Fellowship Isn't Ministry, And Other Misconceptions

This past Sunday, my wife and I, in our search for a new church, made a second visit to a local church.  We had had a fairly good experience on our first visit, so we went back hoping for more of the same.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and we got an hour-long sales pitch on the importance of the ministries of the church.

Now, I do believe it is important to support your ministries publicly.  However, there are good and bad ways to go about it.

For starters, it's important to differentiate between ministries and fellowships.  In my book, ministries are activities designed around the idea of reaching out to non-believers.  Conversely, fellowships are activities designed around building Christian community and bonds amongst fellow Christians.

It's because of this difference that I was rather bothered that the church listed basketball and softball, church teams formed of church members to play teams from other churches, as ministries.  I'm sorry, but an activity where 99% of participants are expected to be Christians doesn't fit as a ministry.

Another suggestion would be to avoid talking too much about financing your ministries in a public forum.  For example, I'd avoid phrases like "Only 5 of our 90+ ministries received more than $24,000 for the year."  They may not be received as you intend.

To most people, a figure like that is pretty substantial.  I'd estimate that for 70% of that congregation, that figure is at least half of their annual income.  Coming from a small church, my wife and I were flabbergasted by the figure, because we weren't even able to pay our pastor that much, and the churches operating expenses were around $80,000.  Yes, they were different neighborhoods with different demographics, but they were the same denomination and only three or four miles apart.

When you represent your church, in person or online, make sure that you do so accurately and realistically.  Don't call things something they aren't so you can brag about numbers, and don't use superlatives with figures that don't match (i.e. "Last weeks tithes were only $100,000") or don't use them at all.  You're more likely to find people respond to opportunities than the pressure sell.