A successful church

I recently read in a church’s newsletter the statement that God wanted them to be a successful church.  I seriously doubt anyone at first glance would take issue with that statement, but the more I pondered it, the more I disliked the statement.  Before this begins sounding judgmental you should know that I would have prayed that very statement at one point in my life.  But something over the last several years has changed in my thinking.

I’m not sure what WE mean by successful is really what God means by successful.  In the church world, what is typically meant by successful is butts in the seats and money in the offering.  These are two easily quantifiable metrics.  The assumption is made that if you grow in numbers then you are being successful.  That is certainly not always the case.  You could just have the best show in town on Sunday morning.

Now I think numbers are important.  The book of Acts record more than once how many people assembled or how many people were saved.  So numbers are important, they are just not everything.  They never tell the whole story.

I remember a comment made during a “revival” at a church I served.  A revival is an old church term to describe having church services for 3 or more nights in a row to reach out to those who are not saved.  “Revival” became the fashionable name for this outreach event even though “revival” was originally a description of the Holy Spirit’s movement and not the name of an event.  Anyway, one of the leaders in looking at the attendance that day said, “If we are not careful, we are going to be a big church.”

He ws bragging about the attendance that day and missed the point.  In attendance was a lot of people from the church and a lot of people form other churches but NO ONE new and NO ONE who was not already a Christian.  He would have said that “revival” was a success when in reality it was a horrible failure for its purpose.

So does God want us to be a successful church?  Well of course He wants us to succeed at HIS mission.  But HIS mission is not getting people into a building.  His mission is making disciples, however that needs to happen.  And sometimes we can gauge our success with numbers, but they never tell the whole story.

Monday morning rant is now officially over.

 

People I miss seeing

“Things I didn’t expect from launching Suncrest-East” series

I am writing a series of posts related to launching Suncrest-East.  I have no plan for how often or how many.  There are just things that I have discovered that I want to share and things that we have done that could be helpful to others.  I in no way think I am an expert.  These are just some things I’ve learned.

I was reminded last week of how many people I miss seeing at West Campus now that we’ve launched East campus.  There are so many that I just don’t get to see that often now that I am not in St. John on Sunday mornings.

It was an odd occurrence when I met two ladies in the hallway (during the week) and as one reached out to give me a hug she said, “Well, hello stranger!” My office is still at the St. John location so to be called a stranger was funny to me.

One of the best parts of launching SE is that most of my “tribe” went with me.  It’s like one big party every Sunday.  No, I’m serious, it really is.  These are guys that I have hung around with for awhile now and we have a blast.  But not everyone of my friends went.  And then there are so many that I was not really close to but that I really enjoyed hanging around.  These are people I miss on Sundays.

Here’s what it has reminded me.  My faith community can’t be about Sundays!  I do miss seeing some people on Sunday mornings but if I miss them then I have amazing technology at my fingertips that helps me connect with them.  It does take more effort but who cares!  If I want to connect with them I can.

I am looking forward o Christmas Eve services when both campuses will be together.  I think it will feel like a family reunion…but in a good way.

 

I can’t know everything

“What I didn’t expect in launching Suncrest-East” series

I want to do a series of posts related to launching Suncrest-East. I have no plan for how often or how many. There are just things that I have discovered that I want to share and things that we have done that could be helpful to others. I in no way think I am an expert. These are just some things I’ve learned.

In our staff meeting we were celebrating the baptisms that took place at West campus.  One of the persons baptized was someone I knew but I did not know she was getting baptized.  I was so thrilled to hear it.  It made me smile because a little over a year ago her sister sat in my office and professed faith and subsequently was baptized.  Before that I performed “the sister’s” wedding which was really their entry point into Suncrest.  I love hearing of the influence for faith that Suncrester’s are having among their friends and family.

Here is what I did not expect:  How much I would miss being IN on things like this.   Someone got baptized that I knew and I didn’t know about it.  On the one hand it bothered me because I knew the person and I want to be in the loop on people I know. On the other hand I accept it as reality.  Suncrest is a big family and it will be impossible for me to keep track of everyone.  AND that’s okay.

Because I still get to celebrate.

Because God changes lives whether I’m around or not.

And because in Heaven I will have plenty of time to catch up.

 

What I didn’t expect in launching Suncrest-East

I want to do a series of posts related to launching Suncrest-East.  I have no plan for how often or how many.  There are just things that I have discovered that I want to share and things that we have done that could be helpful to others.  I in no way think I am an expert.  These are just some things I’ve learned.

One of the things I didn’t expect and perhaps could not have expected was how launching Suncrest-East would affect my family.  This has been a family affair to say the least. For one, it would not have been possible without my wife being totally on board to do it.  It made our schedules crazier than they ever were.  It turned our home into THE meeting place on many occasions.  And it has made Sunday mornings an early morning for the whole family.

Sunday mornings will never be the same.  Every Sunday our alarm goes off at 5am.  That isn’t really too bad for us adults but the 5:30 wake up time for the kids is a bit tougher.  All that so we can be at the theater by 6:30 to help with the setup.  Now I know what you are thinking.  Does my family really have to be there that early?  The answer is no, they don’t absolutely have to be every Sunday.  But here’s the deal.  And this is what has affected our family the most.  Sheila wants to be because this is not MY ministry, this is OUR ministry.  She is as much sold on the idea of East campus as I am. She is as committed to seeing people find hope in Jesus in our community as I am.  So this is not about what she HAS to do but rather what NEEDS to be done.

These things that have affected my family may appear like a negative.  But in all honesty they really are not:

• having our schedules messed up only meant we needed to communicate even more;
• opening our home has been a blessing because after all, it’s all God’s anyway;
• and the early Sunday mornings…okay they stink for the kids but everything can’t be great!

I value how this experience has brought our family closer.  While there are still days my 5 year old asks if she can go back to our “old church” this Sunday, all of my kids are beginning to see the theater as “real church” and it feels like home.