Well, it took some time but I finally finished Chapter 6 in Comeback Churches. It wasn’t that it was so difficult of a chapter or long or anything. I’ve just been swamped and haven’t had the time to read… and I lose interest about halfway through any book. Today I’m making it intentional to read because I want to finish the book by the end of the month. So here are my thoughts on chapter 6:
1. People need connection. “Comeback churches used strategies that help people stay and grow.” People must connect with a smaller group of people if they are going to stick around. Naturally, small groups fit this role nicely. We started two small groups last year (in addition to our men’s group) and I had planned to double that this year. We certainly have the interest and the need, but we don’t have the leaders right now. So, unfortunately I had to scale back my plans and streamline our efforts. But our men’s group and seniors group are still going strong and we started a new women’s group this summer. So we do have smaller opportunities for people to connect and grow, but not enough to fill the need.
In this section, the authors say something that I said just this past Sunday in my sermon: people convert to community before they convert to Christ. This means that newcomers first decide if they like and trust us as a safe place before they will make a dangerous decision to trust Christ. Our hope is that people will commit their lives to Christ, but first we have to be a people that is worth committing to. We’re working on this and making progress I hope (though some days it seems more like regression).
2. People need community. Again, this fits with my sermon last Sunday. God created us with the need to belong – both to Him and to each other. And He created the local church to fulfill that belonging need. People aren’t looking for a “friendly” church. They are looking for friends.
3. People need commitment. 53% of comeback churches raised the requirements of membership; 34% added a signed covenant. I mention these things particularly because we did this last year – although it has kind of been put on the back burner for now amidst our infastructure shakeup. But we intend to get back to it and even up the ante some more. The idea isn’t to get more members, but to have more committed members who buy into the vision, give of their time and resources to the ministry of the church, and are equipped for ministry.
4. People need discipling. This much is obvious. The question of “how?” is not so obvious. Discipleship and equipping for ministry are becoming our two biggest glaring needs right now that we really need to do some serious praying, planning and implementing.
In the last paragraph of the chapter, the authors drop a metaphor for the church in that really graps me: “greenhouse.” The church should be a greenhouse where new believers can take root, grow and blossom in ministry. I like that. Maybe I’ll use that this Sunday in talking about the 3rd dimension of our vision: “becoming mature and obedient followers of Jesus Christ.”
