01 Oct Vicars’ Blog October – Do we treat our church like a home or a hotel?
VICARS’ BLOG: Do we treat our church like a home or a hotel?
This is a provocative question I saw in an article recently (read it below) Coming to a church service do you feel like you are visiting a bit like a hotel or is it your “home”? A place you own and want to welcome other people to? I think this has a lot to do with the question we are asking ourselves this autumn: how can we be a community of God’s people who care pray together and love one another?
Three words for a hotel visit would be impersonal, convenient, task centred.
Whereas three words for home would be comfortable, relaxed, people centred. I remember a previous church I used to go to where people came in and shared worship together looking at the back of the head of the person in front of them and left without speaking to anyone. That sounds more like a hotel experience! We have the choice, but the more we invest in our church, the more we will enjoy all that the Lord and this great community have to offer.
We want to suggest three ways to get more invested in your church:
Try a Life group, give and serve. Life groups give us small groups of people to share faith and discuss life with. See the article below. Come to our Life group celebration supper – Wednesday 16th October 7.30-9.30pm at St John’s church. This is a no-commitment, exploratory evening when all Life groups will be there to answer your questions. Bring a friend. Sign up on the website, or just come along, it’s free to attend. Giving is investing in God’s kingdom right here. There is so much we want to do; providing for our fast-growing youth group, make our buildings grow with us and helping the disadvantaged in Walton on Thames. The Lord wants us to give to his work, even 5% of our income would really help.
Find out more about giving and serving: Each year in November we have a Get Involved Sunday, so we can think about our financial giving and serving to the church for the following year well ahead of January without pressure. Go to the website for information on Get involved Sunday 2019. We commend to you the article below by Sam Deakin of Fusion Movement about serving in church. As your vicars, we believe that together we can make this church a home where we can relax and enjoy the journey together. Home or Hotel – how do we treat our church?
Jonny & Cathy
Do we treat our church as a home or hotel?
Sam Deakin
www.fusionmovement.org/blog/806/church-a-hotel-or-a-home
Once upon a time on a trip to Glasgow I arrived at my nice clean hotel room, and was very quick to put the kettle on, make a cup of tea, and eat those 2 biscuits they give you. I got comfortable on the bed, put the TV on, and called reception to get the WIFI code. 48 hours later, I was on my way home. The bed wasn’t made; towels were on the floor, the free wash products had been used, and the rubbish was everywhere.
WHILST THIS SOUNDS NORMAL, WHAT IF WE TREATED CHURCH IN THE SAME WAY AS A HOTEL?
We arrive at church at 10.30, grab a cup of coffee, eat the free cake and get comfortable on a chair. We listen to the sermon; receive the message of the day, and maybe get some prayer. 12 o’clock comes and the coffee cups aren’t washed, cake spilt on the floor, and chairs everywhere.
SOMETIMES WE TREAT CHURCH AS A HOTEL RATHER THAN A HOME.
One of the greatest choices I ever made was deciding to serve my church in a number of ways. First, I started helping the setup team, and then I served on the kid’s team followed by joining the worship band. Why should we serve our church? We serve, because Jesus first served us. Jesus served people in numerous ways, but he served us most by dying on the cross for us. Jesus tells us to daily pick up our cross. So, let’s do what Jesus did, and serve others. 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that we’re all one body, we’re a family, and I’ll tell you what I found when I started serving church: Church becomes so much more of a family. And as a family you look after your home, work hard in your home and serve others. Shall we do the same for church? Have you started serving your family?