9th
When do people buy into the church and consider the church they attend “their” church?
It still amazes me that I sometimes talk to people who have been attending Cornerstone for years now (some of them even longer than I have) and still refer to it as “that church” or “your church.” For the life of me I cannot figure out what makes them feel that they are on the outside looking in. Then there are other people, some who have been attending for a while, others for a week or two, who very confidently consider Cornerstone “my church.” What is the difference? What makes the difference?
I recently sat down with our Associate Children’s Pastor to brainstorm possible reasons why we have so little buy-in for certain folks:
The people who are fully “bought into” to the vision and mission of Cornerstone…
- bring friends
- feel that they are part of the decision-making process
- recognize the possibility and opportunity to make their service/ministry unique, and uniquely theirs
- understand the vision
- understand that they serve God, not the staff
- found a clear niche in ministry
- feel that church is part of who they are not an activity they do
- talk up the church. They are fans. They are very positive and solution-oriented
- have a social circle that changes to include other “cornerstoners”
- are challenged in their spiritual journey and ministry
- are willing to contribute, even if it’s a little outside their “gifting”
- have attended Cornerstone for many years, but some just a week or two.
The people who are not bought in and refer to Cornerstone as “your church…”
- consider church as a service or product to consume.
- are not necessarily sitting on the sidelines. They often serve!
- serve to fill a need
- serve the staff
- serve because they were told by the Senior Pastor
- want to be viewed a giving person
- have little contact with church/fellowship throughout the week
- could have attended Cornerstone for many years or just a week or two.
- are unwilling to serve outside a box. Ministry needs to be more custom fitted to them.
What did I miss?
