what are WE missing?
Although I feel I should go into my typical mantra of..."I can't believe it has been so long since I have last blogged.....and I am going to try and do better" i think I will skip it.
I was in the car today for about 7 hours and had a lot of time to think and as I was thinking I thought I wanted to blog about my thoughts and see what some of you might think. I tell you other than some nice phone conversations with E+K and L I was getting quite bored with myself.
So anyway....onto my thoughts....
Last night I was sitting in my office at church with a young couple (29). The husband is a new member of the church and his wife is not active at this point. They are expecting a baby in February and are interested in baptism, etc... so we met last night to talk more about Advent, and baptism. While we were talking I asked the wife why she did not go to church (I said it in a non-offensive way, but was very curious as her husband has become very involved). She responded that she never really was part of a church growing up- only baptized probably because her friends were and she felt left out- and as she got older she just never got involved. However, she supported her husband very much in his attendance and participation and wanted to have the baby baptized because she knew it was important to him. The conversation continued and I prodded a little more...she then stated that Sunday's are her day to sleep in and she just can't fathom getting up to go to church- she sees no need for it. We continued talking, and after all of it she is going to come and worship with us a few times to check it out, as I encouraged her and told her how important I think the community that church offers is to everyone.
I could not get that conversation out of my head today as I drove. Her statements, "I have never seen a need for it and still don't" and "I need and love my sleep" made me very uncomfortable. What are we, that being the Church- not just Advent- but what are we as a church missing with people- are we not relevant- is our message lost on deaf ears- what is it that would make us matter and indeed be "needed"? I think the church largely does come across very irrelevant to people- especially those who are de-churched, unchurched- or any other category you want to throw in there. i think so many of our churches invite people to come and sit- take up a place in the building, give some money, and be done with it- that however in my opinion is hogwash- one of the things I thing church needs to do a better job at is challenging its members with the expectation of what Christ calls us to be...and I believe in that expectation, and calling is the relevance that so many of our young adults, heck even our older adults are desperately seeking-even if they don't know it yet...
just wondering...what do you think?
I was in the car today for about 7 hours and had a lot of time to think and as I was thinking I thought I wanted to blog about my thoughts and see what some of you might think. I tell you other than some nice phone conversations with E+K and L I was getting quite bored with myself.
So anyway....onto my thoughts....
Last night I was sitting in my office at church with a young couple (29). The husband is a new member of the church and his wife is not active at this point. They are expecting a baby in February and are interested in baptism, etc... so we met last night to talk more about Advent, and baptism. While we were talking I asked the wife why she did not go to church (I said it in a non-offensive way, but was very curious as her husband has become very involved). She responded that she never really was part of a church growing up- only baptized probably because her friends were and she felt left out- and as she got older she just never got involved. However, she supported her husband very much in his attendance and participation and wanted to have the baby baptized because she knew it was important to him. The conversation continued and I prodded a little more...she then stated that Sunday's are her day to sleep in and she just can't fathom getting up to go to church- she sees no need for it. We continued talking, and after all of it she is going to come and worship with us a few times to check it out, as I encouraged her and told her how important I think the community that church offers is to everyone.
I could not get that conversation out of my head today as I drove. Her statements, "I have never seen a need for it and still don't" and "I need and love my sleep" made me very uncomfortable. What are we, that being the Church- not just Advent- but what are we as a church missing with people- are we not relevant- is our message lost on deaf ears- what is it that would make us matter and indeed be "needed"? I think the church largely does come across very irrelevant to people- especially those who are de-churched, unchurched- or any other category you want to throw in there. i think so many of our churches invite people to come and sit- take up a place in the building, give some money, and be done with it- that however in my opinion is hogwash- one of the things I thing church needs to do a better job at is challenging its members with the expectation of what Christ calls us to be...and I believe in that expectation, and calling is the relevance that so many of our young adults, heck even our older adults are desperately seeking-even if they don't know it yet...
just wondering...what do you think?
Labels: the church
J - I wish you were here, too, to help me eat all the things I'm making. I'm turning into a ball of goo.
Anyway... on to your post - very thought provoking by the way. I wonder if the un/de churched people really understand what it is that happens at church. I admit that since leaving the cities I haven't gone nearly as often as I used to. sunday I went, for many reasons, but as I sat through the service, knowing the reasons behind each part of the service, I couldn't help but wonder if others did. If others realized the impact of those few words of institution, or the meaning behind the Lord's Prayer - how it came to be and what it means with each statement.
Maybe it's not so much that people don't need it, it's that they don't understand what IT is. And without understanding they don't think they need. It's like a book I once read (fiction, keep in mind) where a woman told her husband, who was accusing her of being cold and unfeeling and unloveable, that she had never learned how to love. Perhaps people just haven't learned how to church. If that makes sense.
Of course, I'm not sure how to do that...which is why I'm in the military. :)
Miss you. Sending my love to you, Anna, Logan and Payton. Miss you all so much. HUGS!
Posted by
~moe~ |
10:02 PM
JG,
Hunger is a wierd thing. I am immersed in a culture that drops off a lot of kids at church which is an equal type of issue to what you are talking about.
I always throw around the idea of doing church a totally different way--radically different, where the sermon is a dialog and, and, and...I am not sure what that would look like.
However in my conversations, like yours, I have learned that people don't have a problem with Jesus. It's the ones who say they are following him, and doing in poorly.
Hopefully we are blessed to keep connecting with people and hopefully we can get our heads together and come up with some really creative stuff for the future.
Peace to you brother. Let's talk soon.
Paz, CK
Posted by
Chad K |
11:24 AM
crazy. I was just thinking about those things today. I'm living in this foreign country and there is no English speaking congregation for kilometers and kilometers around. The church is extremely "traditional" up to the point that there is no lay involvment in anything to do with the service and you have to actually buy your own hymn book and tape the order of worship inside it, if you want to follow along or sing.
I never feel motivated to go. There isn't a coffee hour and even if their was, I would feel like such an outsider, never able to speak to anyone, and when I am there I often go completely unnoticed.
How does this relate? It has given me a sensitivity and maybe a better understanding of what it must be like to start "going" to church for those people who have never really gone before. The language is actually foreign and uncomfortable, the people are nice but distant, the worship service is all but indecipherable...who would want to give up the renewing powers of a day at rest for two uncomfortable hours in a cold church?
I know that Advent is probably very different than some churchs, but the theory holds the same. I would rather sleep on Sunday and get some much needed rest then get up and force myself through that ordeal.
Although my situation is different in that the sermon really doesn't make sense (being in old and formal Slovak), I still understand that making the effort to go comes mostly from the sense of responsibility I feel that I "should" go.
I have no answers, just musings.
Happy Holidays!
Posted by
Karen Elizabeth |
11:34 AM
Much like everyone else I struggle with the same issues.
I have been given the great responsibility on internship of getting a group of 20-30(ish) year-olds together. I have been told that there is a great need, and there is. But I am having a hard time getting people to commit and get excited about anything. I just don't think they know how much they are needed in the church. Not to just come on Sunday's and give money. How do we let them know how much they are needed to help spread the Gospel and do God's work?
God's Blessings,
Sarah Goldammer
Posted by
Sarah |
12:06 PM