The church I will be observing as my lab specimen is the church at which I am currently a member. Briefly, let me provide some context. I grew up part of the mega-church, seeker sensitive movement. My first staff position at a church was at the mega-church I grew up at. Growing up in one church meant I had always seen a very specific version of the way the church operates. So, two years ago when I stepped down from that staff position, I was shocked to see how other churches function. The church I have now chosen to be part of is a small church of about seventy-five people. I look forward to examining it more closely because it will help me continue to come to an understanding with where the Lord currently has me.
Let me start by talking about the history of this church. A well-respected minister In Las Vegas planted the church. He is a long-term staple of Pastoral leadership in the valley. He breaks the trend of church planting in that he is sixty years old, with a doctorate, and has already successfully led a church in the past. Without going into excruciating detail, my pastor had an elder takeover at his past church that left him hurting and scarred from ministry. After a couple years out of pastoral leadership, he chose to plant our church, Grace.
Due to the nature of his tenure in Las Vegas, he naturally attracted many high caliber people to his ministry. The church began meeting Sunday night in an upper room at another local church. Shortly thereafter they moved to a school in the valley where they have been the last two years.
With a brief history of the church, let me talk about the demographics of the church. The church is planted in a very affluent area of our city. This area is called, Green Valley. It is a very typical wealthy American suburb. The population of Green Valley is many middle to upper class families, and many of them aging families at that. Due to my own Pastor’s age, he naturally attracts older, wealthier Christians. Therefore, our church is made up of older, wealthy Christians. While this is a good thing, you can understand that it also carries considerable difficulties as well. There are very few younger people in the church, and it is hard to keep young families. I believe, due to human nature, like attracts like. If that principle holds true, I see it in our church on a regular basis.
The mission of our church is to prepare people to change their worlds for Christ. We do this by being focused on Jesus, helping people engage in community, and living on mission. Again, an ever-present tension for us as a church is that many of our people are older. Therefore, there is an abundance of experience, but unfortunately a lack of passion. We seem to have a generation of people who made it through the seeker-sensitive excitement and now want a place they can be at on Sunday that is comfortable. This is obviously a very critical observation, but it is something we wrestle with normally.
I personally believe our mission is correct for our area in the city. The challenge of being a church in an affluent area is that people do not realize their need for the gospel. Additionally, it can be challenging to show the need of the gospel in people’s lives when they have few needs in general. For example, a church in a troubled area of town could do outreach to neighborhood children, or give food away to the homeless. We do not have these opportunities. Instead, I see the most success for us as a church emerging when we help people recognize that they are not all “good”. Their sins and folly just look different than other Christians. While our whole church may not struggle with drug abuse, we do struggle with pride, idolatry of money, and other westernized problems. Our mission is correct in nature because it is our job to help prepare, or mobilize people to reach their families, communities, and cities with the message of the gospel.
