Just like we can always gauge our personal priorities by looking at our calendar and our checkbook, I think a church can gauge its priorities based on their programming. Now, this is a little tricky, because most churches could look at their programming and say they prioritize EVERYTHING, because they are trying to provide programming for everything. But if we, as the church, are truly concerned about the lost and those NOT sitting in our auditoriums on Sunday morning, would an outsider look at your church's programming and believe we are focused on the lost?
My experience in previous church models tell me that while we all claim to be concerned about the lost, we program for the found. We may claim that most of our programs are not just for insiders, but come on...would any person far from God feel comfortable coming to your men's prayer breakfast, your women's Beth Moore study, etc. What about your weekend services? Are they really attractive and friendly to outsiders? How do you know?
At the church I lead, we are launching a new environment (we don't call them programs, because we are anti-programs and for steps in our process) called Starting Point. As a partner of North Point Community Church, we have the luxury of learning from others and implementing environments that are helpful. Staring Point is a 10-week conversational environment that is meant for people that have questions about Christianity, are new beleivers, or are coming back to church. North Point has been running Starting Point for quite some time and it provides a wonderful environment (you can call it a program) for people that are far from God.
So, what are you offering people that have questions? And please don't answer with anything that involves the word "membership class." What percentage of your programs are really for insiders? That may be a scary ratio to calculate, huh?
Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church
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