May 17 Church Visit

As I continue my Extended Professional Development Leave (EPDL) I once again visited another church. Christopher came with me this time, as I wanted to see how he would react to this church. I won't mention its exact name, but I think you'll be able to guess it after I describe it.

This church met in a movie theatre in Gloucester. They truck in all the church stuff (band equipment, computer, sound board, and child care & church school stuff). Chris and I entered the building and were right away greeted by two friendly faces that invited us, and directed us, to the theatre containing the church. As we walked to it, we passed by a welcome/info table, stopped, and talked with the lady there. Friendly, but I had to initiate the conversation (which I found interesting). We discovered that this church has only been around since September, 2008, but has been steadily growing. The lady had actually only been part of this church for 3 months and was already serving as someone who welcomes others….make a mental note about this . We also discovered that she had left a much larger church in the Ottawa area because it felt too big and impersonal.

Before walking into the theatre, we took some information about the church. There weren't a lot of people in the theatre, and it was already 9:50 a.m. Church was scheduled to start in 10 minutes. At 5 minutes there was a countdown clock that appeared on the screen.

Church began at 10 a.m., and we stood and sang 4 songs. Two we knew, but two were new to us. As we sang (about 12 minutes or so) another 100 people walked in to fill up the theatre. I was expecting mostly young adults at this church, but there was a cross section of ages, though it was weighted with 18 – 35 year olds.

At an appointed time, the main pastor appeared on the screen to deliver the teaching time. There is one home church, and several satellite churches like this one in Ottawa, that all receive the same teaching. Part of the teaching time included a Q & A. That was different, and refreshing.

During the beginning of the teaching time the offering was taken. After the teaching time, this church took the time to thank one of the theater managers for all the help that they had received from him. He was being transferred, so they gave him a gift card for Starbucks Coffee. That was very nice to see.

We left the theatre and slowly made our way out. Many people were talking with each other. We made it back to the welcome table where I scooped up some more information on the church for later review. No one engaged us, but I don't think this church needs to apologize for that because they are up front about you connecting with them not necessarily them with you.

In the car I asked Chris what he thought of the experience, and he was painfully honest. It was the best service he'd been to in a long time. I asked him why. The music for starters, the fact that it was in a movie theatre helped, and the sermon was something he got something out of and for the most part could follow. I found his comments pretty accurate, truthful, and thought provoking.

I've now had the chance to do some reading of the information that I took from the church. I must say that I really liked what I read. There were 5 different parts.

• A financial report for the past and upcoming year
• A Philosophy of ministry
• A community Living Manual
• A Spring Report for 2009
• A bulletin for that week

What I gleaned from all the information was that this church is very good at communicating. Once I finished all the material, I knew:

• What this church stood for.
• What would be expected of me if I wanted to get involved.
• How their spring programming was going.
• The methodology behind all that they were doing and that this church was not perfect, but real.

I discovered that there were both differences and similarities when it came to Calvin CRC. Some of the Differences:

• One church with many different satellite sites. All teaching comes from one person.
• A clearly articulated mission and vision statement that is being consistently acted out.
• The ability to be innovative quickly due to the newness of this church and starting from scratch, and to celebrate that innovative nature.
• An intentional and systematic methodology of doing ministry (i.e. House churches) with no apologies for it.
• A strong teaching Pastor who carries the vision of this church (both a plus and maybe not so much a plus).
• A strong web site that is updated weekly; it is the front line of meeting for many who eventually come to this church.
• Unashamedly calling people to give to this ministry and naming specific amounts.
• A question and answer during the sermon time, using texting as a way for satellite sites to be able to connect. I found that very interesting.
• Some theological differences, but that's going to happen.

Similarities:

• Budget issues, like most churches.
• Similar program ministries (church school, nursery, youth group) though they give them more modern names.
• The struggle with members (called core community) and those who are guests.
• Mission work is supported, though done a bit differently.
• They struggle for volunteers, just like we do, though their relative newness does help them in getting volunteers. I wonder what that will be like 10 years from now?
• A web site in which the sermons are downloaded. In their case it's video, in our case it's written. Effective on both counts.

All in all, I found this church experience to be a good one. I think it attracts those who have become disillusioned with mainline churches because it unashamedly states it is not like them. Today that seems to be something that catches the eye. They use the Sunday service, and their very talented teaching Pastor, as a way to grab people, and then the hope is to connect them to a "Home Church" and from there they begin to experience the community that they have been longing for.

There are many things that I truly like about this church and the way it has been growing. I think I/we as a church could learn a few things from it. Here are some:

• We need to recognize that innovation for us in the CRC comes as a more difficult thing because we have a much longer history to contend with. Innovation is easier in the church I visited because it has many young adults who are able to put their energies into church in ways that those who are married and have younger children are not able to. When the call comes to be part of something bigger, they jump at the chance and produce (I am generalizing here because I know that young adults are also busy in school, starting their careers, etc). Not every church can say they have that sort of volunteer pool.

• We can't compete with such a talented teaching Pastor, but maybe we can learn from the content that he is giving and what those disillusioned with the church are hungering to hear. Having such a talented teaching Pastor seems to be the big draw for this church, but what if that teaching Pastor leaves? I just finished a book (which I'll be blogging on soon) that talked about many a church that had seen its rise and fall based on the charisma of a great teaching Pastor, or healing Pastor. Focusing on one isn't always such a good thing.

