Don't Go To Church - Part 2

Pastors and lay leaders in traditional Protestant churches:

What if we started telling people that we don't mind if they stop coming to Sunday worship?

What if we tell them that we don't want to see their faces at all on Sunday morning, unless they really want to be there?

What if we remove the chains of obligation and tell folks to worship God at other times, in other places, and in different ways if a Sunday morning service isn't authentic and meaningful for them?

 

On the surface, this idea might sound crazy, even heretical. For centuries, the weekly Sunday service has been the backbone of the Protestant faith in America. At one time, attendance was required by law in many places. Even after worship attendance was legally made a choice, it remained compulsory in the mind of the culture. Unlike any other church activity, worship was the one time of the week all church members were supposed to gather.

Sometime in the second half of the 20th century, this compulsory attitude began to loosen. As both church and society became more consumeristic, many people began to see worship attendance as optional. They no longer felt obligated to be "in church" every Sunday, or even a majority of Sundays.

But even as attendance and membership steadily has declined into the 21st century, the compulsory attitude has persisted. It's a vexing paradox that church leaders are noticing. Less and less people are feeling personally motivated to go to worship each Sunday, but the Sunday service is still viewed as the compulsory church activity. As a result, many people are drifting away from church participation altogether, and many others who are unchurched are never giving it a chance, since the one thing that is required is something that has little meaning or authenticity for them.

Therefore, in order to have a shot at reaching these folks, we first need to remove that age-old obligation to attend worship on Sunday morning. Which is why telling folks "Don't Go To Church" might be the best way to bring them to Christ.

Next time, we'll examine some of the ways traditional churches are breaking this worship paradox, and are building new worship experiences based on fellowship and mission.














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