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"The Faith Community in the 21st Century"

Sermon by Dr. Greg Knox Jones
on Romans 12:9-18
given April 6, 2007

Last Sunday, I pointed to ten of the cultural and global culprits that are responsible for much of the membership decline in mainline Christian churches. Over the past forty years profound changes have taken place in our world that have had a major impact on the church in North America. People are not joining organized groups as they once did; there is widespread distrust of institutions and authority; young people from mainline churches are having fewer babies and waiting longer to have them; growing secularism undermines religion. The church is facing several new forces that make our future much more challenging.

However, despite the fact that most mainline churches are declining, some are bucking the trend. Some have found a way to grow despite the many forces working against growth. What are they doing differently?

As you might imagine, growing congregations garner a lot of attention as experts try to figure out the key to their successes. Invariably, some will reduce the answer to one winning ticket. Change the music or create small groups or build a gymnasium or become more mission-oriented. And many congregations around the country have adopted one of these sure-fire solutions, only to discover that it did not produce a dramatic turnaround.

The problems facing the mainline church today are multiple and so the solution to overcoming them cannot be reduced to one strategy. Congregations, like families, are complex entities. Not simply one thing, but a number of things must be going right. Like families, no two congregations are exactly alike. Urban congregations are very different than suburban ones. City churches are different than small town churches. Some congregations are more autocratic, others more democratic. Some are more diverse, others more homogeneous. Each church has its own DNA and so what produces the spark in one place may have little impact in another.

However, in the same way that healthy families tend to have similar characteristics, vibrant congregations share some of the same traits.

For one, growing congregations have what researchers call Meaningful Worship. The preaching connects the Scriptures with people’s lives today. The music is of a high quality and speaks to people’s hearts. The liturgy focuses on God and communicates the core concerns of compassion, justice, forgiveness, liberation and transformation. Meaningful worship transports us out of the world - to comfort us and to challenge us - and then sends us back into the world renewed for service. Such worship does not gloss over injustice or avert our eyes from the tragic, but like the 23rd Psalm, confronts the reality of evil and acknowledges that all of us must walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Yet meaningful worship also reminds us that we never make this journey alone; God is at our side to give us strength and courage and hope.

Another characteristic of growing congregations is that they help people mature spiritually. Meaningful worship is a part of that, but it must go beyond corporate worship. Spiritual growth includes Christian education, stewardship and personal spiritual practices.

The key here is that people want to see and to experience authentic faith. They’re not looking for pious platitudes: “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? They’re not looking for dense doctrines about justification, sanctification and eschatology. Rather, they’re on a quest for spiritual wisdom that will get them excited about their faith. They yearn to understand how the ancient words of Scripture guide their lives each day. They want to know how others – real people they can trust - experience God. They seek a way of living that quells their deep-seated anxieties and breeds tranquility. They long for that reassurance that they are on the right path, that there is harmony between the way they think andact, and the way God wants us to think and act.

People want a faith that is genuine. Most could care less about debates over the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection or discrepancies among the gospels. They want a faith that will help them feel something deeper than the momentary delight of being entertained. They want to experience something more rewarding than the temporary high that comes with new possessions. They want a credible faith that gives them strength to persevere during difficult times, guidance that helps them traverse the complexities of today’s world and courage to face the unknown.

Such a faith is demanding. It is not simply about believing certain things, because belief without action is barren. People need a dynamic faith that shapes their view of the world and prompts them to live a Christ-like existence. Vibrant congregations provide classes, small groups and different forms of worship to help people grow spiritually.

A third characteristic of growing churches is that mission is a high priority. Members of such congregations share God’s love with others. They make it clear that the inward journey leads to the outward journey. Prayer, Bible study, Christian education, stewardship, worship, fellowship, all nourish the members’ souls, and then send them out to meet the needs of the world. Mission-focused churches provide opportunities to feed the hungry, take mission trips, build houses, mentor children, provide health care, visit the ill, the lonely and the grieving. They encourage members to stand up for justice, to work for peace in the world and to be good stewards of God’s creation. The primary goal of mission-rich churches is not that members become part of an institution, but that they become disciples of Christ. These churches help people experience the joy that comes with serving others.

