explain that doesn’t fit into a tweet, because just having no agenda doesn’t quite work in cultivating business as a consultant or salesman, does it? I’m confused, when the tweets above are contrasted with these tips for success::

via 3 Powerful Skills You Must Have to Succeed in Sales –

Listening sincerely and without an agenda. The buying process is not about you and your wants and needs, it is about the customer. Too many of us come to the sales table with our own agenda. We are sometimes too busy thinking about quotas, promotions and commissions. It’s not about us, it’s about the wants, needs and expectations of the prospective buyer.

A sales person with an agenda tends to push too hard and often doesn’t listen well. Leave your agenda at home.

Huh? How can a sales person close a sale if s/he doesn’t have a desire to make a sale, thus an agenda? I get that listening well and explaining how a product/service fits the customer needs is a good thing, but that sounds like an agenda to me, because a competitor’s product/service might fit better during that conversation. Does a good sales person without an agenda tell the truth and honesty refer the competitor, rather than manipulate the conversation to sell the product/service that’d earn him/her commission?

via book description for The Hidden Agenda: A Proven Way to Win Business and Create a Following by Kevin Allen –

Each of us pitches ideas every day. Sometimes we sell our ideas to a small room full of skeptical colleagues. Sometimes we pitch to a boss, or a board of directors, a new organization, or for the contract of our dreams. Regardless, it all boils down to the act of stirring someone to join you—to agree to follow you. Yet we consistently underestimate how critical it is to recognize the needs, spoken and unspoken, of the decision maker. Decisions are made by people, and people have needs and agendas. Understanding these needs and agendas are critical to success in business. Kevin Allen’s approach is not about persuading, but about creating a connection that assures a mutual win.

So do I need to have an agenda or not? Or are there different rules when it’s about friendship vs. work in the marketplace? Help a brother out, help me understand, please, thank you.

In the Western understanding, students come to school with levels of innate intelligence and curiosity. Teachers try to further arouse that curiosity in specific subjects. There’s a lot of active learning — going on field trips, building things. There’s great emphasis on questioning authority, critical inquiry and sharing ideas in classroom discussion.

In the Chinese understanding, there’s less emphasis on innate curiosity or even on specific subject matter. Instead, the learning process itself is the crucial thing. The idea is to perfect the learning virtues in order to become, ultimately, a sage, which is equally a moral and intellectual state. These virtues include: sincerity (an authentic commitment to the task) as well as diligence, perseverance, concentration and respect for teachers.

For more diversified multiethnic church, that could be at least 3 languages across multiple racial groupings. (Please add a comment – and I’ll do my best to keep this list updated.) Here’s a list of multi-lingual multi-racial churches:

• The Rock (Anaheim, CA++) - English, Spanish, Vietnamese
• Pasadena Presbyterian Church (Pasadena, CA) – English, Spanish, Korean
• Village Baptist Church (Beaverton, OR) - English, Chinese, East Indian, Hispanic, Korean
• First Baptist Church (Flushing, NY) – English, Spanish, Chinese
• Calvary Church (Santa Ana, CA) – English, Spanish and Mandarin
• Providence Bible Church (Denver, CO) - English, Spanish, Swahili
• The Lamb’s Church (New York, NY) – English, Spanish, Mandarin
• LA First Church of the Nazarene (Los Angeles, CA) - English, Spanish, Korean, and Filipino
• Mission Viejo Christian Church (Mission Viejo, CA) – English, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Persian
• New Life Church (Cupertino, CA) – English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish
• Northwest Church of Christ (Chicago, IL) – English, Korean, Spanish
• Community Church Jackson Heights (Queens, NY) – English, Chinese, Spanish [and also had Korean for 13 years]
• King’s Park International Church (Durham, NC) – English, Chinese, Spanish

