The UMC in trying to fill the pews. And there solution is this: design your church as you would a shopping mall. Fill it with variety, and hopefully each person will find at least something they will like. And you know what, that is not a bad strategy for filling pews. It just might work. Numbers may increase and budgets (the other main concern) may grow.
Just recently, I sad something that left the people I said it to stunned. I said, “I don’t care how many people are in church.” I actually said it in the midst of words fired much more by passion than careful thought. The people I was with responded as if I had just dropped the N-Word at a NAACP convention and so I paused to consider what I had just said. I realized that it was at face value a quite odd for a pastor to say. After all, filled pews provide the food on my table. And especially in the setting I am called to serve in where empty pews are not perceived just as problematic but seen as terminal, it was a startling thing to say.
So what did I mean by what I said? Did I really mean that I never even check the attendance figures? Did I mean that I was completely neutral to the question of whether the church I serve continues to exist? Well, what I meant was that my main concern was not filling pews. I am much more concerned with trying to be faithful to God. And yes, that might mean losing a few people out of the pews. But it also will draw those who are convicted by the law of God of their need of a Savior. Faithfulness both drives unrepentant people away and is at the same time the heart of a church where the kingdom is being enlarged.
I have met men that seemed to be tickled by the way they emptied the pews by their supposed faithfulness. That is not me. My goal is not to whittle my church down to the pure remnant I desire. My goal is the preach the gospel, administer the sacraments, seek the lost, and let God determine who ends up in the pews. Quite frankly, I would love filled pews. But I will not turn the church into a shopping mall in order to get there.
Methodist survey aims to stop membership decline
“Worship is like going to a mall,” Millard said. “There are all kinds of stores. Some people like specialty shops. Some like department stores. When you have variety, people can go where they like.”
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The last church I was at reminded me of a mall. One week they did one thing and the next they did something else to appeal to all. well, the pews were filled to the brim for several yrs while I was there but when I started talking to people in depth the reason they likes this church was not b/c the pastor preached the gospel or more likely the LAW and no gospel, it was b/c the music moved them that week and they has a “cool”speaker come and that moved them the enxt week. Nothing about what Jesus was/is doing for them. I saw this model all fall apart when the pastor and his worship team left. The church fell apart and the pews were maybe 1/2 full. It’s all nice and good when we cater to every person but that is not what Jesus is about and I saw the people who had the faith that endured and not this faith that swayed with the music and the pastor. thst is not who and what we are supposed to worship.
I would love our pews to be filled every Sunday and I believe we ahve some awesome organists that make the music come alive and the pastor has a real message about jesus and what He has done for me. We don’t need moving contemporary tear-jerking music every Sunday to attract people to the gospel of Jesus. Our love for Jesus and hospitality should shine though and make people want to come to our church, not the vast variety.
I think any of these “seeker-friendly” phrases have merit, to an extent. Paul talked about being all things to all people… but his purpose and focus was salvation, not population. Obviously pastors and congregants should want filled churches, because we desire for everyone to know Christ and grow in faith and understanding. And I even think it’s OK if people are there for the wrong reasons (music, speaker, friends, etc), as long as what they receive is the *right* message – Christ and what he’s done for us.
As our Lord, Jesus Christ, said: “Many are called; few are chosen.”
The embrace of liberal, ELCA-style apostasy has encouraged people to leave the Methodist church in droves. The non-denominational churches are extremely careful not to reveal church doctrine (which is a politically correct, watered-down version of Calvinism). They do not want to do or say anything that might offend. Example: Ask Joel Osteen what he thinks about homosexuality. DO the pewsitters at the seeker churches receive the right message.
For further research on emergent churches: http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/