About
Dan Dick is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church serving in Extension Ministry as the Director of Connectional Ministries for the Wisconsin Annual Conference. A nationally known speaker, teacher, and author of thirteen books on spirituality, stewardship, congregational development, research, and spiritual gifts discovery, and an advocate for a more loving, inclusive church for the 21st century and beyond, Dan worked for the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee for fourteen years in stewardship, congregational and conference planning, leadership development, and research.
Dan’s newest book is Bursting the Bubble (Abingdon Press, 2008). Subtitled, Rethinking Conventional Wisdom about Church Leadership, the book invites critical thinking and serious reflection about many myths and misconceptions currently influencing Christian churches in the United States. Bursting the Bubble is a hopeful and engaging call to rethink “church” and become the body of Christ for the world.
Rev. Patricia Farris, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California reviews Bursting the Bubble in the Feb/Mar/Apr 2009 issue of Circuit Rider Magazine.
Dan – Thanks for your thoughtful words on Pentecost Christians! I will quote you!
Were you the person who working on research issues at the GBOD? Seems I was told to talk to you once about my interests…I’m a pastor now but with a PhD in Sociology and a love of using research to further the churhc (it is possible), I thought someone said you were the person to talk to…
Have fun in Wisconsin – my home state!!! I pray it will be refreshin g and that you bring all the blessings you brought to GBOD to Wisconsin! Blessings – Karen
Hi, Karen, I am the guy who did research at GBOD. The leadership there never really caught a vision for what research could do, and unfunded, I never did very much. Finally, the powers-that-be decided that there was no value in research, closed the office and let me go. But grace abounds. I cannot wait to get started in Wisconsin and look forward to all the blessings and challenges that await. Keep seeking and finding ways to help our church through your research work. I for one know how valuable it really is.
Wow! Congratulations on the new position! I guess I didn’t know where to check to get your response. I’m not much of a blogger, though I tried to start One Disciple Walking a long time ago….just didn’t keep up with it. I admire your blogging and your research questions. I would like to contact you (facebook? email?)
I just returned from Indiana Conference – the first – and talked to several people about my desire to use research and analysis in helping churches. (And asked what happened to all the data you were responsible for – is it yours or GBOD?) RETHINK CHURCH was the theme! Your book sounds relevant. Need a review written??
Right now, my sociology research background is most useful to me as consultant/coach. The substance of my academic background (family, aging, mental health) has been most useful in pastoral ministry.
I was wondering if you have conducted any multivariate analyses of some of the fascinating data you have, or if you plan to do any additional analyses. Introducing other variables can be so insightful, as you know. I am so sorry about the general attitude toward research – and knowledge of all kinds. People often prefer to fight for power based on opinion and individual preference rather than to establish the future with knowledge and wisdom of the community.
Hope you will have time to keep writing! Wish I had more time to read! And blog!
Blessings – Karen Altergott
Dan,
Thank you so much for the time you gave us at West Michigan Annual Conference. I appreciated all the information you shared. Wisconsin will be blessed by your leadership.
Here’s a question: In your last session with us, you defined “hospitality” as something deeper than just being welcoming and friendly, but I didn’t write down what you said, but I wanted to remember it. Can you give it to me again? I’m a camp director in West Michigan and I spend a lot of time talking about Christian Hospitality with my staff and I really want to move my staff along to a deeper level of hospitality.
Thanks again for your teaching.
Peace,
Jeff
Thanks for the kind words, Jeff. I had a fantastic time with you all at the West Michigan AC. My point (I think…) is that hospitality is truly a value more than a set of behaviors and practices. We can teach people to be friendly and welcoming, but this is just behavior modification unless we work on the underlying desire to expand our “family.” I use the contrast of “guest” and “family.” We can welcome guests, truly love to see them, do everything we can to make them comfortable, but we also prefer it when they go home. Very little real fundamental change has to happen to welcome guests. But to open the home to family — to people who will live with us and be with us and come to know us deeply — is risky. We will be uncomfortable. We will have to share. We will have to change. True hospitality exists only when we are ready, willing, and able to disrupt the harmony of what is, to become something new and different. This means changing the whole, deep culture, and it takes time. Too much of what we sling around today as hospitality is putting up signs, teaching people to shake hands, sending a follow-up post card or email, etc. These things will happen automatically if we work on the deeper issues of hospitality, but by themselves, they don’t have the power to take us where we really need to be. To do that, I believe we need to work in our congregations and Christian groups on relationships, behavioral covenants, developing emotional and social intelligence, and engaging in regular conversation about what it means to be open, welcoming, accepting, non-judgmental, and kind. Hope this helps.
I’d suggest that we assume that “family” know the family practices, traditions, etc. We don’t expect that “guests” do, and we go out of our way to fill in the blanks for the guests at home. Likewise if we think of visitors as guests, we would do the same for them (printing familiar responses and the Lord’s Prayer in the bulletin; escorting people to the fellowship hall and introducing them to people, etc.).
Also, I’d suggest that we need to increase the expectation of what happens when you enter the family through the membership covenant. The expectations of family in covenant should be higher (and I don’t mean sitting on committees so much as commitment to covenant groups, attendance at worship, and the like) that they are for guests.
