Church...what is it good for?

My church recently had a "Town Meeting" to clarify decisions made by our denomination this summer, to discuss our plans for the future, and to ask any question you may have been wanting an answer to. One thing brought up in the meeting was the fact that all major US denominations are seeing shrinking numbers in church membership. This led to the inevitable questions of why and what do we do about it.

Several ideas were put forth at the meeting. One ideas was described in visual terms which I initially found appealing. It likened church today as trying to get a message through using a rotary dial phone in a cellular phone world.

To some the answer to building church numbers has been to tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. Some have gotten Disney engineers to design their children's areas to lure kids in knowing that a good deal of American families are driven by the children's wants rather than the parent's desires. Some are reaching out to people through advertising. One church here in town has placed ads in men's room above the urinals. They are even so committed to the importance of advertising they are developing a brand to foster brand recognition for their church.

This caused me to think about why there are churches in other parts of the world where they are seeing great growth. In Asia and Africa churches are flourishing. They haven't had money to remodel, advertising is out for the same reason. They certainly haven't seemed to water down the message they are preaching. So why are they growing when they are not doing the things being tried here?

I think part of it is because they have had to work hard to keep their churches alive through famine and hostile governments. They have stripped away all the hoopla and kept the message of the comfort and hope that God offers. In a country where hope is a rare commodity and comfort cannot be found, it is treasured all the more.

I had lunch today with a couple of friends who are back in the USA for a month to settle some family business. In October they will return to a clinic they have operated in east Africa for fourteen years. Their Sunday services have had to move outside because they can no longer house all who come to worship.

This afternoon I came to a realization of why I really don't like the phone illustration. It's the members of the church who are to be the message delivery system. It's the members who are to be the billboards for their church. Brand recognition should be realizing the presence of God in us.

Churches need to deal with the business of church, not fifth avenue.

Trying to be a great billboard,

jene'