does the nacc have a future?

Apparently I offended someone with a recent post because I said the NACC was dying.

Maybe (probably) I offended more than one of you, and that’s okay. It’s never the goal of any post, but why would anyone read a blog they always agree with?

(A brief reminder: the opinions in this blog are solely mine, NOT necessarily those of Christian Standard or Standard Publishing.)


I worked on staff at the NACC for five conventions (1998-2002) with two managing directors and two executive directors. Since then I’ve served as a Continuation Committee and Executive Committee member and planned last year’s “conference within a conference” for women. I also write for CS, of course, plus manage our “denomination’s” online directory and news site at CCToday.com.

So, I kinda know this movement, and I really know the NACC. If I offended you with my statement, at least I’m informed enough to make it.


The plain truth is that attendance at, financial support for and interest in the NACC continue to drop off. I could spend this whole post exploring the various reasons why (less institutional loyalty throughout our culture, growth of specialized and niche events, an “uncool” reputation) but I’m more interested in thinking about whether it matters, and what can be done.

Most of my cooler, hipper friends will say it doesn’t matter. I’ve written about this before—because there are so many other events offering amazing resources and access to the preeminent Christian leaders of our time, they ask, why do we need another one?

It’s true; the broader evangelical world offers tons of events, podcasts, videos, books, networks and relationships to help our ministries. Why should we care about this network, about these relationships?


It matters because everyone needs a tribe. I read Andy Stanley and listen to Tim Keller and watch Rob Bell and follow Carlos Whittaker but none of those guys took me aside last month to hear my story and offer encouragement and mentoring. It was someone in “our” churches who has known and worked with me for years, someone who had a history with me.

On a broader scale, the same is true for all of us who affiliate, however loosely, with the Restoration Movement. Without long-term teamwork and relationship, organizations like Christian Missionary Fellowship, Orchard Group, Church Development Fund and our colleges—not to mention many of our individual churches—would be less effective (or non-existent), and the kingdom would be smaller for it.


So connections matter, and for some of us that connection is found in the independent Christian churches. Great. But that happens all year long, and would happen even if the NACC died tomorrow. We really don’t need a convention with big speakers and exhibit halls and Babyland to work together.

Because it’s really not about the event, it’s about the mission.

And that’s what needs to change. Getting together for the sake of getting together isn’t enough.


The convention’s current decline happened not because people don’t attend conferences, but because this conference no longer has a clearly-defined mission.

Is it for leaders or entire families? If leaders, vocational, volunteer or both? It’s “the connecting place” but to what end? Who’s connecting? Why is it valuable? How are the connections different from the other ways people are already working together?

It’s a hard truth and those are tough questions, but they offer hope: if the NACC can identify its unique mission, if it can connect us while celebrating our independence, if it can become indispensable in helping us plant churches and bring the Gospel to Nairobi and educate a new generation of leaders, it will thrive. If it doesn’t, it not only will die, it probably should.


Ben Cachiaras, Senior Pastor at Mountain Christian Church and president of the 2010 convention, gets this and has planned this year’s convention with a focus on going “BEYOND.” Francis Chan, Rick Warren, Gene Appel, Brian Jones, and many others will push us to move out of our comfort zones and think more deeply about evangelism, discipleship, racial and justice issues and our own calling. (You can read more, including a great interview with Ben, on the CS site.)

Say what you will about the NACC, this is as strong a lineup as any conference out there. But it’s just one year.

One of the convention’s systemic problems is the lack of continuity caused by annual changes in executive and board leadership. To reverse the convention’s decline, we need a multi-year leadership team committed to one easily-articulated mission, an overhaul of messaging methods and branding, and the money that (in theory) follows mission to pull it off.


“Keeping up with [Jesus] means leaving certain things behind,” Ben wrote about his 2010 theme. “And those who dare follow him quickly discover Jesus always takes you to new places.” Some people who love the movement need to leave behind their outdated cynicism about the NACC and give this year a chance. But the convention itself must leave behind old glory days to discover a new identity. If it does, the results could be beyond exciting.

word search

Kari Freudenberger, who works at Standard Publishing, recently created a new blog called “7 Word Testimonies.” The idea came from the write-your-memoir-in-six-words exercise popularized by SMITH magazine‘s book Not Quite What I Was Planning, which collects thousands of short and not always sweet life stories.

Kari decided to go a different direction. “Everyone has a story and now they’re putting it out there—in just six words,” she writes. “While many of them are witty or funny, most of them follow the same theme: disappointment. Like the title of the book, many people sum up their life as ‘not quite what I was planning.’ We all see people like this everyday—disillusioned, distrustful, hopeless or alone.

