Churches need change to reach people

Drinking from a fire hose

Friends, there are two very important events coming soon that I hope you will consider attending. One is an Austin District event; the other is a Southwest Texas Conference event. Both relate to an urgent need: learning to drink from a fire hose.
Almost every day I read in the Austin American-Statesman that a new subdivision, development or shopping mall is bringing thousands of new homes, new jobs and new people to our area.
Clearly, our churches are simply not equipped to reach them because Austin District churches showed a decline in membership, worship attendance, professions of faith and baptisms last year.
What is wrong with this picture?
Doing the same thing the same way we have always done it will not suffice. Our Wesleyan DNA simply compels us to reach these folks with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Slogans like “offering Christ to all” are not enough if our behaviors don’t change. In the Austin District, that means offering Christ to someone new.
Christ calls us to do two things: start new churches and help our existing churches change the way they welcome new people. We must improve our performance. Clergy members may feel (mistakenly) that the entire burden is on them, but the truth is that our pastors could preach like the Apostle Paul, and if laypeople aren’t genuinely welcoming, guests will not return. One church reported 102 new families visited this year. Its worship attendance average is 105.
At the district level I am inviting all our pastors and at least five key laypeople from each church to come Oct. 23 to Oak Hill UMC, Austin, at 7 p.m. to hear a presentation by Dr. Don Nations on a district transformation process.
You are already familiar by now with one piece of the process, the Church Transformation Survey. Dr. Nations authored this survey, which is being used by our entire Southwest Texas Conference and the Texas Conference to help us get an objective picture of the health of our congregations. Dr. Nations will outline the three-year transformation process. Pastors and key leaders will consult with their respective churches and decide whether or not they wish to participate.
Thirty churches will be chosen, based on their willingness to participate and their demographic settings.
The conference event will be Nov. 13 in San Antonio at Northwest Hills UMC from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Rev. Steve Compton, author of Rekindling the Mainline, will be the presenter. This event is sponsored by the New Church Development Commission and is aimed at pastors interested in new church starts and leading an existing church to birth a new congregation as well as those who discern a call to become district superintendent.
I hope that you will attend both events and pray with a listening heart. Read Rekindling the Mainline. Read Leading Change by John Kotter. How can you contribute to the movement of God in your church, in the district, in the conference?