tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post3674788098824120633..comments2024-03-17T07:22:12.716+00:00Comments on Alan in Belfast: Big church responsibility to look out for the little peopleAlan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-43396132328149487072010-01-05T23:31:13.841+00:002010-01-05T23:31:13.841+00:00It was part of the reason we moved. Not really th...It was part of the reason we moved. Not really the whole reason for considering a move in the first place, but a lot to do with where we ended up and where we've thus far stayed even though we've moved out of the parish.Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-51225626949139609502010-01-05T23:30:04.619+00:002010-01-05T23:30:04.619+00:00Christianity Today had a cover story last year on ...Christianity Today had a cover story last year on marketing Jesus, 'Jesus is not a brand.' You can read the story here. Lot of issues come up that may/may not be related to the size of a church: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/january/10.20.html<br />The cover image for this story was Jesus inside a Starbucks logo (instead of the mermaid-like girl we normally see), which I thought was clever, but unfortunately I can't find that graphic.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05427550586013794752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-32959823346140354832010-01-05T23:27:44.380+00:002010-01-05T23:27:44.380+00:00Our own congregation (pretty small) sent requests ...Our own congregation (pretty small) sent requests to our neighbouring (larger) congregations to ask if anyone might like to come and join us to help out.<br />It's a big thing to ask someone to leave a big exciting congregation to join a smaller one, so I couldn't say I was surprised at the lack of responses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-7765305888518871122010-01-05T21:54:16.269+00:002010-01-05T21:54:16.269+00:00The phrase, 'the Kingdom of God is like a must...The phrase, 'the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed' is what springs to mind. C.f. Shane Claiborne's 'The Irresistible Revolution' esp. Chpt 12. Incidentally I know of some folks from larger congregations who have deliberately gone to smaller congregations specifically to help out in a certain area of ministry e.g. children's work and I think that's a great picture of what you're talking about. Great post.Debs Erwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06179471169992099140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-17474208190537094232010-01-05T19:36:54.249+00:002010-01-05T19:36:54.249+00:00Alan - yes, you're right. You can also add som...Alan - yes, you're right. You can also add something along the lines of "prone to exploitation" in the sense that small churches are sometimes preyed upon by ruthless types who fancy themselves as leaders, and can become a big fish in the small pond almost overnight. A larger church congregation is usually in a better position to prevent that happening.Mark Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12820251983224121718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-91558156084599618122010-01-05T18:15:49.314+00:002010-01-05T18:15:49.314+00:00Mark - since there won't be a parallel post on...Mark - since there won't be a parallel post on "being small", I'd extend your dangers to add: spending all your resources (people, time, money, elbow grease) just trying to keep the environment up and running - in terms of buildings, heating, administration, newsletters, flowers - leaving little bandwidth free to be a community and be in the community.Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-23880907676014117952010-01-05T17:32:14.633+00:002010-01-05T17:32:14.633+00:00Excellent post. I must confess I generally encount...Excellent post. I must confess I generally encounter a more authentic faith among people who gather in modest buildings - these are the folk who faithfully soldier on regardless of trends and flavour-of-the-month congregations that often come and go. The dangers of being small are an unfortunate pessimism and the tendency that a few individuals are relied upon too much and can become burned out.Mark Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12820251983224121718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-26944123647453740292010-01-05T08:59:58.633+00:002010-01-05T08:59:58.633+00:00Good points. My impression (ok, my prejudice) is ...Good points. My impression (ok, my prejudice) is that rather than "a big church [being] better known in the local community", it is better known across a much wider area than would be its natural parish. They become commuter churches and commuter youth groups.<br /><br />Heavy irony here since a few months before we moved to Lisburn we had moved - for sensible, non-contentious reasons - from attending a church within walking distance of the house to one that we passed four others (of various flavours) to get to. And now we're in Lisburn and haven't switched anywhere closer, we travel 15 minutes up and down the motorway to get there. So there's an acknowledged bit of pot-calling-kettle-black going on!<br /><br />Size and recognition can create safe and low-risk spaces for people to come and hang around where they might not feel up to barging into a much smaller community.<br /><br />I don't think size and/or brand are inherently wrong. But they have dangers and responsibilities.<br /><br />There's probably a parallel post about the dangers and responsibilities of being small.Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-11304601488346380552010-01-04T23:53:48.432+00:002010-01-04T23:53:48.432+00:00In some ways I think that yes, branding may have a...In some ways I think that yes, branding may have a negative impact. But on the other hand, a big church will be better known in the local community and may result more people taking an interest in the church. This may only be idle curiosity but it could result in a person hearing the gospel which is a good thing. That person may not be drawn to a smaller church. <br /><br />Also, much of the 'reaching out' work that is done by bigger churches probably isn't advertised as much as we think it would be. If the motives behind generous donations to charities and smaller churches are pure, then the true nature of Christian giving is to do it in secret and the Lord will reward the giver openly. (There is a verse in the bible which explains this properly but my memory is failing me at the minute!)<br /><br />I'm split two ways about this one!Lila Gribbenhttp://lilagribben.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-72871710653939356622010-01-04T09:13:32.060+00:002010-01-04T09:13:32.060+00:00Amen.Amen.ScatterCodehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12303268210112033871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-32528148354259231712010-01-03T23:27:12.849+00:002010-01-03T23:27:12.849+00:00The fact that I want to go there because it looks ...The fact that I want to go there because it looks awesome proves your point entirely. If the brand gets in the way of the message, it can only be a bad thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-83482104745502683782010-01-03T22:03:12.801+00:002010-01-03T22:03:12.801+00:00Having gone downstairs for a cup of tea with my wi...Having gone downstairs for a cup of tea with my wife, I quickly discovered that not only has she been to Crystal Cathedral in California, has slides of the building (and its ten thousand panes of glass) and heard stories about their Christmas nativity pageant which featured real elephants ... but we also have a Christmas ornament ("a porcelain angel") that just got wrapped up and put away this very afternoon that was given to her from the Crystal Cathedral gift shop.<br /><br />Scanned slides and photos will follow on the blog at a later date!Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com