Second of two parts

Dear Don:

While not all churches need a praise band, to draw younger people a church needs to have contemporary touches. This can include such steps as:

* Getting the choir into the sanctuary, next to people, and out of their robes.

* Getting the pastor out from behind the pulpit and even out of his or her vestments.

* Using liturgy that is modern and up to date.

* Using Scripture in the language of modern-day people.

* Using hymns with lyrics that speak to the people. While I love old hymns, your selections should speak to modern congregants.

* Moving people closer together. If necessary, block off the back pews. The church needs to be a close-knit community.

* Have a joyful service. This key element is missing in 100 percent of dying churches. I do understand why. It has to be frustrating to see a sanctuary one-fourth full, with most of the people in their 70's and 80's.

* Include laughter in your service.

* Make your services interactive—get the congregation involved in more than just responsive readings and hymns.

Ministering in various ways

I feel the same way you do about churches like the Nazarene place you mentioned earlier, where the pastor seemed to cry on cue. However, we must remember that God presents His message in a variety of ways to reach as many people as possible. So I never badmouth any ministry; I just say that isn't for me. It is exciting how the Lord is able to minister to such a variety of people.

I don't agree with everything that cutting-edge churches do. I know of one that changed its music from a choir to "star" ministry. I don't like that, but I can't argue with what they provide people in their community.

Crossing the ministry line

I honestly can't tell you a time when a church crosses the line from ministry to entertainment.

However, in the late 1970s and early ‘80s my church—Faith Presbyterian—ministered to more than 3,000 people on Sunday. By the time I left in 1984, we had just under 5,000 members. Most of them were ministering to the world and we had started three other, growing churches.

Faith was a traditional church that that did all of the things that I have listed above. Regretfully, instead of asking what we did that made us successful, some in our denomination were jealous of our success. They called us "the circus church."

Remember, the mission of the church is to "be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1: 8b, NIV.)

There is no way we can be witnesses to the world if we aren't getting people into the church to bring them to the Lord, teach them and send them back out to the world. This is the Great Commandment and we need to live by it.

If it remains in the forefront of our minds, we will never worry about continuing what we have done forever while the church dies. We will be too concerned about what we have to do to reach people in the 21st century.

Fulfilling the Great Commandment

I tell my students at Denver University's teacher education program that if they have to go over to the corner, stand on their heads and whistle for their students to understand what they want, then they need to do it.

As church leaders we need to do the same thing: do whatever it takes to fulfill The Great Commandment. You don't check the health of the church by how many people are coming, but by how many people you are sending out to minister to the world.

Don, I'm sorry about the length of this but you posed such wonderful questions and thoughts that I had to give you some—I think—good ideas.

Regretfully, most churches are afraid to ask the questions you asked. Instead, they like to complain that growing churches are just entertaining, not "doing what we are."

The only problem is that if the mainline churches keep going the way they are, the church will be dead in a short period of time. Neither you nor I want that.

Thanks for your thought provoking questions and ideas. I pray daily that the Lord will continually bless your ministry.

--Ken Johnson

© 2006, Ken Johnson, President and CEO of The Ken Johnson Group, LLC. To contact Ken, or for permission to reprint this article, send an e-mail to: ken@thekenjohnsongroup.com.

Read Part one here: Is there a niche for the traditional service?.