Articles & resources about multilingual churches and worship

• Proskuneo Ministries - multilingual multicultural worship resources, cf. 7 videos about Multilingual worship
• Resources related to the Urbana 12 Worship Team curated by Matt Stauffer
• Neighborhood Transitions & the Local Church: 5 Foundational Steps for Genuine Multicultural Community (in 4 parts) by Ed Stetzer (July 2012)
• Multilingual Worship: How to include many languages by Joan Huyser-Honig (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship)
• Becoming Walmart-Smart: The Value of Multilingual Ministry by Juan Vazquez-Pla (Grace & Peace, Oct 2010)
• Mother Tongue use in multilingual churches - A review of ‘Managing linguistic diversity in the church’
• Multilingual church leads families to Christ (Baptist Press, Feb 2013) – about Turning Point Church (Miami)
• Breaking the language barrier, and the trend by Erik Tryggestad (The Christian Chronicle, 2007)
• Links to Global Christian Worship Resources
• Checklist for Multicultural and Multilingual Worship by José Antonio Rubio (Liturgy, vol 14:4, 1998)
• Kingdom Reflections Multi-ethnic Worship Ministries
• Also see City Harvest Church (Singapore)‘s Worship Services in English, Chinese Mandarin, Hokkien/Cantonese, Indonesian, Filipino

[nb: of course, it can be argued that there is only one race, the human race; yet in the context of the United States with a racialized history, there are significantly different social dynamics in a multi-generational Asian American context vs. a multi-ethnic context with Anglos, Asians, African Americans, and Hispanics]

Martin Luther King’s once said 11 a.m. Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. That statement seems to remain true today, 57 years later. However, the 2010 Faith Communities Today report shows a major shift toward desegregation is underway among the nation’s religious communities.

The study, which included more than 11,000 congregations, found the number of multiracial faith communities has nearly doubled in the past decade. Nearly 14 percent of congregations are considered multiracial, with at least 20 percent of members coming from racial groups different from the congregation’s majority race. The study also found 4 percent of America’s congregations are multiracial, with no racial group having a majority.

Researchers have been tracking these changes since the 1990s. Mark Chaves, in the 1998 National Congregations Study, reported that 7.5 percent of all congregations were multiracial. Another study in the late 1990s by sociologist Michael Emerson found 5 percent of Protestant churches and 15 percent of Catholic churches were multiracial.

When compared to this earlier research, our 2010 Faith Communities Today study… found the percentage of multiracial congregations (using the 20 percent or more minority criteria) had nearly doubled in the past decade to 13.7 percent.

• Bobby Gruenwald, Pastor, Innovation Leader of LifeChurch.tv
• Kenny Jahng, Pastor of Media & Innovation of Liquid Church
• Shamichael Hallman, Collierville Campus Pastor/Pastor of Innovation at New Direction Christian Church
• Edward H. Stephens III, Pastor of Innovation at Golden Gate Catherdral
• Stan Durham, Creative Innovation Pastor at Grace Fellowship
• Amanda Weaver, Innovation Pastor at Remedy Church
• Stephen Parris, Arts & Innovation Pastor of River Church [cf. prospectus]
• Chris Ryan, Executive Pastor of Innovation at Fellowship of the Woodlands [cf. Linkedin]
• Matt Arnold, Worship & Creative Pastor aka Worship & Innovation Pastor at Momentum Church
• Josh Lazar, Creative Arts Pastor aka Experience & Innovation Pastor at LifePoint Church [cf. Linkedin]
• Lucy Arellano, Director of Innovation & Creativity at Courageous Church
• Kevin Kim, Director of Innovation at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church

How much of their job is pure innovation and experimentation? Would you like to know? Me too!

There are over 30+ definitions of innovation and over 6000+ definitions of leadership. Organizations, especially organized churches in the 21st century, need more innovation and more leadership, not less. What’s worked in the past is not working as well as it used to, so we as the Church capital-C must make room to develop new ways of doing things.

Peter Drucker has said, “Any time an organization fails to change at the rate of the world around it, that organization is doomed to failure.” and ”innovation is change that creates a new level of performance” and ”All organizations require one core competency: Innovation.”

