I am using my sabbatical to visit a few churches I would not normally be able to attend. Yesterday I attended a local church of a different denomination that has experienced significant growth in the past decade. When their pastor came 10 years ago the church was averaging about 130 people on Sunday morning. Since then they have relocated to the edge of our community and now average about 700 people in three morning services.
Their praise band was very good, and the worship had an excellent flow to it. There were not a lot of announcements and no dead time in the service. The pastor preached without notes in a conversational style. His message had a solid scriptural base. People were encouraged to come as they were, and most were casually dressed. I attended the earliest service and noticed that many in that service were older. As we were leaving the sanctuary the next crowd was waiting to go in, and I noticed that it was a much younger crowd.
I had a very good worship experience, but the thing that impressed me the most was the clear vision the pastor shared with the congregation. I happened to hear the first of a three part message in which the pastor will lay before the people the future of the church. They intend to grow to 1,400 people by the year 2014. We live in a community of 13,000 people so this is a significant goal for this church. The church will have to address several issues to reach that goal which will be the topics of the remaining two messages in this series.
They currently meet in the fellowship building. I believe they are ready for phase two of their building program which I assume will be a new sanctuary. When they build it they will also have to build new parking. Their current parking is located on the site where they plan to build a new sanctuary. This will be a significant investment, but I have no doubt they will pull it off.
However, their vision is not limited to buildings and parking. He also plans to share a vision for new ministries that will impact our community. I have friends who attend this church, and they are excited to hear what the future of their church will look like.
This is the fastest growing church in our community which has brought criticism from some. Any time somebody is actually doing something they will be criticized by others who usually are not doing anything. This church is focused on reaching new people for Jesus Christ. They are not intentionally trying to pull people from other churches although I know some who have left their church to attend this one. I think there is a very good reason for that: People are attracted to an organization that has a vision for its future.
Few churches have any sense of vision for the future. Each week they open their doors hoping that people will come and something good will happen. Hope is a pretty poor strategy. This pastor and the leaders of the church have sought God's vision for the church, and they have the courage to lay it before the people and challenge them to rise up to it. I firmly believe they will accept the challenge and will achieve it. Our community will be better off because of it.
What is the vision of your church? I left that church yesterday with a clear understanding of where that church is going over the next six years. If I visited your church next Sunday would I know your church's vision for the future? I should.
No comments:
Post a Comment