We were fortunate to have children seated nearby in all three worship services we attended last week. Not our children, of course. Other people’s children are so much more fun. I understand why Jesus wanted the children to come unto Him.
We went to the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church for the Friday morning mass at 8:00 am. In the front row an adorable preschooler sat with his grandmother. During prayer time, I watched him working on his proper hand clasping and folding technique. Throughout the service, he turned around to look at the people behind him, particularly the man a couple of rows behind him. When the passing of the peace came, the boy ran to that man. After the service, the boy wanted to show everyone his puppy backpack.
We went to the 8:00 am Sunday service at the First Church of Christ in Ladysmith, where we had the privilege of sitting next to a two-year old who squirmed a bit, but did very well throughout the whole service. His parents gave him a couple of fine books, one very exciting book about firefighters and the other about Thomas the Tank Engine. He also enjoyed a small healthy snack.
At Abundant Life Assembly of God, also of Ladysmith, we went to the 10:30 am worship service, some children went to children’s church, but one girl, 9 or 10 years old, stayed in the service. The two women behind her (and in front of us) were talking during the sermon. The girl turned around and with a very serious face, hushed them. Respecting one’s elders is important, but I appreciated that hushing.
We’ve been in big churches where there aren’t any children in the services. Nurseries and childcare and Sunday School are all good things, but in small churches you’re more likely to see little kids in the worship service. I think it can be a good thing for kids to grow up being part of the worship service with adults.
Some people have asked us, now that we’ve visited many churches, “What’s better, a big church or a small church?”
We generally answer, “Yes.”
There are good things about both. There are people who long for the intimacy to be found in a small church and others who appreciate the range of programs and services that can be offered by a large church. We’ve grown in our appreciation of variety in the Christian church.
One of the inspirations for this trip was a book on variety in the American church, a history book with the not so catchy title: The Churching of America, 1776 - 2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy, by Rodney Stark and Roger Finke. The book contrasts the European Church and the American Church: most European churches were at one time state churches which looked much the same throughout a nation, whereas American churches were built on an entrepreneurial model -- many different kinds of churches appealing to different tastes and needs.
Stark and Finke argue that the relative strength of American churches can be attributed to that variety. A Gallup survey of the United States in 2013 showed that 39% of Americans regularly attend church as opposed to 12% of the population in the United Kingdom or 5% in Sweden.
One of the denominational differences the book points out is the approach to clergy. There are, of course, churches like Brethren fellowships that have no clergy at all. There are other denominations like the Episcopalians or Presbyterians that required extensive education for their clergy as well as a relatively high level of compensation. Historically, Methodists and Baptists required less education for their clergy and promised little in the way of compensation. This worked out in interesting ways. Since they required less, there were more Methodist and Baptist clergy (chiefly men) who could go out into the newly settled areas and frontiers of the United States, so many more Methodist and Baptist churches were planted. The Presbyterians and Episcopalians of the time might have argued their congregations were fewer but richer (in a variety of senses).
Each of the three worship services we attended in Wisconsin this week were led by very different clergy. At St. Francis, worship was led by a deacon, Craig Voldberg (he mentioned a marriage retreat he would be attending with his wife) rather than a priest. There are several Catholic Churches in the area and there a couple of priests who rotate visits to the churches. Every other week St. Francis has a priest lead mass for their Saturday service. (St. Francis doesn’t have a service on Sunday morning). Voldberg said that St. Francis has a much greater attendance during the summer, and that those summer residents faithfully give even when they aren’t present, keeping the parish afloat.
At the Church of Christ, the sermon was delivered by an elder, Russ Kinney (We arrived at the church at the same time as he did, and someone called out, “Oh, Russ is here, we’ll have a sermon.”
Someone else added, “You have to be done by noon, the Packers are playing.” We learned that the church had been without a pastor since August. The previous pastor’s family health challenges forced them to leave, but a search committee was currently working through candidates.
At Abundant Life, Bryan Johnson, the lead pastor, preached and led the worship service. His wife, Pamala Johnson, is family life pastor.
The three churches also varied widely in the length of their worship services. The Catholic service was less than thirty minutes long, with a homily lasting less than ten minutes. The message, drawn from the Gospel reading in Luke 9, addressed who Jesus is, and how the answer to that question changes everything in our lives.
The Church of Christ service lasted a little over an hour, with a twenty minute sermon. Apparently, the congregation was working through the Gospel of John. Russ Kinney, the elder preaching, spoke on John 5 with a focus on the man by the pool who was healed by Jesus and the need we all have for healing and conversion.
And the Assembly of God service was closer to an hour and a half, with a forty minute sermon. Pastor Johnson was working through the “Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11, this week focusing on the lives of Barak and Samson from the book of Judges.
So each sermon we heard was approximately twice as long as the sermon we heard before. Someone living in the area concerned about such temporal things (particularly about Packers starting times) could choose accordingly.
It was also interesting to hear about the different ministries the churches were involved in, in the community. The Catholic Churches in the area were sponsoring a Hoedown, complete with barbeque and line dancers, open to the community to raise money for Our Lady of Sorrows School in Ladysmith.
