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Vital Community, the Living Body of Christ
Fall is always a time of new beginnings at RLC.
As we begin our new program year there is a sense of excitement
and anticipation that accompanies the new programs and the
relationships that come with them. It is a good time to reflect on
the things which really make up a church, the things which brought
us all into this fellowship to begin with.
There are a few key elements people are looking
for when they join a Church. These things are more basic than
doctrine or style. They are the basic human needs Jesus addressed
in his ministry.
Honest relationships
Meaningful Relationships with those around
them. A feeling that they are cared for and will be missed when
they are gone.
Spirituality
A sense of contact with God, A place where they
feel the truth, that they are the beloveds of God in Christ Jesus.
A meaningful place in the community
A feeling that the ministry they are
contributing to makes a difference in the lives of others. This
means they have and feel they are contributing personally…. Not
as just another source of cash.
Churches plateau and cease to grow when these
elements are no longer present. For the most part this is when the
members of the church as a whole reach a place where they are
satisfied with their involvement in the church and with their
circle of friends and are no longer seeking to include others in
their lives.
Long time members are almost always satisfied
with their place in the church and their long time circle of
friends. This creates equilibrium within the community and the
church will not grow as long as this equilibrium is maintained.
Though everything else might be in place, unless there are
opportunities to truly become part of the community the growth
stage is over. Many churches break this equilibrium when members
begin to retire and begin traveling, move away or otherwise leave
the church. If a church waits for that point to do something it is
almost impossible to begin a growth cycle again. We are already at
that point. In the next five years many people will be reaching
retirement age and will cash in their homes and move away to more
affordable areas.
There is hope though. To grow again you need to create a
situation where the status quo is no longer good enough. This
dissatisfaction must be one where people are still excited enough
about their church to be willing to share their experience. In a
perfect world members see the pressing need for everyone to have a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ and constantly seek to
tell their God stories, find new friends and create an
ever-expanding core of Jesus’ disciples around them. This can
only be accomplished by an act of God in the lives of individuals.
It is an active decision that each individual must make. Realistically
what this means is that every member needs to commit to making one
or two new friends among the guests that visit our church and
include them in their lives in a meaningful way over the next two
years. Statistics show that unless a person has
formed six meaningful relationships within a church in the first
six months they are on their way out the back door. There is no
substitute for real relationships if a church is going to grow. No
program or exciting service can make up for the lack of personal
relationships within a church. They only provide a place where
these relationships, with God and with one another, can form.
Pastor Jim Bliss
Pastor's Notes Archive |