One of the suggestions I make when I offer consultation to local churches is to think in terms of adoption. What kinds of processes and learning does a family need to make to adopt a child, especially a child from another culture? It is unrealistic to expect the new family member to make all the adjustments. We cannot leave it to “them” to understand, accept, and be like “us.” At the heart of any relationship is a mutual commitment to grow together. A church needs to be very clear about what being a “member of the family” actually means. If we are all children of God, we’re all family to begin with, and guest is a moot point. Learning to treat everyone well — including each other — is at the heart of hospitality. The “fruits” of hospitality — warmth, welcome, kindness, etc., — must grow from the soil of hospitality — compassion, concern for others, deep affection for God’s people, and a radical belief that we are better off in relationship than we are all alone. We need to be clear of our motives for acting in hospitable ways — are we seeking new relationships primarily for the benefit of the church, for the benefit of the newcomer, or for the mutual benefit of the whole body of Christ? Victoria, you raise for me one of the most important issues that we tend to gloss over — have we adequately “gotten our house in order” to receive guests, friends, family or the occasional stranger? It may well be that we should look at getting our own house in order — making sure we know and understand our own story, that we’re clear about what we mean by “prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness” and what we expect from our “family” in these areas, and making sure that we will fully integrate all who come into our fellowship and not act as if the newbies are “outsiders” who have to fight for the right to be treated as equals. End of sermonette.
How can we, as a guest looking for a new “family,” fit in and make it easier on the family to accept us? The church seems friendly and welcoming, but still we feel like outsiders some of the time. The answer to our prayers concerning this change (after leaving a church where we attended for 20+years) seem to lead us to this particular church so we do not want to question God. We, the guests, need direction too, in ways we can make it easier to be adopted!
Dan,
I found your blog a few months ago and have read it regularly since. I think you make some excellent points in each of your blogs.
But, when was the last time you wrote something about a congregtion or a Christian getting it right? I certainly don’t have the bird’s-eye view of the United Methodist Church that you do, but I find it hard to believe that the church is 95% those who get it wrong or just don’t get it. Each time I read your blog I think to myself that our denomination and the church in general is way more messed up than I knew.
I think your thoughts add great insights to the discourse and point out many of the ways we get it wrong and how we need to examine ourselves in stark honesty. But, how about a blog about church’s who are getting it right every once in awhile?
Peace,
Jeff
Can i have permission to copy your fruit picture for my school project?
Yes, you may. Thank you for asking!
Dear Dan,
I noticed your blog item about Spiral Dynamics. You might be interested in knowing that there are other approaches and modelings of Dr. Clare W. Graves’ spiral values theory in addition to that from the Spiral Dynamics groups.
At Brain Technologies and Brain Me Up, we have been producing personal and thinking skills development materials centered on the Graves spiral model for more than 30 years. We’ve written five books on the topic.
The best known is our best-selling book, Strategy of the Dolphin: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World, (now out in eight languages, the latest being Turkish) by myself and Dr. Paul L. Kordis.
There is also Code of the Monarch: An Insider’s Guide to the Real Global Business Revolution, also by myself and Dr. Kordis (published in German by Junfermann Verlag as Der Schlüssek zur Globalisierung: handbuch für den Wandel (ISBN 3-87387-184-X). The work is the second in Junfermann’s Medienanthropologie series, joining Marshall McLuhan’s and Bruce R. Power’s The Global Village).
Details are located here:
http://www.brainmeup.com/books-find-it.htm
The latest book-length work is my book, The Mother of All Minds: Leaping Free of an Outdated Human Nature. One reviewer of MOAM, Noel Odou, Author of Magnificently Insignificant (Brolga, 2009), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, has noted:
“The Mother of All Minds is a fascinating, intricate and brilliant work, yet as readable as a good novel. It is both philosophically challenging and at the same time practically useful to people who are serious about wanting to grow and adapt to the new world we live in. I found it as impactful as a punch in the face but not without a sense of humour. Dudley Lynch may well be doing for Clare Grave’s theory what Daniel Goleman did for Emotional Intelligence.”
And we have two assessment tools based on Dr. Graves’ theory:
MindMaker6®, a printed tool,
and the online assessment, the Yo!Dolphin! Worldview Survey™.
Details are located here:
http://www.brainmeup.com/mindmaker6.htm
http://www.brainmeup.com/yodolphin.htm
I’d love to have you and your readers stop by our website and visit a world of Graves that is straightforward and applicable to real-world uses and possibilities in ways that sometimes elude others of his interpreters..
Best wishes,
Dudley Lynch
President
Brain Technologies Corp.
Gainesville, FL
Dan, I appreciate your including Sunday’s Child on your blog roll and now request that you change the link.
Old: unamalachica.blogspot.com
New: suewhitt.blogspot.com
Got it! Did it! Thanks!
Stacey, yours is a grace-filled and insightful question. I don’t know that there is one single answer, but one thing that can help is to be clear what you are really looking for. Just like in any relationship, being able to share what you think, feel, believe, and hope for are all important information. We connect deeply with those who share values, hopes, dreams, and common interests. It is important that congregations help visitors know who they are, how they understand their purpose, and what they most deeply value. Visitors and seekers who can articulate what they are looking for then lay a good foundation for finding a place where they fit in. Many people who visit churches on a regular basis observe that it isn’t always easy to figure out what the church is all about, and they may attend for months and still not feel like they fit in. But your point is a good one — both sides have a responsibility to forging an ongoing relationship. Joining a family is different than being a guest — new family members need to make an effort to fit in every bit as much as the family needs to work to make them feel welcome.