Cool Church
Well, it's really stinkin' hot here. And everywhere, of course. Okay, maybe Al Gore is onto something (he invented Global Warming, right...no, that's not it...something...). :)
Anyway, I opened my email this morning (after taking a LONG but, ultimately, refreshing day off yesterday) and in my inbox was my weekly-or-so enewsletter from www.worshipideas.com and the "editorial" is about this church in Oklahoma City called Lifechurch.tv (link: http://www.lifechurch.tv/ )
Nevermind the robotic lights and the great bands. I was looking at their children and youth ministry. They know what they're doing in EVERYTHING they're doing.
It's all about vision. While here at First UMC, I've tried to communicate a vision for ministry - but I'm not good at generating the excitement for the vision. I usually just kind of pull an Eeyore and say, "Typical. Guess it wasn't from God, then." and then I go look for my tail... I mean, I go off and do something else.
But what if the vision IS from God? What am I doing wrong? We can talk all day about diminishing population in Western PA and Warren in general. We can argue that commitment is down and choice is up (that is there's just WAY more to do these days). We can argue that maybe church isn't relavant to people these days. Blah, Blah, Blah
Here's the reality:
There isn't a county in Western PA (I got this from our Conference which likes to do demographic studies) that has more churched than unchurched people - that is, there isn't a county in Western PA that has more than 49% churched people (and many less). AND, one of the surveys they did to find this information out was a phone survey that went something like this,
"Do you belong to a church?"
"Um, I used to go to one when I was a kid..."
"Oh, what church was that?"
"Well, it was in another town."
"Are you a member of that church?"
"I don't know..."
"Well, do you ever GO to a church in the town you're living in?"
"Um, not really..."
"Okay, can you NAME a church in your town?"
"Um..."
Or some variation on that (obviously, some people said, "Yep, I'm a member of the First Trinitarian Holy Redeemed Methopiscopteryan Church of the Blood of Jesus. Reformed" or whatever). In one of the surveys, if you could NAME a church in your town that you had been in in the last year or so then you were considered "churched."
So the fields are ripe.
Where's the vision?
Next door to us a denomnational church closed about two years ago (they merged with another church across town) so the building stood empty for a while. A guy from Ohio took a look at our community and raised some money and bought the building and started a new church in that old building. The first week they had 50, then 75, now over a hundred (after only a couple of months).
So, what does this guy have that the previous leaders didn't? Where were those 100+ people in the lives and ministries of the other 20 or so churches in the area? Why did we miss them here at First UMC? That old building next to us isn't any more "seeker friendly" than ours (kinda looks like a bank, actually), the music isn't even live (I believe they're using CD accompanyment). The preacher wasn't known around here. What do they have?
A vision. And a passion to communicate that vision.
What do we have? Programs.
Oh, the programs have vision - but they're kind of short-sighted and they're kind of parochial. Where's the wide-open spaces vision of Abram and Moses and John the Baptist? Where's the deep searching vision of the prophets and Paul? Where's the God-focused, God deliverd vision of Jesus?
Oh, that's in that Book I read...well, I skimmed it...well, I MEANT to read it...
God's gotta be crying right now...
I am...
So, what's the vision? Do I think that Warren needs a church like Lifechurch.tv? Well, yes, actually. Not that we need the great bands or the big screens or the, as one person put it, "Disneyesque" children's ministry (oh, man, that would be great, though) but all of that is just icing on the cake. We need the basic ingredients for the cake (man, I can destroy a metaphor) - we need the people who are committed. We have some, and we work 'em to death.
I need to say this in church sometime, because people need to hear it.
My daughters LOVE coming to church. They love Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, meeting nights, VBS, whatever is going on. They turn off the TV and run to get their shoes on almost every time we say, "Time to go to church." You know why? Because they still find themselves surrounded by people who love them just the way they are and who, even if it's been a crummy week and even if the dog pooped on their bed this morning and even if they're having a really bad hair day - these people who interact with my daughters on almost any level smile, say hello, ask for hugs and ask how they are and treat them like, for that moment of time, they're the most important person in the room. We have amazing Sunday school teachers and amazing church members who are just like that.
My girls love to go to church because here they are loved.
That's the vision.
That's what Lifechurch has. That's what every successful church has. The love that comes from God...
So, I gotta say, we don't have the cutting edge...well, anything really...here at First UMC. But we have that vision (and we're growing into it every day, more and more). So, I guess, we too are a "Cool Church..."
