It’s pervasive. Most of the people in the pew have internalized the notion that ministry is the responsibility of the professionals on stage. The job of the pew sitter is . . . to sit. And watch others do the work.
That mindset is killing the church. The current system perpetuates the idea that the Christian life revolves around a spectator event–the weekly worship service. These days, what does it mean to be a follower of Christ? You go to church. Pulling people out of the community to merely sit in an audience contributes to the American church’s weakening influence.
But the healthiest churches today are bucking the trend. Their leaders avoid pedestal stardom, exemplify servanthood, and explain to their people that “we’re all in this together.” They humbly–and genuinely–remind their people that the real ministry, the most powerful impact, happens through the members out in the real world. These leaders train, support, encourage, and let loose their people to share God’s love in myriad ways.
And the community notices when a church energizes and equips its people to love. Such is the case with churches connected with Kids Hope USA. This national network links churches with public schools, enlisting church members to mentor at-risk elementary school children. Each volunteer mentor spends one hour a week with one child, helping with schoolwork and simply being an adult friend.
Take, for example, Faith Community Lutheran Church in Longmont, Colorado. The church’s Kids Hope director, LaRae Schaff, coordinates 30 church volunteers with a nearby elementary school. She reports the program makes “an enormous impact on the kids.” The staff at the school also recognizes the lasting impact the church is making in the lives of the children.
That school cherishes its relationship with the church. There are many, many other schools that intensely desire Kids Hope partnerships with local churches. Kids Hope national president David Staal recently canvassed seven metro areas that have Kids Hope church-school partnerships. In those areas, 2,245 additional schools are waiting for and requesting churches to partner with them.
Staal spends much of his time trying to help churches see the opportunity to make a powerful difference in children’s lives. But, sadly, most churches choose not to get involved. I asked Staal why. He said most church leaders say they’re too busy. They say they don’t have time to add one more thing.
Yet, in these same churches, 80 percent of their members are not “too busy” with the work of the church. They’re not currently involved in any regular service with the church. This represents an enormous untapped resource. Staal said that for 60 percent of Kids Hope church mentors, this is their first volunteer position with their church. And they, in addition to the kids, are experiencing a life-changing benefit from their involvement. Staal said 80 percent of these volunteers report their faith in God has been strengthened through their work with the kids.
Faith Church’s Schaff said, “Most of the mentors in our program would tell you it has been a huge blessing to them.” She said some of the mentors spend extra time with their kids, attending their games and concerts, and taking them out for ice cream. “Kids Hope is something we can do to reach our mission field, right here in Longmont,” she said.
That church gets it.
Kids Hope IS a wonderful program. Our church just got involved last Fall and we love it! The mentors are going out to be the hands and feet of Jesus and sometimes benefiting more than the kids they are “helping”.
Thom, I agree with your basic premise; however, what I often hear from the pulpit is “go out into the world and do these good things for the glory of the church” rather than “go out into the world, follow the teachings of Jesus and bring glory to God”.
Good point, John. We need a good re-focusing on Matthew 25. Loving “the least of these” helps us love with no strings attached. Can we love those who have little potential of becoming “giving units” in the pews?
There will not ever be a one-fits-all way to do a church or fix a church. The example shared is a good way for one church to do its thing but won’t work for everyone. My guess is the 80% of people who are not actively serving in church have very busy lives. They don’t all have the type of personality or talent it takes to work with children or elderly or homeless or food banks. There may actually be more people who would either be willing or in the habit of going to church but with the odd jobs and odd hours people are stuck working, church falls off the table when your stuck working most every weekend. That happened to my wife. Odd hours with jobs would even kills being involved in these outside ministries if they did have the personality and talent for it. It’s like there is a need for a variety of different churches doing different things in order to have a chance that more people could fit into one of them. We live in a very distracting world where even I don’t get into and watch regular TV shows because I can’t be in front of the TV at a certain time on a certain day with any consistency. I’ve gone to watching things on line when ever time allows just so I can watch though a TV series in order. There is a lot more than meets the eye with more and more people not going to church than they just don’t like it.
I used to be one of those “80 percent” pew sitters and am now heavily involved in leadership and teaching. I don’t do them well but there were few others willing to do it. I used to dread Sundays because it was boring and now I dread Sundays because I’m overwhelmed with feeling incompetent. Every week. As a layperson, I can see some ways the Church can change to be more effective and make a difference in the community but I am a “square peg in a round hole” world. The Church needs/demands skills from us that we do not have. I have this unsettling feeling that this is just the way is is.
I relate to what Ryan has to say.
I was a pastor for 23 years until I was 66 years old and only a dozen people were left in a congregation that was once 110 souls. I have wanted to join a church and tried three, all of which thought they were under the covenant of law not grace. Now I facilitate teaching in our home, twice a week to five people. I want to do more, especially when I see the way the churches are led, but just don’t know what I can do although I repeatedly ask. I live in a mid size country town with limited opportunities.
Always remember God’s ways are not our ways. Teaching 5 people twice a week, can be more effective in bringing glory to God, than 1000 people who are just pew sitters getting lectured every Sunday morning. I have seen many times a few,who put into practice the teachings of Jesus, do far more in building the kingdom of God than thousands of pew sitters in a large Church.
Agreed!
Tim J.,
Please be encouraged by those 5 people. After all, the Master Teacher poured his life primarily into 12 people and look what he accomplished.
I once facilitated a Sunday evening class in a large church. We started with 15 people who signed up for a 13 week series. Within a few weeks we were down to three…including me!
I gave it my all each week and never lost faith. After we finished I lost track of the two.
Almost a year to the day after we finished I saw each one separately. One had been praying about starting a Bible study at work and the series was the encouragement and equipping she needed. She was so excited about her study group and the change she had seen in them.
The other was a professor at a college and he also wanted to start a Bible study on campus. Again, the series was just what he needed. He too was excited at the change in the faculty that was part of his group and how others were drawn to them.
How many souls were and are being impacted because I didn’t become discouraged?
Jesus has never been about filling the stadium with a message that is here today and gone tomorrow.
If you think you are a good preacher, stop folks as they come in the door and ask them about your message last week!
If you continue to do the same things…you will get the same results.
Amen!
Just shows you what you can do if you are prepared to do it.
38 years of trying as senior pastor of good church teams to get the 80% to buy into real fellowship and ministry proved generally fruitless (I think we did better than most). 8 years ago God led my wife and I to facilitate organic house groups (actually they meet all over), and we get 90% buy-in (largely because the groups are smaller, you are accepted warts ‘n all and you can’t hide). You can tune up an old Chevy/Ford, but when the model (institutional Church) is in itself flawed, it just can’t do the job in these challenging and interesting times! God is doing this new (ancient) thing all over the world – been there and seen it.
Meanwhile, just outside the church walls, “2,245 additional schools are waiting for and requesting churches to partner with them.”
Thom, great post. This is one of the same challenges that the church faces in other parts of the world – like Finland, where I am studying the church for a year. There is no culture of volunteering in Finnish society in any form, let alone church. There are a great deal of challenges for the church here. Yet, there are people in the church who are attempting to make some changes because they see the potential and realize that if something doesn’t change, the church will diminish even more than it already has. Keep up the good work.