We're about to make what I think is our most significant change to date (at least since I've been at Waite Park). Now the reality is it's not really that big of a change. We're not changing our theology or moving to Texas or anything, but we're changing around our Sunday morning schedule on September 4th.
This will be the new schedule:
Coffee time 9:00 am
Prayer 9:15 am
Worship Service 10:00 am
Adult Groups and Sunday School (for kids) 11:20 am
The adult groups (or whatever we're going to call them) initially will be three groups, generally divided into young adult, middle adult, and older adult. I guess you can define yourself however you'd like. From time to time, we'll also do "mixer" Sunday where we will randomly divide the groups to get a cross-generational perspective.
As far as I know, Waite Park has kept the same Sunday Schedule for many years. It's been your standard schedule of Sunday School and then worship service. That schedule has served many churches, including Waite Park, very well over the years. But as with anything times change and we have to find new ways to communicate the faith.
The changes we are making to Sunday morning are consistent with two guiding principles of ministry. The first is that more does not always mean better. Oftentimes, we think that the more stuff we're putting in our brain, the more spiritual we are. So we get into the habit of participating in as many church activities and Bible studies as we can. Subliminally, we equate spiritual growth with knowledge. The problem is that the Bible doesn't equate spiritual growth solely with knowledge. Gaining knowledge is only a part of life transformation.
Although we'll probably call it something different, we're not getting rid of Sunday School per se, but it will look different after September 4th. Basically, our adult discipleship time on Sunday will be a discussion based on the sermon that will move toward application. In order to reflect the fact that we don't see discipleship as knowledge alone, we'll probably call it something like "connection groups" (trying to help people connect with the sermon material and the community of faith) or application groups (because the point is to engage the principles in the sermon and figure out how to apply what we learn in community).
Because the group time will be sermon based, we had to switch the order of Sunday morning. It wouldn't make much sense to preach a sermon, then have people wait until the next Sunday to discuss it. By that time, most people have already forgotten the sermon entirely (another reason for the change, by the way). It was only appropriate to switch the order of our worship service and groups so when we leave worship service, we can immediately engage with the material as it's fresh on our minds. Then, as groups we can discuss how we will go on to apply it over the next week.
What we hope is that the change will help us in a number of different ways.
First, we hope to make the sermon "stick." Let's face it, no matter how good the speaker is, most people forget completely about the sermon by Sunday night. So as a pastor, it makes me think, why should I spend all that time during the week preparing a well-thought-out message when it's not going to do many people any good? If it's in one ear and out the other, we might as well find something more productive or entertaining to do with our time--like sing more songs!
Second, we think this new schedule will help people to sharpen the focus of their spiritual growth. When you focus on three or four or five things you're really focused on nothing. Your thoughts are scattered and all the life-changing principles can't work their way into your life because life-change takes time. As we lessen the sheer amount of different things we're learning in a given week, it gives us a change to focus on the Word working itself deep into our heart as we meditate on it and practice it throughout the week.
Third, we think it's great opportunity to move in-sync as a church. Because of the society we live in, we have a habit of learning and applying Scripture only as individuals. But while Scripture does apply to individuals, it's not meant to be read and applied merely individually. It's intended to be read and applied in community. As the body of Christ, we move together. As we learn together, we learn to move in the same direction.
The fourth thing we hope to accomplish is actually an after-thought. As I was discussing the concept with a new couple to our church, they really liked the idea and brought up something I really hadn't thought of. It's this simple principle: It's easier to get people to stay for something than to come early. That's so true. As a result, we think this schedule, just by the timing itself, will be better suited for our newer people to join in our discipleship ministries.
I always say we should have high expectations for our members. In other words, we expect that those who are a regular part of our church body, will put themselves in a position where they can grow and mature spiritually. So, by making this time more accessible to new people, we believe it will also get more people involved.
While we've put a lot of thought into this change, I'm sure there will be some snafus and things we didn't think about. So, if you're a regular at Waite Park, please be patient and give the new schedule a chance. I think it'll be a great thing for our church.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
New Series: Generations
Initially, when I was putting together this series, I was thinking in terms of the question, "How do people who are 50, 60, or 70 years different get along?" Great question. Even people who are 20 years different can sometimes have a tough time getting along because the times in which each grew up are so different. With different music styles, thought patterns, relationship to technology and basic assumptions, how can everyone in the church grow?
Oftentimes, for churches the answer is homogeneity. When I was in seminary, the trend was church growth. The experts would say if you want your church to grow then what you need to do is find your target audience and tailor everything toward that target. If that means you only get 20-somethings, then so be it. In fact, that would be preferable, because then church is easy for everyone. They get to be with people who are like them and worship to their style of music.
But is this really the goal of the Christian life. Sure we would love our churches to grow. But there is great value on not working for a homogenous church experience. In fact, if the essence of spiritual growth is learning to get over yourself, what better place to grow, than in a church where you can't always get your way?
So, with that being said, how do you run a multi-generational church? What style of music do you do? What are the classes you teach? Do you do Sunday School or small groups? Who gets their way? I think at least a partial answer presents itself when you ask the question of why the church is here. Does God want us just to get along and wait for Christ to come? I don't think so. I think the answer becomes a little clearer when we understand that the job of the church is to pass along the faith to future generations. When we don't have unity of taste and styles, we need to find unity of purpose.
The church is an active, not a passive organization. We have a calling and a purpose and it's not just to sit around and wait until Jesus comes. The purpose is to make disciples. So we find our unity in that.
In Ephesians 2, Paul describes the church as a building with Christ as the cornerstone and the Apostles as the foundation. As we continue to build, each successive generation is another row of bricks built right on top of the previous generations. If that's the case, then what we find is the older generations carry the greater weight of the responsibility. More is expected of mature believers. More is expected of those who have seen trends come and go.
As we grow together, styles of music and modes of communication change. The gospel does not. The older generations are in a unique position to be able to sort out the heart of the gospel from the medium by which it's presented. The key is passing on the faith, not just particular cultural forms of it. So while I grew up singing hymns with organ and piano in church, I'm not one of those that would say, "It's a shame these kids don't know the old songs." I do think there's some value in them. They're meaningful to me, but they don't have to be meaningful to everyone. As long as the they maintain the heart of the faith, how people express it is a much smaller issue.
The real danger in making younger generations conform to peripheral things is that even if they stay in the church (which studies show younger generations leaving in droves), their faith may be only a shell, just a copy of the faith of earlier generations, not a faith that penetrates deep into the heart of the younger generation.
At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, discipleship doesn't happen when you give people what they want. So I'm not advocating that a church that has all the generations become a rock show spectacular no matter what the older generation says. I'm not saying the young people should just have their way and the older generation has to deal with it. Part of the discipleship process is knowing you can do something, but choosing not to for the sake of others.
While I do believe the older generations have more to give, I also believe that it's necessary for the younger generations to trust and value the older. Sometimes we have a tendency to dismiss things we don't understand. Sometimes we can be history snobs, thinking our era is the best and people in the past weren't as wise as we are. We can learn a lot from previous generations and we are wise to pay attention to them.
So there's the heart of our "Generations" series. Come check it out and learn the unique gifts each of our generations brings us.
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