THEY'RE OK WE'RE NOT: BUILDING HEALTHY CHURCH ESTEEM
A church won't ascend to great heights if it feels down in the dumps.
Dave Owen
April 1, 1986
Recently, our church's membership growth plateaued. Conditions for growth were excellent: a recently developed suburban setting; over 20 percent of our people were active in various outreach programs; new people were being assimilated into the body; and small-group life was strong. Moreover, ours was a young fellowship, most of the members truly wanted the church to grow, and spiritual commitment was strong.
I was stumped. Our church had been growing at a 32 percent annual rate. Why the lull?
Finally a lay leader unwittingly gave me a clue. Vicki had been visiting relatives the previous weekend, looking for opportunities to share her faith. When she told a cousin and his wife about our visitation program, they said, "That sounds exciting! We wish our church had that kind of evangelism training."
When she mentioned our class for new believers, they reacted with friendly envy. They even asked Vicki for the curriculum the class was using.
As she continued to share this conversation with me, I felt increasingly grateful. After being a shade depressed for nearly a year, I was gratified to know some growing believers would love to be involved in a church like ours.
It began to dawn on me that my attitude toward the church had gradually changed over the last year. I had analyzed every possible cause of the church's decline in growth. I had also studied the great things happening in growing churches, with the inevitable comparisons. In the process, I had begun to see our church as a kind of second-class citizen, feeling like a woman who stays home to raise kids (one of the finest, most demanding tasks) and considers herself "just a housewife."
Now, hearing an outsider's perspective made me feel like the farmer in the old story who became ...
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