Practice, not Programs

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Regarding the Willow Creek revelation that participation in church programs doesn’t make disciples, Ed Dodds sent me this related article:

Intentionally, Practice, and Vitality

by Diana Butler Bass

Since Alban's publication of The Practicing Congregation in 2004, when I

first wrote about my research on vital mainline churches, hundreds of clergy

groups and church leadership gatherings have invited me to share with them

insights on what makes for a good congregation. At every gathering, I

include the project's key finding: "Congregations that intentionally engage

Christian practices are congregations that experience new vitality."

The sentence combines three components: intentionally, practice, and

vitality. Further defining them, I point out that intentionality involves

choice and taking responsibility for individual and communal spirituality;

that practice is not a program, rather it is a meaningful way of life; and

that vitality cannot be measured in terms of numbers as it means spiritual

health and maturity. A vital congregation is one where all people--including

the pastor--are growing members of an organic community of spiritual

practice.

Inevitably, someone asks: "How does this relate to a Willow Creek strategy

for church growth?" Most every pastor knows about Willow Creek and its

wildly successful seeker-oriented, market-driven church growth program-and

many pastors have labored to re-create such programs in their own churches

or denominations.

Until recently, my answer has been, "Not very well. They focus on numbers,

on getting people into church, and on 'one-size fits all' programs for the

spiritual life. That isn't bad for them; it is their path. And it is

different from what my team found in small and medium-sized mainline

churches. We found the programs don't make Christians. Practices do."