The Dream (Part 4): To Grow in Size
Acts 2:37-41
January 30, 2000
David Beckett, D.Min.
This is the fourth and final message in our Dream Series. We are a people whose mission is to be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God's Light. We dream of a church that welcomes and accepts people as they are. We dream of a church that reaches out to others in need. We dream of a church that grows in faith. The final part of this dream is that we dream of a church that grows in size. Our goal here is not to become a large church. Our goal is not to be
bigger than another church. Our goal is not related to numbers. Growing in size is simply a result of realizing the other dreams and helping them to come true for everyone who enters our doors. In other words, if we do a good job of welcoming and accepting people...if we do a good job of reaching out to the poor...if we do a good job of helping people grow in their faith...people will come! It's that simple! Do you like coming to St. John? Does this church help you grow in your faith? Pollster George Gallup, Jr. reports that 70 percent of Americans believe most churches and synagogues are not effective in helping people find meaning in life. He said the ongoing vitality of American religious congregations depends, in large measure, on their effectiveness in responding to six spiritual needs of Americans as identified in his surveys. See if these are needs you have, AND how well is St. John helping you meet them. 1. People need to believe life is meaningful and has a purpose.
2. People need to have sense of community and deeper relationships.
3. They need to be appreciated and respected.
4. They need to be listened to--and heard.
5. We need to feel that we are growing in the faith.
6. We need to have practical help in developing a mature faith. Does being a member of St. John help you meet any of these basic needs? As I listen to you in small groups and one-on-one I am hearing a resounding YES. 2000 years ago Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood on the street and
preached a powerful message about the risen Christ. The first thing those people on the streets did was listen. They heard the words of Peter, not on some superficial level, but at a deep place in their hearts. The Bible says "they were cut to the heart." The second thing they did was to be baptized. Baptism was and is a sign of the love of God and our desire to turn towards God and accept forgiveness for our sins. The third thing they did was to devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, food, and prayer. They knew how important it was to study and learn, be together, eat, and listen to God. The 41st verse of the second chapter of Acts reads, "so those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day
about 3,000 persons were added." This was no slow church growth. This was phenomenal, explosive growth in the early Church of Christ. While we are not experiencing this kind of growth the fact is that we are growing. I am aware that some are leery of St. John becoming a big church. There is a kind of Alaskan suspicion of anything big. Big government, big corporations, big churches. What are some of the reasons for this suspicion? I think one of the main reasons has to do with our past experience. If we have grown up in a small church where everyone knew everyone's name it might be hard to get used to a large church where you don't know everyone. In small churches I have served I often heard people
say that there was no way they were going to wear a name tag. Some of us might be less willing to be a part of large church because we had a negative experience in a large church. Another reason is that we simply like things the way they are. The important thing is that if we have negative feelings about large churches we identify where those feelings are coming from. It may not be fair to project feelings from past experiences on to a new church context. I have been involved in pastoral ministry with all sizes of churches.
Upon seminary graduation I was appointed to two small country churches in northwest Ohio. Both of these churches said they wanted to grow. They wanted more people to come. But none of them had a vision of a ministry beyond the capacity of their buildings. They wanted more people but not too many. Peter and the disciples had a problem. How were they going to build a faith community of 3,000 people? St. John has about 600 members with an average attendance at our three services around 350. How are we going to
build a faith community for these folks? When you think about it we have a dangerous mission statement. Our
mission is to be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God's Light. If we
are not going to welcome and accept everyone because we'd rather not become a huge church, at what point are we going to stop welcoming others? Should we set a limit of 400 people? How would we enforce the limit? Rose suggests that we hire a bouncer! Can't you just see it? A big guy is standing at the door counting as people arrive for worship. 398...399....400. That's it, folks. I'm sorry. That's all we can handle. The fact is that we may be close to getting a bouncer. We're not talking about a big, hairy guy, but a barrier just the same. I'm talking about the barriers of small classrooms, insufficient worship space, lack of adequate parking, and inadequate fellowship and program space. If left in place these barriers will speak a strong message to new people that we cannot welcome them into our faith community. Another barrier is lack of staff. Most of you know how much our present
support and program staff are working. Two years ago under the leadership of Jim Fellers St. John took a step of faith to hire Sue Hamilton part time to help us strengthen our small group ministry, our Stephen Ministry, and our New Member Orientation. Sue's husband, Steve, an Air Force
psychologist, will be reassigned this June. So we will have the unfortunate task of saying goodbye to Sue and her family. She has several months of ministry with us so I don't want to begin this goodbye now. But we have been thinking of what to do after Sue leaves. I am pleased to
announce that our Staff/Parish team, the Finance Committee, and the Administrative Board were unanimous in our desire to move forward to bring a full time associate pastor on our staff. Our superintendent, Milo Thornberry, in consultation with our bishop, is actively seeking the right person for this job. We will have some say in who is appointed to this position. This will involve a change in that Rose will hand over responsibilities of our youth groups to the new associate. It is likely that the new associate will have opportunities to preach at our Saturday Night service as well as Sunday mornings. Rose will basically take over what Sue has been doing as minister of Discipleship. It is a step forward for our church as we continue to build on what God has done through Sue's ministry with us. Increasing our staff is about stepping out on faith. It is about removing barriers. One of those country churches I served built a ramp so that it would become more accessible. If you have difficulty walking or if you are
confined to a wheelchair a church with only steps to its doors sends a
message that you are not welcome. It may be an unintended message but it still comes across that way. Twenty years ago many churches were building ramps to make their churches more accessible. This was not a new idea however. There's a church in Kerajestan, built in the 15th Century, during a time
of a mysterious and paralyzing illness. The congregation was much
concerned to minister to those in the community who were struck down by this debilitating disease. They built the church with wide doors, and gently sloping ramps, so that people might easily approach, if need be even carried, on their beds or in litters. As they built the church, they remembered the story of the man who was sick, whose friends hauled him up and labored to lower him down into Jesus' presence through the roof, that
he might share in the healing community. For many years the church did not finish the dome of the sanctuary, but left it open, covered only by a large tarp. The hole in the roof became a sign. However people needed to get
in, this congregation was ready, prepared. What are the "holes" we need to have in our roof in order to continue
welcoming people in the years to come? What do we need to leave unfinished and perhaps imperfect because we know that it may change down the road to accommodate new folks? We do become attached to buildings. It is easy for our attachments and affections about church buildings to want them to stay the same forever. When I was young I went to Methodist church camps. I have fond memories
of my camp experiences there. When ministry needs changed for my conference both of those camps were sold. I could no longer return to my roots and tromp around the sacred ground of my childhood. It didn't bother me because the mission of the Church was not in maintaining buildings but making disciples of Jesus Christ! At St. John we need a deep understanding
of our mission by EVERY man, woman, and child that our purpose is to welcome others and grow disciples. This building is not the Church of Jesus Christ! We are! We need to leave a "hole" in the roof of every building we build...a sign that we will do whatever it takes to welcome and accept those who come. The reason we do this is because God does the same for us. God leaves a "hole" for us, for every human being, a way to enter into the kingdom of God. Our job is to protect that "hole", to keep it open for you, for me, for all. | 
January 30, 2000
