Survey Time!

If you are coming across this blog for the first time because you clicked on a link that was in a survey you received in your e-mail, then I welcome you to read more and check out the first steps of a new church, and also I thank you for your participation in the survey.
Finding out new things about Oneonta is my passion, the better I know the community, the more good I believe the church can do. Exhausting my online sources about Oneonta, and needing specific religious questions answered, I thought an e-mail survey would be the best way to ask a high number of people specific questions. I originally thought a phone survey would work, but upon trying I felt too much like a telemarketer, and I know how people feel about telemarketers...let's just say it is not a good association for a new church's first impression. I also know people dislike spam e-mail, so I tried to personalize and localize the survey as much as possible. E-mail was probably my best option seeing as I am currently living in Missouri and cannot feasibly take a day trip to Oneonta, set up a booth on Main Street, and ask people survey questions.

Here is a copy of the survey questions I sent out to over 3,000 e-mail addresses in Otsego County. Each question is designed to give me insight into certain issues that a church planter must be informed on to shape a church that effectively impacts the community. What I want to do is answer my own questions with my motives behind the questions. A sort of "behind the scenes" if you will.

1. Would you say the values and economy of the Oneonta community, make it easy or hard for an individual entrepreneur to start-up a new service-oriented business?

*Starting a new church is similar to starting a new service business in many ways. If a community is purposely structured to make it easy on a new business, it should also be beneficial for a new church to start up. The answers I get back for question #1 will not shake my commitment to church plant in Oneonta, but I do want to know what I am in for.

2. Would you say Oneonta offers sufficient evening entertainment for it's residents, or do community members often travel to larger cities for evening entertainment?

*One of my main pushes I would like to do with a new church is not to have main gatherings on Sunday mornings (when all the other churches are meeting), but instead, to mainly meet on Friday or Saturday evening, lasting late into the night. I need to know, do people stick around Oneonta on the weekends? Are people looking for more options on how to spend their free evenings in Oneonta? Answers to these questions will be very important in choosing when to meet and what level (if any) of entertainment should the church offer?

3. What social needs in Oneonta do you feel to be the most prevalent and the most urgent?

*I believe strongly that a church should reach out and help people in their community. I can guess what needs exist based on statistical data, but hearing directly from people living in Oneonta will tell me so much more. I would like the outreach efforts of the church to be maximized, these answers will help with that.

4. Do you think a new church making strong efforts to reach the social needs of Oneonta would be welcomed by the community?

*Okay, I'll be honest, question #4 is less for the surveyor and more designed for the surveyee. This is my settle way to connect the grim needs contemplated about in question #3 with the hope to meet those needs a church can offer. It is unfortunate but I have found many people do not even consider the church as a source of help in troubled times ("all they do is gather and sing"), question #4 will hopefully help people see this new church, and every church, in a new light of helpfulness.

5A. Do you believe that God is concerned with you on a personal level?

5B. If yes, would you say you believe in the message of the Bible as taught by Christianity?

5C. If yes, does your belief in the Christian faith include participating in a local church?

*Where does a new church start with the content of the preaching? The goal is to have unchurched people put their faith in the Jesus revealed in scripture, and from there participate in the church community to grow their faith in Jesus. Is Oneonta full of Christians and I will be preaching to the choir which means I can get deep with Bible teachings? Or is Oneonta full of skeptics who do not see purpose in the Bible or church? If I know the spiritual state of the audience, the approach with the sermons I preach will change significantly depending on what stage the audience is generally at in their journey with God.

6. How would you describe the influence churches have on the culture of Oneonta and the surrounding area?

*I believe churches should be very influential in shaping the culture of a community--I do not believe faith is a personal hush-hush thing. This influence is to be achieved not by political means, but by Christians authentically living out their faith within the community, and by actively doing good for the community. Question #6 is meant to see if Oneontians generally share this value or not.

7. What is your opinion of a new church using modern methods and technology to communicate their message?

*I am sure we do church in the Midwest different than in the Northeast. I am big into video, slideshows, modern music, all those things. I get the impression the Northeast is heavier on the liturgy aspect of ministry. I do not think one way is bad and the other is good, but I would hate to impose my way of a modern church onto a culture that is offended by it. But if people are open to new methods and technologies then I will fire up the video projector and pop the popcorn.

8. What is your opinion of these Christian groups: 1. Evangelicals? 2. Pentecostals? 3. Catholics? 4. Non-denominational? (If you do not have an opinion please indicate with "no opinion.")

*This is to determine how heavy a new church should present its' denominational ties.

