Filed under: religion | Tags: church, God, jesus, mega-church, religion, willow creek
Okay, folks, here we go again – Since my mega-church blogs always get so much attention (fifty million dollars, part 1), I had to share this post (and I won’t even mention Northpoint).
Willow Creek is undeniably “the” mega-church. Dating back to the 70’s, Willow Creek Community Church is the church that started it all – Small Group Network Philosophy, Contemporary Worship, Drama, and big, big numbers. I’m not sure what their exact attendance is, but I’m sure its ridiculous. As their website says, “we’re big enough for you to blend in and investigate the claims of Jesus Christ anonymously, if you choose to.“
I recently read an article about a multi-year research project Willow Creek has been doing on itself. The topic: is Willow Creek’s Mega-Church ministry effective? The result: Not even close! Oops. Here is an excerpt…
Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study’s findings are in a new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings “earth shaking,” “ground breaking” and “mind blowing.” And no wonder: it seems that the “experts” were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:
“Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for. We made a mistake.”
There are two kinds of Church growth in my opinion – 1) growth in number, 2)growth in spiritual transformation and maturity. I don’t believe the two are exclusive, but my experience sadly has been that usually churches focus on one or the other. Focusing solely on maturity does not make for the most “attractice” or seeker friendly church service, and so often churches opt for the easier to swallow ”Starbucks” model. To achieve growth in number, just give people what they want more than what they need. This seems to be what Hybels and his church discovered, but now they are discovering something new – being attractive simply is not enough. If your staff and pastors are the only spiritually mature people in the church, how long will the church last after the mature people are no longer around – and for what reason does the church exist if not to help people grow spiritually?
I celebrate with Willow Creek that they were willing to ask the hard questions and that now they are trying to correct their mistake and do things more effectively. Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek says this of the recent findings, “Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.”
Upon this note, I would like to reemphasize my heart in all of these blogs: Mega-Churches have a responsibility to make sure they are leading the way responsibly. How many small, medium, and even large churches have modeled themselves after Willow Creek? And now what good has it done? I sincerely hope that ALL churches, large or small, will follow Willow Creeks new example and ask the hard questions. I sincerely hope that ALL churches will learn to value true spiritual transformation over simple numbers. I sincerely hope that ALL churches will strive to accurately reflect Jesus rather than dress Jesus up and try to make him “attractive.”
Click HERE for the article this blog is based on. And thanks to my Dad for sending me the link
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[...] not non-existent. Since then, folks have reacted in a number of ways. The good conversations (like the one that finally moved me to write about this) have been about “what does this mean for God’s church writ large?” Others have [...]
Pingback by To Eat Your Cake and Have It « Cross Purposes December 18, 2007 @ 9:38 amGreat post. I was writing a comment in reply when I realized it had reached a length that really didn’t qualify as appropriate for a comment, so I restructured my thoughts as a post on my blog and linked back to yours. Suffice it to say, we the Church have lots of things to talk about and learn from the WCCC self-examination.
Comment by crosspurposes December 18, 2007 @ 9:43 amI once played a concert for Willow Creek’s High School Youth Group back in 1996. We replace Sixpence None the Richer (they hadn’t yet ‘broke’ – “This Beautiful Mess” was their most recent release) who had to cancel at the last minute due to illness. At that time there were over 3,000 in their youth group. 3,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eventually our drummer went on to be a small-group leader at Willow Creek, but left due to a difference on opinion on women elders. Apparently WC has small groups Bible studies all over Chicago, some of them over an hour from the church, where their people study the Word and fellowship. I think that’s awesome.
Sadly, I also saw the potential ‘anonymous’ factor there. I’m not sure it’s a good thing that someone can slip in entirely unnoticed, honestly – shouldn’t relationship take place SOMEWHERE even for the guest, I hope?
I did read the report, and though I applaud their effort, I am quite fearful of the direction they seem to be turning. It’s as though their critique recognizes a real problem, but their solution is to seek answers from the more heretical – or at least, dangerous – end of the ‘emerging church’ (not all ‘emerging churches’ are dangers – not saying that), rather than actually returning to the Scriptures and grounding themselves more solidly in the Word. I’m praying that God leads them through this, as their influence worldwide is monumental.
Thanks for the blog…
bless you!
Comment by Shannon Lewis December 18, 2007 @ 9:48 amp.s. – it’s also should be noted that it surprises a good many that Bill Hybels was surprised at all by the findings of that study: Evangelical Bible scholars have been warning him since the ’80s that genuine spiritual growth would not occur under a model that so flies in the face of the one laid out in the Word.
Comment by Shannon Lewis December 18, 2007 @ 9:51 amHey Shannon,
Comment by Jason Sansbury December 18, 2007 @ 4:05 pmI appreciate your perspective. But I have a question. You said growth wouldn’t occur “under a model that so flies in the face of the one laid out in the Word.” If I can, can you clarify what you mean by that?
Sorry, Jason – I should’ve clarified myself. “Growth” in numbers may occur, but not in depth”. I think that the Word does allow for some aspect of ‘attractional’ ministry – there are things that Jesus did which drew people to him, to check out his claims, and Paul leaves us a good example of how to find points of contact with those who aren’t Christians through his actions at ‘Mars Hill’, however if I church is ONLY attractional, without a solid model for discipleship, it’s entirely missing the point. I think WC, as they are now admitting, was imbalanced on their emphasis of getting folks in the door, but weak in enabling real discipleship for the overall congregation. A sermon on Sunday, particularly when it’s a sermon written to appeal to the masses, cannot provide enough Biblical depth, nor the fellowship, challenging committed personal relationships, and accountability which are necessary for Biblical discipleship to take place. If your church is set up intentionally to allow people to come in unnoticed, and your sermon is written to be broadly appealing, containing no content which might ever offend (remember, the Bible is a two edged sword, and as such, it often cuts – it hurts – when it is truly taught), and your small groups, too, a organized to be broadly appealing, organized almost entirely around common interest (basket weaving, baseball, etc), there’s no real opportunity for growth. Anyway…if you read my past responses, I’ve NOTHING against mega-churches whatsoever – in fact the church I’m attending is quite large – but I do agree with David when those churches don’t implement structures to encourage growth among the committed. In the case of Willow Creek, theologians have been warning them of the shortcomings of their model since they first came on the scene, so it’s sad that only now, as the result of a poll, instead of the Bible, they see any need to change their practices. Having many friends there, I do pray that God leads them clearly through this time of change.
