Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/75

Contributor - Rev. Joel Hansma

Title - Congregations Are Blamed Not Trained

Topic - Outreach

The church growth sweep is beginning to be felt in the Canadian churches. People are beginning to ask the right questions. One parishioner, after hearing a moving sermon on Christ's command to grow, asked his pastor, as he shook hands, a very simple question. "We know we must do it," he said, "but how"? After stammering a little the pastor replied, "Find those who don't know Christ and tell them the 'good news'."

What this and many of us pastors don't realize is that this is what we too often do as pastors. We dangle a little exciting cheese in front of our people and when they try to take a bite we either dump it all on them or jerk it away. This only happens a few times and the people quit biting. They sit in the pews and nod their heads in agreement during the sermon then shut off church and go home. I'm probably just as guilty of letting God's people do that as any pastor. So, let's try to honestly think through church growth together.

First and foremost, we must ask ourselves this question: Do we want to grow? Let's face it, when we think of all of the reasons that our church isn't growing, many Of them point back to the fact that we don't want to grow. If our church is struggling along between 75 to 100 families that's a comfortable size. Big enough to pay the bills and small enough to be intimate. Don't knock it, it's an ideal size for many things. Twenty years ago it was considered the "best" size and when you exceeded 100 families it was time to start another church. That's why you can find 'First Reformed Church' right across the street from 'Second Reformed Church' in many cities. "You get too big and you get too impersonal." I've heard that many times. Fortunately that is not exactly true. It need not happen if people are willing to work for their God.

God talked about this kind of disease in his word. He said he "will spew them from his mouth". They are lukewarm. God demands red or even white hot Christians. Contentment with lack of growth or, worse, defense of lack of growth as in some way desirable, or even as God's will must be renounced. Church growth is faithfulness to God. First and Second church should renovate lone of the buildings, into, maybe a gymnasium. Add a study to the other so both ministers could work together. Have multiple services and combine efforts so that they can, teach the people to grow. That's good stewardship and co-operation. What I'm saying is churches must begin to think different. I find it hard to believe that just because two groups of people meet in different buildings, they are closer to one another. Why can't we have two congregations in one building or even three or four congregations?

Someone has planted a seed of hate in our thinking. That seed says that we must know or interact with all who belong to the church building. Groupings are wrong when they are in only one building, but it's okay when they meet in different places. When we change our thinking to accept groupings or cliques of what ever you want to call them, within a single congregation, then we are ready to start growth thinking.

Now, I didn't say we are ready' to grow, rather we are ready to start thinking about, it. I'm sure you are ready to jump on that!, word clique and rightly so. These groupings must be used rather than discouraged. When we train each other in Christian thinking we cease being snobbish and exclusive. We become a small group and stop being a clique. That's where staff ministry becomes important. When more than one congregation worships together the work load can be shared. Skills of the leaders can be sharpened. We can then train and use these small groups in building God's church. Just as we don't leave the battle up to the generals during a war, we don't leave Christ's battle up to the generals in his army. As with any good army, the leadership is shared with lieutenants. The lieutenants have their sergeants, but most important are the privates who really fight the war.

Therefore, growth means changing from a one man show to a staff. This need not be a paid full time staff. Find someone interested in one area of ministering, make him the lieutenant and equip him with the tools for the job. Give him responsibility and let him handle it. Often our committee structure is tied to our church boards (consistories). The chairman is selected from the elders. When his term is done, he is relieved. His appointment is not because of skill but because the committee needs to be chaired by an elder. That's ridiculous! We have an elder on each committee but the chairman is there because he wants to be there. Often that is the only thing he is doing for the church. So, he has time to concentrate on that job or ministry. In our church this system is in its infancy stage, but it is beginning to show merit. Our lieutenants are training themselves! It's all part of team building. When people are interested in what they are doing and not overloaded the jobs can be done without the pastor. He, then can concentrate on further building the team system. Moses had to learn to delegate responsibility and the people had to learn to accept it. The transition is not smooth. It is much easier to "do it yourself", and often very tempting. Yet, when only one job is taken over by a willing parishioner the pastor has gained valuable time to move on to other things.

A growing church is a multiple congregation worshipping in one building, served by a staff of skilled people. Some of these people are full time and others are from within the church. The responsibility of these people is to train the rest of the congregation. That's right, church growth is everyone's job! No battle can be won without the private. Each and every person must change his thinking for a church to grow. Church growth never arises in a vacuum. It always concerns persons. We've all been to churches where we have not felt welcomed. Would a stranger feel welcomed in your church? Would your pastor welcome him? Would your visitor feel welcomed by the person sitting next to him, even if that person is you? Are you bold enough to smile and welcome him to your fellowship today? Why do we have to have a person prove himself? Why does a person have to be in our churches at least more than once before we recognize him? Why does each parishioner leave the welcome up to all the other people and not himself? I'll tell you why, it's much easier that way. We all know Mr. Van X is so good about talking to strangers. Yet if you smile and risk shaking hands with a stranger, you too can build Christ's church.

My dad had an experience he will never forget. My old home church had a balcony. We always sat up there. One Sunday we were late and we had to sit downstairs. One of the people shook my dad's hand and welcomed him to the church. When my dad explained he was a charter member of some forty years, they both had a good chuckle over their not knowing each other. Yet, he had a warm feeling because he was singled out as a stranger. The parishioner who greeted him risked and took a chance. Are you willing to take that kind of risk?

Now we come to a conclusion. A church must work at being an outreaching church. There are risks involved. Deeper than that there is love involved. Some people will get all shook up if a lot of strangers become members in their church. They feel that being accepting is watering down theology. I see just the opposite happening. We hear a, lot about love. We do little about it. A loving accepting church is one that can take a person where he is in his spiritual life, and with a lot of loving they can bring him to where they are. Maybe he can keep right on going and growing. In this process the congregation also grows spiritually. Instead of hearing, about love, they begin living it. We are coming out of some thirty years of spiritual depression. Opportunities for church growth lie all around us. The Lord's army needs to be trained and mobilized. We begin by modifying our thinking, then practicing our preaching.

Luke records Christ as saying, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5 :32). Perhaps we should begin by putting up a sign over our doors, "Only Sinners Are Eligible".

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