Boxing People Out

The church today is largely defined by boxes. Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant. Mainline or Evangelical. Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, etc.

My church has 2 big boxes right now: ‘11 AM Traditional’ or ‘6 PM Coffee House.’ Both are full of dedicated believers who are looking for God. Both share a common purpose in our church mission statement. But we don’t always see each other that way.

Sometimes the AM group seems to think the PM people are trying to ‘take over’ too much too soon, and they are worried that what feeds them spiritually will be taken away in the name of ‘progress.’ Sometimes the PM group seems to think the AM people lack spiritual drive and are only there because they’re used to it. But these perceptions are as wrong as they are harmful.

Here’s the perception I’m struggling with: The other day, a member of the PM shared this experience in a meeting: She had encountered a stranger in the parking lot. The stranger expressed a desire to return to church after a long hiatus and asked if this was a ‘good church’ to try out. Her response as I heard her tell it in the meeting: a semi-disparaging remark about the AM, and an invitation to try the PM.

Now, I don’t know if the stranger said something in particular to prompt this particular response, or if it was a snap assumption based on his race (not white) or appearance (kind of scruffy). Maybe I missed something in this story. But I heard an assumption here: “you don’t seem like ‘their kind’ of people, I don't think you'll ever fit in the AM box, so I’m going to try to put you in my PM box instead.”

The church person in question doesn’t feel fed by traditional worship. That’s fine. And I should state, in all fairness, that some 11AM people would probably have done the same kind of thing had the question come to them. But the reality is that both services serve people from a variety of generational, cultural and economic backgrounds. Some people even attend both. So we shouldn’t be prejudging which side someone belongs on. Maybe we shouldn’t even be thinking of it as two different sides.

We should simply be offering a choice: “This is a great church! We have traditional worship at 11 AM and coffee worship at 6 PM every Sunday. You’re welcome to try either, or both. Or come to a small group meeting on Wednesdays. Or.....” Because both services have something valid to offer as part of the body of Christ.