One of the chief characteristic of growing churches is that they are warm communities. Thanks to technology, we are more connected to others than ever before. Do you remember when we had to be some place where a stationary telephone was connected to an outlet in the wall to make a call? We were out of touch with people when we were driving or walking or sitting on a beach. Now we handle business calls and check on our children’s schedules while zooming down the highway. Yet the irony is that while we have more ways of connecting to people than ever before, more of us feel lonely.

People yearn for communities of warmth and welcome. They search for a Cheers-like bar where “everyone knows your name,” or a faith community where you encounter warmth and kindness and everyone is accepted as a child of God: the plump and the thin, the old money and the hourly worker, the Prada shoes and the dirty Nikes, the gay couple and the single mother, the athletes and the ones using walkers.

The church is intended to be a close-knit community where people genuinely care for each other, where people love each other despite their differences of opinion, where people will stand by your side when the going gets tough, where people will do what Paul counsels in this morning’s passage: “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.”

It saddens me that there are people sitting here this morning who do not feel as if they are a part of our church family despite the fact that they are members. They do not feel they are connected because they have not been warmly embraced by others. Not too long ago I heard a comment that pierced my soul. A woman joined Westminster because she wanted her son to be a part of our strong youth program. Her son was heard to say, “But Mom, nobody there ever talks to you.” All is not well if people in our church family feel as if they are outsiders. In a warm and loving community, everyone feels like an insider.

Finally, an essential characteristic of growing congregations is true hospitality. Not only are the members of the church warm and friendly with one another, but the members go out of their way (the key phrase here is “out of their way”) to welcome new people. Studies indicate that more than 90 percent of all congregations define themselves as warm and friendly. However, when visitors are asked to rate the churches they have visited, only 40 percent are considered warm and friendly.

In preparation for an upcoming book, Roger Nishioka has been uncovering which factors are most important in people joining churches these days. The pastors would like to believe it is our dynamic preaching. The musicians are convinced it is the stirring music. But Nishioka found that it doesn’t matter how good the preaching or the music is if no one speaks to them. He says, “The warmth factor is enormous.” And it has to go beyond the usher speaking to the visitor or someone greeting them during the Passing of the Peace. Visitors say that if someone speaks to them and makes them feel welcome, they find the church to be warm and friendly.

However, if they visit a church and no one talks to them, they check that church off their list.

Bill is a bright, somewhat eccentric college senior, who feels a void in his life, and issearching. He has wild hair, and his wardrobe generally consists of a T-shirt with holes in it and a pair of jeans. On occasion he wears shoes.

Across the street from the college campus is an historic church that has been located on that corner for more than a century. The service is traditional and the members are well-dressed. The congregation has been discussing ways to develop a ministry to the students, but they have yet to adopt a plan on how to proceed.

One Sunday morning, Bill decides to attend the worship service. He walks into the sanctuary barefooted, jeans, T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already begun and so he starts walking down the center aisle looking for a seat. The church is full and he cannot spot anywhere to sit.

As he proceeds down the aisle, all eyes are on this disheveled-looking young man. Some appear to be uncomfortable, but no one says anything. He keeps walking closer and closer to the chancel, and when he realizes there simply is no room in the pews, he plops down in the center aisle.

By now there is tension in the air, and the minister notices that from the back of the church, an usher is slowly making his way toward the student. The usher is in his eighties, has silver hair and wears a three-piece suit. He is best described as a proper Southern gentleman.

He walks with a cane, and as he starts walking toward the youngster, all are saying to themselves, “Well, you can’t blame him for what he is about to do. How can you expect a man of his age and background to understand some college kid sitting on the floor during worship?”

It takes awhile for the elderly man to reach the student, and when he does every eye in the sanctuary is riveted on him. He drops his cane on the floor. Then, with great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to the student and worships with him so that he won’t feel alone. (1)

When we extend warm hospitality to another, we not only touch that person’s heart, but we touch the heart of God.

Westminster is known throughout this community for its mission and outreach, for its wonderful music, and for being the largest Presbyterian church in Delaware. Wouldn’t it marvelous if we became known as the warmest community of faith in town?

NOTES

1. This story comes from an anonymous email.

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