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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: What if any special programs build church membership?
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Callan
Shipmate
# 525
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
That sounds really great, HB. I think our building distracts us utterly from 'doing the right thing' as you say, and the growth (I don't mean numerical) and relationships which can be blessed through all that. I'm starting to sense our pile of bricks and concrete as an active curse.
I once spoke to a clergyman who, in a previous parish, had been saddled with an ugly and unpleasant Victorian church that cost a packet to maintain. One evening he got a telephone call from a parishoner. "I'm sorry to bother you Father, but it looks like someone is trying to burn the church down".
"Why on earth did you ring me, rather than just leaving him to it?"
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How easy it would be to live in England, if only one did not love her. - G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 9757 | From: Citizen of the World | Registered: Jun 2001
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
Leprechaun - there's a Methodist church near you crying out for someone to take minutes for its property committee... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
[ 21. November 2014, 14:44: Message edited by: mark_in_manchester ]
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
It seems fairly common for British Non-conformist churches to rent out their worship space for a fee. Most of them don't have a separate church hall, although they might have a few side rooms that are also available.
My understanding was that many churches have removed their pews to make their worship space more flexible - and rentable. This won't apply to churches in listed buildings, of which the CofE has many.
Most churches of a certain age have a seperate church hall. This helped them get round the objections to women's preaching etc. A women in the pulpit was preaching and not on. A woman in church hall was giving a talk and that was fine.
All the churches I've ever been too rented out rooms in either the church building or the seperate church hall. For many of them, the extra income helps keep them going. None of them rented out the Sanctuary. The only ones I know of who do that are some of the newer, warehouse churches.
And back to the OP ... The only churches I know of who've managed to grow successfully are ones who set up programmes that were designed to bring people into the church without frightening them. The ones that work best are the ones that meet a need such as toddlers.
Add to the mix congregation members who were willing to hustle in build relationships with the people who came to those groups and elsewhere in their community - and were willing to talk about their faith and invite them to church.
The congregation also need to be willing to welcome the newcomers and change in order to accomodate them.
The final piece is a leadership who supported and facilitated that.
As others have pointed out, praying for newcomers whilst being unwilling to do anything to make them welcome or even go and find them ain't going to do much!
Tubbs
[ 21. November 2014, 15:13: Message edited by: Tubbs ]
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
Most churches of a certain age have a seperate church hall. This helped them get round the objections to women's preaching etc. A women in the pulpit was preaching and not on. A woman in church hall was giving a talk and that was fine.
All the churches I've ever been too rented out rooms in either the church building or the seperate church hall. For many of them, the extra income helps keep them going. None of them rented out the Sanctuary. The only ones I know of who do that are some of the newer, warehouse churches.
I'm sure it's partly regional, because we seem to have different experiences. Thinking about the Methodist churches in my city, I'd say that only a minority now have separate halls, although they might have had them originally. Many halls have long since been sold off, and some of the newer Methodist buildings have their hall incorporated in the main structure.
However, Methodist (and probably Baptist, etc.) churches in comfortable smaller towns and semi-rural areas are perhaps more likely to have the space, people and finances to maintain a separate hall. My sense is that (in England) local communities in such areas are relatively 'reachable', and won't just see the church building as a space that they've paid to use.
[ 21. November 2014, 17:24: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
This past weekend our church had its annual Holiday Boutique. Sunday morning a woman and her 11-year-old daughter came to church and said they'd been to the Boutique the day before and wanted to know more about our church. Our Church School director came up just then so we introduced her and she talked the daughter into going to Church School as well.
I hope we'll see them again next week.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Alogon
Cabin boy emeritus
# 5513
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
No church should 'put-on' special events with the specific purpose of snaring new adherents. They can, maybe should, put on special events and welcome people from the community to them but not with any purpose other than neighbourliness and providing hospitality.
If you are thinking of special musical or artistic events, far more can be said for them. See The Church and the City, by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion. The heavenly city is a place of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Our earthly cities are often full of lies (Babel), slavery (Rameses), and ugliness (Philistia). The church, as an outpost of the heavenly city in the earthly city, has a mission to project all three of the contrasting transcendental virtues.
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Patriarchy (n.): A belief in original sin unaccompanied by a belief in God.
