Building a Connecting Atmosphere

One day I was having lunch with a friend of mine who had recently retired as pastor of a very successful church. When the new pastor came, there were some who had trouble adjusting and changed churches. Actually, there was a great exodus that took place. We ran into a family who had recently left the church and as we were talking to them, my friend asked them where they were attending church. Now understand that this family was third generation in this church. My friend was shocked to hear that they had joined a church of a completely different denomination that did not embrace the same traditional beliefs. When we asked why, their answer was enlightening. They said, “Well, we joined over there because the Bensons and the Wilcox’s are going there”. Wow! Talk about the power of connecting. Here was a family that prioritized their connections over their basic foundational beliefs. This opened our eyes to the importance of feeling connected to the average person. This marked the beginning of Connecting Points. We realized that if we were going to start keeping some of these folks who were visiting our church, we must begin to build an atmosphere in which people can get connected to God and each other. God help us build an atmosphere where people can get connected!

Are We Connecting to the Community?

Church growth experts tell us that in order to stay the same size every church must grow six to eight percent each year. This growth will just about cover the ones who leave by natural attrition. Some go to heaven. Some go to live with Aunt Josie. Some even have the audacity to get mad at the preacher and leave for another church in town. The very idea! You have to grow six to eight percent just to break even, and if you don’t you decrease in number. The sad reality is that many churches in America are either stuck in status quo or are actually declining. With only a few wonderful exceptions even the churches that are growing are doing it through transfer growth. We fell into this trap for a season. Maybe if we can come up with a new angle or shine a little brighter than the church down the street we can get a few families. This causes problems of competition and territorialism among churches that hurt our reputations and hinder our efforts for the cause of Christ. The answer is found in the principles of relational ministry which will cause us to begin connecting with people in our community. Once we do this, we can become an influence in their lives that will draw them to Christ. We must become connectors.

Disconnected Society

Can you name your neighbors? You probably cannot. We are living in a day when people are not as connected as in days past. Most adults, over the age of forty, remember a more innocent time. As a child, they could name every neighbor on their street. This is not true any more. Society has changed. People are more cynical and suspicious today and it is for good reason. Twenty-five years ago parents allowed their children to roam the neighborhood without fear. Only a fool would do that today. The deeper society plummets down this dark hole of innocence lost, the more disconnected we become. This is a problem. God created us to have relationship with Him and with each other. We, as believers, have a more involved problem. We are commissioned to connect to the greater community for the cause of Christ. This becomes more difficult, as society becomes more disconnected. The problem is that people are not connected to God, each other, or the greater community at large. May God help us to get back to the basics of relational ministry so that we can do what He wants us to do: Get Connected!

Let's Get Connected

Let’s be honest. We did not invent connecting. This is something that the Holy Spirit is speaking to people all over the country. We believe that this is what God is doing in the church in these days. If we are going to reach people in this day in which we live, it will not be through tired, old methods that were effective in days gone by. We do not labor in the same vineyard that our forefathers tended. The world has changed, and society is changing constantly. If we are going to reach our culture we must have God’s current methods that are both time and place specific. We believe that God has a new plan for a new day. We believe that this plan is revealed to leaders who embrace the principles of relational ministry. If we are going to make disciples, we must get connected!

What is Your Vision?

In most churches the Lord planted that church in that place for His purpose long before the current pastor ever arrived. In order to understand the vision we must come to grips with a very important question. Why? Why did God put this church in this place at this time? When a new pastor comes to a church the first question that is asked of him is “What is your vision for the church?” Most enterprising pastors have learned to keep a well-crafted vision in their suitcase should someone ever ask him about it. When asked, most pastors pull out the mission of the church rather than the vision, with full confidence that no one will recognize the difference. The mission of the church was given by Christ to the church as a whole. It will be the guiding force for every vision, but it is not the vision.
The mission of the church is to “go then to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples” (Matt. 28:19). This is the same for all churches. The vision, on the other hand, will be different for every church and every community. The question should be asked collectively: “What is God’s vision for our church?” By this means, the vision comes from the grassroots up as opposed to from the top down. As we redefine vision, we must realize the vision must come from the Lord by the Spirit through the grassroots—the people, God’s people. The way you find this “right” vision is to look for the activity of God in that church and in that community. Once we find where God is showing up we can more clearly see what God’s vision for that church is.