Pastor in a Box Poll Results

April 7, 2009 by Joshua Cody

At the risk of igniting another comment firestorm, we asked you if you were ready to put your pastor in a box. In our earlier article, comments ranged from thought-provoking and well-intentioned to simplistic and pugnacious. Hopefully, things will stay nice here as we visit this subject once more.

6% of you are sitting on the fence. You’re not sure exactly what you think of this, and we’d love to know if you’re still there or if the comments on the entry have swayed you.

Another 6% of you are willing to do anything to shut your pastor up, including putting him in a box. We won’t tell your pastors you said so.

Just over a quarter of you think this idea is a ridiculous joke. It crossed some sort of line, and you aren’t ready to cross it with them. Perhaps you have a well-thought response to explain yourself, or maybe it just feels wrong.

And the winners are … the 60% of you who give a resounding yes to boxing pastors, so long as it brings people in the doors. You’re big fans of going the extra mile and doing whatever it takes to expose people to the gospel–a noble goal indeed.

This week, we’ll be a bit more tame by asking: Which Holy Week holidays does your church observe?

Phil
April 7, 2009

I have no rant to offer over the results of this. I don’t believe that putting a ‘pastor in a box’ is a valid way of attracting people to church. Honestly, can you imagine the amount of credibility you will lose by doing it. “We thought that it would be fun to put someone in a box and invite people to look at him/her” – does that really sound attractive, I’m afraid that I’d rather take off to the pub with my friends. And that’s the point, isn’t it? Friends. How does putting someone in a box build relationships?
If your argument is that you need to attract people into church to start these relationships, then I think you’ve missed the whole point of the gospel. Get out of the building, start meeting people where they are, love them, take an interest in their lives, share a meal and share Jesus. Nobody’s going to come back for week two to see the guy still in the box (it’s lost power after five minutes), the only way you get another big bit of PR is if the guy dies; but people will come back to you if you make the effort as a genuine friend.

| Permalink

Alec
April 7, 2009

To be honest, I think the comments on the original entry reflected more a defensive overreaction to your thoughts on the campaign than an actual conversation about the topic. And I can’t help but think the survey results were skewed by a backlash from the ministry’s supporters.
I think the validity of stunts such as this depends on the focus of the campaign. If the focus is to get church members to bring people to church with them, I don’t think it is such a horrible idea. It gives people a reason to talk about their faith in a non-threatening, unique way.
If the focus is just to get more butts in the seats, then, like many other tricks played by churches, it won’t necessarily make any difference. I like my megachurch, but I have to admit one of our biggest weaknesses is the fact that you could come to church every Sunday and never make a connection with those around you. The bigger the crowd, the easier it is to blend in.

Justin
April 7, 2009

Churches should do as Oprah, give away stuff… YOU get a car! and YOU get a car! And YOU get a car!!
No, but seriously. Showboating just detracts from the message we’re trying to convey.

Michael Buckingham
April 8, 2009

Say what you will about the stunt/marketing/whatever but you have to give social networking props of bringing the church together to defend their idea. I do agree that the defensive stance got ugly (which would actual detract me from attending) but it did show how people can come together through technology.

Leland R. Caldwell
April 9, 2009

Just a quick note from my perspective. One of the questions some have had on this forum is “what will people (perhaps the lost) think about the way they have been reached (through pastor in a box). I am 48 years old. I was a police officer for 15 years. As an officer I dealt with countless thousands of intoxicated individuals, family violence circumstances and hopeless individuals. Later I became a lawyer. As a Lawyer I have prosecuted criminals, defended criminals and handled around 1000 divorces. I have had hundreds of distraught peoples’ lives in my hands. I now operate a business with dozens of employees. Through all my positions I have seen and dealt with of scores of people who have endured unbelieveable tragedies and countless others who simply had no hope. One thing is for sure, they were all looking for hope. Would these people scrutinize whether PIB was the appropriate method to have gotten them to church if they come to church and Jesus saves their souls. What a joke it is to even be suggesting such a thought. The real problem is that these people have not been witnessed to, or reached, by the “self righteous” Judgemental church crowd that sits around judging efforts like Calvary’s in the PIB outreach attempt. I know of many that have agreed to come with me to the service who are looking for hope and a little grace. I hope they don’t run into grace killers along our journey getting there!

roger
April 13, 2009

LELAND, I LOVE YOU and all those who do not like our method……. oh well!! let us do our deal and you can choose your own method. there is no use in blasting what we do cause we are very effective in our community and have been for almost 37 years now. there is something to say for our staying power and results. BEN, GET IN THAT BOX AND I LOVE YOU TOO!!!

Christian Girl
April 13, 2009

I’m not sure what brought the people in yesterday, but wow what a powerful service. There were few dry eyes in the house regarding the number of people who came forward and accepted Christ as their Savior….it was AMAZING.

Elmer Canas Jr.
April 13, 2009

If it was the box or not, we had over 5,000 people on Easter Sunday and the important part was that hundreds came to the Lord and wanted to become a part of our local church body. Whatever people say about tactics and all, the truth is that our main focus is reaching out to the lost and hurting. And we thrive to do so every week. While the blogging world got caught up with the “box”, people at Calvary where reaching out and plowing the ground. And the harvest continues. More and more people continue to show every week. It’s not because of the box, or else people would just stand by the road and stare at the roof of our building. There’s something much greater than that that brings them in the building and into the seats. God is up to something and people are being changed. Pastor Ben is my best friend and all, but i still hope he ends up in the box and honestly he will. And just watch whats gonna happen, i guarantee a break out. Once again it’s hard to judge a person, theme, title or even marketing technique when you are not directly connected to the source. People of Calvary aren’t being driven by a box, but by the need to break out of the norm and to reach out to everybody that they know for Jesus Christ. If you want some ideas for sermon series, worship sets, special events, marketing, etc…please feel free to contact me. We are here to help build the kingdom and to serve one another. Be a blessing and be blessed.