As a church planter I find myself around a lot of driven people, maybe ‘cuz we attract one another. One thing that has been a major part of fast church plant growth has been the events they put on. It makes sense. Church plants don’t usually have a building that people get to drive by and decide if they will one day go to church there. The church generally hasn’t been around very long and therefore hasn’t penetrated the community with buzz. So the solution has always been events.
Big events give you a chance to showcase yourself to the community and provide something for people to do. Sounds like a win win situation.
Last night for Halloween we thought it would be a cool idea to roll by the big ‘Harvest Fest’ being put on by a church in our neighborhood. The event was HUGE! Search lights guided you in from miles away, which was good because we had to park miles away. We got out of the car and started making the trek to the big event off in the distance. On a side note, I’m really glad we had the kids do some trick-or-treating in our neighborhood before we left, the candy gave us some much needed sustenance for the journey.
As we walked through the suburban neighborhood to the event I noticed something. We passed house after house that was all decked out for Halloween and people were scurrying right on by on the way to ‘Harvest Fest’. At that moment I didn’t know what it meant…but I knew it there was something wrong with this.
At first I thought it was the event itself. I was imagining the staff of said church getting together for staff meeting next week and declaring ‘Harvest Fest’ a huge success because 10,000 people showed up. I’m pretty sure it was more than 10,000. I have sat in similar meetings where we declared events successes or failures simply based on numbers.
Then I thought…what’s wrong is the name of the event…Harvest Fest. I’m pretty sure there was a good chance that not a single farmer was in attendance. Not to mention the fact that in suburban Southern California ‘harvest’ means nothing.
No that wasn’t it.
The problem was that Halloween has been Hijacked by Christianity. Not just by this church…but by many. So I put no special blame on any one church, they are just falling in line like everybody else…which I do blame them for.
As Christians we have been trying to rob Halloween from our community for decades. And it has been all fine and good until we feel our holiday is being robbed.
We scream when Wal-Mart decides to say ‘Happy Holidays‘ instead of ‘Merry Christmas‘ and then try a half hearted boycott. But it’s OK to change Halloween to harvest fest…at least Happy Holidays means something.
I didn’t see Jesus trying to change the culture, He was too busy loving the people that were living in it. I didn’t see him renting bouncy jumps and playing loud music in order to get people to come listen to Him. I don’t have to tell you how Jesus would go and eat at the homes of tax collectors…it’s been said enough but mimicked too little.
So what’s the answer? It’s never that easy. Some will get caught up in the argument of what Halloween means and try to win a point…good luck. I believe Halloween is a matter of cultural relativism…and right now in America it’s about candy and costumes…that’s it. If you start reading into it and telling all your neighbors that it’s evil or what ever, you will find yourself having a one-way conversation.
A church in a community should be there to meet needs, not create an alternate reality, That’s God’s job.
So what about big events?
I can’t tell you what the needs are in your community, but I can tell you what your community doesn’t need…more crap to add to their already overstuffed calendar.
Here’s the alternative to events. Find out what is already happening in your community and volunteer to help. Don’t call all the churches and put on a Christmas parade. Call the city and volunteer for the Santa Claus parade. That’s a real need. How cool would it be if the city started calling you for help? What if people started calling you to use your building? What if God’s people were thought of as good servants?
Let’s stop hijacking the culture and start loving the people.
[tags]halloween, christmas, events, ministry, harvest fest, christian[/tags]
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
good call Vince.
Also, check this out: http://www.chrismoncus.com/halloween-important/
[Reply]
So, what events in your community have you volunteered for lately?
I see your point but, on the other hand I know that my church out here in Nashville also runs a similiar event and we invited our unchurched neighbors and their two kids and they ended up returning the following sunday and eventually accepted the Lord and became members.
I think you’re missing the point of these events (or maybe the churches in your area are). The idea is to provide an opportunity for a church member to invite an unchurched friend to a non-threatening event and allow them to see that christianity isn’t what they might think. It’s alot easier to say, “Hey neighbor, load up the kids in the car lets go let em’ run amuck while we visit.” than to ask them to wake up early on a sunday morning and sit in a sanctuary for a couple of hours with a bunch of strangers after they just traumatized their three year old by leaving him with a class full of kids staring at the new kid.
Our pastor David Landrith’s motto about all these “events” is we will never change the message but our methods need to change to reach the lost. Does that mean we rely soley on these events? Absolutely not! Our strongest witnessing is done by living in the community with the non-believers. For example last May my son’s fellow classmate died suddenly at the age of 8yrs of septic shock. We called all our friends from church and provided meals for this family and combined our money to help pay for funeral expenses. That is definately a more powerful message and I believe we must try everything to reach these people.
Don’t be a hater.
[Reply]
vince, you are right on the money. a professor here was talking about how much we blow it as Christians when dealing with halloween. he said “the one night out of the whole year when the non-believers come to us and what do we do? we go to church.”
so i was wondering if this guy was all talk so we asked him what he does. he said he brings his grill out to the front yard and makes hot dogs and hamburgers for the parents and the kids and talks with the parents while the kids are getting candy. i don’t think you’re a hater, i think you are just asking questions and thinking. keep it up.
[Reply]
I love events, and I think they can accomplish a lot in a little amount of time. But I have seen them on an overkill level in our part of southern CA and they have lost thunder and have become cliche around here. They just aren’t fresh.
I also totally agree that they are a great opportunity to invite people to be a part of a church community. But they can become a crutch too. The average ‘show up on Sunday’ Christian is having the work done for them and maybe not being as effective as they could be on a day to day basis.
At Impact Church we are trying to ‘decentralize’ events and empower small groups to take over this type of ministry…we’ll see.
great discussion so far
[Reply]
James,
You’ll have to forgive me. As Vince’s older sister it’s my job to give him a hard time. I know he’s not a hater I’m just keeping him on his toes. Part of the job, you understand. We like to “challenge” eachother in our faith.
[Reply]
ahh i see. well these are all good thoughts. i think events are hit or miss. it is easy to hide in them sometimes, both for believers and non-believers. i’m often not a fan of hype (conferences, big events,revival), however, i do know that they can sometimes be used to spark something that grows into a consistent daily disciplined life seeking Christ.
[Reply]