Church #5

Changing the Way We Do Church 5

The fifth step to church reformation is:

5. Develop services, meetings and even committee meetings that people want to attend because there is a spirit of excellence and the unexpected.

In what Esther and I are doing now all is in transition Looking for a place that will be in the right location and looking for a building we can get into with no support to speak of we know this is something the Lord has told us to do and He will bring people that Believe in what the Lord has placed in us. This is hard at times when people you thought new you and what you are decide to support some were else then you look to the Lord even more and this is a good thing. We want a midweek service and teach what has been assigned to us. Maybe we will use other homes across the city to accomplish this, Well something else to pray about, let us continue on in step #5.

It's not that the church has too many meetings, but rather that we have too many bad meetings. I watch as a discomfort comes over many people in our gatherings, even in business meetings. The facilitation is poor, the leader usually talks too much, people don't contribute for a variety of reasons and the result is boredom, lack of focus and confusion. I was in a board of directors meeting the other day and it was just flat out "bad." If I didn't have to be present, I would have run out of the room looking for comfort.

I put the responsibility for poor meetings at the feet of leadership, for they are the ones who call the shots. What we usually lack is any kinds of accountability and feedback that can help our meetings improve. If the youth are sitting in the meeting and they look bored, then they are bored. And if leadership insists on doing the same thing for the next meeting, the people will be bored then, too. The same holds true for any service and meeting.

Everyone who leads a meeting should hold to the same standard that Jesus set, as found in Mark 12:37: "The large crowd listened to him with delight." People walked for days to listen for days only to return home for days and they kept on coming, because Jesus had something to say. His "meetings" were filled with controversy, the unexpected, excellent insight delivered in an exciting and dynamic fashion. Jesus' stories were relevant and He allowed people to ask questions. And He did it all without video, ushers, PowerPoint and audio-visual paraphernalia

So what kind of meetings do you lead? What kind do you attend? What price are you willing to pay to see the Mark 12:37 dynamic present in your work and meetings? I am not saying it is easy, but this level of excellence must be achieved if the Church is going to move from people who have to attend to people who want to attend.