In the next month I have to make a presentation of the church's purpose, mission, ministry strategy, etc. etc., to my superiors for approval and support--this progress will be chronicled on this blog. I feel the more research I put into it the better it will go, especially in the area of designing a church for Oneonta instead of imposing my ideas of a church onto Oneonta as I perceive it. Thank you for your help and your insight, feel free to check back often and even drop me a line. Your interest in this project will go along way in esatblishing a good church for the Oneonta community.

Meet the Carpenters!

Meet Pastor Kaler

Kaler's story begins in the small farm community of Carrollton Missouri (4,000 people, county seat). His parents, Tom and Nancy, owned and operated a true "mom & pop" business called "Carpenter Nursery Landscaping and Greenhouse." Kaler and his sister Roxanna were raised helping the small company, and Kaler's experience left a good impression on him about hard work and the importance of striving for the betterment of the community. In High School Kaler was in several activities: he was president of Key Club--which left a big impression about civic responsibility, and started a Bible Club that met every morning for devotions and prayer; but music was his favorite, where he played the alto saxophone and continues to play it in church to this day.
Church was always apart of Kaler's life. Up until the age of 11 he was raised in a nearby newly-started Charismatic church called "Victory Christian Fellowship." From 11-14 his family spent time in the Presbyterian church, and then a new independent Evangelical church. In Jr. High Kaler's family landed in the local Assemblies of God church where he felt called to go into ministry at a summer camp in 1999. This led him to attend Central Bible College in Springfield MO where he met his wife Laura. Unbeknown to both of them until years later, Kaler and Laura both attended the same summer camp as teenagers.
In Bible College Kaler was active with an evangelism team that ministered to new army recruits, played his saxophone on a worship band, and wrote humor columns for the school newspaper. But it was at a Springfield church called "Timbercreek Community Church" where Kaler spent most of his time, attending for 5 years and participating in an internship program that lasted 3.5 years, in which time he helped Timbercreek plant a new church called "Timbercreek West."
During the summers Kaler would go back to Carrollton and lead a summer youth ministry at his home church. In 2005 Kaler saw the need for a more permanent youth ministry in his home town (no professional youth ministers in a county of 10,000 people) so he moved back to start a youth group and called it "3rd Place Youth Group." When the group began there were only 2 teenagers and within a year there were over 30 in regular attendance, most of whom had never been to church before.
It was during this time in Carrollton that Kaler married his girlfriend Laura, who had moved to Carrollton to help with the youth ministry. In 2007 Kaler and Laura felt that it was time to move on to Senior Pastoring and left the youth ministry to look for a new church to lead. It was during this search for open ministry positions that Kaler and Laura felt the Lord pointing them in a more specific direction: church planting. Kaler and Laura had a new mission from God, but did not have a specific place to start a new church yet. So in order to prepare for this venture the couple moved to Washington Missouri to be a part of First Assembly of God Church, pastored by Laura's brother, Rev. Paul Scheperle. After living in Washington for 1.5 years, the Lord gave them direction to plant in Oneonta New York, and they are greatly anticipating this completely new chapter in their lives.

Kaler's hobbies include: All things Nintendo, movies (both watching and making them)--actually he likes anything involving a flashing screen, board games & ultimate board games, taking care of his classic truck, playing his saxophone, and making new friends.

Meet Pastor Laura

Laura Scheperle grew up in Missouri's capitol, Jefferson City. She too grew up in church, as a kid her family attended the Lutheran Church, but the most life-changing decision for the Scheperle family is when her parents Gary and Brenda switched to the Assemblies of God church. It was a church that challenged it's people in holiness and offered vibrant worship; and consequently, Laura and two of her brothers (Paul and Steve) felt called to full-time vocational ministry and all 3 Scheperle siblings pursued that goal at Central Bible College in Springfield Mo. Laura's 3rd brother Bill is an engineer at Missouri University and helps her Dad Gary on the family farm with the help of 4 beautiful kids.
In High School Laura was a music whiz. Playing her trombone all the way to the Missouri All-State band 2 years in a row, it probably helped a little that Brenda her mom was a music teacher. Like Kaler, Laura also started a Bible club at her High School called "Youth Alive," where they had devotions and planned evangelistic events. Most of Laura's time as a teenager was spent with her church youth group where she made strong friends that she still keeps in contact with.
At Central Bible College she continued to pursue her two passions: youth ministry and music. In 2004 she graduated with a bachelor degree in each field of study. While at CBC Laura spent 3 years on a traveling school music team called "Heartsong" and was the president of the group her last year. She also learned new instruments: guitar and keyboard, and learned how to direct a choir. In her last year at CBC she began to date Kaler, this happened after a 2 year friendship blossomed through a fan club she started for the Christian rock band "Five Iron Frenzy."
After graduating, Laura moved to Radcliff Kentucky to Youth Pastor at a Korean-American church. Laura spent a year working with Korean-American teenagers, but as things got serious with Kaler she moved to Carrollton Missouri to help him with his youth group. Laura was a key part of the growth of 3rd Place Youth Group, relating well to the teenage girls, and teaching several young people how to play instruments. Laura also started an all-church choir and directed 3 holiday cantatas. During this time Laura married Kaler in July of 2006 at her old church in Jefferson City.
In 2007 Laura left the Carrollton church with Kaler and moved to Washington Missouri to help her brother Paul at his church. At First Assembly of God, Washington MO, she has been active playing guitar on the worship team, leading a youth worship band, and leading a new small group for young adults. Currently, Laura is saying her goodbyes to her Missouri friends and family and preparing for the move of faith to start a new church in Oneonta New York with her husband Kaler. She looks forward to taking day trips and visiting New York City.

