Packed Stadiums and Empty Sanctuaries: Painful Questions We Must Answer
A pastor friend of mine recently attended a college football game. He barely got a ticket. The place was PACKED! Sold out.
It got us both thinking…
The juxtaposition of packed football stadiums and partially full sanctuaries creates a strategic crisis.
And it should.
Why Are Stadiums Sold Out?
Why are hundreds of thousands of church people jamming into football stadiums with rabid enthusiasm yet skipping church almost every Sunday?
What is the in-person football experience offering that the church is not?
What did people miss about football?
And the most painful question of them all: What did church people NOT miss when they missed church for a year?
I’ve come to believe most churches remain partially full because people missed it for a year and didn’t really miss it.
The time for excuses is over. It’s time to act. It is time to evolve our approach and create something worth not missing.
In this NEW POST, I try to engage our minds around the problem. Perhaps we collectively can work towards solutions.
3 Reasons I’m Grateful Churches Aren’t Full Again
I’m grateful all our churches aren’t full again. And I’ll tell you why.
All the empty seats are creating a crisis of:
1. Identity
2. Mission
3. Ministry Model
While I certainly don’t love the crisis, I love what it will potentially create in Kingdom growth. Of course, the pandemic was a disruption of epic proportions, but it doesn’t have to be catastrophic to our church or spirit.
In this NEW POST, I outline the details of each crisis and probably say some things that might raise an eyebrow or two.
As always, let me know how I can help. That’s why I created Transformation Solutions!
Why Getting People Back to Church is a Dangerous Goal
How many people are back at your church?
That seems like the predominate, post-COVID pastor question, doesn’t it?
We used to ask, “How many people attend each Sunday?” But not now. The question has changed. Neither question is a great question. Nevertheless, it’s the most frequently asked question.
Today, it seems how many people you previously had isn’t as relevant as how many of those have returned. Every pastor is concerned with attendance return.
In this post, I directly address this new post-COVID “returning” focus.
Here’s my big idea: Everyone’s focus seems to be “getting people back!” I’m not sure that’s the right goal, though. I’m afraid too much focus on “getting our people back” to church will permanently shift our plans, leadership, hiring, and budgets in the wrong direction.
Here’s why: The more focused we place on keeping people, the less energy we spend on reaching people.
A focus on re-attracting those who aren’t returning turns us into a “keeping-focused” church. Here’s what I’ve learned in my decades of church leadership:
You can focus on reaching people or keeping people, but not both.
Here are 5 strategies to keep a reaching heart in a keeping-focused season of church leadership:
1. Don’t “think” like a church planter; ACT as a church planter.
2. Resist the urge to adjust ministry offerings for the vocal and absent minority.
3. Admit that some people will never return, no matter what you do.
4. Start over by focusing on what the unchurched and dechurched in your community need.
5. Thinks steps, not programs.
You can read all the details in the full article.
I hope this helps us all retain the correct focus in this post-pandemic church experience.
If I can help, let me know.
Two Scary Reasons Church People Aren’t Coming Back to Church
If you’re a pastor or church leader, I completely believe this is worth reading.
I’ve been watching our church attendance and engagement throughout the pandemic, paying special attention to the trends after we opened our building for in-person services in February.
And I’m terrified by one trend. It’s an alarm bell that we must address right now.
Some people are coming back. Some will come back in time. But there is a group, and it may be a significant group, who aren’t coming back — not to your church or any church. They are the churched people who are about to be fully de-churched.
Why? Possibly because they spend the better part of the last year not engaged with church and their life isn’t any worse.
THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL FOR US ALL.
Life inside the local church should be distinctly better than outside. I’m afraid that hasn’t been the case for too many.
In this NEW ARTICLE, I dig deeper into who these people are and what we need to do in our church to help ensure it never happens again.