Their inspiration and ideas often have percolated in a local coffee shop, where they pray their words can stir souls to a stronger Christian faith.
The Revs. Dan Cash and William Griffith of First Baptist Church let their writing flow at Starbucks with the caffeine, aiming for a wide-eyed wisdom that can be easily used as everything from a Bible study to a week’s earnest read.
Such is the case with the pair’s second book for Christian publisher Judson Press, this one a look at how today’s church is evolving to minister to a more mobile and less traditional flock, with different focuses than a previous generation or two.
Therein lies some of the focus in “The Changing Church: Finding Your Way to God’s New Thing.”
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During a recent chat at First Baptist, where Griffith used to pastor and where Cash currently does so, the pair acknowledged that change, especially among such a sometimes-untouchable institution as the church, is often, “the elephant in the room,” as they put it.
“Congregations today are undergoing vast change,” Cash said.
He added that that includes everything from more casual dress at many services to fewer people attending.
This work, like their first book that Judson Press published two years ago, grew out of a men’s First Baptist Bible study. But they emphasize that this material is hardly limited by gender or denomination.
The book highlights eight key shifts in the New Testament — and how those connect to today’s world. Chapters cover issues such as obstacles to change to elements triggering change to the pace of change — all tied to Scriptural stories and concepts, from Pentecost to the Resurrection. First Baptist member Jeff Caldwell mentioned that the study last year at the church helped him be better equipped for change in general.
“I think that we all recognize at some time that, if you’re unwilling to change, whatever you’re doing will probably soon be dying or dead,” Caldwell said. “The thing for me to remember is that the church should always be an ever-evolving thing.”
Griffith acknowledged that requires risk, such as when in 1964 as a young youth pastor in Patterson, New Jersey, he launched a church homework outreach to students in a poor area — something this particular group of believers never had done.
“We serve a God who is constantly relevant,” Griffith said of the effort that was a big success, eventually building a youth group from five people to more than 80 in a few years.
He added that the book’s eight examples of change “show that God always is working, and is always on the move.”
And they both emphasized that, when God moves, his followers must move and change accordingly. For instance, they write in the book that something as radical as the Resurrection became first a change that left his depressed and frightened followers confused. A dead person is alive again?
“My hope is that this (book) can help people take an approach to change that is doable for them — and a little less threatening that perhaps they originally thought,” Cash said.
He personally understands dramatic change well. A health issue last year and subsequent serious surgery forced him into changes he never planned, including learning to receive help and allowing himself to be vulnerable.
And Griffith, a polished woodworker in semi-retirement, recently lost sight in one eye. So, he, too, hardly approaches the topic of adjustment blithely.
“How I’ve dealt with it is to know it takes time to develop a new normal,” Griffith said.
On a broader and larger scale, Cash is especially open in the book about First Baptist’s own struggles to change. As one example in the book, he cites a smaller number of traditional Sunday School classes offered because many in the younger set have been slow or uninterested in participating, opting instead in many cases for small-group activities.
Griffith interjected more than once that change in any arena of life requires gradual, sequential steps.
“It takes some seed planting,” he said.
In this case, the two propose such at a seemingly great time.
Just in time for spring.
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Title:"The Changing Church: Finding Your Way to God’s New Thing," a paperback available locally at Viewpoint Books and also at various sites online.
Authors: The Revs. Dan Cash and William Griffith from First Baptist Church in Columbus.
Focus: An examination of eight Scriptural stories and elements dealing with change.
For: Individual reading and guidance or small group Bible study.
Price: In the range of $14 to $18, depending upon the seller.
Information: judsonpress.com
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