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OLYMPIA — Dave Simonsen and Dave Vahey both grew up attending church—and both have experienced periods of disconnection with the Church in their faith journey. Both Daves also eventually rediscovered the value of Church in Christian maturation and relationship, and came back to church. Both currently serve in different capacities at Emmanuel Bible Fellowship in Olympia.
Simonsen and Vahey are the brains behind National Go To Church Day, a grassroots effort to help the Church draw Christians back in. Simonsen, a Couples and Family Therapist, husband and father of five, recently shared more details on the movement with the Christian Examiner.
CE: Can you expand on how Go To Church Day came about?
Simonsen: Over coffee we started wondering why people don't go to church. We boiled it down to laziness. People often don't want to make the effort to go to a local church. Many excuses are used, but it seemed we kept coming back to “people get lazy.”
Now, how [do we] encourage people in a different way than just inviting them back? “Spank the Donkey” was born. Lazy "donkeys" are everywhere—even in the church. We just have to be brave enough to call it what it is. We don't want to be too offensive so the term lazy donkey was born.
CE: Is the campaign aimed at a specific age group or demographic?
Simonsen: Due to the unique phrase of “Spank the Donkey,” both of us realized that older churched people would probably not readily embrace the idea. We have started groups on MySpace and Facebook, so, it is aimed at a younger age, but we have found that some older people are embracing the idea as well.
It is specifically geared for those believers who have left the church and are too scared, lazy, irritated, annoyed, angry, sad, depressed etc., to come back. We just want people to give it a try again.
CE: What does it matter if Christians don't go to church?
Simonsen: The Church is not the building, it is the people. Most people recognize this. Yet, we realized there seems to be no direct outreach to unchurched believers. We believe the more Christians can be connected, the better the Church becomes.
CE: What do you hope to accomplish through the campaign?
Simonsen: We hope to help the Church start a conversation with those who have left. We don't want to be preachy—we want to be approachable and genuine. We believe the "Spank the Donkey" idea makes people smile and with this smile may come a conversation. That would let them consider coming back to relationships they have left.
CE: What would you say to those who might be turned off by the edginess, irreverence of what you are doing?
Simonsen: Hmmm, have you been talking to our moms? Our goal is not to reach people in the church. Our goal is to reach the ex-churched and reconcile with them. Restoring relationships is what we are about, and we will do what we can to restore them. If it's not sin then we will do what we can to help restore these lost relationships.
CE: How are you using modern technology to reach people with your message?
Simonsen: We have two Web sites—GoToChurchDay.com and LazyDonkeyDay.com. On those sites there are podcasts, access to Facebook and MySpace groups, merchandise to buy and most importantly, links to find a church near you.
We also have a newsletter we send out to approximately 25,000 people. We are definitely a grassroots movement that is starting to find some traction. I am also pretty sure we are the only Web site of this kind that willingly posts a phone number where people can leave messages. We would love to hear comments on the DONKEYLINE at 1-702-468-7741.
CE: What has the response been so far?
Simonsen: [The] response has been pretty positive thus far. We have posted some of the comments on our blog. We have been able to have conversations with people across the globe who think this is a great idea. These comments range from "this is a great idea" to "I don't need to go to no (profanity omitted) church take me off your (profanity omitted) newsletter."
CE: How are you funding this project?
Simonsen: This project is completely being funded by us. We have thought of approaching Bill Gates, but can't imagine he would wear a T-shirt that says, “Spank the Donkey.”
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