Ronald Green, Pastor of Gordon Church of God (Gordon, Nebraska), has a blog devoted primarily to manuscripts and videos of his sermons. What caught my attention is the video of Ronald Duncan, General Director of Church of God Ministries, who preached in Gordon on July 24th. I was especially curious to see and hear our North American leader share in a local congregation (as he has never visited my church!).
While I have always found Dr. Duncan to be a solid and steady individual, I was somewhat frustrated by some of his introductory comments leading up to the sermon. Bringing greetings to the congregation, he gave a brief report of what is happening in the Church of God, and was quick to express that some of our congregations are doing very well. That's good news. But, it was the measuring stick that he used that concerns me. Urging the Gordon attendees to guess, he asked, "What is the largest size church that we have in the Church of God today?" (ANSWER: Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City with around 4500 in Sunday attendance), and then went on to proudly state that we have more large (i.e. over 2000) Church of God congregations in the U.S. than ever before. Interestingly, the entire population of Gordon is below 2000, so I am sure they were somewhat bewildered by the entire exercise.
To be fair, Dr. Duncan did quickly add that "we have many small churches that are doing a wonderful job". But, the emphasis that Sunday morning reinforced the notion that success is measured by size.
I don't want to be too hard on Ron, as I am convinced that his ultimate definition of success extends beyond size, and that he has a deep appreciation for congregations of all sizes. My real concern, however, is that his comments are a telling reflection of what most people in the Church of God really think when trying to measure church success: "Bigger is better".
Certainly, numerical growth is ONE way to assess church success. And, I do celebrate our sister congregations who have been effective at touching and gathering large numbers of people. But, in the quest for more heads to count on a Sunday morning, we can be misled into believing that Large Church = Mission. This is not always the case. Some small churches may be far more active in true mission.
It is a demonstrated fact that most of what appears to be "church growth" in North America is simply transfer growth, or the attraction of people from other churches. Very few, the "mega" churches included, are truly engaging and impacting the secular culture around them.
I encourage all of us, Dr. Duncan as well, to re-examine our ideas of church successs. Yes, let's celebrate where God is work, but may we find ways to highlight mission, not just warm bodies in pews.
5 comments:
Here is an article on the matter of size from theOOZE.com
http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=990
as for success, that's not our evaluation. three words strung together by Mother Teresa hang over my desk
"faithfulness,not success"
Was God looking for Hosea to be successful in marrying the most rotten prostitute in the land? Or was God looking for Hosea to be faithful to obey may be the most difficult command a Jewish male could have received?
i propose that God is more concerned with our faithfulness than our programs, numbers, or any other criteria. we can be doing "good things" but still not be obedient to the prompting of the Spirit of God (think Matthew 7:21-23)
as far as size, i've been a member and leader in churches both large and small. i think God calls some pastors to raise up great and large churches--perhaps He also raises up some to come in and turn on the lights so that the roaches will scatter.
i agree with Gerald Marvel's assessment, "the bigger the dog, the more fleas can gather". it's the same issues, just more often and from a lot of different angles. And it usually comes down to one question: are we going to do what we want to do, or do what He wants us to do?
He'll direct the size and scope of the ministry, our task is simply to be faithful.
nice and true, Llyod. nice and true.
Lloyd, I hear you man. It kills me when people ask how many youth I have comming, as if there's a lot that means, "Ooh, that guys is good."
Word Ken!
I have attended Crossings Community for 10 years...as of the conclusion of 2007 we have around 7,000 "members". I will completely agree that it is not the number of people in the seats that should lead anyone to believe that we are successful. I believe that it is by being faithful with what we have (or had when the church had less than 100 people just over 40 years ago) that has given us the success that we experience today.
I'll also be the first to admit that there are times I wonder if we are truly being faithful with what we've been given (based on the prompting of the Spirit) or if we just do things "because we can".
Post a Comment