At
the request of an urban pastor, I agreed to worship with his church with the
stipulation that he not announce my presence nor tell people why I was there.
The goal was to provide the pastor some “third party” feedback about my
experience. Some of which I am sharing in this blog in hopes of helping other
urban churches change their direction. Before I get to how the members reacted
to my “intrusion” into their service (I will save this for a future post), I
want to share how this church celebrated their seventy-fifth anniversary.
The
church had no screens, so the Sunday I was there all announcements were made
verbally. The young pastor spoke of their approaching anniversary with special
guest – a Barney Fife impersonator. Now for those who do not know, Barney Fife
was a town deputy in The Andy Griffith
Show and later in Mayberry R.F.D.
covering 1960-1971. Since I could not be present for the church’s seventy-fifth
anniversary, I asked a younger friend and colleague who lived in the community to
attend, and then share with me how she was received by the church membership. She
had never attended this church and I felt she could give me honest feedback. She
shared with me that the worship service started with a few announcements, a
welcome to the visitors, and one song sung acapella. Then the worship of our
Lord was turned over to the Barney Fife impersonator. A secular impersonator
(which my colleague rated as “not that good”) took the place of the preaching
of God’s Word.
Nothing
should ever replace the preaching of God’s Word! Worship is not about being
entertained. It is not about remembering a better time. It is not even about celebrating
our accomplishments. Church anniversaries are about celebrating God’s faithfulness
and provisions, and for painting the vision for the church’s future obtained through
the congregation’s obedience and faithfulness. If this church was going to have
an impersonator reenact past history, it should have occurred in the afternoon
or a weekday portion of the celebration. It should not have taken the place of
preaching God’s Word. It is time that churches rethink Church Anniversaries!
According
to the demographics for the neighborhood where this particular church is
located, the aforementioned television shows had ended before 79.7% of the neighborhood
residents were old enough to remember Barney Fife and 64.3% were not even born when
the second show ended in 1971. The median age of this community is 34 and
ethnically a very diverse artistic district. The truth is that the church is
not reaching outside their walls into the community, and I am not sure they
want to reach their community.
Here
is what I would have recommended to the church, and will recommend that they
do it for their next anniversary. I would urge them to have a church sponsored
art show and music festival highlighting a diversity of musical groups and
styles of music covering the lifespan of the church to the present. I would
have community artist, vendors, and foods covering the main ethnic groups
within the community and arranged for all proceeds from the festival to go to
support a need in the community (e.g.: struggling single parents). I would pull
neighborhood groups into supporting the event to help meet this community need.
On Anniversary Sunday, I would make sure Sunday morning worship had youthful
greeters outside the building, dynamic uplifting music inside, and a powerful biblical
sermon outlining plans to influence our community for Jesus through loving and
caring for the people in the neighborhood. Celebrating anniversaries, whether
people or churches, should be more about looking forward than backward! Church
anniversaries should celebrate the faithfulness of God’s past provision and set
forth a future of trust and obedience enabling the church to continue reaching people
for Jesus and equipping Jesus’ disciples.
