On Under-programming Your Church

Here's a blog post I came across that I heartily agree with -- 10 reasons to under-program your church. Or rather, de-program your church. In other words, 10 reasons why maybe you should start removing some programs from your church even if you think they're good ideas.

Better than just removing programs to allow breathing space is to understand their inherent limitations. All good church programs are well meaning, and many of them can be very important and uplifting for those involved. The best programs are those that are organically grown from within the church as a worshipful response to the message of the Gospel from the pulpit. God certainly has, and continues to bless those efforts. But they are not his ordinary, prescribed means of grace.

The means of Grace refers to that which God has prescribed as a means of creating faith in the hearts of believers. It includes Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and of course, the written Word and proclamation of the Gospel. John Calvin wrote that there are three marks of a true church; the Gospel is preached, the sacraments are administered, and discipline is exercised.

If a church didn't have any special programs I'd be suspicious of whether it even cared for its congregation or its surrounding community. But many programs are nothing more than bells and whistles, pernicious ceremonies, and amusing but meaningless activities. When the ordinary seems boring our reaction is often to craft our own experiences under the guise of worship. We busy ourselves with the experiential and the practical. More is better, we tell ourselves. But at the heart of these is a lack of faith in God's power to save through the ordinary.

Churches are often known for this program or that, its dynamic worship, its energetic leadership. These can often impress us and might help to attract a crowd. But there is an enormous multi-billion dollar entertainment industry that does a far better job of amusement than any church could do. But this should not be our worry. The more critical question is whether a church remain steadfast to the calling God has ordained for it.

Programs are designed to meet particular needs within a church and its community, (sometimes just felt needs) but they are only supplemental. It is Christ who made the supper, we only serve what he made. God knows what he's doing.