Years ago, I was told that the job of a pastor is to “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” While that’s used jokingly, it is often true. We need to be comforted when we hurt, but often get stuck when we’re comfortable and need someone to give us a shove if we hope to move forward again. Those of us who have changed jobs, moved to new communities, started businesses, gone back to school, or otherwise made changes to our lives can attest to that. Sometimes getting something that we want, or something better than what we have, requires that we leave behind some of what we know, some of the things that make us comfortable, and launch out into the unknown and the uncomfortable.

Similarly, it has been said that “Ships in harbor are safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.” Sometimes launching our on a new adventure is something that we choose for ourselves, but other times we get drafted and dragged into those adventures kicking and screaming all the way. This past year has seen some of that for us at Christ Church. We are doing some things differently, and with different people, simply because some of the people who have always done them are no longer with us. In the last few years, people have moved away, gone to college, found other churches, or passed from this life and into the next. But we are also having conversations about other changes that we might choose for our future.

I saw a quote this week from the book Fusion, by Nelson Searcy, which suggests three markers to measure your church’s “guest flow.” It said that a church in “Maintenance mode” needed three first-time guests for every one hundred in worship attendance just to stay in the same place in worship attendance. To be in “Growth mode” required five first-time guests for every one hundred, and “Rapid-growth mode” required seven first-time guests for every one hundred. That’s a lot, and I’m not sure that I believe that the numbers are that high (especially if those are weekly figures) … as long as at least some of those visitors can be attracted to stay. But even so, our experience says that there is some truth to it. In the last few years, we’ve had more visitors, and each year more of those visitors have decided to stay. For each of the last several years we’ve been bringing in a few new members. But we haven’t… yet… been able to bring in more new members than we have lost.

I emphasize the word “yet” because I see change happening. Our worship attendance, since the Covid-19 shutdowns, is once again increasing. And, as we move forward into a New Year, we are, at least occasionally, doing things to move out of our comfort zones and try new things. And that brings me to my challenge for the people of Christ Church. I challenge you to be uncomfortable… at least occasionally. I challenge you to have conversations with friends, neighbors, family, coworkers, and yes, even strangers, about your faith and what it means to you. I challenge you to tell them why you come here and why you like it and invite some of those people to sit with you on Sunday morning, or volunteer and work with you on one of our work projects. I challenge our Sunday school teachers to teach a series on how to share your faith and how to have those kinds of conversations.

We all know that Christ Church is a great church family and is full of compassionate, loving people. But we don’t always do a good job of telling our neighbors about who we are and what we do. And we don’t always do as much as we might do to help the people around us. And so, my challenge is not only to invite people, but to continue pushing ourselves to be a little uncomfortable. To keep trying new things and finding new ways to reach out to the people in our community. God has put us in this place, at this moment, to be his hands and feet to the people of Alliance and beyond. Let us listen to his voice and consider where God is leading us.

Staying in the harbor, and doing what we’ve always done, is safe.

But that isn’t what God built churches to do.

Blessings,

Pastor John

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