Granger Community Church
Last Friday Pam and I attended seminars at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Ind. It's considered one of the nation's most innovative churches. They run about 6000 people on Sundays, and they focus laser-like on reaching the lost. I took a seminar on Communications, and Pam took one called "Maximizing the Arts," which revolved around worship. Both were excellent.
Granger is a superb church. I loved hearing about their ministry. Loved gleaning great ideas. I highly respect what they do. And I'm glad I don't go there.
Size matters. The critical mass of people and money enable a church to do things with great quality. And it enables a whole lot of people to go under-used in ministry. The demand for high expertise (to reach the desired level of quality) means many talented (but not highly talented) people ride the bench. I basically did that for a number of years at my previous, fast-growing church (my fault--there was no need for my service, so I didn't provide much service). At Anchor I have no doubts about how much I'm needed, and I can work my butt off in ministry. I can truly use all of my skills and gifts in fulfilling ways, and do things that give me great joy (like playing the piano), whereas at a megachurch I would have little to offer.
At the end of the day, we got a tour of the Granger facility. Our guide, a fellow in his 50s, clearly loved being part of something alive and growing. He was articulate, a good thinker, probably a successful professional. And I thought of how valuable a guy like that would be at Anchor, and how much he could do to help us reach our neighborhood for Christ. More than he's doing at Granger...?
But churches like Granger are doing wonderful things. I can't knock them. Nor do I accept the postmodernist arguments that the days of the megachurch are numbered. I think those days are just beginning. Many people (like me) will be drawn to small communities. But it seems that a much larger number of people will be drawn to megachurches--good for some people, bad for others. Sorry, Brian McLaren, but I don't see the sky falling on megachurches.
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Hi Steve,
I think I was your tour guide last week. About the age, I just turned 50 last week, so I am adjusting to the next decade in life.
Let give you a little background. My wife and I have been active in ministry for most of our marriage, committed to a local body and for a number of years - camp ministry. But a couple of years ago, both of us began to question our impact. Our body had a number of long serving, bright and committed people. But something was missing, we weren't reaching our community. There was no harvest taking place. Sure we ministered to the poor and supported a strong missionary effort. But the only people I saw accepting Christ were our own children. And I was a leader in that Church.
The decision to come to Granger wasn't about jumping on the mega church bandwagon. It was about rediscovering how we (my wife and I) could impact lives that are lost.
Not surprisingly, the answers are pretty basic. If you look beyond the high tech delivery the message is plain. Lost people matter to God and they should matter to us, even if we have to learn to show Jesus in ways that are more familiar to the unchurched than the long time attenders.
So we are taking baby steps. Our neighbors of 12 years have come with us once and we will get them back. It's really sad that it took returning to the basics to issue an invite to someone we've known for years. Thank you God for your grace (and patience) with me.
BTW - I love providing tours and serving at Wired Church sessions because meeting all of you, from start up ministries to those looking to break out, really fires me up.
If you ever have any questions for me, fire away! I hope your ministry reaches places you aren't even dreaming of yet.
Steve Miller