The chart to the right (from Leadership Network) illustrates how church innovations get adopted over time. As an experimenter, I’ve had very limited resources to experiment in developing innovations; I’m praying for more resources to do more. [disclosure: I do contract work with Leadership Network]

Rob Rynders makes a case for innovation in his denomination - Why The UMC Needs an Era of Innovation -

We need an intentional, grassroots, movement of innovators willing to put new ideas into action, fully realizing that many of those ideas will fail, but some will be successful. Even the failures will allow for immense learning, evaluation, further experimentation and adaption, ultimately leading to success. As successes and failures build, over time, we must apply those learnings from those models to other contexts and allow easy ways for others to learn, model, and adapt.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, there are 4 levels of innovation, so not all innovation has to be risky and be revolutionary game-changers. Pastor Karl Vaters provides a helpful list for key questions to consider when preparing a church for change (and innovation) @ 10 Questions Every Innovative Small Church Pastor Needs to Ask.

What kind of a role is this? — According to What does it mean to be a chief innovation officer? ”Chief innovation officer: one part hacker, one part change agent, one part idea generator, one part creator of collisions“. Sounds like my kind of dream job.

And what is innovation? Mark W. Johnson describes in Viewpoint:The Role of the Chief Innovation Officer the need to be devising a language of innovation:

… A common language that is used across the entire organization helps frame a company’s principles of innovation. The starting point for that shared language is a practical definition of innovation. The definition I favor depicts innovation as something new: a product, service, process, business model, or combination thereof that can be commercialized because it solves the problem of a “job to be done” for the customer. Whatever language is used, it should distinguish between innovation in the core business and innovation that creates platforms for new-business creation. That distinction is critically important because the chief innovation officer’s raison d’etre is to lead new-business innovation that will ensure the company’s continued survival and growth.

What does s/he do? Gina Colarelli O’Connor explains in The Real Role of a Chief Innovation Officer that this person is an orchestrator, and it’s an exciting trend for 2 reasons:

First, it signals a recognition that innovation is distinct from other functions, including R&D, Corporate Strategy and Marketing. In other words, innovation is accepted as incorporating both invention and new business creation. Secondly, it shows there is a mandate for companies to build a strong capability for breakthrough innovation.”

However, research by O’Connor’s group shows this is only the hope and not yet the reality. “In several companies we have studied of late, the turnover in the role is high, and the role title is modified frequently. Some tell us that there is ‘baggage’ associated with the title, left over from its previous holder’s failure to make things happen, or that resentment is building in the organization among those not incorporated into the ‘innovation’ function.

Plus, I’d add that not all innovations are the big game-changers. Most look smaller. This chart from The Four Levels of Innovation: Assess the Time, Effort, and Resources Necessary to Join the Ranks of Innovation (Kris Miner, 2010) shows 4 levels:

