I can also say that I’ve experienced this same phenomenon first hand as a staff person.
I’ve heard it said so many times from one particular stage that “if your Saturday night doesn’t match your Sunday morning you’ve got an issue” and yet all of the churches effort, time and money goes only into Sundays.
I think most churches are so tied to playing the numbers game that they realize that the body has grown too large and it needs to split and carry that DNA into new areas. They will then tell you oh, well if you want to be known join a small group, and that’s where you get community …
We have been attending a church for the last 3 years and recently in the last month, we started checking out a new plant. We haven’t told anyone. Do you know how many people have reached out asking “you guys ok, haven’t seen you in a while”? Zero.
And I was on the worship team. There were people I talked to every Sunday. I’m not saying this to bash that church or any other for that matter. But we have lost sight of what matters. We care about the production, the sermon, but not really about the people. Because outside of Sundays, the people don’t exist.
It makes me cringe thinking about the dereliction of pastoral duty in the form of “join a small group.” If it’s a supplement to a shepherding relationship and a community-focused continuation of what’s going on at the central meeting space, it’s one thing and can certainly hold teeth.
But when the small group leader, who never expressed the aspiration to ministry and raised his hand to host people, put out snacks/drinks, and read questions off a piece of paper, is ordained as the pastor of essentially a mini house church so the rest of the staff can “focus on the important things,” oof.
I saw real time what happened to you back home, which I’d say was the first time I consciously saw a church eat their own. And you were there when I had the first negative comment spat at me from a pastor about my worship leading. My, how terrible the people called to love the most can treat others.
I can also say that I’ve experienced this same phenomenon first hand as a staff person.
I’ve heard it said so many times from one particular stage that “if your Saturday night doesn’t match your Sunday morning you’ve got an issue” and yet all of the churches effort, time and money goes only into Sundays.
I think most churches are so tied to playing the numbers game that they realize that the body has grown too large and it needs to split and carry that DNA into new areas. They will then tell you oh, well if you want to be known join a small group, and that’s where you get community …
We have been attending a church for the last 3 years and recently in the last month, we started checking out a new plant. We haven’t told anyone. Do you know how many people have reached out asking “you guys ok, haven’t seen you in a while”? Zero.
And I was on the worship team. There were people I talked to every Sunday. I’m not saying this to bash that church or any other for that matter. But we have lost sight of what matters. We care about the production, the sermon, but not really about the people. Because outside of Sundays, the people don’t exist.
It makes me cringe thinking about the dereliction of pastoral duty in the form of “join a small group.” If it’s a supplement to a shepherding relationship and a community-focused continuation of what’s going on at the central meeting space, it’s one thing and can certainly hold teeth.
But when the small group leader, who never expressed the aspiration to ministry and raised his hand to host people, put out snacks/drinks, and read questions off a piece of paper, is ordained as the pastor of essentially a mini house church so the rest of the staff can “focus on the important things,” oof.
I saw real time what happened to you back home, which I’d say was the first time I consciously saw a church eat their own. And you were there when I had the first negative comment spat at me from a pastor about my worship leading. My, how terrible the people called to love the most can treat others.
I love the church but dang can she play dirty sometimes.
Agreed. That’s the reason I stuck it out, started all of this, and even went back to school, despite the BS. Ain’t no way this is the best it can be.