|
 That's the headline of an article I
read this summer. A web site search located over 1600
home churches listed in the U.S.A. We all know that there are always
new churches, but why churches that meet at homes? The answers
might challenge us, but they can also help us identify areas that need
improvement.
Pastors often need to over
control or are power hungry. Is that you? Do you delegate ministry to others?
I believe that a good leader allows others to discover their gifts and
to shine in their areas of ministry. We need to develop people who can
do ministry--ministry that you and I have been doing.
Families are separated.
Our
culture offers all kinds of experiences for the whole family. What's your church doing? Create services, classes, small groups, and
activities that allow the whole family to participate.
Members aren't interacting
during the worship service. Christianity should be a dialogue, not a
monologue. Talking heads are a thing of the past. Encourage creative
ways for people to interact during and after the worship service.
Churches seem more concerned about getting larger than they
are about the lives of individuals. "Bigger is better" often means a
lack of the personal touch. Folks want relationships and that happens
in small groups, no matter the size of the church. Intentionally create
settings for people to get together in groups. Provide ways for people
to build relationships within your church and community.
Members aren't involved in
the ministry. I believe that this is the area we're the most behind the times.
Not everyone preaches, reads, visits or
sings, but many more might
if given the opportunity with the right support. Further, everyone is
involved in a home church. Let's look for ways to involve people in
ministry that uses mechanical skills and hobbies. Everyone has something
to offer.
Money isn't being used wisely.
True or not it's some folks perception. Make sure people are
aware of where money goes. This ought to be a given in a
Congregational Church. Spend money wisely. And remember, people are inclined
to give to projects.
I doubt if any of us will leave
our churches tomorrow and start a home church, but I believe what
people find in home churches are what they find missing in traditional churches.
Food for thought on this Winter day.
Peace and Grace Our
Christian Heritage
In an 1874 sermon entitled Hindering
Christianity, Henry Ward Beecher said:
My idea of a true church organization is this: that it is a union in which every man is joined to his
fellow-men by elective affinity, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and by the social influence of like souls. Every
man is to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. […]
Now persons say to me, `If you hold more liberal views than those who belong to the old Puritan
Congregational churches, why do you not go out of them?" Because I have a right to stay in. It is more important
that there should be liberty in the churches than that men should seek liberty by abandoning their birth-right. [. . .]
the true conception of a church organization is one in which men shall be like Christ, and in which, being like
Christ, they shall be free—free to think, free to speak, and free to act.
Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hall is the Association's Historian
and serves Plymouth Congregational Church of Racine, WI
|
