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Mega-church downsizes, cuts non-essential members - LarkNews.com - A Good Source for Christian News:
WINSTON-SALEM — Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in July asking them to “participate in the life of the church” — or worship elsewhere.
“They basically called us freeloaders,” says Julie.
“We were freeloaders,” says Bob.
In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked “non-participating members” to stop attending.
“No more Mr. Nice Church,” says the executive pastor, newly hired from Cingular Wireless. “Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission.”
“Freeloading” Christians were straining the church’s nursery and facility resources and harming the church’s ability to reach the lost, says the pastor.
“When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal,” he says.
Faith Community sent polite but firm letters to families who attend church services and “freebie events” but never volunteer, never tithe and do not belong to a small group or other ministry. The church estimates that of its 8,000 regular attendees, only half have volunteered in the past 3 years, and a third have never given to the church.
“Before now, we made people feel comfortable and welcome, and tried to coax them to give a little something in return,” says a staff member. “That’s changed. We’re done being the community nanny.”
Surprisingly, the move to dis-invite people has drawn positive response from men in the community who like the idea of an in-your-face church.
“I thought, ‘A church that doesn’t allow wussies — that rocks,’” says Bob Clark, who admires the church more since they told him to get lost.
He and Julie are now tithing and volunteering. “We’ve taken our place in church life,” he says. •
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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Mega-church downsizes, cuts non-essential members ...":
Behold the true face of the Theology of Glory. It is in your face, complete with lots of Law pounding. The mega-churches began to feel the crunch a couple of years ago when the economy went sour. Their business model is fickle and transient. Now, they are trimming the fat. So much for the care of widows and orphans. Does the recent transplant from Cingular Wireless make house calls?
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GJ - Yes, Schuller, the founder of Church Church, lost his church building to the Roman Catholics, and he wants members to bring food so the limo can take it out to the palatial Schuller mansion.
Lutherans do not need to look too far to find the same attitude.
4 comments:
Behold the true face of the Theology of Glory. It is in your face, complete with lots of Law pounding. The mega-churches began to feel the crunch a couple of years ago when the economy went sour. Their business model is fickle and transient. Now, they are trimming the fat. So much for the care of widows and orphans. Does the recent transplant from Cingular Wireless make house calls?
Well there ya go...the civil religion of good works; the coming one world religion.
The WELS could pare their membership from 380,000 down to 76,000, I reckon, if they sent letters to the 80% of their members asking if they were just dormant or were permanently deadbeat. The postman would sure be happy about it.
BTW, if the WELS wanted to save money on postage, they ought to once in a while use "Address Correction Requested" with their mailings. That's because the post office doesn't return undeliverable bulk mail.
A lot of people don't know that even if you write "Return to Sender" on the bulk mail piece that comes to your house with a note about the correct address, or that the person doesn't live there anymore, the postman will throw it out without correct postage. They want the business or synod to keep sending out tons of junk mail and never pare down the mailing list since it's easy money. Of course it's backfired since businesses notice junk mail doesn't get much response, so they advertise other ways. That's what happens when a lot of junk mail and catalogs are thrown out and never delivered.
Here's a story that's not a joke:
"How to Shrink Your Church"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-suttle/how-to-shrink-your-church_b_1095841.html
Refreshing to read how an Evangelical has tired of the Theology of Glory.
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