Less Events, More Relationships

Our pastor has been doing a series on Sunday mornings called "More or Less" in which he is talking about what our church should be about.  The four parts are:

1. Less Events, More Relationships

2. Less Ya'll Come, More We All Go

3. Less Law, More Grace

4. Less Meetings, More Ministry

As we kicked off this series, we focused on the importance of relationships and on busting the myth that "A busy church is a healthy church."

One of the ways that we tried to highlight this was through the order of worship (the bulletin).  We are a more traditional church that uses a bulletin every week chocked full of announcements, a calendar of events, prayer list, etc.  When people came in to the worship service on this particular Sunday, they got what looked like a normal bulletin, but when they opened it up, there was a list of all the names of everyone who is on the membership role at our church.  Instead of placing the focus on the events of the week, we wanted people to see the persons that make up our congregation.  We wanted to focus on, what is now becoming a little cliche, the fact that we are human beings, not human doings.

For a number of people, they didn't realize how many "members" had not come in a long time and had fallen through the cracks.  For new people, they knew folks on that list and didn't realize they had ever come to this church (or any church for that matter).  All in all, it gave our congregation an opportunity to put aside the "busyness" for a little while and focus on the meaningful depth of what it means to be the body of Christ.  

Then we canceled our normal Sunday evening worship in favor of encouraging everyone to get together with some other church member to fellowship together (sharing dinner, going over to one another's home, etc.).  All in all, it was a very good Sunday, worth the extra effort!

Litany: "The Church's Identity"

Here is a litany (responsive reading) that I wrote and that we used in our church this past Sunday.  We have been talking about who we are as a church and who we are not (dispelling some of the myths about church).  We used this (underscored by soft guitar) in the middle of two praise choruses.

The Church’s Identity

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is nothing more than a building.

We are the body of Christ –

seeing both smiles and tears,

hearing laughter and sobbing,

smelling home-cooked meals and the stench of filth,

tasting both victory and defeat,

reaching out to touch all with the love of Jesus.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is about religion (rituals, rules, and regulations).

We are invited into a relationship –

A relationship with the God who heals and restores,

A relationship with all humanity,

A relationship with all of creation.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is similar to an exclusive Country Club, letting some in while keeping others out.

We are the family of God –

brothers and sisters,

made one in Jesus Christ.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is a beauty pageant – a parade of perfect people with perfect lives.

We are a work in progress,

a gathering of imperfect sinners,

being renewed and transformed a little more each day

into the image of our Savior Jesus.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church should be a showcase for the latest technology.

We are God’s storytellers –

using all forms of media

to tell and retell God’s story of creation,

of God’s faithfulness to Israel,

of the life, death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus,

of the sending of the Holy Spirit,

and the hope of Christ’s return.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church should be a fashion show of outward beauty.

We strive for a deeper beauty – 

the beauty of the inward heart,

the beauty of a purity and righteousness,

the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is dominated by the economics of earthly wealth.

We strive for the wealth from above –

the wealth of relationships,

the wealth of treasures laid up in heaven,

an economy where the last is first and the first is last.

 

It is a lie of the world that the Church is a democracy, ruled by the opinions of the majority.

We pledge allegiance to God alone –

we worship for God’s glory rather than our own preferences,

we do missions to spread God’s love rather than our own fame,

we teach God’s truth rather than our own opinion.

To Him be the glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,

forever and ever.  Amen.