Posts: 7808 | From: West Chester PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate
# 17047
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Callan:
I once spoke to a clergyman who, in a previous parish, had been saddled with an ugly and unpleasant Victorian church that cost a packet to maintain. One evening he got a telephone call from a parishoner. "I'm sorry to bother you Father, but it looks like someone is trying to burn the church down".
"Why on earth did you ring me, rather than just leaving him to it?"
Given the insured value at 2.4 million we've joked about the benefits of putting a match to even our rather nice, if badly in need of renovation, Edwardian building. Of course with the amount of damp in the building one would need a lot of petrol...
[ 28. November 2014, 06:34: Message edited by: Arethosemyfeet ]
Posts: 2933 | From: Hebrides | Registered: Apr 2012
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
I occasionally fantasised about setting fire to my old church. If we could have pulled that off things would have been very different!
![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Barefoot Friar
Ship's Shoeless Brother
# 13100
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Posted
I am by no means an expert on this, as I'm slowly learning myself as I go along. However, I've come to realize a couple things. First, I think that building genuine relationships is key. People bring people (Lambchopped?) is true. The key is to not make them feel like you just tried to befriend them to get them to come to church. You have to truly care about them, and they have to know that you care about them. I think a certain number of these relationships will never bring anyone to church, but I think it's an important first step.
Second, being a positive, known entity in the community is important. If either one of my churches closed tomorrow, would anyone notice? Would anyone care? This is where outreach comes into play. Not only are you doing what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 25, but also you are showing the community that you're there, that you're alive, that you're not a bunch of weirdos, and that you as a group care about the community. Doing things like inside out Bible school, sponsoring after school care programs, community food and healthcare programs, even concerts, 5K runs, and so forth are all ways to get the church's name out there and let people know you're still alive and kicking. Do things in the parking lot sometimes, out where people can see you. The Episcopal church in downtown Huntsville, Church of the Nativity, sponsors a farmer's market that meets every Thursday afternoon in the summer and early fall. It happens in their parking lot. They don't make a big deal out of it, but church members are usually there smiling and chatting and talking to newcomers, and if someone asks for a restroom they show you into the church and make sure you find it easily.
Finally, be warmly welcoming but not pushy when people do turn up for worship. I can't tell you how many churches have visitors show up and immediately start trying to get them to come to Sunday School, join the choir, and serve on a committee. I'm not exaggerating.
Have people who will strike up a conversation, and if the visitors aren't from your particular faith tradition, have them offer to sit with their new friends and help them navigate the service (this is mainly pointed at liturgical churches, but every church has its unspoken, unwritten rules). Then if your church is the eating out type, have them invite the visitors to lunch after church next week. When they show up next week, introduce them to new friends who will invite them out the week after. (That's something my wife and I are trying, and it seems to be working.)
There's no magic formula. There's no book or system that will grow any church, guaranteed. Trying to replicate what another church does without finding out why it works in that particular community's culture is pointless -- even harmful!
I think most of all be open to doing things that seem risky on the outside but that are actually the Holy Spirit leading into new areas, new ministries, new relationships, and new situations.
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Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. -- Desmond Tutu
Posts: 1621 | From: Warrior Mountains | Registered: Oct 2007
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Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate
# 17047
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Barefoot Friar:
Finally, be warmly welcoming but not pushy when people do turn up for worship. I can't tell you how many churches have visitors show up and immediately start trying to get them to come to Sunday School, join the choir, and serve on a committee. I'm not exaggerating.
I know I'm probably an exception but when I've moved and consequently started attending a new church I've always been pleased to be included straight away. It's worth being aware of the distinction between those attending church for the first time in a while (or at all) and those simply new to the area.
Posts: 2933 | From: Hebrides | Registered: Apr 2012
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Barefoot Friar
Ship's Shoeless Brother
# 13100
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Posted
Oh, I don't mean to not include people. Definitely include people. But there is a point at which it goes beyond being including into being desperate, and that's the line that shouldn't be crossed.
I had a specific church in mind when I wrote that. One Sunday a visitor came in and they were pushing all their programs plus asking him to join the church and serve on the trustees. He never came back.
I just think being pushy and desperate is going too far.
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Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. -- Desmond Tutu
Posts: 1621 | From: Warrior Mountains | Registered: Oct 2007
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