Roy’s Ramblings…

We here at Nashville UMC have participated in “The Church Has Left the Building” several times – in fact we have the T-shirts left over from some time that we did that. And traditionally what this means is: that the congregation has left the traditional church setting to the broader community and the world. It emphasizes that the church’s mission extends beyond its physical walls and into everyday life. This concept highlights the idea that the church is not just a place to go, but a way of life that actively engages with the world and its needs. And the specific way we did it was to leave the worship space and go to help neighbors with basic maintenance needs around their homes.

Well, according to Carey Nieuwhof, a best-selling leadership author, speaker, podcaster, former attorney, and church planter, this phrase has a different meaning. He states that the Church (Capital C … universal/global church) has seen a decline in attendance over the years. Some attribute this to the pandemic but the decline started long before COVID and for various reasons.

First, most churches are in a rut, a routine, and quite frankly are somewhat boring; same people, same songs, same message. The next generation is more experience driven they are the ones that have six different apps open at any given time on the computer and are actively working them all. It has been said (and I don’t have any stats to back this up) that the current population K-12 is 100 percent ADHD according to the old guidelines. And so, Engagement Will Become the New Church Attendance mainly because attendance was never the goal anyway. Just because someone isn’t attending your service in person doesn’t mean they’re not engaging. People who aren’t in the room are online. Many (not all, but many) are watching messages, listening to podcasts, scrolling social media and connecting with other Christians outside the Church Building. Which is funny to me, because in a modern sense … we are headed back to our roots. The early Christians didn’t attend church. They were the church—in their homes, in the community and in the world.

Second, according to Carey, Churches That Equip Christians Will Eclipse Churches That Gather Them. Last week I wrote about Lectio Divina as a Spiritual Formation. There are tons of others. Are we practicing them? Are we growing in our faith so that we can share our faith? Are we busy getting equipped so that we are ready for the task of taking the message of the Gospel to the people outside of our building? For too many years, pastors have been focused on one thing: Getting the greatest number of people in the room at the same time. Sometimes that’s about ministry. Sometimes (honestly) it’s about ego, financial stability, and bringing rights. I’ll confess to all of this. The church of the future will be a place where people assemble to be equipped to do ministry during the week. I realize that, theoretically, we’ve always believed that, but we often haven’t behaved that way.

And, finally, we genuinely need to LEAVE THE BUILDING!!! Now don’t get me wrong, I love our building. It is warm and inviting and functional and beautiful and it is AWESOME!!! But as John Wesley once said: What marvel the devil does not love field preaching? Neither do I. I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these under foot in order to save one more soul? We too need to do “field preaching”; going into the world and sharing our faith, making a difference to the least of these, doing good works because of our faith. Let us truly say that we are a church that has left the building is a great and wondrous way!!

Blessings All – Pastor Roy