1. Fundraising is not easy. I knew that going in. Doing this month-long campaign gave me a chance to experience it first-hand. And there’s a particular challenge for any person, especially one of Asian heritage, to be asking for help. Very humbling; very hard.
2. Fundraising takes time. A staff-worker with a campus-ministry for over 25+ years passed along this insight based on his experience: “… it really is a process with tough critical mass (8-30 months of near full-time effort) plus 4-10 hours week afterwards (forever).“
3. I’m too much of a pioneering experimenter. I love trying new things that have huge potential for breakthrough results. But, I had a small “aha” by about day 25, that for my own livelihood, and sanity, maybe I have to pull back from pushing the envelope of innovation and more of doing things that meet people where they’re at, doing what they find value in, and answers the “WIIFM” question most other people ask, “What’s In It For Me.” Gotta play to the market.
4. Funding for innovation is elusive. Where can I find financial resources for research and development (R&D) in the Christian ministry world? This is not the world of getting research grants for trying to find the cure for cancer or HIV.
5. I’m glad I didn’t quit. I did finish all the way through 28 days of videos. Confession: I have a habit of quitting in many parts of my life. I’m not a Type A driven kind of guy, so I’m personally quite okay not reaching goals. But I know what it means to be responsible too; this ministry is not about me. It’s sincerely my best effort to serve the next generation of multi-Asian and multi-ethnic churches.
6. People like tangibles more than intangibles. I’ve been told this feedback on several occasions, both before and during this campaign. Goes with the territory of my unconventional profile as a strategies- and ideas- guy.
7. Some people have a hard time finding links on a web page. Someone told me they couldn’t find the “donate” link. If 1 person told me, maybe 10 others didn’t tell me. Even though that donate link is on the top of every page here at djchuang.com, in the top navigation menu, and there on the web pages for #FebruaryisFundraising, I didn’t make it big and loud enough for some. Not sure that I would.
8. Google+ Hangout on Air streamlined the work flow. This was the technology I found to be the fastest way to get a daily video recorded and posted. It’s not the highest quality, granted, and to do more quality, would definitely take a lot more time – post-production, converting, encoding, uploading, potentially more equipment. Made do with what I got for speed-to-publish and near-real-time content.
9. My Android phone (HTC Inspire 4G) is unable to post and upload a video. It’s supposed to be able to. A 3-minute video I made for day 24 only had audio captured for the 1st minute. #Fail.
10. More technology is great, reliability not so much. Yes, I tried recording-and-uploading with a wide range of equipment: a smartphone, a webcam on a MacBook Pro, webcam on an iMac desktop, on a Flipcam. I used a wired earbud headset, built-in mic on the Mac, Blue Yeti USB microphone. I tried YouTube web-based video recording, Google+ Hangout on Air recording, QuickTime recording, Photo Booth recording, iMovie recording.
11. Stable equipment setup can yield better results. When I was out-and-about like a road warrior, finding a reliable wifi connection with good upload speed was inconsistent. And I don’t have one of those MiFi hockey pucks. (So I made do with what I had.) Yes, having a studio setup would have been extravagant.
12. It’s okay to go live and record a video on one take. Thanks to Seth Godin for the sagely words in his blog post: Will you choose to do it live? My answer = yes.
13. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Not having all the optimal resources doesn’t mean I can’t do anything. Or, it’s been said: scarcity brings clarity, or limited resources + willingness to fail + increasing passion = exponential innovation.
14. Advocacy has value for the long-term rather than short-term. My approach with the messaging these daily video updates were to raise awareness for the vision, need, and opportunity, rather than to keep making asks in an infomercially / televangelistic / telethonish style. My hope is that the content in these videos will be eye-opening for future viewers, especially Freedom & healing from guilt & shame for Asian Americans, Being generous is being Godly, why pastoring is the hardest job ever.
15. Friends and family support is so very valuable. I did not do this campaign on a whim, and having their emotional and spiritual support helped me to persevere through the month. And, thanks coach Marc Payan, for the call to do something hard every day. Done.
16. Some people give to people; some people give to vision. In my situation with this campaign, people gave to this more because of the person than the vision, per se. The vision for planting multi-Asian/ multi-ethnic missional multiplying churches and for me to do the work of ministry as a strategist seems to be too leading-edge bleeding-edge, maybe, too intangible, abstract, mushy, risky.
17. Online fundraising has seen a lot more success for individuals with interesting projects, a la Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Projects are more tangible and many of those creative crowd-funded projects are like pre-orders of niche products.
18. Crowdfunding works better because lots of people can contribute smaller amounts. My tiered giving levels were probably too high as a general online ask. With a target of 43 donors, I needed a lot more viewers with the interest and the capacity to buy-in and support the strategic role I have with the Ambassador Network vision.
19. Fundraisers were more interested in this campaign than funders. I had a good handful of people give me good feedback, cheering me on, watching the videos, liking, sharing. Appreciated!
20. The 29 daily videos had 770 views. I know there’s only 28 days in February, this year; I made a bonus video on Day 1, with Kevin Nguyen, Campus Pastor of Saddleback Church Irvine, that’s why there was one more.
21. The #FebruaryisFundraising playlist had 115 views, with a total duration of over 4 hours and 20 minutes. That’s a lot of content. Maybe it could be repurposed into an e-Book or seminar.
22. Landing page for “Donate Now” had 300+ views. Feedback I heard was that it was clear. But not enough specifics on results.
23. Results? $2,320 of $90,000 raised. From a total of 4 donors. I’ll keep the thermometer updated at my ministry_support page and continue fundraising efforts offline via one-on-one meetings and personal outreach. I accounted for how the $90,000 goal was arrived at as the sum of the average Asian American family median income of $66,000 + ministry expenses + network infrastructure costs. [cf. see current funding status]
24. Social capital doesn’t automatically convert into financial donations. I’m told I have a substantial network of relationships, and I’m grateful that I’ve had favor with many people who are church and ministry leaders. That doesn’t translate into funders, since many of them live on the generosity of those who support their ministry-based work.
25. Too much talk about faith and not enough help about fiscal reality is not helpful. There’s this whole hidden business side of ministry life that doesn’t get much air-time. Having a theological training and credentialed with a degree didn’t give me the financial street-savvy necessary to run a non-profit enterprise. And my being much more interested in meaning over money doesn’t help.
26. I’m too much of an idealist and impractical, not so much practical nor pragmatic. Not to be redundant and not to be beating myself up over coming up short. Money is such a pragmatic kind of thing, where the rubber meets the road, as the saying goes. Ouch. I’m much more skilled at finding and developing creative solutions and new ways of how things could be done.
27. There might be a fine line between living by faith and living foolishly.
28. I’m going to be bi-vocational for a while — months, years, or maybe the rest of my life. I’m available for hire as a freelance strategy consultant. Contact me.