I would like to issue a different challenge. For those of you who have found hope, I’m giving you an outlet to share your faith and describe your life with Christ. Much like six word memoirs, I am collecting “7 Word Testimonies” from anyone who would like to contribute. They can be in sentence form, just a phrase, or seven random words combined to sum up your experience as a follower of Christ.”

In other words, welcome to your new obsession. Writing concisely is always a challenge and condensing your entire faith journey into seven words is downright hard, but the attempt is addictive.

I played around with several without finding a clear winner. “Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me” is nice but unoriginal. “But I thought…..okay, You’re in charge” kind of sums it up, but lacks punch.

My favorite—”A Christian, despite some Christians I know”—was true, but seemed a bit negative.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized my testimony could actually be just one word: Seriously?

The God who created us chose to become one of us for 30+ years? Seriously?

Each minute he manages a universe of infinite complexity but he listens to my requests? Seriously?

He loves me even though I can be monumentally unlovable, and I don’t have to earn it? Seriously?

He can forgive that? And wants to? Seriously?

Ultimately, all our testimonies come back to grace, a “scandalous grace” that prompts unbelief and can be hard to fully absorb. Perhaps we can all just share one seven word testimony—”I was lost, but now I’m found.” Although that would cut down on traffic to Kari’s blog.

Yesterday I attended the first of six “Discovering our church” classes at the congregation I’ve decided to join here in Nashville.

During the informative session, led by the the connections pastor, we learned about the history of the congregation, how to reach the elders, upcoming small group opportunities, and many other items of interest to new and prospective members.

Despite all this informativeness, I was surprised by what wasn’t included. About halfway through the hour, a woman in the third row raised her hand and asked what the church believed about music in worship (this is a non-instrumental church of Christ), the role of women in leadership, and affiliation with other churches. As the leader responded to these questions the subject quickly broadened into a discussion of the churches of Christ, how they are different from other denominations, and who makes the decisions about these issues.

Although the leader did an adequate job of pointing to Scripture as the final authority, and although one of the elders competently shared the church stance on the specific questions as well as the broader philosophy of elder leadership, I was amazed at their amazement that these questions came up (and, incidentally, dominated the rest of the class).

In this age of denominational conflict and theological questioning, people want to know more than classroom locations and meeting times—they want to know “what kind of church is this?” with honesty and a minimum of rhetoric. Restoration Movement churches have unique and refreshing answers to these questions (and a great resource in Standard’s brochure of the same name) and it’s too bad my new church missed its first opportunity to share those answers with an obviously-interested audience.

I emailed the pastor today and shared a link to the brochure as well as encouragement for her thoughtful facilitation of our first session. Yep, she’s a woman—this local body and its group of elders have prayerfully concluded women can hold some leadership positions. This autonomy is a wonderful part of our heritage—I hope the church begins communicating it more effectively.

Radar magazine isn’t my only unsolicited subscription. (Perhaps I have a multiple personality who loves to receive mail. Or maybe I just have a tendency to sign up for things and forget. Not sure.)

Whatever the reason, I also receive periodic emails from Dan Gilliam, a musician, artist and author who recently published God Touches with Standard. Last week the email included an excerpt from his new project, a still-in-process book entitled The Journals of Jesus. Here’s a paragraph I particularly liked:

I can’t remember. I know I am supposed to know something but I cannot remember what. There was something before now, something very significant, something supernatural…….I feel ancient in this youthful, 30 year old, frame—ancient as the desert, ancient as the moon, older than the mountains and the seas. In my body I am young. But in my spirit, in my mind, I am very old. I am old. I Am.

The Bible doesn’t say exactly when Jesus became aware of his identity and calling, but I’ve always thought God probably revealed it to him a piece at a time, over time. As always, the incarnation surprises and fascinates me, and I love Dan’s interpretation.

Target’s been selling wrapping paper and artificial trees for weeks already, but this thought kicked off my own celebration of Christmas.

One of my friends I think you should know–a new recurring feature! (OOMFITYSK)

Last week I reconnected with Sally Lloyd-Jones, a children’s book author who lives in New York City. I worked for Sally as a summer intern when she was the publisher at Reader’s Digest Young Families, and our paths have crossed a few times since then.

I found her website while I was avoiding my work and surfing around Standard’s website. In addition to her books with Random House and other publishers, Sally has published several books with Standard including the award-winning Baby’s First Bible. Her most recent book, which the NYT called “adorable, original, well-illustrated, and fabulous,” is How to be a Baby: by Me, the Big Sister. (Even the title’s great.)

I encourage you to check out her storybook Bibles with Standard, as well as her other books, especially if you have a young child. Her blog is also a delight, even if you can’t get the full effect of her British accent making it funnier.

I think when I grow up I want to be Sally. Is it too late to become Welsh?