Church Personality.

[Pastor Gary]

we are everything to everyone. hymns,contemp. worship music. trad. preaching. small groups for all ages. we refuse to follow the crowd about sunday school. that is still the focus for our church instead of not having it and going straight to worship service. if you dont know the bible you cant worship in spirit and truth. if your not everything to everyone your not striving to be a new testament church. so dont put your church in a box. thats my thoughts.

Glad that's working for you! (I am assuming you are growing, etc.)

My personal experience has been that when churches try to be "everything to everyone" they end up be "nothing to noone" because they lack direction.

[dawgs10]

we dont have a choice in the way we are taken it on. we have people of all backgrounds,and so on. we are right in the middle of the bible belt so we have traditional folks. we are growing so we have people that have never heard of cogop. we have young people so we are using the motto for the generation to come. we have a disrict overseer and ex drunks. you see where i am coming from. we can be everything and we dont have to leave it up to another church to minister to some. its a challenge but it can happen. we pray for new workers that have different views and background. i think more churchs can do this. it may not be for everyone but it could be. my opinion only. it does mean you cant focus on just one thing and sometimes it seems that some things are not on the front burner. it means alot of delegation.

[scooter]

we are everything to everyone. hymns,contemp. worship music. trad. preaching. small groups for all ages. we refuse to follow the crowd about sunday school. that is still the focus for our church instead of not having it and going straight to worship service. if you dont know the bible you cant worship in spirit and truth. if your not everything to everyone your not striving to be a new testament church. so dont put your church in a box. thats my thoughts.

Response: So you have the churchy, cowboys, bikers and indians? Just kidding I'm glad that's working.

[Pastor Bill]

My question is how much unity is there in the body?

With all that diversity, is the church a melting pot, or a smorgasboard?

Do people blend together, build relationships and nurture one another, or come for their spiritual meals, pick and choose what they want and leave the rest? Can the pastor relate on a personal level to all these different people, and can they relate to one another?

[Pastor Gary]

we dont have a choice in the way we are taken it on. we have people of all backgrounds,and so on. we are right in the middle of the bible belt so we have traditional folks. we are growing so we have people that have never heard of cogop. we have young people so we are using the motto for the generation to come. we have a disrict overseer and ex drunks. you see where i am coming from.

May I gently challenge that?

You couldn't POSSIBLY have a more diverse group than we do. We have old timey died-in-the-wool traditionalists, very formal Hispanics from several countries, wild-and-wooly young people who have no church background, ex-cons, drunks, former drug pushers, and every kind of ethnic group imaginable plus a General Presbyter.

We have a corporate culture and a personality geared toward outreach to those with little or no church background, and those who have given up on church because they were hurt or run off.

I told my older, traditional folks that I was counting on them to be the mature, seasoned believers they are, and "stink it up" for the sake of the others. The first few weeks of the rock band style, at full volume, they kind of stood back and you could tell they were not thrilled... but now there are raised hands, tears, and fervent worship. They "got it." They understand that it's just a style -- and if that is the most EFFECTIVE style for our purpose -- (outreach to those with little or no church background, and those who have given up on church) -- then that's what we will use. The lady in charge of hospitality is Mexican and very formal and traditional -- she didn't even like the preacher taking a bottled water up front. When I informed her that, from now on, she wasn't to say a word if people brought in their water, coffee, etc., she didn't like it too much... but now she rejoices in the souls being touched. By forging a consistent style of presentation, we have grown and people who had stopped inviting others now bring their friends and relatives.

Off my soapbox, now: it's just a favorite subject.

[dawgs10]

it doent always work perfect. we were very traditional up to around 10 years ago and it seemed that a new gerneration kind of gave it a little flavor. it took all that time to get to where we are at. moving into a new building with a much younger mindset and also respecting a traditional outlook on worship. kind of flerting with the young folks and dancing with the one that brought ya at the same time. kind of old fashion day on one sunday morning and youth night on the same day.. whats neat is we have both age groups attending both.

[dawgs10]

i dont see that as a challenge. iam not disagreeing. but you cant truly say that you face more tradtional folk than north georgia can you? when faced with a large goup of diffrent folks whats wrong with making everyone happy and having something for everyone. i have never been to your state pastor gary so i dont know your people at all. just saying whats working here. but if you would like to schedule me for a youth service i would have to suffer for the gospel and travel to ya.