There is much more to learn in this part of life in fundraising, and I’ll share it along the way as I journey on. Thanks for reading.

• Watch the videos – February is Fundraising playlist
• Subscribe to my YouTube channel for daily video updates at youtube.com/djchuang
• Subscribe to the monthly email newsletter about DJ Chuang’s ministry work
• Donate online

I’m very grateful for the response to the OC Register article about next-gen multi-Asian churches, as Asian American churches are growing in creative ways to reach all peoples in Orange County, California, and beyond.

That article has also prompted me to step out in faith and commit more of my time and energy to serve this next generation as my full-time work. I’ll be fundraising for my staff position with Ambassador Network. I’ve never done this before in my life, so it is with mixed emotions, both faith and fear, to put myself out here.

For the entire month of February, I’ll be making a daily video update (powered by Google+ Hangout on Air.) This means it’ll be a live recording and you can watch in real-time or on-demand. It’s like reality TV but with no editing.

Unfortunately, my schedule is too erratic to set a consistent time for the livestream, but I am aiming to finish recording before 5:00pm (Pacific Time) each day. Follow me on Twitter @djchuang for when I go live on air. Submit your questions in a comment here, via email, or any of the social networks I’m on (use buttons on the upper right corner of this page).

As the saying goes, I’m “building the plane as it flies.” I’m building a topics list as I think about all the things I want to share with you — suggestions welcome! I’ll be talking about many things like: the need for this kind of work to plant new kinds of churches; what my work will look like when I say I will be working to strategize, coach, and resource multi-Asian and multi-ethnic churches; the Biblical reasons for fundraising, and what better way than to crowdsource it in the 21st century; tips and insights about professional fundraising from my 15+ years of experience working in the fundraising world, both in a large non-profit and in a private foundation; hear the back story of how the article came about; my history with Ambassador Bible Church (in Virginia) and how Ambassador Network was launched. Plus, I’m looking to have special guests join me on the Hangout.

And I’ll also give updates on how my fundraising is going, my goals and budgets and all that jazz. I want to be do fundraising in this way and be totally transparent, because accountability and financial responsibility is so very important. (I think you’d agree.) I love how Marin Foundation provides full disclosure and I want to do similarly.

It’ll be fun to connect with you in this way! I want to educate and share what I know, to help others working in cause-oriented non-profits to make the world a better place. I do hope you’ll join me to giving hope to 18+ million Asian Americans and 7+ billion people around the world. As we partner together, may many more churches flourish, the tribes thrive, and all peoples prosper!

