Five Factors in Growing Congregations

Before congregations and leaders can set their minds on growth, we have to soberly look around us and come to terms with the landscape of our communities and society at large. This confronts us with five factors that all congregations that wish to grow must wrestle and prayerfully respond to:     

Post-Christian Society

There was a time where the values of society and church were more in alignment. That time is over. There was a time when the definition of being a good person included going to church. That is no longer the case. Society use to support church going. It doesn’t now. In fact, in some circles, going to church carries a negative social stigma. Society will carry on with its activities, including on Sunday mornings, regardless of how we would like things to be. Do we find ways to challenge people to a high commitment in order to forgo these activities on Sunday morning or do we offer worship services at other times or both? These sorts of questions will need to be wrestled with and various experiments tried in response (for more on post-modernism click here).

Franchise System:  

For a long time churches merely needed to run their franchise (e.g. Anglican, Lutheran, etc.) and people of that denomination would show up and take their children through the system (baptism, Sunday school, etc.) and it would sustain itself. This system is now broken. We cannot expect Christians to simply show up to our churches. Increasingly, those who show up to your church and are your denomination and ready to participate in congregational life should be welcomed as unusual and a blessing. Congregations and leaders will need to focus on reaching all sorts of people: unchurched, and dechurched, regardless if they have your denominational tribal background or not.  In other words, we cannot simply wait for people to come to us. We must go to them.

Mission vs. Maintenance

There was a time where to keep a church going you mostly had to maintain the system. Now, if churches simply do what they have always done, the result is that, they decline.  Churches that are growing are committed to mission. They focus outward to their communities and the world. This outward orientation is key. Yet, it can be overwhelming for small congregations because the core volunteers are often already maxed out (sometimes burnt out) in terms of time and energy. Yet, efforts at reaching out to the community are essential not only for growing a congregation numerical and spiritually, but also in terms of being faithful to Jesus’ Great Commandment to Love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:34-40).

Image Problem

Older generations – even those who didn’t or don’t attend church- often have a respectable view of the church. This is not the case with younger generations.  The majority perceptions among younger generations of the church are negative, hostile, or indifferent. With much of the population, we are not starting from a neutral position in terms of their perceptions of us. Instead, with most, we are fighting against a negative position and several unfortunate stereotypes that people have about Christians in general and the Church in particular. Part of our evangelistic witness needs to be visibly living out our faith in ways that counters these stereotypes; also, we will have to name our belief and defend it ideologically in winsome and respectful ways. This has big implications for preaching and teaching in our churches. 

               

         Church-Goer vs. Disciple 

The Franchise system didn’t have to focus on making disciples because society and other factors motivated people into churches. Increasingly, it will be disciples who attend church as one part of a larger lifestyle commitment to Christianity. Disciple making was also Jesus’ focus. A church goer is someone who’s committment to Christianity largely consists in attending church (maybe regularly, maybe once in a while) and being a good person and good citizen. A disciple strives to follow Jesus in every aspect of their lives (more on church goers and disciples here). They are not perfect, but they acknowledge that following Christ should flavor all that they do, not just an hour on Sunday. A disciple will be willing to buck social expectations and live a Christian life; it will become more difficult for church goers in an increasingly secular society to do so. Part of our challenge is that we are often not so good at making disciples and will have to learn to become disciples ourselves as we are reaching out to other prospective disciples.

A Prayer for Australia

God of vast spaces and many peoples, we ask your blessing upon Australia. Guide and sustain leaders at every level from the Prime Minister, to Premiers of each state, to those leading in their local communities whether civically, culturally, or within your Church. Strengthen bonds between immigrants, native Australians descended from immigrants, as well as indigenous peoples. Guide those preserving Australia’s great natural bounty entrusted to it by creation. Bless every citizen and those eagerly working toward citizenship. Let the world learn more about this great nation and let those who visit it be blessed and share their happy stories of this epic land in many languages across many nations. We pray this through the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Church Unity: What You Can Do

One factor that has long weakened Christian witness is Christian disunity, as manifested in thousands of denominations, conflicts between churches and within churches. In the last century and into our own, there have been considerable strides toward greater visible unity between the various Christian Churches. Many of these gains have taken place at the official level of commissions, bishops meetings, and the like.

