Thursday, September 23, 2010
Why We Go to Church
I read a post from this guy this morning and it got me thinking about a few things. I think it is safe to say the church has a bad rap for a long line of things. I think most of you would agree that the current generation of church goers and post-modern thinkers are trying to change that. One of those "things" being church attendance. I'm all for getting people in the door to let them hear a message that might change their life. But, I believe, in the last few years, church attendance has become the point. As much as we say, "It's not about checking Sunday mornings off your list," deep down, people in my faith heritage say things like, "How can we get them to come on Sunday or Wednesday nights. I'm worried about them." Maybe you're not "worried" about them, but even as a minister, I look at the people that come consistently on Sunday nights as stronger christians and those that don't the "weaker brother." Maybe this paradigm is true in some sense. But, I believe, the reason this idea is still prevalent is because the church has failed at teaching people to seek God on their own. Here's what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that the church doesn't help people to grow spiritually. I'm not saying the church doesn't provide a place for the family of God to lift each other up. These are the questions you should ask yourself. Do I go to church to escape seeking God on my own? Do I go to church so I can feel good about my christian walk? Do I go to church solely relying on the experience I have there to change me? Ironically, I think it becomes really easy for the Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday church goer to become stagnant in their faith. So, really, why do you go to church?
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i think the escape can go the other way too. There may very well be a de-emphasis on individual discipleship, but i think emphasis on church attendance can also stem from a de-emphasis on community. Ideally, meeting times are about communal discipleship. In other words, set meeting times facilitate the real point--one-another-ness. But eventually, the means becomes the end. Church attendance takes on a weight of its own. And now it's not about seeking relationship, but, as you say, fulfilling a requirement: 'being there.'
ReplyDeleteThe trouble is quality of community is far more difficult to measure objectively than is a body count. And it's certainly a noble aim to try and track the health and pulse of a congregation. Attendance counts are quick, simple, and it's factual. So we rely on them as a measure. But we get into trouble when we start assuming what it is a measure of. Perhaps a good, health, community-driven congregation will have strong attendance numbers. It may arguably be a by-product of good health. But it's not a feature unique to healthy churches. Churches with really crappy community quality could also have good attendance numbers for other reasons. So i think we tend to view attendance as an indicator of much more than it really is.
If we put the emphasis back on one-another-ness and presented attendance as only a means again, maybe the 'attendance' thing might fix itself? Or perhaps we need to come up with more accurate and reliable measures for congregational health? What do you think?
--guy
I think how we measure for congregational health is the answer. I know I have said this before, but intangible is the way to go. Replace contribution, attendance, and involvement with healthy marriages, spiritual growth, and prayer life and reading. Realizing that the latter list in intangible, finding a way to measure them is the issue. I think great way to measure them is by having very real honest conversations with the members once or twice a year. Sitting down and asking how certain areas are going and trusting they will be honest in return. It's a pretty big shift, but i think it is the new paradigm.
ReplyDeletei've seen congregations do annual surveys to this end before. i mean, you introduce certain difficulties that come along with doing surveys of any kind, but you at least get a chance to ask particular questions and get a sense of what people in the pew think on those particular issues.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, there will be certain ways to measure with some degree of objectivity. Did we start new programs this year? What were their particular goals? How well did they achieve those? Do we have any growth in "deep" volunteering (volunteering for 'harder,' more trying jobs perhaps)? And dare i say (i know this is unpopular) could we test the level of bible knowledge among long time members? i don't think that's a be all end all measure either. But shouldn't we expect some degree of growth in knowledge from people who are involved in our congregation for an extended period of time? It all gets hairy rather quickly. Glad it's not my job. =o)
--guy