[Pastor Gary]

i dont see that as a challenge. iam not disagreeing. but you cant truly say that you face more tradtional folk than north georgia can you?

You have NO IDEA!

I am preaching in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt and some of the Spanish-speaking folks are in ties. We had some old-timers who were "trained" by guys who are now TCOG leaders, and they cling to the "old paths" even while their church dwindles from 100 down to 15. They are just now starting to realize that a lot of those losses was their inability to see that it was largely the way they were doing church. He is seeing his drop-outs start to show up at our REUNION services.

when faced with a large goup of diffrent folks whats wrong with making everyone happy and having something for everyone.

There used to be a radio station in Hawaii that was like that. They played country, heavy metal, classical, rap, R&B, Hawaiian music, jazz... because they said they wanted to have "something for everyone." They lasted a few weeks and adopted a standard format.

i have never been to your state pastor gary so i dont know your people at all. just saying whats working here. but if you would like to schedule me for a youth service i would have to suffer for the gospel and travel to ya.

I get a lot of that.

None of what I have written is meant as criticism toward you or your church -- I am happy you have found an effective way to reach your area.

[dawgs10]

i dont see that as a challenge. iam not disagreeing. but you cant truly say that you face more tradtional folk than north georgia can you?

You have NO IDEA!

I am preaching in jeans and a Hawaiian shirt and some of the Spanish-speaking folks are in ties. We had some old-timers who were "trained" by guys who are now TCOG leaders, and they cling to the "old paths" even while their church dwindles from 100 down to 15. They are just now starting to realize that a lot of those losses was their inability to see that it was largely the way they were doing church. He is seeing his drop-outs start to show up at our REUNION services.

crazy thought. when we get in the building in a few weeks we will be wired for streaming and wireless internet. i wonder what it would take to have a joint youth service on line with you. of course it would have to be eastern standard time so i dont loose sleep.

when faced with a large goup of diffrent folks whats wrong with making everyone happy and having something for everyone.

There used to be a radio station in Hawaii that was like that. They played country, heavy metal, classical, rap, R&B, Hawaiian music, jazz... because they said they wanted to have "something for everyone." They lasted a few weeks and adopted a standard format.

i have never been to your state pastor gary so i dont know your people at all. just saying whats working here. but if you would like to schedule me for a youth service i would have to suffer for the gospel and travel to ya.

I get a lot of that.

None of what I have written is meant as criticism toward you or your church -- I am happy you have found an effective way to reach your area.

[Jennifer Smith]

My question is how much unity is there in the body?

With all that diversity, is the church a melting pot, or a smorgasboard?

Do people blend together, build relationships and nurture one another, or come for their spiritual meals, pick and choose what they want and leave the rest? Can the pastor relate on a personal level to all these different people, and can they relate to one another?

I've been reading about how America is becoming a pluralistic society, no longer a melting pot, but instead all cultures preserve their cultural identities while embracing the ideals and values of America at large.

Church life is transforming too. I believe that both older and younger should be courteous and respectful of one another's culture. We try to be a melting pot, but at the same time we can be pluralistic and embrace one another's differences. One problem I have seen at times in our CoGoP churches is that there has been too much deference for the older generation when they are supposed to be our "fathers" and "mothers", giving to help the"children" and mature enough to facilitate the younger people growing in the LORD, which is affirmed in Titus 2. In turn, the younger people should honor their elders and respect their "cultural" background as well. I don't believe the "older" culture should be predominant, but a mixture can be possible, and it can work.

[Pastor Bill]

Respect for different cultures and the culture you present publically are two very different issues.

We do somewhat of a mix at New Life at times for variety and to give a little to ones who don't prefer our main personality (Joey even broke out the banjo last week and we went old school southern gospel for a few songs), but at the same time, there needs to be a focus of who you are, or things seem a little "bait and switch" to people who come hearing of a church that is X, but show up and find Y. This also can cause some division in the group while they respect one another, they don't really buy into it, only tolerate it.

The strength of a church is it's unity, which comes from the relationships built, and that's hard to do if there is a struggle over which culture is chosen today.