Relationship, Revision, Response

Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and in Ephesians 1, we are reminded that He is risen from the dead, seated at the right hand of God the Father, far above any other principality and power.  Picking up in verse
22, we read:
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Because Jesus is our Lord and King, we have placed ourselves under submission to His supremacy. That means we trust Him completely with our lives - because He loves us, we can be confident that He wants the best for us, and will bring that to pass in us.  We can completely surrender our lives - following the direction we find in His Word and yielding to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He fills us, empowering us to walk in God's ways.

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In Colossians 1, we can see a wonderful word picture about Who Jesus is:
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

God will use His people - in community - surrendered to Jesus, the Head of the body of Christ, to do amazing things.  And, He will work in large congregations and in small ones.

There was a report released about a month ago about a study conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research - it's the Faith Communities Today report, which, according to a USA Today article, showed that the number of congregations with fewer than 100 in weekend attendance, which are the most vulnerable to collapse, rose to 58% in 2015, up from 49% five years ago.

The story noted that the report is optimistically titled: “American Congregations 2015: Thriving and Surviving.”  The institute's director, David Roozen, who authored the report, wanted to highlight signs of hope that were found in the research.  He asked about innovation, growth and positive change, particularly in the small churches included among the over 4,400 U.S. congregations whose data he analyzed.

Among the congregations with under 100 people in weekend worship, only about 18% described themselves as thriving; 29% declared themselves OK.

Willingness to change is obviously an important factor, and Roozen found that congregations willing to “change to meet new challenges” fell to 62% in 2015, down from 74% a decade ago. He is quoted as saying, "Thriving congregations are nearly 10 times more likely to have changed themselves than are struggling congregations."

There were several innovations mentioned in the article, which spotlighted a few churches from a variety of theological backgrounds, it seems.  I thought that an emphasis on relationship was a key factor in some of the small churches spotlighted.  One pastor took over at a church and began to cold-call past attendees and nurture the people he contacted.  Another church went into the community and did prayer walks, asking people how they could pray for them.  One pastor cited a motto from Disney's The Little Mermaid: “I want to be where the people are … ”

So, relationship is a key word in developing healthy congregations, no matter what the number may be.  In fact, I would submit that the willingness to follow the Spirit of God into relationship - with God and with our fellow believers, as well as the community - is more important than numerical growth.  

I would also submit that the word, revision, could be another key term.  We must be willing to go where God leads us, and that will likely involve change.  The words, "We've never done it this way before," should be used as a positive determinant to propel us to explore new avenues of ministry, rather than a negative barrier that can hold us back.

Finally, we have to have an appropriate response to the call of the Spirit.  It's important to know God's Word and discern His voice as He speaks.  We can respond willingly to His direction and allow Him to fill us with a passion to do His work.

And, these three words: relationship, revision, and response, can be applied in the corporate context, as well as our individual lives, so that we might reflect the glory and the desire of our Lord.