Urban centers are fast pace with events happening all
throughout the city every day, and Sunday is no exception. Cities experience professional sports teams,
concerts, conventions, etc nearly everyday of the week. This causes the avid fans to make a hard
decision, and sometimes the length of a service becomes the determining factor
for attending. Some urban churches
become proactive in helping members and guest attend. One church I know located near a stadium
where professional football games often start at 1:00 pm, has timed their
worship to end at 11:30 a.m. When games
are being played at 1:00 pm, they throw a big “tailgate party” in the parking
lot allowing worshippers to eat and still make it into the stadium for the
kickoff. Members and guest can attend
worship and not feel the need to skip church to make the game.
Churches can fight against urban social events, or use the events
to advance the cause of Christ, taking advantage of the event for outreach
opportunities. Worship leaders need to
understand the urban mindset of worshippers.
Churchgoers want:
- worship and discipleship at times convenient for them.
- accessible parking and ease of entrance, with no waiting, lines, or delays.
- greeters, ushers, and staff that are polite and efficient.
- their worship leaders to be well educated.
- up to date with use of technology in worship and teaching.
- able to equip correctly interpret and mentor Scriptural application to modern urban life.
- all worship and discipleship to be accessible and high quality.
- to use technology to communicate events and happening in real time.
- accessibility to staff 24-7
In summary, churchgoers want convenience, quality, and
technology blended into services and training.
Pastors and staff want better pay, better working conditions, and
personal recognition, but often resist learning new technology, continuing
education, and “putting themselves out there” to meet the needs of city
dwellers.
Urban families have numerous demands that pastors should
take into consideration. Divorced
parents often are shuffling children back and forth between parents, many
people work on days of worship, and household chores demand much of the weekend
time. In the case of my wife and me, we
find ourselves squeezing in time with our adult children and their families,
household chores, and serving as power of attorney for my mother who is in the
later stages of Alzheimer’s.
When pastors fail to understand and respect the worshipper’s
time constraints, the pastor hinders the growth of the church. Urban churches must creatively develop unique
ways to allow members and guests to worship and to experience discipleship
training. Churches must not make
worshippers feel bad when they are unable to attend a set time of worship. The key is to offer more worship times, not
less, to develop online discipleship training tools, and to create Bible Study
and fellowship times very throughout the week.
The problem with dying churches, especially in urban areas,
has more to do with church leadership making bad leadership decisions than any
other single factor. Churches can no
longer expect the faith community to fit restrictive preset times and structure
and must embrace flexible efficiency in order to experience growth.
So what do you do if your leadership
does not respect your time or makes you and others feel guilty that you cannot
make or stay for events? First, commit this issue to the Lord in prayer. Continue to pray
until the Lord gives you a clear directive.
Second, talk with the pastor about your personal time
restraint. Be truthful with both yourself
and the pastor. Sometimes the hardest
part is being truthful with oneself, but it is never easy speaking with the
pastor about such matters. Some pastors
think they have more to say than they really do, while others think that what
they have to say is more important than anything else. Third, take the information gleaned
from your conversation with the pastor and continue to pray concerning it. Continue praying until the Lord gives you another
clear directive. Fourth, when the Lord speaks
to you, act on His directive. Often the
Lord directs a person to leave their current church instead of creating a major
issue. Remember, God deals harshly with
those who raise their hand against God’s anointed. On the other hand, you may discover that your
pastor is already aware of the issue and he may enlist you to help resolve the
issue. If this is the case, be patient,
change takes time.