The First Church of Christ was collecting items to auction for the upcoming Harvest of Talents. The proceeds of the sale would go towards the needy in the community of Ladysmith. (I put in one of my autographed Bill the Warthog books into the collection.)
At the Assembly of God church, Pastor Johnson mentioned money that had been raised for the Project Lifesaver in Rusk County. The money was used for signal bracelets for those who might become lost so they could be found.
A variety of churches caring for a variety of people. Even without the work of Stark and Finke, we could see that this is a very good thing. Statistics St Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church Service Length: 22 minutes Sermon Length: 6 minutes Visitor Treatment: everybody greeted everybody during the passing of the peace, and there was a book for guests to sign. Followup by Tuesday Morning: none Our Rough Count: 8 Probable Ushers' Count: no ushers; there were 8 people Snacks: none Musicians: none Songs: "We Gather Together" Miles to Church: 3 miles Church Website: http://www.ruskcountycatholiccommunity.org/ First Church of Christ Service Length: 1 hour 5 minutes Sermon Length: 20 minutes Visitor Treatment: The couple entering when we did welcomed us and introduced us to several other people, who made sure we got coffee, signed the guest book, and met other people. The mother of the little boy sitting next to us introduced herself after the worship service was over (it turns out she knows the daughter of our hosts from New Jersey), introduced us to another person or two, and made sure we knew about the various adult Sunday School classes that meet between the first and second worship services of the morning. Followup by Tuesday Morning: none Our Rough Count: 71 Probable Ushers' Count: 80 Snacks: coffee, maybe hot water for tea Musicians: keyboard (woman) acoustic guitar (woman) bass guitar (man) vocals (man and woman) Songs: "I'll Fly Away" "You are Good" "Great are You, Lord" "Awesome God" "Trust and Obey" Miles to Church: 20 miles Church Website: ladysmithfcc.com Abundant Life Assembly of God Service Length: 1 hour 16 minutes Sermon Length: 41 minutes Visitor Treatment: several people greeted us and introduced themselves before the worship service started, including the lead pastor. Followup by Tuesday Morning: none very nice personal email from Pastor Johnson Our Rough Count: 34 Probable Ushers' Count: 40 Snacks: none that we saw, although there was coffee in the adult Sunday School class that met before the worship service Musicians: keyboard (man) vocals (woman) Songs: "Your Love Never Fails" (prelude) "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" (and they did) "Glorious One" "Strong God" "No Longer Slaves" (also played during communion at First Christian Church) "All the Poor and Powerless" Miles to Church: 2 miles Miles from Start: 37,880 Total 2016 Miles: 37,594 Church Website: http://www.abundantlifeassemblyofgod.org/
We don't usually talk a lot about
the men's rest room in churches we visit, let alone start there. But above the
urinals at The Journey there are little TV screens. And each of those TV
screens is playing ESPN. I don't mention this solely because I want to post a
picture of ESPN on a TV above a urinal. Not solely. I also want to emphasize
the point that the Journey takes seriously the challenge of reaching men ages
20 - 40, and they think creatively about how to do this.
For instance, the themes in their
sermon series are certainly guy friendly. We were there for the final sermon in
the "Limited Edition" series, which is about our limitations as
people. But the visual theme is cars and racing. The cafe was decorated with
racing flags, and Rascal Flatts' "Life is a Highway" was playing
overhead. In the auditorium, before Pastor Mark gave his message, there was a
short Fast and Furious-lite video. In the sermon, Mark gave a short illustration
of a time when a friend let him drive a race car. A previous sermon series used
Zombie Apocalypse as a theme. And the series starting in June is "The Good
Father."*
Church growth statistics say that if
you draw men to your congregation, you will also draw women. The opposite is
statistically less likely. The leadership in The Journey studies church growth
statistics, business models, and systems. They believe in writing things down.
Pastor Mark says, "I don't believe it unless it is written down." (The
idea is that if a process or plan is written down, then it can be carried out
by anyone, which is better than relying on one person to carry out a process or
plan.)
There is an effort to pare things
down to the basics at The Journey. For example, there are three basics for
spiritual growth at the church: Gather, Connect, and Serve. The gathering part takes
place at the five worship meetings during the weekend, Saturdays at 4:30 &
6:00 pm and Sundays at 9:00, 10:30, and Noon. The Connect step happens at the
JGroups (J is for Journey) -- small groups that meet primarily at people's
homes during the week. There are dozens of small groups that meet for fall, spring and summer
sessions. Serve means being involved in ministry, and there are many
opportunities to serve in the church. On Sunday evening, we went with folks from a couple of
JGroups to The Paris Foundation in Elkton, Maryland, where they serve a meal
for the homeless on a regular basis.
Children's and youth ministry in the
church is based on the same model. The children "gather" together, and
then divide into smaller groups. The youth worship with the adults in the weekend gatherings, but have
youth group meetings on Tuesday night. Like adults, they can serve in sanctuary
set-up, in the cafe, in children's ministry, etc.
