I like what you have to say here, Phil. I am not so much concerned with innovation, but the momentum behind it. We are more concerned about decline (lack of attendance and revenue) than we are about making disciples - it’s become quantity before quality. Have we forgotten this movement started with one person who called a few, who called a few more, to engage in a holy life, a life lived from the inside out? By inside, I don’t mean our natural insides, but from an inside whose identity has been shaped by the Word, the Spirit, and community with Christ and with each other. If anyone thinks this happens in one hour in a pew each week, they have missed the whole point of the Christian faith. Our churches are in decline because we expect one person (or a small team of people) to do all the calling, and because we count success in budget and attendance numbers rather than in the numbers of people participating with God as we serve others.
I like what you have to say here, Phil. I am not so much concerned with innovation, but the momentum behind it. We are more concerned about decline (lack of attendance and revenue) than we are about making disciples - it’s become quantity before quality. Have we forgotten this movement started with one person who called a few, who called a few more, to engage in a holy life, a life lived from the inside out? By inside, I don’t mean our natural insides, but from an inside whose identity has been shaped by the Word, the Spirit, and community with Christ and with each other. If anyone thinks this happens in one hour in a pew each week, they have missed the whole point of the Christian faith. Our churches are in decline because we expect one person (or a small team of people) to do all the calling, and because we count success in budget and attendance numbers rather than in the numbers of people participating with God as we serve others.