tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post5594311631527508934..comments2023-10-20T10:06:23.364-04:00Comments on Preaching Essentials- Lenny Luchetti: Video Venue Preaching: Projection or PresenceLenny Luchettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08896001990363426239noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-85088353544147889372015-07-12T07:43:42.956-04:002015-07-12T07:43:42.956-04:00Thanks for jumping into the discussion, Paul. Your...Thanks for jumping into the discussion, Paul. Your insights are helpful to the discussion. And, yes, maybe you've landed on a dissertation topic:-)<br />Lenny Luchettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896001990363426239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-64898377929141850472015-07-11T21:38:12.505-04:002015-07-11T21:38:12.505-04:00Lenny, I too believe in the value of live teaching...Lenny, I too believe in the value of live teaching and intentional person to person discipling. If we were simply looking for good preaching we could all simply show sermons by Andy Stanley or Kevin Myers. That's why, even when there is a video preacher, there needs to be a live presence who gives spiritual oversight to the local congregation. When the Apostle Paul couldn't be physically present he sent his letters. He didn't have an HDTV camera available and this was his way of sending a message that someone read to the audience. <br />Let me make one more point about the potential value of video. I often took a vacation Sunday and didn't travel...so I went to church one of the local churches near me. I was amazed at how much bad preaching I heard even at decent sized churches (300+). Saying we need to train and send young preachers is easier than doing it. <br />Now I'm done debating. Thank you for your deep investment in training up those preachers you talk about.<br />Blessings. John Braynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-20873581984556521652015-07-11T17:34:09.548-04:002015-07-11T17:34:09.548-04:00This is a great conversation and I'm a new voi...This is a great conversation and I'm a new voice here, but this is an issue I've wrestled with as well. We started a second campus and considered video. We decided to go with "live" teaching as it fits our context better. But it was a discussion. Honestly, I was really anti-video venue. And then I went and visited several across the country. I started to talk to people who were a part of those congregations and for the most part, they experienced real transformation through the teaching (yet saw their campus pastor as their pastor). I have some of the same hesitations. One not mentioned is that some pastors who are great live, actually don't work that well on video (now there's an interesting dissertation topic). My greatest hesitancy is the mentioned neglect to train up new teachers and preachers. (But honestly, how many pastors let new teachers and preachers preach in those larger churches?) One things about the "word made flesh" agreement that I found interesting as I read about this... that argument is the same thing some said when the first printed bibles. "We can't just let everyone have their own text as it takes about the "word made flesh" factor. I'm not sure I buy it, but I found it interesting.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14061010809819314238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-16958497259109782932015-07-11T12:14:43.505-04:002015-07-11T12:14:43.505-04:00John, thanks for jumping into the conversation. Yo...John, thanks for jumping into the conversation. You have loads of experience in doing pastoral ministry in faithful and fruitful ways. You're, without doubt, one of my pastoral heroes. You make some helpful arguments. I agree that we should do everything to reach people. I pastored a church that tripled in size and was part of the 1% of churches at the time whose primary growth came by way of conversion not transfer. So, I'm with you on the reaching people thing...as long as the pragmatic thing to reach people doesn't trump our theological convictions. In other words, shortcuts for effectiveness can sometimes produce longterm problems. Bill Hybels has admitted that his strategy for effectively reaching people got in the way of discipling people. I worry about the same with video venue preaching. I'm not totally against it, but I worry about the theological implications of marketing a super name preacher via projection to profess a God who loved us enough to be present in the flesh with us. I worry ultimately that video venue preaching will cast a shadow on the incarnational, in the fleshness, of the God we preach. I'd rather see fruitful preachers and churches training and sending young preachers to preach in other contexts than to have a video venue. <br />So glad to have your wisdom in the conversation, John. Lenny Luchettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896001990363426239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-25984005090285302372015-07-10T22:06:55.956-04:002015-07-10T22:06:55.956-04:00Lenny engages us in some interesting thinking.
