From information to action

Our society is in desperate need of Good News

Therefore, the question for church leaders is simple: Will you be the source of Good News in your community or will someone/something else?

The Sunday Disconnect

Like clockwork, we have trained our people that the place to be on Sunday mornings is the church. That is a great thing: People show up!

There is expectancy in that. Something innately in us instructs us, “Sunday morning is the time we gather for corporate worship of our God.” Whether its your first Sunday, you’ve been in the church your whole life, or you work at the church, we all come together on Sunday mornings: We are going to the church to worship God!

That togetherness ends in the parking lot. As we arrive at church I find that we each family & individual has a slightly different agenda as they come on Sunday morning.

The difference in agenda is fascinating, mind-numbing, and ultimately a sign that we need corrective leadership.

My Sunday morning agenda – aka “Things I am hoping for“

1. Get there, all of us. On time is preferable.
2. Get the kids to children’s church.
3. Corporate time of worship, prayer, and the reading of God’s Word.
4. Drop off my offering.
5. See some friends during the soft time after service, meet some new people.
6. Avoid invitations to help out with things that don’t interest me. Check in with things I am interested in.
7. Hear reports/testimonies of what God is doing in my neighborhood through His people.
8. Hear about corporate opportunities to do something. I only have 2-3 hours available per week, but if something can be done, I want to do it.
9. Hear what’s going on in my neighborhood.
10. Share ideas, process what’s going on, and form action plans for the week to come.

The Sunday morning agenda of the staff – aka “Things I perceive they need to see the morning as a success.“

1. Make sure the building is ready for visitors.
2. Make sure all of your people are in the right places and they know what they are supposed to be doing.
3. Invite people into a deeper relationship with God.
4. Communicate God’s Word. (Song, sermon, prayer, etc.)
5. Announce stuff.
6. Check off the mental check list of people to reach out to (Some, to see how they are doing or follow-up. Others, to recruit or check-in about stuff you are announcing.)
7. Make sure the service happens. (You want it to be worshipful for yourself, but largely it’s not because details overwhelm you.)
8. Oversee staff, volunteers, and check-in with all of them after to see how it went.
9. Count stuff. I don’t know why but church staff have to count everything.
10. Troubleshoot. Something always manages to go wrong.

See what’s happening?

Largely, the people coming want to be called to action. Sure, they want to gather. But they also want to do something with their faith outside of the walls of the church in their own community.

Largely, the church staff want to call people to help make church happen. They want to do stuff outside of the church, too. (Don’t read that the wrong way… the church staff largely is on staff because they want to impact the community!) But they can’t even think about that unless their bases are covered.

Questions: What are some first steps to alleviating this disconnect on Sunday morning? What are ways you can transform Sunday morning from information sharing to a call to action?