Gifted for Leadership

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We stay focused on our mission; we articulate, from the stage, the fact that there are many good churches in our community. However, we are unique in that the purpose that shapes everything we do is reaching people who are far from God. That gives our services a more contemprary flavor, drives much of our ministry programming and infuses our entire culture. We recognize and affirm that we are an option for many; our desire is simploy that the Kingdom grows, wherever and however God chooses to work.

Posted By: beth | February 22, 2008 10:35 AM

When we moved to a new area, we began attending a church that appealed to us on several levels. We were interested in learning more about their "stance" on several issues. We soon discovered that it was like pulling teeth trying to get straight answers. In an effort to appeal to people of all stripes, it was as if their core values were kept secret until folks really committed.
One of the issues we wanted to find out about was their position on women in leadership. When I finally had a conversation with one of the pastors about this, he went on to describe what we suspected: a great deal of talk about women's value, but in reality very little (if any) significant roles offered to women. (Women couldn't even lead small groups!)
Anyway, what really struck me about my conversation with this pastor was the way he regarded ME -- like I was some weird alien from another planet b/c I was asking all these questions. It appeared that they thought "If folks like the music and the preaching, then they'll fit right in" and he was nearly offended by my insistence in learning more about other aspect of both their theology and church culture. He said something to me (in a voice that I think was intended to be compassionate), "Boy, you and your husband must have really been burned by your last church!" In other words, he thought the reason we wanted to find out all sorts of info was b/c we'd been hurt in the past and were trying to be self-protective. It was very weird.
I kept wondering, why doesn't this church VALUE that we are two mature Christians who are interested in deeper matters of faith, not just the surface appearance of the church?
My experience there (it didn't last much longer after that strained conversation) pointed out the error of being so outreach-oriented that a church is almost sneaky in hiding away aspects of culture or theology that may not seem appealing to outsiders.
We now attend a church in which we agree with nearly all the main issues, and on those with which we disagree we feel there is a degree of freedom within the church culture to do so. It isn't a "cool" church -- it's just a straight-forward, honest, healthy church that says "this is who we are" and "this is who we are striving to be." I love that I didn't have to do much digging at all to find out more about the church when we began attending. It communicated a healthy sense of self-esteem (if that word can apply to a church) as opposed to the other church that reminds me of those kids in junior high, desperately trying to be cool and liked...unwilling to just BE themselves.

Posted By: Kelli Trujillo | February 22, 2008 12:14 PM

It does seem we've entered an era of "church bashing". It grieves me how many within the church are quick to tell churches what they're doing wrong strategically, while absolving themselves of any personal responsibility. Several of these same critics have a complete disregard for theology. Though many men and more recently women have devoted their lives to understanding God more deeply, these great theologians are discarded along with church pews, as though they're all in the same category. As missional Christians, I believe we should constantly update our strategies. Theology - the study of God and his attributes - is never irrelevant, however. Just because our finite understanding may create tension between brothers and sisters as we try to live out God's Word in our lives, we have to keep striving to understand. It's in the striving that we experience our Creator. As He transforms us, we can effectively penetrate our culture and bring hope to those who don't know Christ.

Posted By: Joyce | February 22, 2008 11:16 PM

Like the first poster, our leadership focuses om communicating the mission we believe God has called US to in our local area, rather than highlighting differences from other churches/denominations in the area.

In addition each week at the beginning of our services we pray for another local church. Not the kind of prayer that implies "O Lord, make them more like they should be, more like us," but a simple prayer that God would bless that church, increase its numbers, and bring people to Christ through its ministry. And we even pray that way for the (gasp) Catholic church down the road. When I first heard that prayer, I knew I was in the place God wanted me.

The results of all that prayer? Church attendance is up all over our little community, most of the churches have had building expansions in the past few years, and we have a wonderful unity going on among the Christian community.

We sense God may be pleased.

Posted By: Anne | February 24, 2008 5:49 AM

I believe that a church should not focus its efforts on attracting members.

I believe that a church should focus on ministry. It should demonstrate the love of Jesus for its members and for the community.

If actively engaged in minstry, and concentrating all efforts on serving people and sharing Christ's love with them, then God will abundantly bless the church.

At our last new member Sunday, we welcomed two families that had been recipients of our food baskets. It was heartwarming to see that a gift basket of Christmas food was all the "marketing" needed to bring these families into our midst. I pray that we will be a place that becomes a safe haven for them.

Posted By: Susy | February 24, 2008 8:31 PM

The question in the title is, "Should churches differentiate?"
Well, should people differentiate? In truth, God already differentiated them, both from each other and from Himself, giving each a unique place in time, location and history, a unique set of skills, talents, perspectives, personality.
The church is the Body of Christ, comprising unique individuals. I don't see God homogenizing anything, in history or creation. It's man who likes the predictable, controllable box lunch. Why do you think we do that?

Posted By: PJ | February 25, 2008 8:44 AM

Oh man, if someone figures out where to draw the line between "it's all about me" church shopping and healthy and appropriate finding a good fit for you, PLEASE clue me in.

I appreciate, in theory, the idea of the geographic parish. You don't search high and low for the perfect place that's just right for you, but immerse yourself in the work God is doing in your community. And you run into the same people at church that you run into in the grocery store. There's value in that.

However, the fact remains that we're not all the same. Given two strong and healthy churches, I may find one to be a great fit and it helps me to flourish -- which includes serving as well as being ministered to. The other one may be perfectly fine, and may be a great fit for you, but just doesn't match up with the way God has wired me. That's fine, that's why God made a lot of us and a lot of churches. That seems right too.

So how do we as individuals look for a good fit without making it all about us? And how do we as churches express who we are and what we see as our particular calling without encouraging consumerist Christianity? I have no clue. I wish I did.

Posted By: Kristen | February 25, 2008 8:53 AM

Interesting post. The thing I appreciate about the church I attend is they didn't "chase" me down after a visit or two. They seemed quite confident in the work of the Holy Spirit to bring people their way and if so led, to stay and get involved, yet at the same time they are very relational. That only served to attract me, their intentional un- attracting. They're not very program-driven either. I never felt like I was being sized up and plugged in. Wonder what would happen if we gave the Spirit a little more credit and free reign in our churches?

Posted By: dianne | February 29, 2008 9:12 AM

I've already posted once for this entry, but I had an experience a few days ago that relates directly to this conversation. Two state employees were at my house evaluating my daughter for some developmental issues and the subject of preschool came up. I mentioned the church preschool she'd attend next year, but at first I couldn't remember the name. My two guests (who I assume were not church goers) began commenting (rather negatively) about how "There are so many churches around -- why can't these people just agree!" "Yeah," the other one chimed in, "It just goes to show that everyone thinks THEY are right and everyone else is wrong." They went on to make comments about their perception that lots of different churches/denominations were a reflection of Christians being arrogant, fighting with each other, and self-righteous.

It definitely gave me reason to pause and reflect. I DO think churches should differentiate -- for good reasons (see my previous post) -- but I was floored by how negatively this differentiation was seen by these two non-Christians.

Posted By: Kelli Trujillo | February 29, 2008 9:23 AM

"apart from visiting every church in town and depending on the guidance of the Holy Spirit"

That's pretty much what my husband and I did for three years until we found one we could both agree on. But the #1 requirement for a church we would attend? A solid statement of faith that was based solely on the Bible.

Posted By: Robyn | March 11, 2008 1:01 PM

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