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MegaChurch Downsizing: Asks ‘Freeloaders’ to Leave
Orginally published on Friday, September 01, 2006 at 7:39 AM
by Todd Rhoades
LARK NEWS — Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in July asking them to "participate in the life of the church" — or worship elsewhere. "They basically called us freeloaders," says Julie. "We were freeloaders," says Bob. In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked "non-participating members" to stop attending...
“No more Mr. Nice Church,” says the executive pastor, newly hired from Cingular Wireless. “Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission.”
“Freeloading” Christians were straining the church’s nursery and facility resources and harming the church’s ability to reach the lost, says the pastor.
“When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal,” he says.
Faith Community sent polite but firm letters to families who attend church services and “freebie events” but never volunteer, never tithe and do not belong to a small group or other ministry. The church estimates that of its 8,000 regular attendees, only half have volunteered in the past 3 years, and a third have never given to the church.
“Before now, we made people feel comfortable and welcome, and tried to coax them to give a little something in return,” says a staff member. “That’s changed. We’re done being the community nanny.”
Surprisingly, the move to dis-invite people has drawn positive response from men in the community who like the idea of an in-your-face church.
“I thought, ‘A church that doesn’t allow wussies — that rocks,’” says Bob Clark, who admires the church more since they told him to get lost.
He and Julie are now tithing and volunteering. “We’ve taken our place in church life,” he says.
From LarkNews.com. Check out Lark News for other great stories just posted this month! And, as always, don’t take most things posted at MMI on Friday’s too seriously. We take Friday’s to kick back and laugh at ourselves sometimes.
Todd
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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.
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Friday, September 01, 2006 at 7:51 AM
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Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 2:39 PM
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Posted by Rick White
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 4:57 PM
Post Your Comments:I know this is a joke--but it shouldn’t be!!
I second that emotion!
Sit-and-soak or stand-and-serve? This was a good one Todd.
This post alone was worth the cost of my MMI subscription. Hey, wait a minute.....
I know of a church where that actually happened.
This is just another BAD story from the Lark News, in my opinion. The story certainly demonstrates what NOT to do as church leaders. While leaders should encourage participation in various ministries, leaders should NEVER disinvite guests who regularly attend their worship services, but do not participate otherwise in life of their congregation.
I am especially disappointed that the fictional pastor quoted called himself and the leadership of this fictional church “impatient,” which is the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5.
So, I am glad to see this is a fictional story, but this is the 2nd I’ve seen in “Lark News” that has really turned my stomach.
Great fun!
Jesus also asked for commitment. He turned the religious criminals from the church with a swift crack of the whip.
We forget that God’s character is limited by His character. He can’t be one thing in contradiction of Himself. Explained for the slow: He can’t exhibit love and ignore justice, the two go hand in hand. If you fail to be just where is your love.
Take a look at Gal 5:13. I think it says not to use your life of freedom in Christ to be lazy. To love is to serve and give of one’s self to the Glory of God.
Maybe if the church would take more stands (not legalism) on issues and behavior the church would be reaching the lost, because the lost would be seeing a difference.
But then again the church should practice what the great philospher King once said, “Can’t we all just get along?”
My husband didn’t realize this was a joke...he looked so disappointed when I told him. Admittedly, we’re in a hard place right now when it comes to “church politics” but I think we would both be refreshed to hear something like this for real. Assuming we’re talking about “veteran” Christians who are not just guests trying out the church or seeking for God. Assuming the motivation is not impatience but a Godly desire for unity and spiritual growth of the members. This would be stand against cultural Christianity that’s for sure!
Loved that story - while the example might be a bit extreme - the idea of calling for that sort of committment is needed today in so many churches.
Jonathon K - don’t be such a Bernie. Laugh a bit.
You might not shake your head and think this is harsh when you have STAFF PEOPLE from other churches coming to your services in droves. I’m aware of a couple churches that have had this situation...and while each pastor was kind about it, they pretty much invited the group of “freeloaders” to either leave their “real church” and become part of their community or stop coming. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that...especially when you want to free up seats for people that aren’t already members/staff of another local church.
“You might not shake your head and think this is harsh when you have STAFF PEOPLE from other churches coming to your services in droves. “
You make it sound like having staff members from other churches coming to your church is a bad thing! Why would you consider trhem “freeloaders?” We’ve had staff members from other churches come to our services, and our Pastoral staff has always seen it as an opportunity to minister in a unique way. I know lots of Pastors and ministers who feel the need to sit in a service and receive the Word. If a church is so full that they need empty seats, they need to start a new service. We’re in a fourth service now.
Again, I don’t know the exact situation, but with the info you provided, it sounds a bit harsh on the clergy…
The articles from Lark are brilliant. And they sting, too…
I find it interesting that the fictional church which asked the freeloaders to leave did not judge themselves as possibly being church leaders who are “predators on the prowl” as mentioned in the Message Bible in Peter. It talks of leaders and teachers who love to impose stringent rules and laws upon a mixed up group of people. One of the signs of a Predatory leader is a lack of compassion. Maybe those who are not invloved have family deployed and need ministry. Maybe they just lost a sister to cancer, or a mother in law to a horrific car wreck, all at the same time. Maybe they need the staff to stop freeloading off of the people or the “sheep” and start really being Pastors who care about the needs of people versus their own needs. If a church is reaping a lot of “freeloaders” I believe they need to judge themselves and see where they are freeloading off of honest, hard working, loving people.
Don’t always assume people don’t want to get invloved. You have not walked a mile in their shoes, and if you took the time to really find out what is happening, versus only expecting them to serve your legacy, maybe you would fall on your own knees and repent, versus, projecting your own problems on innocent, mixed up, people.
This sounds personal to you, Kristin. While the article was meant to be humorous, there are churches that try to trim the “fat” from the Sunday morning crowd. I don’t think such churches consider the persons represented by your scenarios as “fat” to be trimmed...for the record.
In my experience, the people that these churches go after are those that would claim to be healthy, useful and fit Christians...yet are doing nothing ministry-wise, nor stewarding in any other way. I’ve yet to see a healthy church invite hurting people to leave because they’re a drain. Healthy churches DO ask people to leave when they are fit and able to contribute, but do not.
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