Qualities of a Growing Church

     As some of you know and others may not know, a year and a half ago, my husband Dan was unanimously voted in as the pastor of a small, struggling church in upstate New York.  Being a pastor's wife for that period of time has been exciting, inspiring, and thrilling.  At the same time, there are aspects of ministry that are disheartening, discouraging, and unsettling.  I know that if we focus on the hard and difficult things in life, life will be hard and difficult.  If we choose to focus on only the uplifting, exciting things in life, we aren't living a reality.  As with any life situation, you have to take the good and bad together.  The mountain top experiences are enjoyed and the valleys are endured. 

 

     I haven't posted very much about the church or life in the ministry thus far in my blogging because I wanted to have time to just experience it first.  There have been some things that I'm bursting to write though.  And perhaps they may help someone else along the way.  That is my hope and prayer at least.

 

     When we made the move to Granville, it was not a decision made lightly.  We knew times would be hard, and it would require diligence and determination to accomplish much.  In the first year of being there, we saw over 170 visitors attend!  That was a mountain top experience.  We also knew that most of those visitors were coming to see "the new pastor in town" and see what everyone was talking about.  Many of those visitors did not return even after being visited and sent cards. 

 

     Probably the most encouraging thing to see in the past year and a half is that when we arrived, the average age of attendees was about 69.  Now, the average age is probably 45-47.  We have seen children start attending, families start attending, and baptisms and people getting saved.  Those things are so exciting, uplifting, and encouraging.  But like any ministry, with those encouraging things also come trials, and heartbreaks. 

 

     See, for so many people, church is about attending and receiving a blessing.  It is about coming to God's house and getting fed.  It's about everyone in the family leaving with a feeling of fulfillment. 

 

     And therein lies a great problem.  The vast majority of churches have a large number of people who attend, give, listen to the sermon, and leave.  The number of people who come early, help set up, prepare lessons, preach, minister in song, give people rides, greet people at the doors, make a meal, give tithes, take care of babies, etc....is quite small. 

The smaller the church is, the smaller that number of people is. 

 

  In the past 1 1/2 years, we have had numerous people visit our church, seem excited, and then never return.  Upon visiting them in their home to better get to know them, they all say the same sort of things. 

 

"We really are looking for the church that provides a _______________ (youth group, seniors ministry, choir, women's bible study) and we saw that your church doesn't have that."

Some people say "We really want our four-year-old to have other four-year-olds to be friends with at church and we saw that your church doesn't have any four-year-olds"

or "It's so important for our teenagers to have other teens their age to be with at church."

And those are the qualifications of a good church to them. 

 

As the pastor's wife of a small, but growing church, this is disheartening and discouraging to hear. 

  If I were to only go to a church where there were women my age and in my stage of life, I wouldn't be the pastors wife here. 

  If I were to only go to church where there are children my children's age, I wouldn't be the pastors wife here. 

  If I only went to a church that had a beautiful choir I could participate in, I wouldn't be the pastors wife here. 

 

I could go on, but you understand.  Our society has made it possible to pick and choose churches like we pick and choose what to eat at a restaurant. 

 

But what are the qualities of a biblical church?

Size? Youth group activities? Color of the sidewalks?

 

Of course not.  Our priorities in finding a church should be these:

1. Preaching from the Bible

2. Fulfilling of the Great Commission

 

Of course with those stipulations should also be a strong standard of morality and ethics.  If a church has a huge group of teens, but they aren't teaching the Bible, there is something missing.  If a church preaches from the Bible, but they do no outreach or trying to reach the world for Christ, there is something missing. 

 

I have good friends who have told me they aren't able to find a good church that is able to give them what they're looking for.  As a pastors wife of a small church, I ask the question "WHAT are you 'looking for'?"  If it isn't simply put, a church that is preaching the Bible and fulfilling the Great Commission, than, my friend, you're priorities have gotten skewed. 

 

And I say that kindly.  I would love to lead a huge Christmas program, choir, ladies Bible study, vibrant teen ministry, and all sorts of events.  But first and foremost should be the preaching and the outreach to try to bring the lost to Christ.  Those other things are nice, but secondary. 

 

Next time you attend church, whether it is big or small, look to SERVE, not to be served.  I cannot find a verse in the Bible that says a church must have children my children's age in order to be a good church.  I also cannot find a verse in the bible that says we should be looking for a church where we feel blessed and fed only.  I HAVE seen passages that mention we ought to be serving in the church  (1 Peter 4:10, Ephesians 4:11-16, to mention a few). 

 

So there you have it.  From my heart to yours, wherever you attend, BE ALL THERE. 

SERVE.