Laura's hobbies include: song writing and recording, being with her hubbie Kaler, watching movies, cooking, shopping, and hanging out with friends and family.

Simple Church is Beautiful

Our new church's simple stage and Christmas decorations, 2013.

It's June 2009, and there are still several steps I must take before officially launching a new church. Assessments, interviews, marketing, procuring a meeting place, the list is long and rather daunting. Most of the requirements I face excite me. However, there's one requirement in particular that weighs on me: fundraising.

I'll do it because I have to, and I have faith that God will provide. But my thinking here is that, "if the mission of the church is to tell lost people about Jesus, how much fundraising should this actually take?" It's a fair question to ask, especially when breaking down the daunting church planting mission to it's simplest form: proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.

For my vision of church, I wish to keep things simple as simple as the mandate that Jesus gave to his followers. Here are a few thoughts on the benefits of keeping a new church as simple as possible, and why this is actually a beautiful thing.

Simple Church Follows the Biblical Church Growth Model

The story of the church begins in the book of Acts with a small group of faithful people (about 120) left over from Jesus' ministry. We know they were organized in leadership, and that they had a clear mission, but we don't hear much about money. When the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church on Pentecost, the numbers of believers increased rapidly. Instead of taking this large crowd and pooling together resources and raising funds for a bigger place to meet, the church simply moved their meetings to a very public and very free place, the Temple courts. It's interesting to me how willingly the church moved out of the upper room, and into the public forum. If such a revival were experienced today, I wonder how many modern churches would remodel and expand their simple upper room into an elaborate revival headquarters.

Another simple church story from Acts is found in chapter 3. Days after Peter preached his sermon, Peter and John are approached by a beggar near the temple asking for money. Did Peter and John dip into the church's benevolent fund or call up the para-church outreach ministry? Peter's response is stunning, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Then, Peter physically helped him up, and the cripple was healed, giving praise to God.

Wait. Hold up. Peter was the leader of the growing church, didn't he have some cash on hand from his full-time salary as Senior Pastor? You know, the salary he worked years to raise before starting the Jerusalem church? No, it says Peter had nothing.

I have to admit that I have lied to street beggars before and told them that I had nothing to give when I was really bursting at the seams with cash, but I think Peter honestly had nothing. Unlike my awkward response to beggars, I am sure Peter did not tell a “convenient lie.”

Did the church have any money at this time? Yes, just 4 verses prior, we get a romantic snapshot of the early church and we see offerings being taken up. What are they doing with these funds? Paying salaries? Buying tracks of land to build on? Shopping for the sound equipment? No, read closely, “All the believers had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” They didn't have a building, and the money they raised went toward helping each other. What a beautiful, yet simple picture of church.

Simple Church is Practiced Around the World

I recently attended a discipleship training class taught by a foreign missionary. He told how, in the poor African country he serves in, he trains several local pastors who have started multiple new churches. What does it look like to start a new church in the poorest part of Africa? Years of networking and fundraising? Obtaining loans to build a building? Dumping piles of cash on an amazing church website?

He showed us a picture that told a thousand words. It was a newly trained pastor, sitting under a tree with a group of new converts, teaching the Bible. What a beautiful yet simple church.

The Redemption Movement enjoying a simple meal outside, 2013.

