I’ve made the hyperbolic claim that in ten years, only church plants will be left. Don’t hear me celebrating.
I love the church. Even with their shortcomings, I love the fellowship of churches I grew up in.
The little church in Denver I grew up in was a relic when I arrived. It had been formed by dust bowl refugees of the Bible Belt and practiced an anachronistic approach to faith.
Yet, despite (or perhaps, because of) that, many of us have held on to faith. How we practice looks different today. That doesn’t mean we’re ungrateful.
Some churches won’t change. They’ll eventually die. Others will change and become something that has little to do with the body and bride of Christ presented in the New Testament. New churches will be planted.
Along the way, I hope we can hold on to these ten priceless heirlooms of the previous generation.
Potlucks
Every fifth Sunday, we’d head downstairs and prop up tables in the Fellowship Hall. We’d cover them with bowls of salads and pans of casseroles.
We would feast.
The Church was launched throughout the Roman Empire by the boundary-shattering Agape meals. Jews and Greeks of all stripes would unite to celebrate the Eucharist and share the fruits of their labor. No one was hungry.
Potlucks were crucial to knowing each other. The food wasn’t always good. The conversations weren’t necessarily engaging. But we were together. We got to know the stories behind the recipe and the person behind the pan.
Today, food has moved from the center of the home to a paid service. Reviving the practice of potluck will force us to be creative, slow down and share.
Respecting Scripture
The first song I learned growing up was “Jesus loves me.” I’m pretty sure the second was the little diddy about the books of the Bible.
Over 17 years of Sunday School, Bible Class, Bible Bowls and VBS the story of scripture was engrained deep into my psyche. We were taught to read scripture daily. We memorized it. We conversed about it.
Yes, we also got off track and used pet verses as clubs against those who disagreed with us. But for the most part, we learned who we were within God’s ancient and eternal story.
Multigenerational Community
The little church I grew up in couldn’t offer much when it comes to “youth group.” We did have old ladies with purple hair, college dropouts to play ping-pong with and parents who stayed up all night at lock-ins.
The wave of commercialization that hit church in the 90s with its age-segregating “homogeneous unit principle” created churches where life stage based community was the norm. Sadly, I’m afraid that most church plants I know tend only to reach a young, energetic, entrepreneurial crowd.
But we need each other. We need grandparents that teach us to parent. We need surrogate aunts and uncles. We need to hear babies crying. Scripture calls us the family of God, and we need to practice that.
Conversion
Like many others, my church could be traced back to the Second Great Awakening. They were developed out of the forms and teachings of tent revivals.
Foundational to this approach is a deeply held belief that we could be converted. God could do a new thing in us. He wanted to. He was patiently waiting for us to choose him.
Sadly, this has developed into “conversionism,” seeking conversions at all cost. This can lead to high pressure or even bait and switch evangelism. It is also the culprit behind the very limited “say your sorry so you go to heaven when you die” gospel.
The pushback against conversionism is well deserved.
But the gospel does teach that we can and do need to convert. This cannot be captured simply in “spiritual journey” or “community of faith” language.
It is time for new wineskins and wine that talk about conversion as the hope for change and the beginning of adventure.
Unique Identity
My church had a deeply held identity based around their interpretation of scripture and the shape of their gatherings. As it often does, this unique identity boiled down to an “us vs. them” mentality.
Scripture makes it clear that the church is a “us.” We are a new people formed from disparate tribes and stories by the blood of Jesus. Some would say that you can only have an “us” because you have a “them” to be against.
Going against this natural tendency is perhaps the greatest challenge of the church throughout the centuries: to be a us for them.
Let’s work hard to revive a sense of unique identity. Let’s articulate what makes us different from the secular world and the world religions. Let’s always do it out of a heart for serving others.
Singing
The first thing I learned to do was sing. Then crawl.
We sang on Sundays. We sang on Wednesdays. We sang around campfires. We sang in living rooms. We sang in busses and vans.
Our songs were our creeds and our catechisms, the methods by which we learned who we were and what we believed. Along the way, the act singing shaped us into a people that gathered to worship God. In Life Together, Bonhoeffer describes singing this way:
Why do Christians sing when they are together?
Because in singing together it is possible for them to speak and pray the same Word at the same time; in other words, because here they can unite in the Word.
…Our spoken words are inadequate to express what we want to say, that the burden of our song goes far beyond all human words. Yet we do not hum a melody; we sing words of praise to God, words of thanksgiving, confession, and prayer.
Thus, the music is completely the servant of the Word. It elucidates the Word in its mystery.
As churches change, let us hold on to this: We are a singing people.
Checking In
One night a week, a few super-volunteers would go and check in on people. We took meals to the sick. We visited old people who couldn’t get out on Sundays. We stopped by the homes of recent visitors or people who hadn’t been to a service in a while.
Today, I mostly know how people are doing based on their Facebook posts. We are busy. Our homes are very private.
I don’t know how to change this, but I think we should try. Imagine how it would transform us if we were the kind of people who could just drop in on each other?
Door Knocking
There is nothing more dreaded in the outdated modes of church than the door knocking campaign.
We did a little door knocking over at my previous church community. After months of causing traffic jams and carpeting neighborhood streets with our cars, we decided to drop by and visit the neighbors.
We came with a bag of freshly baked cookies and an orange traffic cone. We introduced ourselves, offered an apology, cookies, and the opportunity to block anyone who wanted to park in front of their house.
I don’t think an email would have had the same effect.
What if we revived the practice of door knocking? Not for the purpose of evangelism or promoting an event, but to just say “hi?”
In modern America, where no one knows their neighbors, a friendly face and a bag of freshly baked cookies could completely redefine the public image of the church.
Summer Camp
The highlight of my church experience growing up was camp. We went off to the mountains of Colorado. There was hiking, crafts, sports and some crazy games I won’t try to explain here.
There were no cell phones to distract us. There were lots of boring times. We talked for hours. Occasionally, those talks took us to Jesus. My best friends and best memories were made at camp.
Camp wasn’t perfect and I know it’s not for everyone. But I have yet to find another experience that was more transformative.
Let’s not give up on camp. In fact, let’s make it more rustic, more boring, more transformative. Let’s put it on the Church Calendar up there with Easter and Mother’s Day.
Let’s get away, and expect God to meet us there.
Training the Next Generation
My church made a point to train the young men to take over. They were trained to read scripture, lead singing, officiate the Lord’s Supper and even preach. This led to informal training where we learned what it meant to be men and lead the church.
I don’t necessarily endorse the content of this approach. Nor do I care much for the gender divisions it encouraged. But it did create a sense of responsibility and identity.
Let’s redefine training this way: Let’s prepare the next generation to join God’s mission in a constantly shifting world.
Let’s train them in social skills in a generation that only knows how to communicate digitally. Let’s train them to love well and serve joyfully. Let’s train them to pray and be quiet. Let’s train them to talk freely and naturally about the faith they’ve inherited.
And for God’s sake, let’s have some fun along the way.
The world will change. The church must change, too.
Let’s hold on to what matters and have fun with the rest.
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