Jay Voorhees at Only Wonder writes (of his recent trip to Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City): "I did get to make the pilgrimage to Church of the Resurrection (or as I like to call it, the MethoMall) to touch base on the schedule and figure out how far it was from the hotel. It would be interesting to do a doctoral thesis on which came first, the church or the high rent community that surrounds it. Don’t get me wrong, for I am not saying that COR is doing anything wrong — in fact they are doing a bunch of things right. But it does confirm my thesis that United Methodist church plants are much more likely to succeed if they are planted in booming bedroom communities filled with McMansions. What we’ve been unable to figure out is how to succeed at being missional in more working or lower income communities, and especially communities of transition."
I thought Jay raised an interesting concern. Do any of you know of growing ministries/missional communities that are thriving in working/lower income communities? I, like Jay, agree that COR is doing many cool things - this isn't an either/or question. But he's raising an intriguing question. My location in Central NY is an interesting blend of bedroom communities and rural/farming/worker communities all very close together and sharing worship spaces together.
9 comments:
I'm not a fan of the big mega churches. They post huge numbers and continue to grow, but sometimes at the expense of preaching the full gospel. Not all, but many preach a feel good gospel that doesn't mention sin lest people be offended.
I would rather be a part of a small congregation that preaches the full gospel with love and compassion that may not be growing in numbers, than a congregation that preaches a half gospel with love and compassion that is growing.
Hi, Beth,
Our conference (Texas Annual Conference: Houston and East Texas area) has, like most, been far more "successful" when we've planted congregations in affluent growing edge suburbs--not that there's anything wrong with that.
But, to your point, we are continually humbled by the boom of two congregations that have boomed in urban areas. Windor Village UMC in Houston has been quite strong for a while. It's rise has been under the leadership of Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, holder of an MDiv and an Ivy League MBA. Heck of a preacher and really sharp, he took a 25 member church inside the beltway of Houston and now it is the largest UMC in the US at I think around 14 or 15,000 members. They've also converted a strip center into a multi-faceted community outreach center. The second church is St. John's UMC in downtown Houston, whose church building sits right next to its community outreach center under the freeway. It is led by Rudy and Juanita Rasmus, incredibly gifted local pastors who have built it to I think around 8000 or 9000 members, gobs of which joined on profession of faith and have come literally off the streets to know Christ there.
Quite obviously, both have gone mega. But it's not because they planted in a room to grow area. They're a great witness.
gmw - Thanks for the examples! I will have to check out those ministries.
Brett's sentiment is understandable, but he presents a false choice. There is no reason that a church has to either "preach the full gospel with love and compassion" OR be "growing in numbers." In fact, if a church is passionately effective at preaching the full gospel, growth can follow in a natural and healthy way.
I'm not saying that preaching the full gospel automatically creates growth. I'm simply saying that preaching the full gospel CAN lead to healthy growth. And in fact, that is exactly what is happening at Church of the Resurrection.
Brett,
I respectfully disagree. I think Clif is right. You can have a mega church and have a church that preaches the full gospel.
I personally don't care for large churches, but that is really my personal preference.
However, one needs to remember that many of the churches in the Epistles of St. Paul, were not little house churches. We often think that, but several had attendance that would rival many of our 21st century mega churches and I don't think we look down on them. What I'm trying to say is that having a large or Mega church is NOT un-scriptural, what is unscriptural is not preaching the full gospel of Christ.
So, where/how did the first-century mega-churches meet? Amphitheaters? Out in the hills? Did they split up into house groups?
This is not a UM example, but I have to give kudos to the Dream Center in L.A. They do amazing ministry in a POOR section of town.
I don't agree with their conservative/pentecostal theology as a progressive UM... but when I visited there, I sure admire their Wesleyan spirit of doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of the poor and believing that faith in Christ matters in their lives.. all at the same time.
Beth,
Here are the websites:
St. John's: http://www.stjohnsdowntown.org/
Windsor Village: http://www.kingdombuilder.com
Where I live, there are several old (and we are talking really old - prior to the Revolution) Methodist Churches. There are located in areas of New York that are growing in population but are still consider rural in nature. But the churches are dying and it appears that the conference is not willing to help. At least six of the churches do not have a pastor assigned and there is no liklihood that they will get anyone.
But the conference is more than willing to put money into new churches in the more urban areas.
It seems to me that we are focusing on models of growth that are more business oriented than models of growth that are gospel oriented.
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