Churches want, and rightly so, for their extended communities to speak well of them. These days, a lot of time and money goes into promulgation of good PR about the local church—particularly the “humungo” local church.

While all that is going on, though, there are some things you might not want said about your church. Things like... 

“They have the baddest band in town,” or “They have the best preacher in town.”

What’s wrong with that? Nothing, except that if the only thing on people’s lips is that you’ve got a really good loud sound system or a really good talker, you might be in trouble. It’s sort of a “seeming over substance” issue.

“They have this big honkin’ building that seats thousands.”

Again, there’s nothing wrong with having a landmark building in town with 16 satellite churches out in the hinterlands. That shows good planning and a lot of hard work. The question might be who is judging that as a good thing—other church leaders, or the local folks who have to battle traffic around your facility to get to the grocery store on Sunday mornings. 

For every braggadocio pastor out there talking to his peers about how well things are going, there are hundreds of disgruntled neighbors who aren’t.

“They’re putting a lot of little dying churches out of business.”

Do you ever wonder why big “successful” churches don’t help out a church that’s down the street—suffering from lack of talent, leadership, and money to revitalize their niche in the community? It seems that we too often talk about why that church is failing without trying to be an encouraging and helpful resource for revitalization of them. 

Disclaimer: One prominent mainline church I know tried to help a small church just a few blocks away. They poured lots of money, time, and talent into that place before they figured out that there was so much generational disfunction in the institution that nothing could save it.

On the other hand, the talk in town might include things such as...

“The people that go to that place are always taking on these huge projects in our town.”

Thankfully, It has become de rigueur for churches to have work days in their communities where powerful and tangible statements of love and support are made in schools, assisted living homes, non-profits, and even other churches. Is your church one of those?

“We have friends in that church who are always asking us to go with them.”

If three billion studies (slight exaggeration—forgive me George) have shown us that the best way to encourage growth and influence in our communities is by asking folks to join us, why are we still so weak in this area? 

Without question, the sweetest sound in the world is the sound of your own name—being invited anywhere. Even when people say no to the invitation, they are still glad to have been asked. Isolation, loneliness, and low self-esteem still exist in the world but can quickly be ameliorated in a simple invitational moment. 

“When I go there, I always feel welcome and known.”

Don’t ever marry someone who doesn’t really know you, and, whatever you do, don’t go to a church that’s not trying to!

As obvious as that might seem, many churches are pretty good at labeling large groups of people and providing goods and services to them, but they lack the POV necessary to let people be uniquely themselves.

Hundreds of hours of executive staff meetings have taught me over the years that churches tend to talk about the same problems over and over. New tactics for growth and stability are plotted, then discarded with the start of a new year. Perhaps you will agree with me that having a good set of values beats having a good set of tactics any day.

Blessings

Doug

Write me if you need some help, advice, or a kick in the pants... dlawrenceconsult@mac.com