Wednesday, June 4, 2008

hey, this one is for church people
...so if you aren't one of those, feel free to come back tomorrow...or stay...whatever

I read a blog today that I found interesting. It was posted originally by a pastor's wife, and entitled, "An Open Letter to a Church Hopper." You can find the original post here if you are interested.

For those of you who don't live in a "church market" like Dallas, TX, the concept of a "church hopper" might not even resonate with you. In places like Dallas, you find a church almost literally on every corner. And not just small, country churches like on Little House on the Prairie. Our church, for instance, is located on a street where within no more than a half a mile or so, there are no less than 10 to 12 churches. At least half of those churches have memberships of over 1000 - at least two of them are in the 10,000 range.

That makes for a very interesting dynamic. For one thing, people tend to move from church to church...a lot. hence the term, "church hopper." For another thing, it's been said that churches in this situation can tend to shift their focus away from introducing non-Christians to Christ and toward attracting and retaining Christians from other churches. I don't think any of the churches I mentioned would characterize it that way, but the criticism has been leveled, and though it stings a bit, there is some truth in it, at least in my opinion.

Attracting Christians from other churches isn't that hard. They get the itch to look around, maybe because the church they attend doesn't offer enough services at the right time, or the preacher just doesn't appeal to them any more (maybe he's getting too old, or the style is wrong, or they are tired of him) or the worship is too loud. too soft, too old, too young, too long, too short, too spirited, too "dead," or there isn't a good enough youth group, or children's ministry, or the church asks for money too often, or they aren't doing enough for the community or they are doing too much for the community, or they are soft on one aspect of doctrine or too harsh on one aspect of doctrine...or...you get the picture. Sometimes, people move across the city, or they move out of town or whatever, and it doesn't make sense to drive 45 minutes to a church when there is one across the street from you. I get that.

Keeping Christians who have left other good churches to join yours is next to impossible. Sometimes, it works out. Often, it doesn't. And some people, well, they just aren't there for the long haul. You never know. But one thing you can count on is this: If they left another church because of something they didn't like, your chance of keeping them is slim to none. Why? Because the way they roll is to leave a church when they realize there is something there that they don't like. Sure, your worship is different enough for them now, but they will eventually see that it is (see the above list). Yes, they love the sermons now...but what about once they realize that their favorite religious soap boxes aren't being addressed? What if your children's ministry is understaffed, or your youth ministry isn't cool enough or worse yet...is too cool? What about when they encounter the "special" people at your church?

Generally, something comes up that just doesn't work for them, and they are "on to the next one."

The blog I took the following excerpt from is interesting. Consider reading it in its entirety. Here is the sentence that captured my attention:

"The Church was not commissioned by Christ to meet your needs. You ARE the Church, and you've been commissioned to meet the needs of the world."

I've been reflecting on that statement all morning. It stings. But I think there is something there for me and for the way I look at the church.
What do you think?

Love to you,
-GReggo