I recently had a good conversation with a couple of people around the question “What do we offer to people as a church”? It’s a good question. It’s a question every church should ask themselves on a regular basis. Some of the answer to “what do we offer” will remain the same over the years, changing very little, if at all. Some of the answers to that question will change over time as seasons come and go, people change, and the programs change as well. But the question remains.
I have asked several groups of members to answer that question and the answers have been good. One person said, “We offer a wonderful, positive, joyful worship service every Sunday, week in and week out.” Another person answered, “We offer a church that is mission focused on helping others, especially the less fortunate and we do so on a year-round basis.” A third person answered, “we offer a community of believers that genuinely care for each other.” Someone else said we offer a wonderful, caring minister who cares for us and a first-class leader.” I don’t know if I can say “Amen” to that one, but I’ll leave it up to each of you to determine that one for yourself. I hope it’s true.
Others said, “we offer a church that engages people in genuine, honest spiritual growth and provides opportunities to bring others to an open and accepting church.” Someone else said “we offer a good Adult Sunday School Class.” Several people said they like coming here because we offer worship that stays out of politics and has plenty of room for people of all political viewpoints.
There are lots of answers in addition that people have said, and I genuinely appreciate their insights and thoughts. We do offer a lot. We are a Bible centered church. We are a church that provides freedom of thought. We are a church that reaches out into the community year-round and helps others. We send in a gift to the worldwide ministry of the church to our national offices every month, without fail. Like almost every other church I know we have been deeply impacted by the Covid Pandemic; attendance is more than half down and too many people haven’t returned but with God’s help and with each other we’ll get through these challenging times.
It’s a question we should always be asking and always be willing to take an honest look at. It’s also a question every one of us should ask of ourselves. “What do I offer to the church”? What gifts do I bring to help grow the church, to expand our ministries, to enrich our sense of community and to build up our worship. We need each other. We need you. We need everyone to help make this the great church we believe we are. So, what we do we offer, what do I offer and how can we be even better as God leads us into the future? It’s a good question!
So, what would you say? “What do we offer as a church” and ‘What do I offer to the church”?