The Price of Progress
Stuart Briscoe
If we're going to weather a tempest, let it be because we're sailing in a mighty ocean rather than in a teapot.
— Stuart Briscoe Fifteen years ago Elmbrook Church constructed a larger building on a new site. Everyone was excited about it — well, almost everyone. One leader and his wife, both of whom had worked hard in the church for years, were especially troubled. At one board meeting during the planning stages, the man said, "When my board term is up at the end of this year, my wife and I will be leaving the church. We will not have any part in building a monument to Stuart Briscoe." His comment stung, especially since I had spent a lot of time helping his wife develop a ministry in our church. But the building project had to proceed. Our old, cramped facilities severely stifled our ability to minister. Our only choices were to stay put and plateau or build and reach out. "For everything you gain," said Emerson, "you lose something." The board member and his wife did leave the church. I felt the weight of Emerson's dictum. When a church undertakes a building program, adds another service, or changes the style of worship music, it often loses something in the process. Just as store owners who expand their facilities pay the price in construction costs, dust, and inconvenience (as well as temporary decline in sales), so progressive churches face the possibility of lost members, lost money, and lost momentum. Sometimes the potential gain doesn't justify the loss; other times it virtually demands it. By what criteria should we weigh the decision to venture forward? What personal temptations lurk in the process? Personal Potholes in the Road to Progress
For many years, the music program was not a priority at Elmbrook. Eventually, people ...
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