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Amy said something last night that got me thinking - “If all of our students ever show up on the same night - this is going to be nuts.”
We’ve got around 20 students that show up on Sunday morning. Good start seeing that 3 months ago we had next to nothing.
But then - we have a different set of students show up on Wednesday night. Again - last night was typical - about 16 students. Typical in that - only one or two show up on Sunday.
We then have a 3rd group that shows up every other week because of custody/divorce issues. That’s about another 15 students.
Last I checked - there are no books at YS or Zondervan covering this phenomenon. Which on one hand - is probably good but on another - this can’t be that atypical of churches in unchurched areas…can it?
What’s my plan to bring this mess together? He he. If it was only that simple. I’ve never been a lone ranger/rah rah guy nor have I ever been a “come and see what we’ve got for you” leader. My philosophy has been reproduce leaders and take the church to them - in homes, schools, whatever. Make it about Jesus, make it real, and make it accessible to as many as possible. Normally that means you do most of your ministry off the church campus.
Yet in a start up - I’ve been forced to take a “both/and” approach to at least by me some time to reproduce key leaders. And in an a context where students are scattered to the four winds - the church building HAS become the common place - again, I think this bothers me more than anyone else.
I do have some random thoughts to get us through the interim but nothing definitive. We are going to have to do some experimentation first before we come to any kind of conclusions. But for right now the plan is to keep loving on students, keep training our adults how to disciple students, treat Sundays as a worship encounter (vertical), and treat Wednesdays as a community encounter (horizontal). Then throw in an activity once a month to try to bring the 3 worlds together. This month - going to see Amazing Grace on Friday night.
Harvest is plentiful, workers are few and miles to go before I sleep…miles to go. Good thing I’m not traveling alone.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Rowland // Feb 22, 2007 at 11:46 am
My guess…..this is a picture of church to come. How and where do we minister to those that don’t see “church” as the only place to walk with God and search for him? (this is actually a very healthy view). How do we minister to those who seek community and not necessarily “church”? While it’s harder to connect with people that don’t “come to us”, I’m glad they don’t define their community experience by having to be at church. Question…would they all show up to a mid-week something different out in the community, at a coffee shop, skating rink, etc…? It’s good to wrestle with it now because I think it’s a picture of “adult” church in the future.
2 clay // Feb 22, 2007 at 1:40 pm
and if everything is right vertical, it will be right horizontal, right grant?
3 kris-k // Feb 22, 2007 at 3:12 pm
interesting observations. i am becoming more and more convinced that ‘the building’ and ‘the church’ are truly 2 different things - and this is one more example of that. of course, i don’t really know what that means or what the implications are … i just have a sense that the current habits of church-goers are changing and that they MUST change for the kingdom to move ahead.
i’d go on, but i’d just be rambling ….
4 Grant // Feb 22, 2007 at 3:13 pm
clay - technically - yeah. but you being a life group leader have seen first hand how people can compartmentalize their life so one could be “right” and the other one completely wrong.
Now we’d critique that and say - no, if vertical is good, horizontal will follow. but spiritual transformation is slow - and sporadic!
Good thoughts, though.
5 clay // Feb 22, 2007 at 6:36 pm
yeah, i guess you dont remember. i was referring to a certain sermon in brazil that stated that and made some people cringe.
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