Thursday, 26 June 2008

• So...everyone has their own idea of what church should look like. Some people like churches that are more old-school. Hymnal on the rack, choir in the loft, everyone's dressed up. Not much charismaticness. Some are more new-school. Projector with song lyrics, loud band, nobody's dressed up except the pastor, who has at least taken it upon himself to wear a polo shirt since he's the one preaching. Lots of charismaticness.

  And there's really no right or wrong way to do it. Ok, well, there might be wrong ways to do it. Hiring strippers might a bit over the top. But the point is, whether you like choirs, hymnals, or bands, there's nothing wrong with any of those. And most of the things that we like or don't like about a church usually along the lines of personal taste.

  So, my question to you is this: what are some of the qualities of a good church?

  To me, a good church has most or all of the following qualities. Keep in mind that no church is perfect and won't hit every quality exactly, but without further ado...

  1. Good leadership. I've heard of way to many churches that were deep-sixed by leadership that was either inept or tyrannical. Obviously no leader is perfect, but I don't think anything kills a church faster than when the leaders are driving people away. Or when a leader doesn't have the ability to step in before a bad situation spirals out of control.

  2. As a corollary to the first, good preaching. I've seen boring preachers, preachers who always looked like they were going to cry (and were hoping you would too, from the looks of it), and charismatic preachers who could pound nails into the pulpit with their fists...and that's just among Mennonites. But in all seriousness, I think having preaching that people actually want to come and hear is a huge asset to a church. And conversely, if a service is so boring or irrelevant that people don't feeling like coming, well, that's means something is likely screwed up.

  3. Follows the Bible, but doesn't try to overdo it. Obviously my thinking on this one is influenced by my Mennonite background, but it definitely isn't just a Menno thing. Not by a long shot. A Baptist friend recently told me how in his home church, they just remodeled and had to decide whether the organ would go on the left of the podium and the piano on the right, or vice versa. According to him, the debate lasted for several months with people invoking one Scripture after another until they finally (I think I have this right) flipped a coin to decide. A church that tries to use the Bible for purposes it wasn't intended for...not cool. A church that waters down the Bible as it sees fit...also not cool.

  4. Missions focus.  I think missions abroad are important for a church, and community missions are even more so.  A church that focuses on nothing more than itself isn't worth a whole lot.

  5. Growth. If a church isn't holding steady or growing by either converts or reproduction, then that church is dying already.

  6. Gets new people connected. I went to CC in Corvallis for several months, and after I quit going there I really didn't know any more people there than when I started. If a church doesn't have any good ways for shy guys like me to get involved and actually get to know people...not good. I started attending a church called Doxology several months ago after a friend recommended it to me, and have been going ever since. A big reason being, I've actually gotten to know people there, and one of the big things they do is to go out of their way to get people connected.

  That's all I can think of. You readers have anything to add? It's way easier to define what some of these things are not, like good leadership and good preaching for example, but I couldn't figure out how to define what those things are. Any thoughts on those would be great too.

  • 1:12 AM
  • 225 Views
  • 14 eProps
  • 7 Comments