Simple Church is Beautiful to Postmoderns

Government bailouts. Greed. Exploiting workers. These are negative images a growing number of Americans associate with giant corporations. People who mistrust the slick/impersonal style of the corporate machine might have reservations about trusting well-funded churches that attempt to copy the professional attitudes of corporate America. A church built on “professionalism and excellence” and has a building resembling a mini-mall with every program imaginable (each with a cool hip logo), will only scare away people with trust issues who are seeking a simple and authentic encounter with God.

While I do believe the mega-church model has its benefits, not everyone is attracted to the mega-church way. A church with used furniture, meeting at an old storefront or a living room, using just the basic sound equipment, having candles instead of fancy stage lights, all while learning about Jesus from a pastor with ripped jeans and a T-shirt; everything about this church is designed to help a young postmodern man or woman feel comfortable enough to give the people sitting around them  trust enough to open up about their serious questions about faith.

What a beautiful yet simple church.

9 Quick Facts on Why Church Planting is Important

I have found that being a church planter is lonely. It is particularly lonely in the area of passion. It seems few people share my enthusiasm about church planting. What makes it even harder is that I often find people within the Christian community who do not even value starting new churches. I often get a response like, "There's enough churches!" or, "We should spend our efforts revitalizing old churches." I think the divide comes from not understanding the seriousness of the need, so to help bridge the divide I thought I would share just a few statistics that shine light on the need for new churches.

1. New Churches & Denominational Growth
"Studies show that if a denomination wishes to reach more people, the number of new churches it begins each year must equal at least 3% of the denominations existing churches. Based on this formula, mainline denominations are failing to plant enough churches to offset their decline.” -Bill Easum

2. New Churches & Evangelism
"All (growing) denominations surveyed placed church planting as a very important, if not the number one, strategy for evangelism...The fact is, starting a new ethnic congregation or focusing on a particular generation in a new start is much easier than trying to change the culture of an established congregation.” -Survey of the Reformed Church in America on Growing denominations.

3. New Churches & Evangelsim
"On a per-captita basis, new churches win more people to Christ than established churches. Bruce Mcnichol explained the findings of his research in Interest magazine:

• Churches under 3 years of age win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every 100 church members.

• Churches 3-15 years of age win an average of 5 people per year for every 100 church members.
  
• Churches over 15 years of age win an average of 3 people per year for every 100 church members."

4. New Churches & Conversion Growth
And with #3 in mind, Alton Garrison sites in the Spring 2008 Enrichment Journal, "Nearly half of all churches in the United States did not add one new person through genuine conversion in 2007."

5. The National Church-t0-People Ratio Decline
The North American Mission Board recently recalculated the church-to-population ratio based on statistics from the U.S. Census.

• In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
  
• In 1950, there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
  
• In 2000, there were 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
  
• In 2004, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.

6. The American Mission Field

• There are 120 million secular undiscipled people in the United States.
  
• The U.S. Is the largest mission field in the Western Hemisphere.
• The U.S. Is the fifth largest mission field on earth.
  

-George Hunter “The Rationale for a Culturally Relevant Worship Service,” Journal of the American Society of Church Growth, Worship an Growth 7.

7. The Decline of American Churches

• 80-85% of American churches are on the downside of the church life cycle.

• 3,500-4,000 churches close each year.

• 72 churches close each week.

-Win Arn, “Planting Growing Churches.”

8. The Deline of American Christianity

• The percentage of Christians in the U.S. Population dropped 9 percent from 1990 to 2001.
  
• The number of unchurched has almost doubled from 1991 to 2004.

-Win Arn, “Planting Growing Churches.”

9. New Church Success Rate
Even with the dire need for new churches, simply starting one is not a guarantee for long term success. “99 percent of church plants survive the first year, 92 percent the second year, 81 percent the third year, and 68 percent the fourth year.” -North American Mission Board

*Facts: 1-3, and 5-8 are from Ed Stetzer's book "Planting Missional Churches."

These are just of few of the reasons why I feel the need is so strong to plant new churches in America. It does give me hope that more and more churches are popping up around the country, and many denominations are becoming increasingly aggressive toward church planting. In some ways it almost feels like a trend for young Christian ministers, but I pray this is not a short lived trend but instead a valid church movement which sparks a Great Awakening.

Too Much Time With Adobe Photoshop

Admittedly, I have to watch myself because I can be somewhat of an administrative nerd and spend too much time at the computer making logos, videos, and all things digital. Here is proof, this is the front of my new business/prayer card I made to pass out to everybody who wants to keep track of Laura and I.



I am teaching myself photoshop, and I am still pretty new at it. Overall, I am pretty stoked about how this turned out. If this license plate is not taken, maybe I will try and snag it for my truck. I think the blues on the NY plate will compliment my blue truck.