Thursday
Aug052004
The big Mo
Thursday, August 5, 2004 at 6:58PM
That I am quoting John Maxwell about the Big Mo shows how far I have fallen. I need help. Whatever momentum is or isn't, Richview doesn't have it right now. Part of me things that is fine. The last thing we need is a hype machine, and I don't like to manufacture excitement. A lot of life is routine, and everyone of us goes through dry spells. I suppose churches do too. I'm not talking about anything major, just a certain lack of energy. Everyone disappears in the summer. Ministries shut down. Finances are down. Momentum comes and goes, and there's no telling when or why it does. This summer seems to be a bit slower than normal. On the other hand, the dry times aren't fun. Nobody wants to feel like we're just surviving week to week around here. Maybe the solution is to try to go deep and to try to figure out what God is saying. He often speaks in the slow times. Or, there's always hype. Maybe not.
Reader Comments (10)
In reading your entry I had a couple of quick thoughts ... >the momentum issue isn't isolated to Richview .. We notice the same thing at our current church >the momentum issue isn't isolated to just churches .. when I was at BMO .. we always found the summer to be a slow period don't know if what I've just said is part of the hype .. but as person searching for a job .. I've seen the lack of momentum.
Yup, it's not just yous guys (sorry, I slipped back into my NJ days for a moment). Our church has been there for a while. If by momentum you mean "lack of forward progress" then we're definitely there. Not that good things don't happen ocassionally, but WHERE is that ever an indicator of success. I think you have to look at a broader span of time as well. Are we better or worse than we were a year ago, or even two years ago? We have fewer people in church, but we've had a bit of a "backdoor revival", too. The right people left. Four more weeks, buddy. Then everything will be back to normal. And catalyst is coming right?
Why do churches slow down in the summer? Does God stop working in the summer or something?
Beats me, George. It drives me crazy.
This summer has been different than all of my previous summers. Kind of a crazy spike in every area here in NJ. "Church attendance", people moving into the community, businesses expanding, etc. Most of it is a flop over from NY city. Unfortunately, the irony is that it should be interesting what comes of the Fall as everyone shifts gears and speeds up. Moms going back to work, kids & sports, church activities are entered into the PDA's, etc. We'll see what happens...it's bitter/sweet.
Don't give into hype. Go to your GoogleFight link and type in hype vs. waiting on God. I think the answer is right :-)
I think I saw God up at MBC on Tuesday, George. That would explain it.
We decided to stop the drift.. We grabbed the Intercessors and prayed through the Church, rededicating,crying out, confessing our need for Him... Sunday the spiritual atmosphere changed, broken people came to the altar and wept before the Lord. May the Lord, anchor your Church.May He bring times of refreshing.
Summer is holiday months in Canada. Everyone is at the lake and tired. I think it is partly because of our climate. Christine Sine has a new book that also talks of spiritual rythyms of life. I think one that the church has in North America is fall till Easter.
That settles it, women have to take over soon or we are all doomed! ;)