just how should a church grow, anyway?

while i was busy biting off almost more than i could chew renovating the kitchen at our cottage, i had plenty of time to ruminate on a few things (btw, i'd post some pics of the new kitchen, but since i didnt bother to take any "before" shots, it's kind of pointless).

ever since reading the barna book "revolution" i've begun to take an interest in the house church movement here in america. i've had a great interest in cell groups for quite a number of years, and still lean slightly toward that method, but the house church intrigues me. as i've compared and contrasted the two, i've also been forced to re-evaluate my position on worship (or celebration) services as well.

i'm a contemporary praise and worship guy... i'll get that out right up front. there are a handful of hymns that are very meaningful to me, but by and large, contemporary praise music does it for me (please understand that i realize that hymns are sung in order to praise and worship Jesus... i'm using those labels to differentiate between the different types and styles of "church" music).

the main reason why i (so far) prefer cell groups (small groups that meet in church members' houses in various neighborhoods, but are a part of a larger church body) to house churches (small groups that meet in church members' homes that are self-contained churches) is that there are more resources available for ministry and missions in the larger corporate body.

the way it works in a cell church is that the church grows through the small groups. the intimacy and community that is fostered in small, neighborhood groups is more conducive to bringing seekers into contact with believers, and ultimately into contact with Christ Himself. usually, on sunday morning, the folks that make up the cell groups gather together corporately for a worship (celebration) service.

traditional churches also have small group meetings... most of these are known as sunday school classes, and they meet right there in the church building, most commonly right before the sunday morning worship service. in southern baptist churches, and probably in a number of other denominations as well, the sunday school is seen as the growth arm of the church (for the same reasons that cell groups are). i realize that when some folks see "church growth," they'll read "mega-church." please understand that church growth is important to me because i know each one of those numbers represents a living, breathing human being that is loved by a Heavenly Father who desires that they come to a saving knowledge of His son, Jesus Christ. honestly, i could care less about being a part of a mega-church.

now, there are a lot of opinions about how a sunday worship service should look, sound and feel. all over the country, and all over the world for that matter, there are churches that struggle with this issue. many proponents of a contemporary worship service would tell us that contemporary music and cutting edge video are necessary to attract folks to church these days. but as i listened to some folks expound on this subject, a contradiction was brought to my attention that i simply cannot ignore, thus the reason for my above-mentioned re-evaluation of how we "worship."

if we're going to buy into the idea that growth happens in the small group settings, whether they be cell groups or sunday school classes, how can we also say that the things we do or dont do in the worship service are necessary to attract the unchurched? can we have it both ways? if we're going to design worship services with the idea in mind that we're going to appeal to a media-savvy, hi-tech generation of lost people, then what's the point of having small groups? if we believe that the community and comaraderie of the small group is the thing that our lost neighbors initially find attractive about the church, then why all the fuss about the structure of the worship celebration as a means to reach the lost?

i've come (back) to the realization that the worship service is for the believers. how can our lost friends worship Someone they do not know or believe in?? they can't! so, why do we go to such great pains to design a way of worship for those who CANNOT worship? of course i know that this doesnt solve the problem of whether we worship traditionally or contemporarily, because churches still have diversity within the body of believers. but at least we can stop the charade of claiming to be trying to reach lost people by way of the style in which we choose to conduct our worship services. this is where i believe the house church may have the advantage. it isnt just an intimate setting of a small bible study group, but it is also the intimate setting of the very church body itself. and perhaps avoiding the turmoil over the style of worship in the larger setting just may be worth the trade-off of having not quite as many resources with which to do Kingdom work.

check out my new favorite website, which describes perfectly how i believe we ought to be doing church... and how we should have been doing it all along...