Here’s links to all the goodies mentioned in that article, and some extras:

• #books Asian American Youth Ministry  and CONVERSATIONS: Asian American Evangelical Theologies in Formation (published by L2 Foundation)
• my Publications and Presentations
• my Yogurtland fan page
• my list of next-gen multi-Asian churches
• Pew Research Center’s report on Asian Americans
• NewSong Church (Irvine +)
• Ambassador Church (Brea) and Ambassador Network
• Epic Church (Fullerton)
• Evergreen Baptist Church (Rosemead)
• CrossWay Community Church (Brea)
• D.Min. Track: Asian American Ministry at Talbot Seminary
• Asian American Churches: An Introductory Survey (2007 report by L2 Foundation & Leadership Network)
• “Step Up, Speak Up, Live it Up” – my 9-minute talk at Urbana 12 PANA Lounge
• Being first on Twitter in the OC
• SocialMediaChurch.net is my weekly podcast for conversations with church leaders about social media
• and you can schedule a call with me at djchuang.com/call - I’d love to talk with you!
  

The print edition of the article also carries the headlines, “A local consultant and an evolving population combine to explore new ways of worshipping.” and “Asian Americans find God beyond traditional pulpit.” The lead-in on the front-page “Finding their Faith: Asian Americans use inclusiveness to spread growing message of faith.” ::

Over the past generation, a number of Orange County churches have thrived by serving mostly Asian American worshippers.

Now, some of those same churches are spreading beyond the county to places such as London, Mexico City, and Manila.

How? By emphasizing social causes. And embracing multiculturalism. And, generally, reaching into an often non-Asian world.

A local church consultant who has helped spur the expansion says Asian American Christianity can happen anywhere — and everybody is welcome.

… D.J. Chuang has ideas about Asian American churches.

Lots of ideas.

He has ideas about online-only Asian churches, about so-called “next-gen multi-Asian churches,” and about churches frequented by Asian Indian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese worshippers. [read the full article] (cached)

I dream of a world where Asian Americans realize how much more we have in common and coming together to celebrate the differences also. I dream of a world where all 100% of Asian Americans have their life stories honored and heard, rather than only the top 1% getting all the honor and prestige; a world where a person’s worth is not based on their accomplishments or accolades. I dream of a world where generations can honor their shared collective heritage, while also unleashing the next generations to create new worlds in a fast-changing global village. I dream of a world where the Asian American stories encompasses both the immigrant journey and the fully-American next-generation narratives. I dream of a world of wholeness and health for Asian Americans. I dream of a world where every single Asian American realizes their intrinsic worth and value, to be respected with dignity for being human.

To step into this dream, I’m turning the page into a new chapter in my work life. As a person of faith, this for me will be a season of public Christian ministry. I’ve signed on with Ambassador Network as a strategy consultant to launch a movement of multiplying, multiethnic, and missional churches. I’ll be describing that in the coming weeks and months, and would love to have you come along with me.

In 15 minutes, I can only cover so much, and here’s the slides to keep it tight and to the point. View/download slides. And I’ll add links to other things that surface from our interaction.

Within 48 hours of the official invitation, Pastor Louie Giglio announced that he’s “respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation” to offer the benediction prayer at President Obama’s Inauguration Day. News articles mentioned this as: Pastor withdraws from Obama inauguration after sermon on homosexuality surfaces (Fox), Giglio bows out of inauguration over sermon on gays (CNN), Pastor Backs Out of Obama Inauguration Over Previous Anti-Gay Comments (ABC). Right here in the United States of America, things feel a lot more like the Divided States of America. That’s sad.

And this is just one of many signs that things are not boding well for the churches in America with an Evangelical persuasion. A new book by John S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church… and How to Prepare, synthesized data from a  number of studies (including Gallup’s Organization, Barna Group, studies by David T. Olson, Dr. Christian Smith, journalist Christine Wicker) to conclude American Evangelicalism is more accurately between 7% to 8.9% of the American population, about one-fourth the size often claimed. In addition to inflated numbers, the author goes on to report alarming factors describing the state of the American Evangelical church:

• bankrupt: donation levels are declining
• hated: outsiders becoming increasingly antagonistic
• dividing: over political and theological issues
• bleeding: young adults leaving in unprecedented numbers
• sputtering: failing to make disciples

Dickerson himself was a former journalist, so he’d know how to do research and fact-check, so I’ll grant that his interpretation of the overall trends may be correct. Dickerson is now a pastor of a fast-growing church in Arizona, and he takes the space of the 2nd half the book to provide an overview of possible solutions. He’s honest enough to say that he doesn’t have it all figured out. The solutions he proposes are not proven. And I’m not sure his call for Evangelical churches re-forming its base and coming together is a good solution.

