This past Sunday, as I sat at the back of the sanctuary getting ready to press the "record" button when Don started his sermon, I noted to myself that I knew everyone in the room by name. This wasn't any huge revelation, of course. It was just one of those thoughts that pops into your head and you know you've known it, but your brain has just articulated it for you again. And of course, there was the corresponding thought that, there are some congregations where not even the pastor knows everyone by name.
My mom sent me a link a few days ago to a social network that is being used by a church we used to attend when I was growing up. It's the largest church, west of the Mississippi, in the denomination that we're a part of. So I'm talking about a church where probably even the pastor doesn't know everyone in the congregation by name. (When I was a member there, the youth group alone was about 100 kids. We were sort of a sub-congregation within the larger congregation.)
The social network is called The Table Project and is introduced by a pretty nifty video. I agree that church should be intimate. It should feel like family. That is, after all, how the Bible itself refers to the church. (Galatians 6:10 "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.") But what I find ironic is that it's the churches that are so large that they really don't feel like a family that this Table Project is reaching out to. They're saying, we have the answer that will bring your congregation together. It's like taking a rather large problem and saying, "We have bandages that will cover that."
Instead, it seems like there needs to be a solution that deals with the heart of the problem, rather than just bandaging it up. I love being online and meeting with people socially via the internet. So I have no problem with social networking, even within a church. And I think that what they say is true about feeling more connected to people when you've connected with them throughout the week online. So I'm not trying to bash their product. It sounds cool. Given that the congregation uses it, it could even be helpful. But it still feels like it's glancing off a larger problem - and perhaps church size isn't the issue so much as church attitude.
There were a couple of churches in San Francisco that we were involved with in one way or another that took "church" seriously. I don't mean they had particularly fancy services or were staunchly legalistic or anything like that. What I mean is that they talked about what "church" means. They had training events and discussion times and read books together on the nature and purpose of the church. They didn't just assume that everyone was on the same page. And their conclusions were often along the lines that church is a family, a building with each of us fitted together with Jesus as the cornerstone, a colony of people whose first and foremost allegiance was to a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one. With a view like that, walking into a gathering of believers isn't a time to expect great music (though there may be some) or hear a great message (though that may also happen) or even to end up feeling better inside once it's all said and done. The expectation was that you were meeting with family for a shared purpose, to worship and serve God.
One of the lines in the Table Project video is: "Imagine the church feeling intimate. All those faces in the hallway becoming recognizable." Yeah, imagine that. Only, it can really happen in real life, not just online. But that needs to be the expectation. When the attitude is that attending church is equivalent to punching a spiritual time card, then all the social networks in the world aren't going to make a difference.
The Table Project - Introduction from The Table Project on Vimeo.
Well said! Now, how can we make even the environment of our church facility seem more homey? Mark has some wonderful ideas about making the landscape feel like a living room. You'll have to talk with him about what he means by that (it's what you might expect from an artist).
ReplyDeletethere are books on creating rooms in a yard (including kitchen areas). living rooms generally have a bench or two and plants that create a feeling of enclosure or boundary.
ReplyDeleteMark was telling us about the central park, which was literally in the middle of the town or city his college art class visited. The design resembled a living room. That's what I want us to have out front of the building. Didn't know there were actual books about that, but did know about outdoor kitchens as they are the rage in California.
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