Study Leave Report: What a Joy to Grow!

I visited two churches of interest on Study Leave. Both were planted in the early 90’s. That is when they finished the first stage of their building. But they have around for some ten years prior to this accomplishment, meeting in homes, renting tore fronts and sharing space in other churches. Does this sound familiar? First Presbyterian in the Meadows has also held home meetings, shared space, and worshiped in non-traditional places.

Today these two churches are eighteen years out from the day they finished their first building campaign, and a good twenty-five years out from when they first gathered. That is seventeen to twenty-four years ahead of us.

My first observation is that we need to be patient and persistent. Growth is long and gradual. It does not happen simply because we build a building. So if anyone still holds that thought, it would be wise to discard it. In fact, this perspective leaves a church vulnerable to the biggest mistake it can make: thinking the accomplishment of one task means the work is done. What has marked these two churches’ continued success is their ability to adapt and mold their forms and structures so they can build and grow. Their defining mark has not been that they built a building, but that have been, and remain, willing and able to continue changing and adapting.

A growing church never ever stops. At Mountain View Presbyterian Church, even with 550 members and programs for all ages, they continue to build and grow because they continue to adapt. For about ten years their focus was towards a retirement community of Sun City. But as the church has begun to attract a broader spectrum of members, they have found themselves working at integrating children, families and youth where this was not an issue before. Pastor Linda Kelly clearly pointed out, “It is easy to relax in the familiar things that makes us comfortable and not struggle with the questions that make us change. For us now it is having to work at things like, ‘What do we do with children?’” What promotes the church’s growth is its willingness to let its comfort zone get a little lumpy if it means someone new to the fellowship finds comfort.

I remember a Sunday morning here at the Meadows when the church was full, the music was hitting every beat, and the sermon seemed to hook where people were at. There was a good spirit moving through the congregation. Afterwards a long-time inactive member who had come by to visit her old church stopped me in parking lot and said, “Well, it’s not my church.” It certainly is not. The church she left years ago has been alive at adapting to emerging needs and trends in order to grow and serve. We can't expect a stagnate perspective of a church life to grow a church.

We have challenges to address in the next two months as to how we will organize ourselves to enable us to be an effective presence in ministry and service.

Keep up the prayers. Share your ideas. Keep the discussion going. Be ready to move forward.