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To carry on that schools-and-churches analogy, people certainly approach schools with the goods and services model! It is my belief that public schools cannot be *ethically* run according to a business model; the same is true with the public, open-to-all Body of Christ, yet aren't mega-churches largely driven by the business model? What do the people think they want, and how can we efficiently give it to them?
Is *everything* in American culture turning into a consumer product?
I was saying last night to Em, Russ, Dan, and Blanca that mega-churches do seem to "work" for a lot of Americans these days, those folks who tend to fall in the middle of the Christian-culture bell curve (who I guess would include many suburban Americans), i.e., people who got their degrees in their teens and early 20s, marry in their mid-20s, have kids in their late 20s and early 30s, work regular 9-5 jobs that allow them to participate in the traditional church schedule...etc. How could I, as a single professional woman, find a circle of multi-aged female friends, when the Women's Ministry always had midmorning weekday meetings and went on long-weekend retreats leaving on Thursday mornings? How could I form a stable community in my life-stage based small group (i.e., single young adults) when half of the core members coupled off and left the group within 2 years' time? How could my friend Jamie, a single mom with a nine-year-old, stay connected with single, even married-with-children Christian friends, when she worked night shifts (when the singles were always hanging out, often at places that are not particularly 9-year-old friendly), homeschooled her daughter during the day.... Let alone the fact that many of the "marrieds" at this mega-church were uncomfortable with the facts of her solo parenting and career.
I guess what I'm saying about the large Goods and Services based church is that you have to choose between facets of your identity. What am I: single, female, or missions-oriented? (Those were my small group options.) How can a person be an integrated person, both giving and receiving at once? I'm not sure this can easily happen in a mega-church, at least not for everyone. It's like in high school, when I had to decide which one language I could take, and I couldn't take language and arts electives at the same time and have it all fit in.... Which side of yourself will you be at church? The Village seems to be trying to go the other way. It seems we try to be a group of people who naturally generate activity, rather than a collection of activities/programs that attract people. |
