I have been going to church annual meetings with my boss as he meets with every Methodist church in our area to hear their celebrations, frustrations and plans for the future. My presence has sparked some information about how other churches in my area began. The Jenks First United Methodist Church apparently sent members to help start Faith UMC and St. James in South Tulsa. Yesterday we discovered that University UMC helped plant New Haven and Will Rogers UMC by sending some of their members who lived in the area to help. The churches that helped start new churches are now 90 and 100 years old and the churches they helped are about 40.
I wish I knew how those churches came about the decision to help with a new church. Their pride in that decision is evident. I wonder if that decision originally was as frightening as it seems to be today or if the height of church attendance in the 1950’s fueled their vision for spreading the good news. Planting a new church in the daunting statistics of fewer church goers than ever in the history of our country, could be seen as a negative but I keep finding that people are still seeking a life of purpose and a relationship with God. They just are not finding the traditional church as meeting those needs. On the other hand, the rock and roll concert church meets the needs of some but not every young adult responds to that model either.
A part of me thinks we should stop viewing worship in our consumer eyes as something created for my benefit and start an attitude adjustment of seeing worship as something created for God’s benefit with us offering ourselves to God. But I know that I have searched for meaning in worship myself and needed it to touch my spirit in a way that helps me get through the next week. So finding a balance between offering ourselves to God and nourishing my soul is what we strive for. I only hope that we can find some brave souls willing to make this journey with me.
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