1. If you don't attend church, why not?
2. If you could give advice to the people who run your local church to make it better, what advise would you give them?
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- Walt Lucas
- Walt Lucas - A happily married guy from Esparto. Two kids, four dogs, almond trees and a bunch of horses. Writing about Life, Yolo County, Family, and how to stop doing stupid things.
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4 comments:
Well, I am one of those guys who helps run a church so I don't know if my opinion counts on your blog but I will put in my two cents anyway. I believe that when we make choices for ministry we should do anything short of sin to help people that are lost connect with God. What does that look like for you? What does that look like for your church?
I will comment on what that looks like in our church soon, what I am after right now is how the unchurched see the churches in their communities.
Are they helpful? Are they irrelevant? Are they full of judgmental hypocrites? If the church closed, would the community notice?
C’mon folks, they are no right and wrong answers, I want your opinions.
It is easier to not go to church, than to go to church. When my kids were younger it was very hard to take them to sit for an hour plus and try and keep them either interested or at least entertained. Since my husband does not have a "religion" I did not get any support from him. So it became easier to not go.
I also work every other weekend. It seems like there is so much to cram into the weekend off.
When I think about returning to church, I think about the people that I will see there. What will they think of me? It changes my mind about going every time. People laugh at me and tell me that since I have so much guilt in me that I must be Catholic. The funny thing is that they are right!
As far as advice on bettering the church, as you can see from my experience, making it kid friendly is a very important point. Daycare, Sunday School Classes, whatever it takes to make it easier for parents to get their families to church!
Man, I was thinking I would get slammed by those who have had bad church experiences, I have.
Katie, I understand where you are at in your journey. I have been there standing in the back of a church and have seen the looks of the regulars as they wonder who you are and what you want at 'their' church. It saddens and angers me at the same time.
If the doors to our churches are not wide open, with folks greeting you and welcoming you into the Lord's house, why not tear them down and build another strip mall?
I think a problem with many churches today is they are playing defense. They have their core of regular attendees who do most of the work, sit on the committees, and give most of the money. These folks have the power and they don't want to see changes to their church, heck the thought up most of what goes on around here and they do the work, why should the change to attract people who may come a few times and then leave?
Why change?
Because a church is not a place for believers to go once a week to see each other, it is a place where unsaved people can come to feel the power of Christ's love for them. How do you get that feeling in your church?
If you love them, they will come.
You love them as they come through the door with an accepting smile and a warm greeting. You love them by have a children's ministry where the kids are so exited to go, they drag their parents to church. You love them by not staring at their tattoos or their green hair, or their flip flops and shorts. You love them by making it a point to walk up to someone who dressed the complete opposite of you and introduce yourself and tell them how glad you are that they came to church today.
You love them with exiting worship music that teenagers will like and old folks will tolerate. If you're not engaging young people in your church, how are you going to create new members down the line? You love them by reaching out in your community and serving their needs as best you can.
Mens ministry is critical too. What ever it takes to get them there, golf, softball, hotrods, mountain bikes, how ever you can connect with a group of men and show them that Christian men are not a bunch of brow beaten whoosies, they are strong spiritual leaders who are strong enough to love others.
To sum it up, I would say that we as Christians better get off the defense, trying to please those who are comfortable with the status quo and start going on offense.
We better make the church relevant to the real problems our communities face, make it family friendly, make it exiting for young people, and above all a place that welcomes everyone with God's love in a way that is tangible and real.
Easily said?
Yes.
Hard to do?
Yes, but this who we are, or at least what we should be.
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