content
Forward this Article to a Friend   Print this Article
Something More - A Review of Attractional Church
By Jeff Elkins

Attractional

Recently my family and I had an incredible experience at a church in Baltimore.  The church did everything perfectly.

  • The front door was held open for us by a gentleman with a kind smile.  I immediately felt welcomed. 
  • The layout of the entry way was awesome.  Even though it was my first time at the church, and there were a ton of people coming in and out, the natural flow of traffic let me know exactly where to go. 
  • The welcome desk was well labeled and prominent on the left hand side of the entry way.  It was staffed with friendly helpful people; and there were no lack of easy to approach greeters with clearly visible nametags standing around expectantly hoping someone would ask them a question.
  • Beyond the Welcome desk there was a room full of breakfast treats and the smell of coffee was in the air (a huge plus for me).
  • A greeter identified us as visitors and led us to the Children's check in area. 
  • The Children's Sunday School Check-In Desk was also extremely easy to find.  Check-in there was great.  One of the workers escorted us to the classrooms, explained to us the security procedures, and answered any and all the questions we could possibly have.
  • The worship service was impeccably pulled off.  The music was sincere, not showy in anyway.  There were multiple worship leaders, but it was extremely smooth and enjoyable.  The songs were relevant, fresh, and easy to pick up for someone who might not know them.  They did a great job of trying to help people engage Christ without terrifying those that might be new the the church experience.
  • The sermon was clear, relevant, and engaging.  The pastor's points were well thought out and communicated.  My attention was held the entire time.  There were no unnecessary rabbit trails or rants.  It was challenging but not offensive, informative but not burdensome, fun but not ridiculous.  It was a good message.
  • After the service we went to get our kids and they were beaming.  Yes...that's right...our kids loved Sunday School there.  Usually a new church experience will send them all into tears, but not this time.  They couldn't stop sharing stories about how much fun they had.

This church is a well oiled machine.  They have it down.  They do all the things church growth authors say should be done to create a wonderful church experience.  They pull off an excellent attractional worship service.

As we drove home I asked Wendy what she thought.  Reflectively she said, "That would be a very comfortable place to fall into, but there has to be something more."   I agreed, "Yeah.  That was amazing...but I don’t believe it is going to turn Baltimore upside down for Jesus."

Now, please don't think we are being judgmental or critical when we say "there must be something more."  You must understand:

First, I think this church is incredible.  I have attended a lot of churches, and I've never been to one that pulled off an attractional worship service like they did.  Seriously, they did an amazing job.

Second, please know that I am very much part of this church; and therefore commenting on myself as much as my experience this past Sunday. 

Now I'm not a member; but I celebrated and worked in churches like this one over the years.  I applauded when churches like this one risked everything, denied all contemporary wisdom, and fought the status-quo to become environments that were comfortable and inviting to outsiders.  I cheered as these churches put down the hymnals and put lyrics on easy to see screens; as they got rid of the traditional pews and went to more comfortable stadium seating.  I defended speakers that were struggling to give sermons in more "seeker friendly" ways and did my best to mimic them.  I got fired-up about worship music becoming more like the music my generation listened to.  I created environments that were fun, comfortable, and exciting, and then instructed the congregation to "bring their lost friends next week!"  I've built crazy sets for Sunday mornings, hung flyers on door knobs, cooked pancake breakfasts, pulled off insane visual illustrations, put on Easter pageants and Hell Houses, delivered invitations with soft music playing behind me, and on, and on, and on...
 
So you see, when I speak about the attractional church I am not an outsider.  It is very much a part of me. It has defined my walk with Christ. It has been the beat of my heart; but recently my heart has begun to ache.
 
So back to "something more..."
 
My problem is two fold:
 
First - I believe that the church is the only organization that can bring healing to the pain of Baltimore.  Because it is the only group empowered by the Holy Spirit, it is the only group that can bring dead things to life.

Second - the things that used to work, the things that used to excite people about coming to church, the stuff that used to bring people to the healing power of Jesus, now seems to be the status quo and are no longer working like they used to.  The people in my community that are disconnected from God are not attracted to our worship services any more, no matter how relevant we make them.  (This is not just my personal experience.  There are tons of studies out there now showing that less and less people every year are attending church.)  They don't care what the music is like.  They don't care how relevant the message is. They don't care if it is welcoming an inviting.
 
