Building Church Communities

matt — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:29:28 +0000

Have you noticed that many churches aren't really communities? Some claim to be communities and a handful actually are. But, many churches are actually organizations that look more like a business with a congregation consuming services and products put out by the church staff and a handful of active volunteers. This is a problem happening at my church and something many of the churches leaders would like to change.

But, It's Not A Problem At My Church!

97% of church growth in America is someone moving from one church to another. This is usually happening because the church they switch to has a cooler worship service, is more fun, or there are more activities for their kids. Doesn't this sound like products and services being consumed. This feels like computer users switching from a PC to Mac because it's cooler and slicker.

When you live in community you don't want to switch. If you are in a community of friends do you just get rid of them and take on new friends because someone else is cooler? I sure hope not. If you do you are likely labeled as someone whose using others. This kind of thing is not a trait people like to see for good reason.

So, when it shows up in our churches it's really a sign that the church isn't a community. When it's not talked about it even shows that community isn't all that important.

No, Really. It's Not Happening In My Church

When I was recently talking to someone active in my church she said there wasn't a problem in our church. That she didn't see it. The problem is, she is one of the active people producing the products and services others consume.

If you are one of the top 10% of active church volunteers or a leader in the church you don't have the same perspective as someone in the congregation at large. You might not even notice this trend and you might be living in genuine community with the other people doing the same thing as you. But, that doesn't mean your church is a community. A church congregation is all of it's members, not a handful.

Community Is Dead. Long Live Community!

In the United States (I can't speak for everywhere) community is a dying thing. We yearn for it and online social communities are popping up in batches. Yet, studies show that people have less real friends than people used to have. More studies show people (in general) are more depressed and disconnected. In a time when our communication tools continue to improve our ability to live in community is diminishing.

That means building a church community is going to be counter cultural.

Does It Actually Matter

This is a loaded question. Some might answer that is doesn't actually matter to them. I think of this question in a different way. Does it actually matter to God? The answer to this is a definite yes. Reading through scripture this is very clear. Look at 1 Corinthians and how God made us the body of Christ. Different people with different skills and gifts working together for the missing of the church. This is a community with a mission.

The Path Ahead

I'm not sure what the path ahead holds for the local church I belong to. This is really just the starting point as we discover our identity and what it means to be a community or not. Just like so many other things, we could fail.

As I continue to work in the churches community I'll blog some of the things I see, things that work and don't, and ideas we have.

Any Ideas

Since the church at large isn't very good at living in community there aren't a lot of good resources at doing this. Some of what's out there is trying to manage (in the business sense) community. This just doesn't work. Some other things talk about radical change. That usually kills a community. So, I'm looking for ideas. Ways to convince people to change. Ways to change the culture. Ideas on what the culture should look like. And, anything else constructive for that matter. So, if you have any ideas I'd love to see them.