Comment by saintlewis December 20, 2007 @ 11:38 amIt concerns me that churches feel the need to model their discipleship after some other church’s. Not much of a surprise though – it’s only human; that is, to “lean on your own understanding.” Our failure, alongside WCCC’s, comes when we analyze data based on our own definition of effectiveness. How dare we find our own way to approach discipleship when it’s printed in plain English in the words of Scripture?
At this season of my life, what’s going to get me both in the door and discipled is truthfulness, not production and method of teaching. I’m just tuckered out with fooling around with whether a service is attractive (this of course is not to be confused with passion – I hunger for passionate times of corporate worship). I’d rather go and hear hellfire and brimstone if the speaker told the truth and it helped me fear the name of God and follow His commands (and not half-assed either, abusing His grace as a coverup). What more effective ministry than to be truthful? We debate so much about discipleship strategy, and this concerns me when we get to the point where we water down our content trying to make it safe (ala political correctness).
But as leading congregations in the capital-C dabble in new and more “effective” ways to mold people, I hope the Chapel stays focused and continues to pray and seek counsel from Scripture first and foremost and to never make God’s job as the potter our job. The realm of attractiveness is secondary to having a firm foundation in the gospel and on the ways Jesus taught. It’s also my hope that since one person learns from small group discussion, another learns from corporate preaching, and others still by firm guidance or example, we don’t limit ourselves in the ways in which we teach the gospel of peace, claiming that we’ve figured out the key to discipleship. I stay very far away from any man or congregation who claims to have discovered “they key” to anything.
As far as the “attractive” side of the church, it seems that the Mega-churches have that figured out for sure, and maybe we have good room to model after them in this aspect. But I’m not entirely convinced on this either. Like I said earlier: the most attractive thing to me now is honesty. There is nothing as attractive as somebody being open and real. I think that even if a congregation gets a solid foundation in teaching the Bible, there is such a great temptation to have an unbalanced focus on getting people in and nourishing them. There are trade-offs at every turn to get such a balance, and I feel that the megachurch’s example here is also lacking. Where do you draw the line?
Written at 1:00 AM so excuse any incoherent language. If you have a problem with it, leave me a voicemail with your home address and be ready for a fight.
Comment by Mike Browning December 23, 2007 @ 2:17 amBe careful Mike – I just might be able to take you. After you finish your guitar tracks and I don’t need you anymore, consider your butt kicked!
Anyway, I do PARTIALLY agree with you, and I really appreciate your introductory comments: “How dare we find our own way to approach discipleship when it’s printed in plain English in the words of Scripture?” I agree, however I can think of very few churches that are following that model (I’ve posted a series of blogs on this Biblical picture of discipleship over at my blog – search around if you like) – it’s hard work, and in our self-centered modern-day lives we haven’t the time for it.
As far as ‘production’ goes, I don’t know if that’s REALLY part of most ‘attractional ministries’ – usually they ‘do things well’ (which is what I assume you mean by ‘production’ because 1.) they can – they have the resources TO do it well, and 2.) since they have the resources they feel they owe God the best and therefore have a responsibility to do it well. I’m sure that’s not the case with ALL mega-churches, but among those I’m most familiar with and have connections, that tends to be the case. The ‘attractional’ aspects of their ministries are the programs that draw people, like “how to handle your money” classes, and etc.
Secondly, we need to be careful to not bypass ‘attractional’ altogether just because we’ve seen it done unscripturally – Christ is beautiful, Paul finds points of contact with unbelievers – there IS a Scriptural way of being ‘attractional’ without making ‘getting people here’ a churches ONLY job.
Good response, though, Mikee B. Look forward to seeing you soon!
Comment by saintlewis December 26, 2007 @ 4:09 pmWhat a thoughtful exploraton of the mega church phenomenon. I posted a dissection of the mega church mentality on my blog this week (http://imspeakingtruth.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/do-you-love-a-big-church/) and I systematically discussed the rationale about it.
I really don’t care what size the church is. I believe that the Holy Spirit can reach the lost whether it’s in a storefront church or an auditorium – I just don’t like the selfish pride that comes from building a mega edifice…”look at what God is doing through us”…
Speaking Truth,
Comment by Speaking Truth February 28, 2008 @ 8:22 pmhttp://imspeakingtruth.wordpress.com
Keep up the good work.
The Mega-Church will eventually either get it right or implode on itself. Which is already beginning to happening. I have new folks come to our church all the time that are longing for a smaller church where they are known and can be discipled. It’s easy to get numbers, I’ve been there in my ministry from Mega to now pastoring a small central coast church that is wonderful. Yes we are growing in numbers (Been here just a little over a year 6 to 35-40) But, we are making absolutely sure that discipleship opportunities are many and promoted by myself and all the leadership. I am finding that as we stand true to Jesus’ command to make disciples, He is adding to the church daily such as should be saved. Could say a lot more. But no need. All of you that minister, be encouraged, God knows where your at, and He values faithfulness to His will over having the largest church in America.
Comment by Dr. Mark S. Hicks Th.D. May 28, 2008 @ 7:50 pm