Di...Lenny engages us in some interesting thinking.<br /><br />Disclosure: I led one church for 41 years. The last 8 years of my ministry we had at least one video venue. And it worked. People got saved. They were baptized. The campus pastor helped lead the discipleship efforts. About 250 launched the campus and today attendance is 700+ at that campus.<br /><br />Is live, in person preaching better than a sermon presented on video? That depends. Years ago Keith Drury taught me that if you want to clear a 6 foot high jump bar you don't look for 6 people who can jump 1 foot; you look for one person who can jump 6 feet. If you can present high quality preaching live I think that is better than high quality preaching on video. But I think high quality video preaching is better than low quality live preaching. The souls of people are important enough that we must give them their best opportunity to learn and grow.<br /><br />Can video preaching be culturally contextual? Lenny makes a good argument. However, in a larger church there are a number of cultural realities existing in one space. At my church the guy who came to our chemical dependency group from a half way house sometimes sat next to the guy who drove up in his BMW and make 6 figures. Our campus pastors said that people laughed at the appropriate places. They raised their hands at the venue when I asked a question in the live teaching. People got it at both places. We did not use our Anglo video teaching in our Hispanic service...that was too big a gap...but it worked in our English language settings.<br /><br />Part of the problem is that video venue teaching is new. <br />-The Wesley boys preached in fields because they could reach people that way (plus they had been kicked out of some indoor pulpits). They were criticized.<br />-My dad, who began preaching in 1939, thought that churches should be about 100 people because you couldn't shepherd more than that. He was critical of large churches.<br />-When we began our venue experiment we didn't know if it would work. It did for us.<br /><br />Are video venues a passing fad (like busing kids to Sunday School or doing live drama in services) or will they stand the test of time? I don't know. I do know that I'm committed to using as many ways as possible to reach people.<br /><br />In ten years will the local congregation still be doing venues or will Andy Stanley and Ed Young and other mega-mega-churches have franchised like McDonalds (I think this is where the cultural contextualization argument might really apply)? I don't know. Maybe. But in the meantime I'm committed to reaching as many people as possible.<br /><br />Thanks for raising important questions.<br />John Braynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-19745574047553712812015-07-09T18:38:36.891-04:002015-07-09T18:38:36.891-04:00I understand what you're saying, some new role...I understand what you're saying, some new roles are pastoral and some are not. I would serve as the shepherd, theologian, and pastor to my campus, well equipped by a soon to be completed MDIV from Wesley Seminary. :) The cautions are real and should be identified. It encourages my ongoing commitment to be the best pastor, preacher, and leader I can be while pouring into the younger guys/gals with whatever knowledge and experience I've gained at this point. Thanks for engaging, the article was balanced and well written.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12145686865989846559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-14791164234983386782015-07-09T17:07:46.182-04:002015-07-09T17:07:46.182-04:00Thanks for your thoughts, James. They are helpful....Thanks for your thoughts, James. They are helpful. You are in it and doing it, so your voice matters immensely. I struggle though with some of the roles/titles you offer as a positive. I'm not sure that the move from shepherd, theologian, and pastor to producer and director are wise moves for the church. When we are most like the world, we are actually least relevant to the world. We can reach people and grow the church without selling out to the contemporary hi-jacking of the pastoral role. I should also say I deeply respect and value your pastor's insights. He's the man! Peace, Lenny Lenny Luchettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896001990363426239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-32697066305864146952015-07-09T16:47:43.763-04:002015-07-09T16:47:43.763-04:00I appreciate an honest and balanced look at video ...I appreciate an honest and balanced look at video venues. I am the Campus Pastor at a video venue in the DC Metro area after being a Church Planter/Senior Pastor, preaching weekly, for over 7 years prior. I don't know if it is as simple as saying that a young preacher is developed better or worse in either model. When I was a Senior Pastor, I was predominantly alone. Though I worked on my craft, it took a lot of self initiative and resources were limited. Sure I got to practice every Sunday, but was I practicing the right things? Here, I am able to do creative brainstorming, annual sermon planning, research and sermon development with a network of other church planters and experienced pastors along with one of the best communicators in the country. I didn't know how much I didn't know until I began preparing sermons with, and listening to him weekly. I now have a continual model and mentor for how it's done right. When I do preach you better believe I'm going to do my best to reach that same standard.<br /><br />We currently preach 10 times a year, including an entire series of our own in the summer. In addition, we are constantly communicating inside and outside the service through vision casting, challenging the congregation to apply the message, leadership training, etc. I tell people, "trust me, my campus is not left wanting for more of my voice." Sure, I have people ask me whether I would want to preach every week and I tell them "no, not now." I'm just not ready to tie myself down to 20-30 hours of sermon prep each week. It would keep me from doing what I am loving so much in this role, the time I get to spend assessing the needs of our community, casting a local vision, creating a strategy, and developing leaders and servants to bring New Life to New People in New and Innovative Ways. I'll let our Senior Pastor spend his time studying, we'll all benefit from it, and I'll do my best to keep the gospel movement going in our area.<br /><br />What I love about the multi-site movement is how it's opened the doors for all new types of full time ministry options. When I was graduating there was no such thing as a church "Communications Director," "Social Media Director," "Worship Producer," or "Campus Pastor" to name a few. There are now many options in ministry which allows each of us to offer ourselves to God fully and trust that He will lead us to the place of our unique and individual calling. We might not all be preachers, maybe some current preachers shouldn't even be preachers, but new roles in ministry assure that God can find a place for us all. I look around at the young interns, residents, and young Campus Pastors in our network and I see unlimited potential.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12145686865989846559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-47044329688211419492015-07-09T11:18:25.158-04:002015-07-09T11:18:25.158-04:00Thanks for your sharp thoughts Jonathan and your a...Thanks for your sharp thoughts Jonathan and your ability to see from both sides of the issue. I'm grateful for emerging young preachers like you and pray that the Church pours into and empowers you. <br />Lenny Luchettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896001990363426239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-67894472388946777242015-07-09T09:02:04.104-04:002015-07-09T09:02:04.104-04:00I wanted to correct a typo..."discipling"...I wanted to correct a typo..."discipling" not disciplining. Jonathan Scottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3246769289463858102.post-1110781309292226662015-07-09T08:36:03.107-04:002015-07-09T08:36:03.107-04:00I greatly respect churches who use a video venue. ...I greatly respect churches who use a video venue. There are many that do it well and are reaching people who are not being reached. However, I believe your one con is the difference maker for me - the development of young preachers. As a young preacher, I know the importance of opportunities as well as mentors to help form the preacher. If a church does a video venue without a specific development program of other preachers, I'm out. If, however, a church has a specific plan in place to develop young preachers, I believe it can be effective. At the same time, what does video venue teach a young preacher? Not the same as a live preaching event will. While I usually am not persuaded by one point in any argument, I believe we must do better at disciplining young preachers. The cost of doing so is always great. Thanks for your thoughts! Jonathan Scottnoreply@blogger.com