Something Different

A couple of years ago someone asked me, “When did you change churches?” She went on to say that she reads this column and she thought that I had changed churches because the name of the church at the end of the article changed. I responded, “No ma’am, I didn’t change churches, the name of the church changed!” Five years ago this summer I moved to the area to pastor the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Two years later, the church decided to relocate and at the same time change the name. But, something else was going on besides just a name change, God was making changes too.
Over the course of a few years, God was setting a fire in the hearts of the members of the church I serve. The people began to realize that their church had become stagnant and the days of reaching people for Christ had peaked back in the 1980’s. The landscape had changed and it was time to relocate and start over. With that came the name, Providence Presbyterian Church, now simply Providence. Indeed “providence” is what was happening. According to Webster’s the word means, “to understand that God is the power that is sustaining and guiding human destiny” We see in scripture that God provides… in the desert of Exodus, Psalms, Job, Galatians and others books. Today I want to mention John 21where Jesus provides for Peter and then tells him to “feed the sheep” and Matthew 28 where Jesus tells all the disciples “go and make disciples.” Both are commands not requests. Jesus wants disciples to tell others about Him and that’s an order! Unfortunately, it has too often become the case that churches forget to focus upon reaching out and become divine social/country clubs for members. This isn’t new to our day as it happened in the ancient churches as well. But, there comes a time when churches must decide what is most important… follow Jesus’ command or not. It is that simple!
I have heard it said that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Providence Church decided that it was not only the name that needed changing it was the heart of the people, worship style, music, and attitude. The church has embarked on a mission “to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.” And to that end, nothing else matters!
With our goal in mind, we studied many churches that were reaching people across our nation. We decided that the best way to proceed was to create an environment where people could come to a building that felt casual, comfortable, and practical. Casual, as in, people can wear shorts, tee shirts, jeans, skirts, slacks, just as long as they have clothes on! Comfortable, as in, a place that feels laid back and relaxed. We provide practical and solid theological messages which apply to daily life. All that and with modern, upbeat music that sounds like something I might hear on the radio.
Needless to say there was opposition. Some folks didn’t want to see change. That has been a struggle even though we still have a traditional service at our Jimmy Johnson campus. Change is hard. But, Billy Graham was right many years ago when he said, “the message never changes, but the methods must.”
If churches want to be fishers of men and women, churches will change… or die.
So, yes, I guess the answer I gave to the woman’s question about changing churches was wrong. I have changed churches. I am now part of a church that sees Jesus’ commands as a way of life. We wanted to provide a church for people who don’t really like church. Thus, it is something different. Providence Church opens its new building at 5315 North Twin City Hwy this Sunday at 10 a.m. So if you don’t regularly attend a church, come give it a try.