I have an abundance of ideas. I see things going wrong at church. What can be done to fix them.
I know that "the Mission" is something that is in God's will and God's heart for KPC and for the future. But where have we gone wrong? Right now, the 5pm service is like Soda that has gone completely flat... no fizz. Just nothing. So what do we do?
What exactly is "wrong"?
Part of it, I feel, is that it now feels very performance- oriented. The things that we are "good" at (i.e. worship) have become the only things that we really do anymore. There are 4 buttons on the KPC website:
Gather.
Service.
Community.
Personal & Spiritual Disciplines.
Gather is being done right now.. and we're starting to crank up Service (trailer city, elderly, pro-life events) and Community (promoting/creating lifegroups).. only after those things happen will personal spiritual disciplines begin to shape naturally, though there are resources at the church for more on that.
But, you see, those four things, should in some way be everything the Church is about. And all of those things point glory toward Jesus. SO- whats wrong? And how do we fix it?
Perhaps the Lord is saying GO BACK TO YOUR ROOTS. Return to your first love, so to speak. Return to me.
I don't just want to propose problems.. but solutions as well. And while I don't think by a long shot that I have all the solutions, I know God has placed within me some good ideas.
Bulletins:
I have picked up a bulletin all of 3x in the two months I have been home. the first time I thought: hey- cool looking bulletin.. picked it up and read everything in it, front to back. The Second time, I picked it up to see what was new. Nothing had changed. NOTHING in there was new. I thought- maybe there just isn't too much to report on this week. The following week, the 3rd time, I picked one up just to see if anything has changed- again nothing had. In weeks since then, I will periodically grab one and thumb through it to look for changes.. and I've seen nothing.
At the very least- the usual KPC announcements should be in there. As separate from KPC as the Mission is, it is still very much an important part of KPC. Those who have committed to such a new thing need to be kept in the loop of the rest of the church. Because there ARE new things happening- God is at work. He is alive and active, why aren't we projecting that? By doing the opposite, by not "saying" anything, we are in fact saying something. We are saying that God is stagnant. We are saying that God is distant both in physical and relational proximity. That is not the truth. WE NEED TO PROJECT TRUTH.
That said-
Delegation/Creating a job for everyone:
Everyone does need a place to plug in. Whether it is serving outside of the church with any of the ministry opportunities available, or inside the church- opportunities need to be made available. The Bulletin, for example: great seed, but it should have sprouted by now. The Bulletin is potentially 5 more people who are looking for a place to plug in and have something to "do", somewhere to "contribute."
There are so many "places" like this available and our eyes are closed to it.
Honestly, everyone contributing in some form will naturally keep us from getting prideful, as well as keeping anything from becoming performance oriented. The Bride was designed with checks and balances.. she functions beautifully when she steps into her destiny in Christ.
Really, there are very few reasons for any one person to be "overwhelmed" at this point- myself included.
Prayer Chalk Board:
This was a great idea that began back in the day. Every week, an opportunity was given to write down prayer requests and praises, acting as a catalyst for opportunities to join in prayer with our brothers and sisters AND rejoice in the God we love!
But recently.. I see very few people writing anything- and if they do write something, 9x out of 10 it is a request, not a praise. So why have people stopped writing? Why have they stopped sharing their hearts? How can we remind them to?
Because if we don't encourage sharing with each other, there won't be relationships. There won't be a feeling of "home". There won't be trust.
Another concern I have is: what is being done with the prayers and praises that ARE being written up there? Like the way we raise up our children, how are we encouraging a good thing when we see it? Because if good things go unnoticed, and unpraised, then why do it if being complacent or negative gets the same response from the church.
Who prays for the prayer requests? Does anyone, or do they simply get erased at the beginning of the next service?
THERE ARE SOLUTIONS. 2 ideas:
#1: A team could be assembled.. people who are passionate about prayer, could arrive to service 30 minutes to an hour early to pray for the things on the board. This group would be open to anyone, communicating a body that is open to building relationships and values and knows the importance of prayer.
#2: Praises and Requests written on the board could be typed up on a strip of paper that is inserted into each bulletin. While everybody gets the new NEWS and opportunites that will be in the bulletin, everyone also has a reminder to pray for/praise the Lord for what he IS doing today.
Family Meeting:
There are more things that need attention than the things I have spoken of. I think at this point it works to our advantage as a body that the 5pm service is still so small. I think it would be beneficial to have a 'family meeting' of some sort. We can spend a little or a lot of that time in prayer for the service, focus, or direction. Or we could openly discuss the things that have been going well/ not well at all. Are we good at "loving others" like Scott Wilcher would always remind us?
This 'meeting' could be as formal or informal as we make it. It could be broken up into smaller groups and then come back to one big group afterward. It could be moderated by whoever. In the Mission leadership meetings we have a POLICE OFFICER and a couple others who have designated jobs.. there is someone who writes down the bullet points of what was communicated, there is someone who steers the group back to the point if they venture on rabbit trails. There is someone who is the spokesperson and so on. This could be implemented on a small or a large scale. Again- the feeling we need to communicate is that WE CARE what everyone thinks, about their relationships with God and with others.
Finally, this 'meeting' could be at 5pm one Sunday: a short time of unplugged worship followed by this discussion time. OR --> this meeting could be held at a designated time/place, though everyone who comes to the mission may or may not be able/want to come to something else. I think its important enough that we could give it that "mission" slot on a Sunday evening.
Giving Everybody a Job:
I talked about that above. There are enough opportunities to serve. No one should be overwhelmed, and everyone should have a place to plug in.
Worship:
Its become, in my opinion, more of a multi-media performance, than a time to corporately meet with God and praise him with our friends for the great things he has done in our lives!!
The 'sound' as a whole, is TOO big for the amount of people present on a typical Sunday evening.
Its overwhelming. Things need to be toned down. Worship is what we're "good" at. Its the thing we've got a handle on, and we "know how to do well". But we need to be careful with that- for it is meeting the Lord, being awe-struck in his presence that is as dynamic as you get. As a group as well as leaders, we need to approach the throne in humility and contriteness of spirit. Every time.
And so. How do we love better? More efficiently, more effectively. Its a question the church has been trying to answer since the 12 disciples walked next to Jesus.