Of course, even with the best of
planning, stuff happens. We planned to attend both Saturday evening services, and all
went well in the first service; during the second service, not so much. The
message from Matthew 17: 14 - 21 about the disciples' failure to cast out a
demon and the need for faith was preached well by Mark the first time around.
(I did find it interesting that the only time Scripture was read was during the
sermon, working through verse by verse of the passage.)
Anyway, during the second worship gathering, the sermon had just gotten started when the fire alarm went off. (The lights flashed, and a robotic voice
said, "There is a fire emergency in the building. Please leave through the
nearest exit.") What I thought was interesting, and kind of great, was
that people weren't sure if it was a real fire alarm or part of the service. As
we walked out, people were saying, "I thought that was part of the sermon."
I think it's a good thing if people expect to be surprised in a church (I know
that sounds like a contradiction but it is not.).
A great thing was the church handled
the situation very well. The children were ushered out of the building by their
teachers, and they were kept in a group outside the door for their wing. I
didn't hear any kids crying. Parents (and/or guardians) still needed to turn in
a ticket to get their kid. After a few minutes, Pastor Mark made an
announcement outside, saying that there was no fire, but that the power would
take twenty minutes to, well, power up, so the service was canceled. He
encouraged people to come to one of the three Sunday services to hear the rest
of the sermon. Someone asked Mark to preach the rest of the message on the
loading dock. He answered that if he did, there he would have no voice left for
preaching the next day. I hope everyone made it back Sunday morning, because it
was a good message. But Mindy and I had somewhere else to be.
Newark
Church of Christ
We were excited to go to church at
the Newark Church of Christ on Sunday morning, because they were doing an
outside service and barbeque for Memorial Day Weekend. We'd gone to the
church's Wednesday night prayer meeting because it was near where we were
staying, and the time of the prayer meeting was convenient for our plans. The people were quite friendly on
Wednesday evening, so we were excited to see them again Sunday morning.
Because of being outside (an annual
event for the church), we didn't expect a repeat of the fire alarm
incident. The service definitely had fewer technological needs. While The Journey
uses special lighting effects, I don't think Newark Church of Christ uses such things even
when they are inside. They don't use musical instruments, and do all of their
singing a cappella.
Their outreach to the University of Delaware was a ministry we found most interesting. On Tuesday nights during the
school year, they have dinners for students. Students from a variety of
backgrounds meet together, and it has been a great outreach for the church.
During picnic lunch I talked to a young woman who came to the church because of
the campus ministry. And in the food line, another young woman needed to know
whether all-beef franks were being served. She was a Muslim student who was
drawn to the church through the campus ministry. The church supports a campus
minister, and during the service a young woman who had graduated the day before
was introduced to the congregation because she too was going into full time
campus ministry.
Delaware is a little state. But it's
obviously big enough for God to work in varied and interesting ways.
Statistics
Newark
Church of Christ
Wednesday 6:30 pm
Service Length: 1 hour 14
minutes
Lesson Length: 48 minutes
Visitor Treatment: We were
welcomed and greeted by at least ten people (the group was small, and we were
obviously new), including a staff member and two elders. We parked in one of
the first-time guests parking spaces. Several people invited us to come back on
Sunday morning. We filled out a guest card we found.
Followup by Tuesday Morning:
none
Our Rough Count: 36 divided
among two adult classes, with a children's class as well
Visitor Treatment: After we
parked in the visitors' spot, we were greeted by a man who told us the worship
service was outside. Several people remembered us from Wednesday night and
greeted us. Visitors were welcomed during the service and invited to go through
the line for lunch right after the veterans. There was a greeting time during
the service as well.
Followup by Tuesday Morning:
none
Our Rough Count: 109
Probable Ushers' Count: 125
Snacks: hot dogs, hamburgers
and a really good assortment of salads (and chips, dessert, and sodas and
bottled water) for lunch after the worship service
Musicians: none
Songs: Blessed be the Lord
God Almighty
Shout to the Lord
Step by Step
Shine, Jesus, Shine
Trust and Obey
Seek ye First
Miles to church: 3
The
Journey
Saturday 4:30 pm gathering
Service Length: 1 hour 36
minutes
Sermon Length: 35 minutes
Visitor Treatment: Visitors
are encouraged to fill out a connections card and bring it to the volunteers at
Visitor Center in the Cafe after the service ends. Visitors are given a branded
mug, information about becoming part of the church, and a treat (we'd gotten mugs
when we met with one of the pastors, so we didn't get another, and I didn't see
exactly what treat was being given out. Maybe biscotti?)
Followup by Tuesday Morning:
none
Our Rough Count: 93 (probably
the lowest attendance of the five worship experiences each weekend)
Probable Ushers' Count: 150,
including children in the kids' area
Snacks: coffee, decaf, hot
water for tea, lemonade, iced tea, individually wrapped mint lifesavers
*In a promo video for the Good
Father series, Mark did a bad Brando/Vito impression (and I say bad because you
could understand almost every word he said, unlike Brando) urging folks to come
to back to church, and to invite others to come. ("Bring a friend, leave
the cannoli.")
