What comes to mind when you think of your church?

I just had a version of this essay posted on our church website.  I don't really know if I could track down the citation for the study anymore, but I am pretty confident that I've got the gist of it right.  An alternative title could be: Beyond Nice

When you think Stony Creek, you think [fill in the blank] . . ..

A few years ago I ran across some research that tried to find out why some churches grew and some churches did not.  The researchers asked church members to characterize their church.  So folks were asked, “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about your church?”  Some responded their church was a “friendly church”, others noted their church “reached out to the poor” or “helps members to keep in touch with God”.    The researchers then tried to see if there was a relationship between how members characterized their church and the vitality of the church in terms of membership.  So ten years later, the researchers returned to those churches.  They found that if more than half of the church membership had characterized their church as a “friendly church” then it was also true that the church most likely suffered from declining membership and was in danger of, or had already, disappeared.  At the same time, if more than half the members of a church characterized their church as a place to serve others or come closer to God, then it was likely that the church was still growing and lively. 

Churches where members are interested in “friends” typically don’t grow –why should they, their “friends” are already attending.  Members in friendly churches sit among their friends in the same pew week after week.  They are happy to chat together at coffee hour, and they tend to socialize together outside of Sunday church activities.  Churches typified by a strong sense of ministry and mission—“following Jesus”, “helping the poor” or “getting closer to God”—are churches in which most activities involve either worship, prayer, learning, or service.  And, significantly, folks at these mission oriented churches ask others to join in more frequently than folks who attend churches that most characterize as “friendly”.

If the lost and lonely people in this world simply needed friends, they could join a bowling league or the Lions club.  A young family that wants to raise their kids with solid values doesn’t need more friends; they need a church that tries to practice the teachings of Jesus.  A person looking for meaning in life might be more likely to find it through regular opportunities for godly service to their neighbor than through pleasant after worship chat about sports and cooking.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wouldn’t have come back to Stony Creek after visiting the first time if folks had treated me badly: “friendly” is a good place to start.  But I love coming to Stony Creek because I hear the Word, have opportunities to serve, and get to learn to follow Jesus.

In short, “friendly” churches tended to fade away, while mission churches tended to flourish.  What kind of a church are we at Stony Creek?  What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Stony Creek?