Download 2 free sample chapter free and read it for yourself & let me know your reaction.

Will this book finally open up the vigorous conversation that church leaders must have to address the reality of the crisis? While most of the numbers won’t tip the scale, the Evangelical church’s economic outlook may be the one thing that will get attention. Money has a way of getting attention more than anything else. In other words, the financial model is not sustainable.

The Evangelical church needs help, lots of help, more conversations and working solutions. Change is overdue. Time to innovate. Buckle up!

[disclosure: I received a review copy of this book]

Watch the Urbana 2012 Summary video

The best way to grow is to change how you see the world. Life experience shapes perception, perception shapes truth, and for most of us people, perception is truth.

That’s what the Urbana conference does so well every 3 years: bringing a wide swatch of the world to receptive college students so they can find God’s will for their place in the world.

12 ways that Urbana 12 change my life by opening my eyes to see the world differently::

1. Activating a social media squad: Adam Jeske skillfully empowered a team of 14 of us to serve as the an online pastoral team to engage participants in real-time using Twitter, along with Facebook, Instagram, and blogging. Read articles in Christian Post and Mission Network News. I’ll be talking more about this on an upcoming episode of Social Media Church podcast [update: read Adam Jeske's insider look = Tweeting for Jesus with 16,000 Friends: Urbana Social Media]
2. Urbana 12 Live Blog: my primary role was to blog highlights in real-time during thr main sessions to complement the livestream videos. My best discovery was using Storify to curate tweets and photos, see: Changed Lives, Responding to God’s Invitation, Power of Prayer
3. doing something together with dear wife: Rachelle and I enjoyed our 3rd Urbana together; shared experiences can bring people closer in wonderful ways; and she joined Twitter @rachellewchuang too
4. sharing my life: I spoke at the Pan Asian North American Lounge, thankful to James Choung for the special opportunity– listen to and/or read my talk — Step up, Speak Up, Live It Up; you don’t have to be a superstar to make a difference
5. launch lab: got a spontaneous on-the-spot invitation from Josh Kwan to give one-on-one coaching feedback to young people with business/ministry ideas to help them towards implementation.. I’m no Charles Lee, but it sure was encouraging to realize that I have more than I knew I had to offer others in this intimidating context
6. integrating a seamless theme: loved how the Urbana 12 organizers weaved the theme of God’s Invitation through-and-through.. powerful draw that pulled us forward into God’s work in the world
7. shifting demographics in the USA: the American population will have no racial/ethnic majority by 2050, maybe sooner; and we experienced that in the Urbana 12 immersion, both in the attendance and on stage
8. reality check on multiethnic worship: it’s so profoundly transforming because you are literally experiencing worship like the way it will be in eternity. But the sad reality in America is that less than 10% of Urbana participants will get to have this experience back at their home churches.
9. it’s a family reunion: got to connect with many old friends and some new ones too, too many to name here.. if I talked with you, you know who you are
10. it’s a small world: even amidst 16,000 people you wind up meeting people that know people you know, aka 2nd degree of separation; biggest surpise: someone that knew me via Toronto church planter Danny Yang
11. God’s opening doors: recently being thrown into a job transition, I was not sure how God could use my unconventional personality to provide for muself and family.. while I have a good number of skills that could work in a variety of jobs just to make money, how much better it is to be given an opportunity to use my “mad scientist” profile in a “skunk works” context.. praying this will be a go
12. faith in action: on the evening of Day 3 Urbana 12 Join-In event, we assembled 32,000 caregiving kits together, in response to need in Swaziland.. we truly experienced first-hand how we really are part of something much bigger than ourselves

Were you at Urbana 12? I’d love to hear your stories too!