• Large isn't always something to be celebrated. We have begun working at our "Growing Together Groups" (similar to Home churches) and this is a good thing. I think that the church I visited has a more consistent leadership in place for these groups in that they have elders assigned to lead them. The bulk of their growth happened in the Home Churches. Maybe we need to take a closer look at the intended goals and desired outcomes of our GTG's, but we are on the right road.

• The style of worship wasn't an issue in this church; in fact, there wasn't much to it. They simply had four songs, an offering, and a teaching time. The focal point has always been the teaching time. I think what we do at Calvin, using the arts, and other tactile modes in our worship are all good things that allow variety to be expressed in our congregation's faith experience.

• Kids were not necessarily included in what goes on, and I think our Pastor's short interaction with the kids during our service is very good. It says we value them, and they begin to build positive memories about church at a very early age.

• Missions for this church was done slightly differently than ours, but not much. They raised money for a couple of different organizations that they have deemed important for them based on their philosophy of ministry. We do the same thing through our denominational ministries, and some that are closer to home. The difference is that they get involved in the fundraising as a group and don't just give money to the cause. This allows for community to continue to be built in ways that go beyond simple Sunday morning interactions. Another difference is that these causes are constantly in front of the members so they know how much was raised, how much is still needed, etc. There are also targeted causes, with invitations to be part of them, rather than start up new ones. At Calvin we are beginning to talk about how many different things we do support and should we be more targeted, or simply let people support what they want to support. There are pro's and con's to both, but we need to decide what road we want to travel. We HAVE begun to raise the awareness of the ministry's we support via our ministry shares, and that is a good start. We could learn something from this church when it comes to missional support.

• This church continues to dream big, and beyond its means. That means they must rely on God for their sustaining ministry. I think, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we could also learn a great deal from that too. This church has spelled out its giving guideline as 10 % of your gross salary, and then you give above that for other causes of the church that are ambitious. In Calvin, we have always struggled with meeting our ministry share goals and are very leery of talking with each other about any sort of personal giving. I think we could, and really should, learn something from this church. Giving is a spiritual discipline, and as such, should be part of our spiritual conversations. Yes, there are situations that have arisen in people's lives that prevent them from giving much. I'm not talking about those situations. I am convinced that Calvin could meet its current budgetary commitments, and more, but we need to begin talking about giving as boldly as this church has, even with the added obligation of having families pay for Christian Education. This church is up front that their giving is an investment in "people." We have talked in those terms, but need to do that much more intentionally.

• Finally, this church hits on a very good point. It differentiates between religion and"organized irreligion." Religion they define as "any system of rules, regulations, rituals, and routines that people use to get right with God." Organized irreligion is not about a collection of religious activities or simply being a member of an organization, it's about following a radical prophet and teacher, Jesus, and making a commitment to community that is similar to that of those in the early church as we read the book of Acts.

Calvin can be similar to this church in this sort of thinking and methodology. In certain ways we already are. In other ways we need to re-think what we are doing. I think we need to take some time to figure out just who we are as a church (our DNA as I've noted in another blog entry) and then unashamedly get that word out through each of us who are members of this faith community. That doesn't happen unless the members are excited about the community that they are part of and know where it is going, why it is going, and how it's getting there. This church I visited had that down pat.

So, I learned some good things in going to this church. I ask the members of Calvin. Are you excited about your faith community? Do you know what it's about? Do you know why we are doing what we are doing? Do you see God at work in the life of this community of faith….and in your life? Maybe as the leadership we need to do a better job of articulating these things to you. Maybe you need to come to us and begin to talk about these things so that together we can invest in the lives of people and share with them the radical message from a radical prophet in radical ways.

I hope you are not satisfied with just coming to church on Sunday mornings and hoping your children will be blessed by the ministry programs that go on during the week. I hope we have not become, as Kent Hughes wrote: "[a church] infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. [Church attendees who say] you go to the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills – an I'll come along for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I'll criticize and complain and probably bail out – my thumb is always out for a better ride." (quoted in Christianity Today, May '92).

If you are like this, you may be drawn to a church like the one I went to. Even to those young adults who are leaving the church in droves my question is "How long will you stay?" We've seen people come and go from Calvin over the years who are the "church shoppers." I've seen young people and young adults leave the church for many reasons, some painful and the fault of the church, others not. I'm a firm believer that Calvin CRC is a great fellowship to be part of. It certainly isn't perfect. We've made our mistakes and will continue to do so, and quite honestly, this community of faith isn't a good fit for everyone. However, the call of all of us who call ourselves apprentices of Jesus is to be counter cultural, plant some spiritual roots and stick around for the ride. The saying goes, "you can pick your friends, but you are stuck with your relatives." In Calvin, we are a family that continues to ebb and flow. We are a family that has its disagreements, but we are also a family that seeks to serve God. There are many things we can praise God for in this fellowship, and things we need to ask God's forgiveness for. My hope is that we continue the process of figuring out just who we are, run with that and unashamedly shout it from the rooftops.