This last Sunday, we visited 3 churches for our Evangelism and Church Growth class. Each one was a very different experience. There were about 11 of us, and Suzanne and the girls didn't go along.
The first church we visited was an African American Methodist Church. There were roughly 2,500 people in attendance that morning. As you can imagine, the service was much more lively than your typical Swiss or Russian Mennonite service. The singing was very powerful. Lots of clapping and swaying, and impromptu runs and repeats. The drummer was drumming and the piano was playing. During the preaching service, the organist was playing little notes and runs to keep time with the pastor. The youth choir had a very moving song, with a couple of the singers in tears by the end. There was also a testimony song, by a lady from the audience. During the greeting time in the service, we got a number of hugs and I even got a kiss from an older lady. At most there were 2 dozen non-African American people in attendance, but we felt very welcome. Many people invited us to come again.
The second church we visited was an Evangelical Free Church. This church was made up of mostly white middle and upper class people. There were also about 3-4 dozen Chinese people, some of which had earphones on as they listened to a Mandarin translation of the service. There was a stark contrast in the friendliness of this congregation or lack thereof. No one greeted us, I was hard pressed to get an usher to give me a bulletin, and the service lacked any sense of emotion or movement. An ironic comment from the pastor at the beginning of the sermon was about how awesome it is to see God orchestrate the service. Most of us found this to be funny, knowing that services like that are usually planned to the tee, and the previous one we were at had lots of unplanned elements. After the service we continued to encounter little friendliness. It is not my nature to be overly outgoing, but I actually walked up to conversations to get people to talk to me. Most people just made eye contact and went back to their talking. I even walked in front of people as they hurried excited the service. Most people just sidestepped you and said, "excuse me." Where were the "Hello's", the "Welcome's", and the "Good to have you here"? We did share our experience with a member and they were embarrassed, and promised to share it with leadership. At the very least they need to have a couple people whose "job" it is every service to know the congregation well enough, that they can spot the visitors and welcome them.
The third church we visited was only to look at it's sports facilities. It was a Baptist church that took up a whole city block. They recently built a large sanctuary that seats around 3,000, but their Sunday attendance is only in the 750-850 range. The rest of the facility is also way under used. They have 2 full basketball courts, a 6+ lane bowling alley, a weight room full of nautilus equipment, a cardio room, a large dining area and kitchen, and many other amenities. Unfortunately, they only allow members and their guests to use it. It is kinda like an exclusive country club. Most of their members are from the suburbs and it is too far to drive in to use the facilities. They only come for church to this intercity neighborhood. Most of us thought that they should open up the facility for the neighborhood, maybe after school programs, or community ministry. I know it would cause a lot of extra work for the church to let ruffians in, but it's about ministry and impacting those around you. It's not about just having nice stuff and keeping things for ourselves.
I know, we are idealistic college students. More thoughts in the next post.
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