What Is Most Important?
Recently I had the honor of consulting with a lively, growing, suburban congregation. Although no church is perfect, several things stood out about this church. One could argue that their growth comes because they are located in an area where houses are sprouting up out of the prairie like sunflowers. One could say that they are growing because young families are moving into the local neighborhoods; those young families want to find a church home. Those things would certainly be true.
However, in my four days with this congregation, several other factors emerged. These reasons for growth transcend simply being at the right place at the right time. In actuality, these factors are much more foundational than being next-door to a thousand new homes. Here is what I saw—which is what I see in most thriving congregations.
This church is absolutely committed to showing God’s love to their community. Much of their programming is designed to say, “You are loved and you are welcome among us.” With a plethora of ministries, a wide array of members are highly involved in a concrete way by connecting with other people. And the culture of this church fosters that welcoming spirit.
This church practices intentionality. Every ministry has clarity about its purpose. Ministries and activities are consistently integrated with each other and are designed to work together. For example, the youth ministry is deeply aligned with a ministry for the parents of teens. And both ministries understand the power of that alignment. As such, the youth ministry is flourishing, and so is the burgeoning parents’ class.
This is a church that understands its mission as being completely focused on God’s work to renew and redeem. Although the congregation has plenty of programs that attend to the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of its members, the leading focus for the church is “outside the building.” Ordinary rank and file members are deeply aware of the church’s mission, and ministers and elders encourage them to find their place in God’s work.
This is a church where worship is centered on Scripture, dynamic participatory music, and telling the gospel story. From the beginning of the service to the end, every element of the service is designed to direct the congregation to worship God, to participate in reading Scripture and singing, and to hear through the sermon and other means the core of our faith in the narrative of the gospel.
What I find fascinating about these four factors is that they do not require a lot of money or a particular physical location. Worship practices, intentionality, mission, and showing God’s love are rather mobile ideas that can take root in any number of contextual realities. One could hold to more traditional ideas or more progressive ideas—yet these principles remain unaffected.
I would suggest that almost any leadership team in most of our churches could find an appreciative and supportive embrace to attend to these four ideas. Of course, it will likely mean some changes in our churches. And not everyone will like or appreciate deeper commitments to mission, worship, or intentionality. But my guess is that, if leader groups deepen their conviction toward what really matters for a church, then those churches will begin to make a difference—not because they are in the “right location,” but because they are learning to make the most important things most important!
