Church

I’ve been going to the same church now for over 10 years. I was ‘on staff’ there for most of those years, which means I was in charge of the music ministry (not much pay, but lots of responsibility). I was asked to participate by the pastor back when the church was a fairly new and small entity and I’ve watched the church grow over the years into the body it is now.


I love the people there and have always seen an amazing potential in the organization. Everyone is energetic (at least, most are), friendly and cooperative, with a heart for others. But, we have been plagued with one crisis after another over the years and I can’t help but compare ourselves to other churches and ask God, why?

We seemed to have a great group of people; a great vision and purpose; a lot of energy; very little disharmony; good music and good preaching. And we did do well for a while, growing quickly and being very involved in the community and in reaching others with the message of the gospel. But, just as soon as we started growing, we took a major hit.

Our pastor was involved in an indiscretion and resigned, along with our associate pastor. We found out at that time that we had neglected to build a good strong infrastructure, such as by-laws and a constitution. We didn’t have elders or other formal ‘lay’ leadership in place either, so we were ill equipped to handle the storm. We also found out that we were in very poor shape financially which added to the damage. I’m surprised we made it through the storm at all, except for the leadership of our youth pastor and the unity of the body.

And over the few years following all of that we’ve gone through 4 pastors and 3 or 4 youth ministers, along with a nearly complete turn-over in membership. We’ve hovered around the same number of ‘members’ and ‘attenders’ and have had all our needs met, although with very little left over each month. We’ve continued to minister to others, but have always struggled to maintain our identity and keep focused on the original vision.

It’s been a struggle for me to not get discouraged when I see other churches in the area who are involved in the same type of ministry doing so well while we just seem to be trying to keep our head above water. I’ve asked the Lord about it many times and I understand a little of why, but it doesn’t help. I still get discouraged from time to time.

I realize a lot of the problem has to do with not laying a good foundation when we were first formed. Our first pastor was a great guy with a great vision, who really loved people, but he was not as strong in the organizational areas and he let his own weaknesses overcome his ministry. And the other leaders involved at that time didn’t take the time to establish accountability roles and structure to guard against those dangers. If you don’t have a good foundation the building will always suffer.

Anyway, sometimes these things just weigh on me. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a member of church that thrived instead of struggled. I know all churches have struggles, but some more than others.

I am thankful for the years I’ve spent at our church. I’ve grown as a person because of my association there and I’ve made so many great friends. I hope I’m not sounding like a complainer. I’m not complaining, just wondering out loud.

Just thought I’d share.