These are all very significant and I encourage you to explore the ecumenical efforts within your particular denomination and between denominations (for example in the work of the World Council of Churches). But what can you do to foster greater Christian unity and greater realization of the true “Lord’s Prayer” as found in John 17:21, that we all be one? Here are some simple steps for individuals, small groups, and local churches.

1.     Pray. Pray regularly for Christian unity. Put some teeth on it by praying for friends, family, and co-workers who are members of other Christian Churches. Pray for the other Christian Churches in your community. Have your local church do this on Sundays (that includes the local churches you don’t like).

2.     Connect with other Christians. Whether among your friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors, or wherever, there are other followers of Jesus all around you. They may be Roman Catholic, you may be Methodist. But make a connection on the basis of your shared Christian faith first and foremost and explore tribal differences on a secondary basis.

3.     Think beyond your tribe. Think of the “Church” in your city, county, or region. So much can be done more effectively on a regional level versus the congregational level. Yes, you need to do certain things rooted in your local congregation’s distinctive identity, but there are plenty of things you can do more faithfully and more effectively by partnering with other Christians. NEWS FLASH: You do not need to agree about every matter to partner together for the common good.

4.     Stop bad mouthing other Christians! This is a cancer within the body of Christ. Progressive Christians make their snide remarks about fundamentalists. Conservative Christians make their jabs at liberals. Having been trained in and ministered across the theological and denominational spectrum, I can assure you that every stripe of Christian sub-culture faces this problem. Sadly, it is often taken for granted. In fact, some churches or individuals have made it a point of personal identity and pride to stress how unlike other Christians they are. Praise everything you can about other believers. Stress all the common points you can. When appropriate, share graciously your points of disagreement.

5.     (This is directed particularly to pastors and other church leaders). Think Kingdom increase, not just your local church’s increase. Your interest in people shouldn’t be merely to rack up attendance numbers for your local church. If in the course of your personal witness or church’s outreach ministry individuals become interested in Christianity, but end up attending another church. That is still a “win” in the Kingdom. Care about people and their spiritual well-being more than you care about increasing your membership rolls.

6.     Observe the week for Christian Unity which happens every year from January 18 through January 25.

What else would you suggest? What are you doing? What have you seen done that is faithful and effective in developing visible church unity and witness? (Speaking of denominations are they bad? Click here. Or maybe being non-denominational is the answer? Click here. Finally, know the difference between religion and denomination. Click here.) 

A Prayer for Christian Unity

Almighty God, you prayed that we might be one as you and the Father are one. While united by your Holy Spirit, we often divide ourselves by our own unwilling spirits. We say that we are Roman Catholic or Baptist or whatever the case may be, may we always proclaim that we are Christian first and our denominational tribe second. May we not neglect important matters of disagreement, but even more may we unite together in common witness to our communities and countries.

You are our Lord, instead of bickering with each other or letting areas of disagreement divide us, let us join hands in every way we can. The world needs concrete expressions of your gracious love more than it needs church versions of petty politics and power plays. We are called to witness to a different way of living, a different way of disagreeing and a different way of being human. Let it begin with me, let it begin with my local church, let it begin now, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Spirituality and Race

In Christianity, discipleship is intimately tied to spirituality. Spirituality is notorious difficult to define, to the point that many people dismiss it as an unhelpful term. Some say that religion is the official teachings, doctrines and structures; whereas, spirituality is the actual living out of the teachings, doctrines, and structures of a given religion in one’s daily life. There are some problems with trying to tease these two apart, but regardless, Christian discipleship involves integrating every aspect of one’s life with one’s faith. We might call this integrated faith, integrated spirituality or integrated discipleship. Then we have to deal with the controversies surrounding the definition of race.

I’m going to side step the controversies for the most part, by simply accepting that sociologically people identify themselves and others by racial, ethnic, and national markers. Often these markers are blurred together and it is, like with religion and spirituality, difficult to tease them apart without problems. However, for women and men seeking to be faithful to Christ and seeking to integrate their faith into every aspect of their lives, what should they do about race? This can be a strange question for white people, who can ignore issues of race because of their privilege; others, do not have this option.

