Tale of Two Churches

I have been on vacation this month and had the opportunity to visit and experience two very different churches.  The churches were random selections based on where we happened to be on Sunday.  I found the first church on the Internet.  I was looking for a United Methodist Church and it was my only option if I needed a worship service in English.  The churches web site was not very impressive, but the service time was right, 8:30 a.m., which left me with the rest of the day for vacation plans.  I arrived at the church right at 8:30 and was surprised that only two other cars were in the parking lot.  As I walked in, I was greeted by a man who offered me a cup of coffee and informed me that worship did not begin until 9:00 (the web page was inaccurate).  That gave us a little time to talk.  I learned the history of the church.  The current building was a move from the downtown area and built in the mid 70's.  They still had the original stained glass windows displayed on the walls of the sanctuary.  Although the facility was nice sized and well maintained, their membership and attendance was shrinking.  Consultants had been invited in, but most of the congregation really didn't want to change.  They knew what they needed to do, but had little desire to do it.  Worship reflected that energy and I left wondering why I would return if I lived in that community.

The following week I visited a church in another town.  This time I shared with someone that I was looking for a church and he immediately invited me to his church.  I had to go to the 11:00 worship and hear their outstanding jazz band.  He then shared with me the history of his church, many years ago it was the "silk stocking" of the conference (his words not mine).  It had the reputation as a large, well-respected, powerful downtown church, but over time that had changed.  Ten years ago it was a church in decline surrounded by all of the challenges of a large city.  Two new pastors were appointed (a clergy couple) who realized that this church could no longer pretend they were living in the 1950's.  Change had to come no matter how painful that might be.  They begin to ask the question, what does it mean to be the church today, in this culture, in our situation?  What they discovered is that they were surrounded by thousands of homeless people who faced daily challenges for food, clothes, shelter and medical care.  They decided to do something about it.  There response had two parts.  First they looked to meet the physical needs to the people.  They now serve 40,000 meals a year, have a clothing store, showers, medical services and a drug/alcohol re-hap program.  Second they invited the people to be part of their community.  On the Sunday I attended church, I was wondering around looking for a restroom.  I walked through a fellowship hall where a free breakfast had just been served.  As I entered the bathroom, I encountered men shaving and changing and preparing for worship.  I saw folks in the clothing store and had a conversation with a man who had been injured in a fight the night before.  It was not my typical Sunday morning.  Worship was powerful, not because the band was awesome (although they were) or the preaching was great (it was okay), but because it was the most diverse worship experience of my life.  There were people that covered the spectrum of race, gender, socio-economic class and sexual orientation.  Worship was held in a very traditional sanctuary, but the style was far from traditional.  And in all of this, God was there.  This church is no longer a declining church, it is not the church of its past, but I believe it is the church of God's future.

I have been reflecting on my experience for days now and the question that keeps coming into my mind is, "What was the difference between the two churches?"  It is the direction these churches were looking.  One church was looking inward.  What do we want?  What do we like?  What is best for us?  The other church was looking outward.  What do others need?  What will make them feel welcome?  What does God want us to do to build the kingdom?  I am not blaming the first church; they are no different than 90% of the churches in our country, especially in the United Methodist Church.  I just don't want to be part of the 90%; I want to take the road less traveled because I truly believe it makes all the difference in life.

Comments

[Glen Armbruster]

Your observations remind me of Senator SI Hayakawa, who frequently compared two different points of view. An example of that was two fictional cities where they established assistance programs for those who lost their jobs. One called it welfare; the other called it insurance. Naturally the beneficiaries of insurance policies fared better socially and financially than those who became welfare deadbeats.

I have been associated with churches that look inward and churches that look outward. My own observation is that churches that try to focus on their own members rarely succeed in reaching them. Churches looking outward nearly always reach inward to their own members in profound ways.