Juice and Cookies : My experience with church work.

We started out in ministry at a small church-plant on the outskirts of a college football town. In order to attract new visitors we offered all kinds of programs ranging from nursery to teens. How could we expect the church to grow without programs, right? It was expected. If you took a look around at all the other churches in the area, they were doing everything possible to offer as many programs as money and volunteers could afford.

It took five years of back breaking work and sixty hour work weeks to reach an attendance of only one hundred twenty people. By the time it all came crumbling down, the leaders were broken, the volunteers were burned out and the people were scattered. Why? We did everything that church leaders were telling us to do. We followed the church growth manual to the letter, yet it all came crumbling down.

The next church we went to was a thriving large church with a solid congregation numbering in the thousands. As staff pastors we were expected to produce results. The weekly staff meetings were focused on numbers and new building programs. Once again we offered programs for every age. When families arrived at church on Sundays, everybody went to their separate areas. Nursery, children, youth, and adults. They even had a separate area for senior adults.

The church as a building was doing just fine. Money was up but morale was down. Parents relinquished their responsibility for teaching their kids about the bible and God and expected the church leaders to do it. Many years have gone by since that time and as we have followed the lives of those youth and kids in that fellowship, we have been very disheartened to read on social media about so many departing from the faith . Very few of those who grew up in that ministry are following the Lord or even involved in church at all.

It seems like the only young people who remained close to God were the ones whose parents took an active role in teaching, training and modeling Christianity in the home. Those kids grew up and for the most part, seem to be thriving in their relationship with God and are active in church.

We now go to a church where the pastor has only one program. You, you are the program. He believes that if he can pour sound biblical teaching into each individual life, they will in turn pour into someone else's life and continue in the home. It is a radical idea. Go and make disciples. We worship, pray, study the bible and fellowship together. We have no advertising, no nursery, no youth classes, and it all seems to work.

A radical new idea is emerging in this environment. People feel free to serve God in their calling and serve each other with grace. About one hundred and fifty people call this fellowship their home church. We have young families with babies that love bringing their kids to church to worship together. They say they like coming because they don’t feel pressure to drop their kids off at the nursery.

I still like puppet shows and lock-ins. The memories of Sunday school and juice and cookies continue to bring a smile to my face even to this day. There was some good in all of those programs but there is more to spiritual growth and discipleship than a well organized program.

Only time will tell if things will turn out different in this church. I know it has already made a difference in my life. My joy in serving has returned. I am no longer burned out from trying to raise everyone else's kids. I see families worshiping together and sharing their faith with their friends and neighbors.

It looks like what’s new is old, and what’s old is new again. Jesus invested into people and not programs. The early church operated simply and effectively. I am not saying that all of our modern day smoke machines and strobe lights are necessarily a bad thing, but as far as I can tell, they have not really helped that much.