Rethinking Church Anniversaries

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.

Many urban churches are dying because of the lack of vision. Churches that are looking back at their glory days are not looking forward to their glory years. They are not seeking to reach their community because there are convinced that people have changed and they alone are right. The reality is that people have not changed. People are still lost, still need a savior, and still need a personal relationship with Jesus. Too many urban churches have simply lost their way through sin and complacency. Unless these churches repent and seek God’s help in actively loving and caring for people outside their buildings - in their neighborhoods and around the world - their church doors will soon close. May God have mercy on such people as they stand before him to give an account of their disobedience.