So, we knew we had to do something but we weren’t’ sure what…
During my websurfing, I found the website of a local Christian Church that started with about 50 members and was regularly attracting 2500-3000. We had been hovering around having 50 in attendance, and I figured that if they could grow that large, we could too. I mentioned this congregation to some of our friends at church, and that I thought we should visit it sometime and see how they did things. Our more conservative friends sounded interested, but cautious.
As things deteriorated more and more around us, with less people coming, and worse attitudes emerging, we joked more and more about going to that Christian Church. Finally, we got so frustrated that our good friends (their entire family) and my family would go check this congregation out. We sent an email to our minister letting him know we wouldn’t be at church on a certain Sunday, and why, and then we went.
Going into a congregation that had 2500 people from 50 was a bit of a culture shock, but it was good. We took a lot of what they did, their attitudes, and their look, and decided that we wanted to incorporate those things into our church.
We came up with a list of small changes that no one could biblically argue with. The first was to remove the pulpit. Several people freaked out. Some argued even though there was no biblical basis for it. Our minister, who at first was supportive, decided this was his time to bail, making the changes we had made the reason for his departure, and he left.
We’ve made-over part of our building, fixed our roof, created a vision statement that included welcoming people of all types and situations, changed the bulletin, created a nice self-serve coffee bar, and hired a couple of interns from Cascade - one to preach and the other to improve worship.
We’ve had a couple of spurts of visitors, but this Sunday we were down where we were before.
Unfortunatly, I still see much of the same attitude….but out of different people now. People leave and create a hole, and someone else fills it.
Yesterday and today my wife and I had some good friends of ours treat us horribly… part of that “filling the hole.” It started a while ago and has gotten worse. We almost decided to leave and find another congregation today…it was so painful. Another good friend showed us that that would be a mistake.
Its been crazy. I am swamped in school…I’m taking History of the New Testament this quarter along with Astronomy…and it is killing me. I’m working full time as usual….and I’m lead/supervisor/program developer for my special little work unit….and its killing me. I’m going through Structural Fire Academy for work so that I can take care of fire stuff better…and its killing me.
Prayers will be gratefully accepted.
I apologize for taking so long for part 2. So many things have happened…so many frustrations…so many little things have kept me from sharing the story. The words above don’t communicate 5% of what has happened.
I’ve had a lot of thoughts, a lot I’ve wanted to get on here and talk about, but I didn’t want to do that without finishing this story.
I’m glad this story is written. I’ll probably write more about it later. I have many other things I want to talk about right now though.
I’ll see you all soon.
-Clarke
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URI
February 6th, 2007 at 9:16
Hi Clarke,
I feel your pain. Not all of it, I’m sure.
It’s risky to offer advice on such limited information. Take this with a grain of salt, but maybe there is something here that will help.
I really do think the key thing that has to be in place is loving one another and being united as a church. I know that sounds trite. But nobody will be drawn to a fellowship that is at war with itself.
Back in the early 1980’s I was part of a group that started with 13 people (including the minister and his wife). We had no outside financial support. Of course we didn’t have a mortgaged building to pay for. Our services were in our houses for the first year. But we loved each other. We had a weekly church dinner after worship every week. We shared a common vision. We did everything together, seven days a week. We raised our kids together. We played tennis and football together. We shared our faith together. And God took us from from 13 to 180 members (with attendance nearly double that number) in five years.
I strongly believe you have to have that unity and love to move forward in a positive way. I don’t know how you can fix that in your situation. Maybe there is someone who can come in and help resolve the differences.
I’ll be praying for you.
February 6th, 2007 at 9:37
Hey, Clarke. I’ll certainly pray for you.
I hestitate ask, but I will anyway: Is it possible y’all majored in minors too much? The condition of the building, whether to have a pulpit or not, and so on - most of what you’ve listed are just incidentals, matters of judgment, opinion, expedience.
It sounds to me from what you’ve described that the core problem is a lack of love (and respect) for each other. It sounds like y’all tried to build a large “building” without having a sound “foundation” first.
And, honestly, that can go both ways; running people off because they don’t agree with others’ “vision” was one of Rick Warren’s worst suggestions. Sometimes the hardest thing (for me, anyway) is to remember that it’s not “my” church, or even “our” church.
Like I said, I don’t know if that’s the case with y’all or not, but it sounds that way from your description. Drop me an email if you’d like to discuss it a bit more.
February 6th, 2007 at 11:58
Hi Clark,
Keep in mind that I’m Lutheran, but I think jdb1972 has hit on something important. Aesthetics are only as good as the foundation upon which they’re built. I have a simple litmus test for worship:
Can I tangibly say I’ve received anything from worship?
I always try to remember that New Testament worship was centered on what the believers needed, not what would appeal to those outside the church. Worship should be inward. Once the sheep are fed, they’ll bring more sheep to the flock.
Blessings to you,
Adam
February 6th, 2007 at 20:46
Its nice to see you back, it was a sign, I took you off my blogroll assuming you just might not come back. I shall put you back on.
I share your frustrations, there are certain ways our congregation does church that, yes, appeals to the older crowd, but the up and coming generation, our teens, it doesnt reach them, and I am scared to lose them. I am not saying congregations need to change for the sake of change but they must reflect the society they live in. Its no longer the 1950’s. I am all for getting rid of the pulpit by the way.
At the same we know growth has nothing, overall, to do with numbers. I would rather be in a community with 50 comitted brothers and sisters then 3000 folks who just go with the flow.
February 9th, 2007 at 10:06
I totally agree that the changes are primarily cosmetic, and we knew that going in. We are working on changing attitudes, but that takes a long time. Part of the strategy is to do both…change the cosmetic stuff first, and giving reasoning behind it that the congregation can at least somewhat support, and lead that into a change of attitude. Part of this is also an attempt to attract a little bit of transfer growth… people who have a real Christian attitude and who want to work for the Lord.
-Clarke
February 19th, 2007 at 14:36
Hi Clarke - was searching for something else and stumbled across your blog.
Just curious, it seems like a good part of your congregation didn’t have an issue with you actually visiting this “local Christian Church” and you seem to be impressed with the way they are doing things.
Have you considered merging with them and getting involved with what they’re doing instead of trying to recreate it at your own church? Or is that something that would just never happen?
FYI - In the interest of full disclosure I grew up in the CofC but don’t attend one now.
June 14th, 2007 at 18:18
Clark,
My sister, who reads my blog “religiously” sent me your post. My situation is not exactly like yours, but close enough that I can relate. I think you would love reading my blog (especially the post “Can’t We All Just Get Along?”. It deals so much with the issues you raised and the comments to that post are great. I also posted one called “No Creed But the Bible” and another called “Improving the Bible”. These both expose our reality as opposed to our faulty self image. I was really frustrated with our small town situation and I was feeling so trapped. Now, I’m feeling so uplifted and changes are starting to take place which are awesome—in spite of lack of leadership and resistance by the “naysayers”. I also met with a man who is the pastor of a small town church which has grown from about 75 members to over 500 members in the last 5 or 6 years. I asked him to share with me what it took to get to where he is. He met with me a few months later, even though we live 4 1/2 hours apart and he gave me a list of what they have done. Anyway, I’m excited about what is happening. A hint, much of my excitement is based upon keeping our eyes on Jesus instead of the wind (Peter walking on the water). That’s an oversimplification in some ways, but good things are starting to happen here and I know they can happen where you are also. My email is quicksand@htcomp.net if you want to correspond privately. I will be happy to share with you the road we’ve come down. (You can get a good dose of it on my “Religion and Me” Tag and My “Church of Christ” tag. God Bless. Dennis