Church in America is
complicated business!
It seems to require a space where people can function as the church.
It apparently requires a leader (or leaders) who typically – in our culture – are willing to take a salary from the church in recompense for their service [I did this for nearly 40 years].
OBSERVATION:
As a strong supporter of my church’s missions department [and as a
former missionary for three years], I notice that the places where our church
is growing fastest and making manifold new disciples are in countries like
Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar, India, etc. where pastors rarely have buildings,
receive little or no income and rarely even have a mode of transportation to
get to their various charges. Meanwhile, the American church continues to
shrink – so much so that my denomination’s annual yearbook no longer lists
attendance figures! Two churches that I formerly served ran near or
over 200 in attendance; today, both have attendances that are a small
fraction of what they formerly had. Something’s wrong!
To be viable, it seems – again in our culture – to have to provide specialized ministries to children, youth and young adults. For a fledgling church, these are extraordinary demands when numbers are small and leaders are in short supply [not to mention money being also in short supply].
To be able to receive tithes and offerings, the church must acquire a 501c3 from the government.
Then there are the many other ‘necessities’ that quickly encumber a new church:
- Computers, phones, copiers, chairs, sound system, etc.
- Parking space, people to help with set-up and tear-down,
- Instrumentalists, worship leaders, sound and visual operators, etc.
- Finances for publicity, facilities, salaries, equipment and so much more is overwhelming!
In light of all this, it’s always interesting to remind ourselves that the New Testament Church found a way to manage for nearly four hundred years without any church buildings! ;-)
Maybe we need to simplify? Or at least evaluate our methodology. Could there be a better way? Perhaps we need a conference led by our pastors from Nepal and Thailand?
New paradigms might be helpful:
Instead of full-fledged children’s and youth ministries,
maybe we should just focus on training parents in raising godly, well-adjusted
children and youth!
One of my most fruitful and
helpful ventures was inviting five couples who had raised children that
continued to walk in the faith of their parents to come and share their
methods. Each couple shared different ideas
and practices that they had used to establish their kids in the faith!
I have wished many times that I had videoed those sessions! They were priceless!
Perhaps we could just facilitate times for families with children and youth to get together for fun, learning and relationship building?
Regarding worship: Do we really need a platform full of worship leaders and instrumentalists? I have been in worship settings where just a single person with a guitar led in powerful times of worship! I recently attended a church where all the worship music was digital. I was surprised at how fully the people responded. The worship and atmosphere was vibrant!
I'm open to a variety of ways of doing things, but the trend toward dark worship venues puzzles me. I realize that it facilitates the use of video and PowerPoint. I understand the belief that it may be thought to help the worshiper focus and forget the crowd. But it is a radical change from what we’ve experienced in past years. Sanctuaries were flooded with light that was occasionally filtered through stained glass reminders of the principals of our faith! The darkness countermands the fact that we are a light set on a hill! Jesus is the light of the world! However, I am willing to concede that we can make space for a variety of ways of doing worship! If nothing else, there’s room for discussion and engagement here.
I spend a lot of time wondering if the time and conditions are suggesting that the church should return to the home? I have seriously considered starting a house-church.
We have attended a church for over three years now. My wife is far more engaged than I am – partly because she has joined and I don’t because of my ordination in the denomination I served for forty+ years. [Her engagement might also be affected by the fact that she worships every Sunday with several of her siblings.]
I enjoy the warm and caring people who populate this church and am happy to see that it is a healthy place with a desire to be more effective. My wife is currently part of a revitalization team that hopes to impact the church’s future. But I struggle with the ritual-approach to worship. Coming from a freer style of worship, I get bored with the predictability and sameness of worship Sunday after Sunday! I miss several things that were meaningful: altar prayer, laying on hands for the sick, increased lay involvement in worship, calls for decision.
There is a sharing time where people can relate personal needs, praises and prayer requests. Following this, the pastor leads in a prayer mentioning each of these. From experience, this is something that can be done until a church reaches a certain size. It is appreciated in our church though, and rightly so.
Somehow, I long for something more engaging, personal, responsive and meaningful!
Are these things being debated in the church today? Is our mission, purpose and methodology being evaluated? Does anyone question our effectiveness – or lack of fruitfulness?
American culture is caving in around us. Clearly – by my estimation – the church is not getting a very good grade for its impact in forming and shaping our society! We’re doing our own thing while the world crumbles around us!
I’m asking questions and making observations. Is anyone else? Does anyone want to talk about these things? I’m struggling. I want to be part of something again that is making a real difference. I’m ready and willing to make adjustments and to make a contribution. I don’t have the answers, but I do have lots of questions.
Grab me sometime and let’s talk…
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