And I wanna get cooler...
Anyway, I opened my email this morning (after taking a LONG but, ultimately, refreshing day off yesterday) and in my inbox was my weekly-or-so enewsletter from www.worshipideas.com and the "editorial" is about this church in Oklahoma City called Lifechurch.tv (link: http://www.lifechurch.tv/ )
Nevermind the robotic lights and the great bands. I was looking at their children and youth ministry. They know what they're doing in EVERYTHING they're doing.
It's all about vision. While here at First UMC, I've tried to communicate a vision for ministry - but I'm not good at generating the excitement for the vision. I usually just kind of pull an Eeyore and say, "Typical. Guess it wasn't from God, then." and then I go look for my tail... I mean, I go off and do something else.
But what if the vision IS from God? What am I doing wrong? We can talk all day about diminishing population in Western PA and Warren in general. We can argue that commitment is down and choice is up (that is there's just WAY more to do these days). We can argue that maybe church isn't relavant to people these days. Blah, Blah, Blah
Here's the reality:
There isn't a county in Western PA (I got this from our Conference which likes to do demographic studies) that has more churched than unchurched people - that is, there isn't a county in Western PA that has more than 49% churched people (and many less). AND, one of the surveys they did to find this information out was a phone survey that went something like this,
"Do you belong to a church?"
"Um, I used to go to one when I was a kid..."
"Oh, what church was that?"
"Well, it was in another town."
"Are you a member of that church?"
"I don't know..."
"Well, do you ever GO to a church in the town you're living in?"
"Um, not really..."
"Okay, can you NAME a church in your town?"
"Um..."
Or some variation on that (obviously, some people said, "Yep, I'm a member of the First Trinitarian Holy Redeemed Methopiscopteryan Church of the Blood of Jesus. Reformed" or whatever). In one of the surveys, if you could NAME a church in your town that you had been in in the last year or so then you were considered "churched."
So the fields are ripe.
Where's the vision?
Next door to us a denomnational church closed about two years ago (they merged with another church across town) so the building stood empty for a while. A guy from Ohio took a look at our community and raised some money and bought the building and started a new church in that old building. The first week they had 50, then 75, now over a hundred (after only a couple of months).
So, what does this guy have that the previous leaders didn't? Where were those 100+ people in the lives and ministries of the other 20 or so churches in the area? Why did we miss them here at First UMC? That old building next to us isn't any more "seeker friendly" than ours (kinda looks like a bank, actually), the music isn't even live (I believe they're using CD accompanyment). The preacher wasn't known around here. What do they have?
A vision. And a passion to communicate that vision.
What do we have? Programs.
Oh, the programs have vision - but they're kind of short-sighted and they're kind of parochial. Where's the wide-open spaces vision of Abram and Moses and John the Baptist? Where's the deep searching vision of the prophets and Paul? Where's the God-focused, God deliverd vision of Jesus?
Oh, that's in that Book I read...well, I skimmed it...well, I MEANT to read it...
God's gotta be crying right now...
I am...
So, what's the vision? Do I think that Warren needs a church like Lifechurch.tv? Well, yes, actually. Not that we need the great bands or the big screens or the, as one person put it, "Disneyesque" children's ministry (oh, man, that would be great, though) but all of that is just icing on the cake. We need the basic ingredients for the cake (man, I can destroy a metaphor) - we need the people who are committed. We have some, and we work 'em to death.
I need to say this in church sometime, because people need to hear it.
My daughters LOVE coming to church. They love Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, meeting nights, VBS, whatever is going on. They turn off the TV and run to get their shoes on almost every time we say, "Time to go to church." You know why? Because they still find themselves surrounded by people who love them just the way they are and who, even if it's been a crummy week and even if the dog pooped on their bed this morning and even if they're having a really bad hair day - these people who interact with my daughters on almost any level smile, say hello, ask for hugs and ask how they are and treat them like, for that moment of time, they're the most important person in the room. We have amazing Sunday school teachers and amazing church members who are just like that.
My girls love to go to church because here they are loved.
That's the vision.
That's what Lifechurch has. That's what every successful church has. The love that comes from God...
So, I gotta say, we don't have the cutting edge...well, anything really...here at First UMC. But we have that vision (and we're growing into it every day, more and more). So, I guess, we too are a "Cool Church..."
And I wanna get cooler...
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