A Church to Believe In

Part of our current church culture is dealing with membership decline in the majority of congregations.  While some congregations are growing, most people arrive for worship on Sunday morning (or another time) and wonder where all of the people are.  And most eventually wonder if we should do something different to attract more people.

As a pastor, I am aware of this.  My colleagues talk about it; religious magazines offer huge numbers of articles about it.  What can we do -- what should we do -- to attract more people and spread the Gospel.

Frankly, I've gotten tired of it.  I know I can't avoid the issue, but I think we are focusing on the wrong thing.  I am less interested in how to raise numbers than in how to impact the lives of the people already in the pews AND how a congregation can impact the lives of people not in the pews.  To me, this is the most important ministry of the church always, and it is how I measure our success as a congregation, rather than obsessively worrying about weekly attendance numbers.

So, I was delighted to read an article this week about a rural congregation that is having a large impact on the lives of people in their community and on the lives of the people in the pews.  While small in number (in fact, some people would suggest that this congregation consider closing or merging with another), they have a vibrant ministry.  We need more congregations like this, rather than more that are worried about attendance (in my humble opinion).