Karl Vaters works hard to be fair minded in giving his accurate assessment of the Church Growth Movement (CGM). He knows it well, and I believe it's own proponents and practitioners would appreciate his descriptions. Undoubtedly, they will disagree with his disagreements, but he is not backing down. He believes in de-sizing the church. Which does not mean he is a proponent of small churches, but he believes a fundamental issue about the church growth movement has reshaped the church in the last 50 years. We are looking again at his new book,
So good. Bringing up all sorts of rabbit trails in my mind: how bigness thinking requires bigger facilities, increasingly attractive programs, hotter worship teams, catchier one-liners. These in themselves are insatiable and begin driving everything. Particularly the money game though when you have a massive monetary investment in facilities and specialty staff that needs paying off.
In many ways Vaters renewing Eugene Peterson’s vision for the local church, wouldn’t you say?
This post hits to the heart for me. I was taught pastoring / leadership in the late 90s / early 00s. I resonate with the reporting of what was taught and many of the effects, especially for smaller (<250), urban churches.
I hear from other pastors frequently, and often ask the question myself - now what? The landscape has changed so rapidly and significantly many of us are desperately seeking for how we wisely respond. These are big questions for many average churches.
So good. Bringing up all sorts of rabbit trails in my mind: how bigness thinking requires bigger facilities, increasingly attractive programs, hotter worship teams, catchier one-liners. These in themselves are insatiable and begin driving everything. Particularly the money game though when you have a massive monetary investment in facilities and specialty staff that needs paying off.
In many ways Vaters renewing Eugene Peterson’s vision for the local church, wouldn’t you say?
Thank you Scott. This is interesting
This post hits to the heart for me. I was taught pastoring / leadership in the late 90s / early 00s. I resonate with the reporting of what was taught and many of the effects, especially for smaller (<250), urban churches.
I hear from other pastors frequently, and often ask the question myself - now what? The landscape has changed so rapidly and significantly many of us are desperately seeking for how we wisely respond. These are big questions for many average churches.
We need to: 1. Do the right thing, 2. Every time, 3. For a long time, 4. With no agenda
For a long time.... I think that is especially important.