You see, the attractional based model assumes that there are groups of people out there that would attend a worship service if that worship service was simply welcoming and inviting.  One author I read recently called these groups of people "window shoppers."  The goal of the attractional church has been to create a beautiful window that would draw people in...but these groups seem to be quickly diminishing.
 
In an attractional church, the primary activity of the body, the front door where people are introduced to the church, is focused on being comfortable and exciting.  It therefore, unintentionally, feeds the consumer attitude already present in our society.
 
Now, I don't know yet how to fix this, but here are a few things I have come to believe firmly in the last year...
 
We have to stop making our front door (where people come to check us out) a worship service; we need to make it our lives.  People should not be encountering the Holy Spirit for the first time by watching believers worship.  They should be introduced to the Holy Spirit through the insane, crazy, wild, reckless, sacrificial love of Jesus that defines everything we do, every conversation we have, every breath we take.
 
We should not be known for our music, our teaching, our environments, or our kids programs.  We should be known for our humility, our brokenness, our passion for the poor, our acceptance of the outcast, our forgiving justice, our non-judgemental righteousness, and our generous giving of ourselves to others.
 
We must stop making the tools the point.  We have to recapture what Jesus meant when He said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  If we continue to make our worship service, our programs, our small groups, our activities, our spiritual disciplines the defining focus of what we do we will find ourselves loosing Jesus on the journey.
 
Let it be said that we carry in us the attitude of Jesus.  That we are people defined by our love for God and our love for others.   Let the world be amazed at how wildly we give of ourselves, at how recklessly we serve, at how humbly we live, and at how unsafely we love.  Let it be said that when you encounter one of us you never before felt so valued and cared for.  Let membership in our community not be defined by the where we are from 9:30 to Noon on a Sunday, but rather by our reputation in the community as people that live differently.
 
And let the cry of our lives be, "Jesus is Lord.  Tomorrow in eternity."
 
This is my hope for the church.

Jeff Elkins lives in Baltimore with his wife and three kids.  He recently left his job as a pastor and is working with a small team to rethink what it means to be the church in the inner city.  Jeff writes two blogs: one for the examiner.com and a personal one with his wife about their adventures.

7 Comments »

  1. Thank you SO MUCH for this article.  As someone who struggled to launch an attractional church for a decade, I can resonate with this article.  Not so much out of failure, but about 3 years ago feeling like what we were doing (even what big churches were doing) just didn’t seem like the models and tools God was going to use in this modern time.

    I’m not knocking the attractional model.  I truly believe God has used this in awesome ways.  But, like you said, it’s no longer that “attractional” or life transforming.

    I’ve been racking my brain and praying to discern how we can engage non-believers so they may begin their life of discipleship.  I think it is a lot more relational and (like you pointed out) a lot more of people experiencing “the fruit” when they are with us.  That may mean growth happens more slowly but hopefully has some staying power.

    As I try to talk with other pastors about this there doesn’t seem to be much interest.  What they are doing is working and they don’t have a lot of time for much beyond that.  Maybe that’s why it’s good to be out of full-time ministry right now.

    Sorry for the long comment, I know when they’re this long they usually don’t get read.

    Comment by Bob - Aug 17, 2009 @ 09:30 AM

  2. Wow, that was intense.  I spend so much time making our church “attractional.”  And I still believe the church needs to be “seeker friendly” without being watered down.  But, like you said, the days of people coming to the church just because they have nothing better to do on Sunday mornings are long gone.  While the church must still be a lighthouse—a place of acceptance, relevance, and reconciliation—it is our duty to get out there and, like you said, be the “front door”—to be salt and light out there.

    Great stuff.  I have been challenged and I intend to step up to it.

    Daniel

    Comment by Daniel Hahn - Aug 17, 2009 @ 10:03 AM

  3. Good article with great points. Especially if all this “attractional” church does is Sunday morning programming. However, I think two assumptions were made about this church. And maybe the assumptions are correct. I don’t know the church. But I hope they’re not just assumptions. After all, that gathering is Christ’s bride.

