Not Being Afraid to evolve

The idea of change is not really something that most church's embrace and oftentimes for good reason. The Bible is the Word of God and nothing about it needs changing; that is a fact I completely agree with. My thoughts on change lay mostly in how to grow a church and how to get young people excited about God while also not straying for Gods Word.

Take for example an older small church with mostly elderly members. They have been doing things a certain way for many years and it might just be a trait of old age, but change is something they don't embrace even when it comes to socks or where to have lunch! At these same type of churches though you seem to hear talk about wanting to grow the church and wanting to get new younger families. They obviously realize that without new members eventually their doors would close. Somewhere between knowing they need new younger members and actually agreeing upon how best to do that comes SO MUCH DRAMA!! The older members begin to feel ownership over the church(not realizing it's just a building and the church is in the people gathered together). They shoot down ideas that are new and push for "what we've always done."  Thus time goes on and on and no new members are added or at least none that stay for any length of time.

I think we should never be afraid to utilize a method that would help bring new people to Christ or add new members to a church. Provided that it aligns with Gods Word.

The use of technology is not something to be scared of. A projector can be a very beneficial and useful tool. I'm not saying to turn away from the traditional way of things. I love cracking open a hymnal and singing loud and proud like the next gal. I also think implementing different ways of doing things can shake stuff up in a good way. Having a young person who usually just sits in the pew and having them be responsible for using Power Point and running a projector, that is a perfect way to get them involved and make them feel like they are a part of the ministry.

I don't agree with churches that rely solely on their music program to put people in the pews and replace getting into the Book, but I do think music is an important part of ministry. I love the classics just as much as the next person, but again with younger people they aren't listening to " Amazing Grace, or Just As I am Without One Plea" on the radio and let's be real....neither are we! Contemporary Christian radio is every bit as Godly as the classic Hymns. There are some that blend Christian with Rap; you don't like it?  okay so don't have Rap! There are hundreds of other artists and songs out there that I see no reason why you wouldn't put one of those songs up there from say Family Life Radio and have a young person make a slide show of it and provide the instrumentation? Try it out and don't like no harm done; nothing ventured nothing gained.

What I don't think honors God is stubbornly sticking to how things have been in the past and shooting down and admonishing others who bring ideas forth just because it makes YOU feel uncomfortable and it's not something YOU personally are interested in. You can pray all day for God to bring new people in to your fold, but at the same time God wants YOU to do the work.

I'm not sure of the passage, but there is a scripture that goes something like"God works all things for the good(his glory).

What are your thoughts on the topic of getting new younger members and dealing with older members?

-Jessica