Seasons of Life – 4 of 4

Seasonal Church Attendance

It seems rare that God calls people to be at a single local church throughout their lifetime. Let me explain that thought.

If a church is moving and growing and strategizing on how to transform the world, the vision of a church stays basically the same, but the methods and negotiables of a church will change. A church who wants to reach the next generation will have to constantly change it’s music to stay at a level that will appeal to the next generation.

If a person is growing spiritually and strategizing how to transform the world around them, their personal vision will stay basically the same, but what they need at different stages of life from a church will change, what they can offer as service is different at different stages of life will change, and even what they believe is the best way to impact the world may drift away from what a specific church believes.

In 6 ½ years of working at NLC, I’ve seen a lot of people come and a lot of people go. I would say that MOST of the people that have left have done so not because the vision of NLC and their vision has simply drifted apart.

Here’s what I’ve learned about the seasons of church attendance:
-    When someone wants to leave a church after attending for awhile, most likely it’s because the two visions have drifted away from each other.
-    When people are mad at issues in a church, most likely it’s because the two visions have drifted away from each other.
-    Most people don’t recognize the two visions drifting away from each other, so they quantify the change that they’re feeling by thinking that something must be wrong with a church.
-    Thank God for people who recognize when their vision and the church’s has drifted and they leave well.
-    It’s not always easy for people to leave well. Some leave without letting you know and some leave with a blaze of e-mails or gossip, neither are good.

When have you experienced vision drift from a church?