    Assumption 1:
    The people of this congregation only do weekend worship services.

    I guess, my questions are (since it wasn’t stated in the article):
    1. What is the gathering of people doing throughout the week?
    2. What are their members doing in/for their community?
    3. What is this gathering doing to change lives?

    If the answer is “nothing” then I agree with you. If you’re answer is “a lot!” then I disagree. If you’re answer is “I don’t know…it was an assumption”, then maybe this article goes too far.

    Assumption 2:
    This particular church made itself welcoming and inviting to attract people.

    Could it not be that this church is friendly because it loves and serves?

    I do believe the church needs to be more than a sunday morning worship service. It needs to be in the community, loving people, being Jesus; bringing the Kingdom to earth. I’m just not ready to assume all attractional churches are not doing anything for Jesus and the world just because they have a good sunday morning worship experience.

    Comment by Nikomas - Aug 17, 2009 @ 02:16 PM

  4. This article resonated with me in a big way.  I wrote a commentary for our church which I called “Doing Church or Being Church.”  It is much easier to “do church”; to have great worship and music; a great children’s program; good preaching than it is to be open to the people who live in our neighborhood -  many who are homeless.  This is where most churches fail.  They do not welcome the least of these.  They may have an outreach program but there is still an us/them quality to the interactions between members and others.  This is the thing that churches must work for.  We are called to Be the Church not to Do Church.

    Comment by Kit Ilardi - Aug 18, 2009 @ 11:27 AM

  5. Great article! It was filled with honest passion without destroying a good work.  The author made a very worthy point - we do need more. We need as Craig Groeschel said, “IT”. As a minister 25 year I woke up one day and found I had lost IT-but I have begun a journey to rediscover IT by embracing a richier understaning of Jesus, the power of His forgiveness, and the depth of His love. I want to expereince the “God Events” in my daily life - allowing it to inspire, encourage, and bring healing to those I am in relationship with.

    Thank you for the word of encouragement, it was trully a word of wisdom coupled with a word of knowledge.

    These comments were accidently inserted into the comments of another article, I apoligize-they were meant for this article.

    Comment by Larry White - Aug 20, 2009 @ 03:30 AM

  6. A very genuine from the heart article. I really haven’t ever used the terminology to define the body of Christ as the “Attractional Church.” I am careful not to judge another man’s work, especially if I haven’t walked in his shoes, or even met him/her.
    I have been pastoring for the last 12 years, starting out my home, sacrificing everything I have to fulfill the mandate of the Great Commission of Christ Jesus.

    Maybe this pastor needs to hear from you, what you wrote to us. I needed it, and need to know more than I do, from other pastors who have done what I’m trying to do, and are doing it successfully. You got me at the “coffee part” of your article(sm). It’s first natural then spiritual isn’t it my friend. I also appreciate the humor in of your literary genre.

    I felt what you felt as you browsed through the church, wondering what part of this can I use to draw a falling away people back to God’s house. I feel like the other brother, that long responses may not make it to press, but if it all is in accordance with God’s word, He still draws men and women as He is lifted up by His Spirit.

    You inspired me to examine myself and ministry. Thank you.

    Comment by Patrick - Aug 27, 2009 @ 01:35 PM

  7. Jeff,

    I too have left “ministry” to find out exactly what it is that we are supposed to be doing. I too had a passion for making church relivant and attractive, but have come to find recently that perhaps the very thing that we are trying to make attractive was never meant to be. I have come to the conclusion that we were never meant to have large palaces that soak up millions of dollars to put on a weekly “Chirstian rally”. Instead I am finding small relational gatherings where people become the “Church” instead of going to one. We are having a greater economic impact on our community by not having to pay Building fees and maitnance or staff(Yes I had to go get a job and stop taking money from the church.) I have never felt this kind of excitement before and I pray that you will find a revlevant vehicle to for your faiths journey. God bless, and great Article.

    Comment by Dave - Sep 14, 2009 @ 04:53 PM

Sorry, but commenting is no longer available for this post.