Willowcreek Church in Barrington, Illinois is the most studied church in America. What I find fascinating about this church is the way it started. Willowcreek’s pastor, Bill Hybels, knocked on the doors of his congregation’s neighbors six days a week for almost a year. When someone answered the door, he introduced himself and asked, “Have you worshiped recently?” If the neighbor said he or she attended worship, Bill thanked them for their time and encouraged them to keep on worshiping regularly. If the neighbor said no, Bill asked, “Why?” The answers he received had three common themes: 1. Church worship is boring, 2. Sermons are irrelevant, and 3. All they do is ask for money. The first two themes Bill understood and accepted. Worship in many churches is like a funeral dirge; i.e., the tempo in liturgy and hymn singing are overly slow and too many sermons do not connect the scriptures to daily life - they are term papers. The third theme was not immediately comprehensible. Those who worshiped every week were asked to contribute as much as those who were not worshiping. What made the difference? Finally, Bill solved the discrepancy. Those who worshiped weekly had their needs met and those who were absent from worship did not. Those worshiping regularly had pastoral care from the congregation when needed and were encouraged to use their talents and abilities to help their church grow. For those who did not worshiped regularly, care was not extended when needed and they always had to have permission to use their talents and gifts in their church. Asking for financial contributions from those who worshiped regularly was not an issue. Asking for financial contributions once a year from those who did not worship was too much.
After reading the story of Willowcreek’s origin, I continually monitor the worship services of the congregations I serve. I am continually ask one question of every sermon that I preach, “So what?” If the sermon cannot be used on Monday, it should not be preached on Sunday. And, I consider the annual Stewardship Campaign to be the report card of how well my congregation serves the needs of its worshipers and those outside of its walls.
I not only monitor worship, sermons, and preaching from a corporate point of view. I monitor them from a personal point of view as well. When we travel, Joyce and I seek out Sunday morning worship wherever we go. After worship we ask, Would we come back next week if we had just moved here? What we are really asking is, Was the worship alive or dead? Is there something we can take home from the sermon? If the answer to these two questions is “yes,” it didn’t matter if we worshiped in the midst of that congregation’s annual stewardship drive. If the answer to these questions were negative, any appeal for money was overbearing.
For the past month, my mind and time have been occupied with revisiting of the Capital Campaign and the upcoming annual stewardship drive. I can argue that the response to the campaign and drive are essential to Epiphany’s future because they are. I also know that they are the report card on how our worship, preaching, and programming serve the disciples at Epiphany. When Joyce and I filled out our pledge card to the Capital Campaign, we knew we where reporting on our impressions about the vitality of Epiphany. It was easy to pledge because we both believe in Epiphany. In like manner, when you fill out your pledge card in the coming weeks, you are reporting about Epiphany’s worship, sermons, and programming as well.
Pastor Pete
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