By Garry Marquand
Something strange happened at the church meeting. We’re looking in on the leaders team where everyone is sitting around the table. Wide-open agenda tonight. The task? Well, to put it simply, these leaders want the church to grow; to discover ways of being more effective as Christians in their community. And they are feeling the pressure; aware of the empty seats on Sunday, having to carry extra loads to sustain the essentials, and sometimes wondering what will happen when they are off the scene. Yes, they want to grow – in all sorts of ways really.
Look at who has turned up for the meeting. Hope is there, and faith. Loyalty is there. Goodwill and humour too. And experience. A good mix for making progress. Now we observers happen to know that in her statistical research of the Presbyterian Church over the last 20 years, the Rev Joan Ross has clearly confirmed what we all knew. Using church worship attendance as the key measure, her research shows a decreasing trend in average June attendance figures for all regions from 1983 to 2003. She observes that the trend is not only serious, but accelerating.
We also happen to know that her research reveals that across New Zealand there are a number of churches that have maintained consistency in numbers over that 20 year period, or actually increased attendance. These churches are both large and small, and in both rural and urban settings. Based on the research, Joan believes it is pertinent to ask what factors have accomplished this consistency.
Back to this leaders’ team we’re watching - they are well into discussion now. Someone mentions these churches that are growing. In their search for new ways this is good news to the team. It looks like there are some ideas that work out there, some new expressions of worship and love that touch people’s lives, some new ways of connecting with strangers and their faith journey. So the suggestion comes: “Why don’t we go and ask them for some help?” But then something strange happens in the meeting. We discover some other people sitting around the table unnoticed before. Pride and prejudice are there. Ask for help – no way.
Why are we so reluctant to ask for help? Is it some Kiwi independent spirit that insists we make it by ourselves or not at all? Is it some dogged loyalty to the past or comfort of the present to shield us from the fear of change? Is it some over-estimate of our own ability or faith? Or a sense of failure knocking on the door of our hearts? Perhaps it is simply pride.
Why are we so reluctant to ask for help? Perhaps it is simply prejudice. We see the success of others and we imagine sheep-stealing, or gimmicks, or business techniques, or playing numbers games. Or we imagine leaders building their own kingdom, or forsaking Presbyterianism, or being superficial, or even engaging in spiritual abuse. The reality is that almost all of these things are just that - imagination. Pride and prejudice, sitting around the table, are preventing this leaders team ever making progress.
This is really strange behaviour, because this is not how we usually act in life. When a disease hits the roses we ask for help. Where we have ours planted is unique, but there are general principles and practices of growing healthy roses that apply. When our computer program ceases to function properly we ask for help. No one else has a configuration quite like us, but someone else can offer options and ideas that will make a difference.
Making progress requires humility and openness, and Christians are supposed to know something about such qualities. So try them and ask for help, and at that point you will discover that churches who have experienced some success often have more questions themselves than answers, and that their journey is not complete and so far has been marked by the mystery of God’s grace as much as certainty of human endeavour. But at the same time they have made some important discoveries, they have learnt some enduring principles, and have one or two approaches that really work well in contemporary New Zealand .
So here’s a suggestion: kick pride and prejudice off the leaders’ team, look around for some growing churches – like you and different from you, even of a different ethnic group - and go ask for help. Now look at that leaders’ team; they really do want to grow and be more effective in mission. They’re having a lot of fun too.