doing some housecleaning here at WRC in a lot of areas. environments are changing, processes are changing, programs are changing, people have changed, positions have changed, you either hate it or love it, cuss it or discuss it, but very few people are neutral on the subject.

i think mixing things up a bit is always exciting. i like change from time to time. over the course of my marriage, Tanya has changed her hair do a few times, one time she came home with almost a man’s haircut. that took some getting used to but it turned out well. i’ve gained and lost over 1000 pds in our marriage, change is good. the same is true in church, change means movement and as long as its positive we ought to be ready to move with it, not complain about it.

Brian reminded us in staff meeting this morning that we change and will always be changing to make sure we are reaching our customer and our customer is “Jerusalem.” (i am very glad i serve a church that reaches to the ends of the earth, but if we aren’t reaching Jerusalem, the church dies, and then who will there be to reach the “uttermost?”)

so we are active at providing a warm environment and a welcoming environment. if we only do those things or even focus on doing those things that serve “us” then we will never reach “them.” i read a quote from somebody recently that said, “if you aren’t concerned about the salvation of others, then you probably aren’t saved.” that’s a strong statement. but if you are a pastor and you are leading a church that only does or spends 90% of its time programming for us, then you may be leading a country club.

here is my one caution, you can focus on making the environment so welcoming that we forget how to “bring them in.” money has to be allocated for drawing them in as well as keeping them once they are in the building. so what’s on the street (signage, traffic, grounds, directions) and in the street (your people inviting people, gossip about your church, your involvement in the community, reaching out beyond yourself and your church) is important also.

make the home inviting, but you gotta invite them into the home!

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