The disconnect in many churches

Not once in my twelve years as a Resource Minister in our denomination have I had a church tell me they did not want to grow.  When I work with a pastor search committee they tell me every time they want a pastor who will grow their church.  Any time I assist a church in vision discernment they say they want to reach new people with the gospel.  Yet, in many of these churches their core values do not reflect that.  In the vast majority of cases, the core values of these churches focus on their own well-being.  They may say they want a pastor who will grow their church, but that is only if he or she doesn't neglect any of their needs and as long as it doesn't involve change or pain.

That is the disconnect in many of these churches.  What they say they want to see happen and what they value are two totally opposite things.  Recently, as I helped a church identify some of their bedrock beliefs, we got into a discussion about the purpose of the church.  They rightfully stated that the purpose of the church is to reach non-Christians in order to help lead them into a personal relationship with Christ.  I then pointed to the list of bedrock beliefs I had just written on a sheet of paper and asked which of those bedrock beliefs they had given me reflected what they said was the purpose of their church.  They were stunned as they realized that none of those beliefs connected with their stated purpose.  For years they have been saying the right things, but their practices were much different, and that was one reason the church has been divided and why it has been so difficult for them to attract and keep new people.

As I tell attendees to my workshops, your structure is perfectly designed for the results you are getting.  I continue that line of thought by stating that their church is exactly the size they had determined is best, and their church structure is designed to keep it there.  Churches often insist that they want to grow at which time I ask if they want to grow why are they not growing.  It is not for a lack of a mission field.  Some reports claim that 50-80 percent of the population in any county in the US  is unchurched so there is a great mission field available in every community.  The lack of growth in most churches is directly attributable to the way the church is structured and what they truly value as reflected by how the church relates to others.

If you want your church to grow or to develop new ministries or to change in the way it functions, you must first look at how your church is structured.  Many churches are structured to be maintenance-minded, not missional.  They are set up to care for the existing members and to perpetuate the traditions those members believe to be important.  While these may be important, they often do not allow room for ministry to those outside the church family.  When the vast majority of a church's resources (finances, time, and energy) are focused on maintaining what you already have there is precious little left for other ministry focuses.

A church that is committed to new ministries and reaching out to new people will have to determine what they are willing to give up.  Are there programs that need to go so new ministry opportunities can occur?  Do changes in service times or formats need to happen?  Should some roles or positions in the church be eliminated and new ones formed to better reflect a different ministry focus of the church?  Does exisiting ministry responsibilities need to be divided differently?  These, and similar, questions may not be easy to answer, but until they are answered the church will not be able to address potential structure changeds.  And, until the structure is changed it really doesn't matter what the church says is important.  The structure will determine what gets done, and that is what reflects what is truly important in the church.