As part of our congregation’s visioning process and work in the area of transformation, the elders of our church are reading and discussing a book by Anthony Robinson titled Transforming Congregational Culture.  For those participating, it is extremely thought provoking and stimulating. 

We recently talked about membership growth, and becoming active rather than passive.  For far too long, mainline churches everywhere have labored under some mistaken assumptions.  For instance, congregations often have assumed that they must be big (however one defines that) in order to have a valid ministry.  “If only we had more (people, money, space…).” Robinson reminds us that Jesus himself allowed a gathering of even “two or three” to be important enough for him to be present.

If we can free ourselves of the “we don’t have enough” mindset, we then can focus on being what Robinson refers to as a “real church,” a term he borrows from another church observer, Kirk Hadaway.  A real church is one in which people are transformed by their spiritual practices because their focus is on God and the formation and expression of their faith.  Christ truly lives in the midst of a “real” church, and people respond through faithful ministries of all sorts, relevant to their community and its needs.

Robinson makes the point over and over again that growth occurs in numerous ways, not just in the numbers of people in the pews, but that people will be attracted to a church that provides a genuine spiritual experience, and expresses that spirituality by the ways it reaches out to those around it.

An important aspect of how we look at all of this is how we define evangelism.  In many congregations evangelism merely is seen as adding new members to the rolls.  Robinson shares a definition of evangelism that is not unique to his thinking, but that I feel is especially valid: “the sharing of the good news of the gospel, the good news about God and what God has done and is doing in Christ.” (p. 120)

We do that by living our faith through worship, study, practice of spiritual disciplines, reaching out to others in life-giving ministry, telling our story to our friends, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbors, and others, inviting them to “Come and See.”