P.S.

1. I think a lot of people like big, professional churches to which they contribute little because they view the church as a metaphor (or replacement?) for their faith.  If the church has always been there, and always will be there, and doesn’t come from them but is driven by outside forces, they have little fear of their faith ceasing.  On the other hand, if their church collapses, will their pursuit of Jesus follow suit?

2. Can we stop pretending the Sunday morning service (or “main” service – whenever it is) isn’t the crux of all that we do? It’s the only thing 95% of church-goers attend.  It’s the clearest act of our congregation.  I realize people stick around a church because they have friends and feel like they contribute, but leadership can’t force those things.  We can, however, make a killer service.  Let’s just say it: service is the center of what we do.  Now can we move forward…?

It seems like the leaders of church services get a lot more out of the services than the average parishioner.

The pastor, worship leader, band, choir, etc. spend all week preparing for the service.  They’ve done tons of front-end readying, and the service is the outflowing of all their preparation.  Just like someone who’d studied art history would get more out of an art museum than someone who went in cold.

Similarly, the leaders are also the ones who actually do things during the service.  They sing, or speak, or pray into the microphone, or play instruments – and feel altogether necessary.  Congregants, on the other hand, watch and maybe sing and maybe clap(?).

For all “our” complaints about consumer-focused American Christianity, that’s the only option we (pastors) have provided.

My thesis, then, restated, is this: normal church service provide more opportunity for spiritual growth for the leaders than for the “followers”.  I don’t want to reverse this trend; I want to even it out.  Nobody here is Jesus – we all need to learn.