The Biblical tradition embraces a tension between highlighting a particular race and affirming the universal nature of Christian faith. Jesus was a Jew. Understanding Jesus and thus understanding Christianity requires at least an elementary understanding of what it meant to be Jewish in first century Israel. Furthermore, to understand the rest of the New Testament, with its controversies surrounding the inclusion of non-Jews into the faith (Gentiles) requires at least an elementary understanding of what it meant to be a Greek or Roman in the first century Mediterranean world.

This may point toward how Christians should approach the topic of race. They need to be self-reflective about who they are and faithfully engaging the challenges and joys related to who they are, while not becoming so racially oriented that they miss the reality that their confession of faith in Christ makes them one with Christians of many tribes, nations, and languages. This will involve painful listening and partnering by white Christians with their oppressed sisters and brothers. This will involve persistent truth telling and partnering by non-white Christians with their white sisters and brothers.

This is all to abstract, discipleship deals with concrete realities, the messiness of individual lives, and the complexities of societal problems. Racism is a sin. Christianity’s earliest proclamation pointed toward a radical inclusion of people across racial and socio-economic divides: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Despite this early call for radical inclusion and despite the great heritage of Christian movements laboring for racial equality, race remains a problem in our societies and churches.

Your thoughts on race and discipleship?

Sermons: What Are You Listening For?

When is the last time a good friend of yours said, “Let’s listen to a sermon!” It’s probably been a long time, unless it was raised as an alternative to visiting the dentist or proctologist. Even then, at least these doctors do something practical for you. What of the soul doctors of the pulpit? They too offer something practical and of lasting, perhaps even, ever-lasting value. But what exactly is that? What are you listening for in a sermon? Maybe you aren’t really listening at all? The sermon is increasingly a strange beast in our culture of constant on demand content and content that constantly demands our attention.

Our expectation of the sermon, and thus, what we are listening for, are shaped by our experience of vocal communication in the wider culture, but also our own particular understanding of Christianity and often – even if we don’t know it – a particular denomination of tradition’s understanding of the role of preaching. People get annoyed or bored or upset with preachers when their understanding of the sermon’s role is in conflict with the preacher’s or tradition’s understanding of the sermon. There are dozens of ways of classifying sermon types and approaches. Let’s look at five: 

1.     The Sermon as Twitter Account

The sermon is purely the preacher’s opinion. They can use the pulpit to communicate whatever they feel like talking about. It may be informed by the texts assigned for the day, but ultimately it is a vehicle for the preacher to communicate private opinions and experiences on sundry subjects.  

2.     The Sermon as Life Message 

The sermon is a proclamation of the faith rooted in the assigned texts oriented toward the joys and challenges of daily living. The message must be rooted in the assigned texts and general Christian teachings, but the preacher’s job, with God’s help, is to connect text and tradition with daily life.

3.     The Sermon as History Lesson

The sermon is about scholarship. The sermon brings forth the vast riches of academic insight about particular texts and conveys them to the people. The message engages with commentaries, historical accounts, details, and more. The preacher’s job is to educate and sophisticate the congregation.

4.     The Sermon as Monologue

The sermon should be the ecclesiastical version of classic late night monologues. It should be funny, heart-warming, and perhaps have some helpful information or encouragement. The preacher’s job is to connect with the congregation, with emotional catharsis of some kind being a sign of success. 

5.     The Sermon as Social Expose

The sermon’s purpose is to comment on current social controversies. It should be bold and sometimes revolutionary. The Christian Tradition, especially its social justice movements and ideologies, are often the theological anchors of these sermons. The preacher’s job is to challenge and critique.

Each approach contains at least a modicum of truth or a potential purpose to the sermon, but perhaps some for more than others. Philosophical approaches to sermons aside, what sermons listeners often complain about are not content, but delivery and structure. “He’s so boring.” “She has no organization to what she says.” “It goes on and on and on.” “He talks about to many things.” “I can’t hear what she is saying.” Etc. What about you? What are you listening for in a sermon?" 

(Click here if you need an alternative to the dentist or proctologist or here for sermon listening tips)