SPENCER BURKE

In our last installment of Food For Thought, Spencer speaks on his experience helping faith leaders build common cause communities. This example centers on the work that he's done to help build a safe space for homeless teens to get care for their pets. By bringing together people, regardless of faith, they created a true church community and were able to do good and love thy neighbors. 

Transcript: 

I would say we want to be careful to not turn churches into simple rental space. Right. We can end up thinking about, oh, well, let's go ahead and have our traditional aid groups. And I'm not saying take those away or let's open up a preschool or let's do a co-working space where if we just do those things, then the minister and the church and the congregation really become landlords, not people who are speaking into the vision of their community. And I hope the church, whatever assets we have, are seen as wonderful investments into our local communities and beyond. So...

Church is not the same as it once was, and not just because of the pandemic. In this vlog, Spencer talks about the different ways that the church has needed to change due to the pandemic and how we can see the change in our culture and times as a means for dreaming about a better and more fulfilling church experience for our community. 

Read the transcript here: 

Let's just say that potentially 50% of church goers are not going to return. That's a possibility. And we're just early in the stages to try to figure out a lot of this. But if that's true, then we've got to ask, what are the possibilities? What are some of the dreams that we could think about? Well, let's analyze why some people are not coming back. Earlier, we talked about the idea of people getting teachings in real time on their own schedule through podcasts and teaching and others. So people have found during almost two years of a pandemic, how to gather together in small groups, around tables, you...

Why did people need church over the last 500 years? There are so many reasons, it's hard to count, but the three top reasons people went to church were pretty simple: 

1. Find a faith-aligned partner 

2. Learn, be inspired and build new skills 

3. Communicate and gather with your community 

In today's world, all of these things primarily happen outside of the church-house. So, what is it that will organize us and draw people back into their faith communities? 

Read The Transcript Here: 

So why did people need church over the last 500 years? Well, if you think about it, there really was a sense of a one school room like you had the the the little square square, the town square. Right. And you had the civic building. You had the church or synagogue, you had the school and whatever. And it was the one room place where all needs were met, you know, and that was the organizing factor. That's how people did it. So what would happen? Well, people would...

As The "Next" Sunday Summit has come to a close, we want to continue the conversation with you and share some food for thought from our Director, Spencer Burke. In today's video, Spencer breaks down an example of how American Airlines has changed its company culture and initiatives to support its customers in today's world better. 

Just like American Airlines, faith leaders from around the country are wondering, with all of the changes the world is going through, how do we inspire loyalty, continually develop our purpose, and support our communities in the best way possible? 

"So the big question is, what happens when people don't come back to Sunday as the main organizing function? What happens when nobody flies with us on Sunday morning?"

Read the Transcript below: 

I use this metaphor to think about the "Next" Sunday.

I've flown American Airlines forever, and I'm a loyal customer. I have the little card, and for years what you've been able to do is use...