Dismayed with the church

[polkaman]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

 

[Serving Zion]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

I reckon the ring toss would be ok.. I understand the problems with gambling though. There was a fun kids event at school a few months ago, I gave them $1 for the wet sponge throwing, but I couldn't bring myself to throw the sponge at anyone's face.. so I gave the sponge to the kids because they had no worries they were having a great time! (pssst, maybe that's an idea you could gently put to them!).

Here's some other ideas too, even if you can't think of a way to monetise it .. the real value is in the memories, and if your visitors really have a hoot, they might even pop in one Sunday morning

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1852179914889885

http://static.adonai-reigns.life/hotlinks/videos/party-games.mp4

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

Always another and better church down the road!

 

[Tolworth John]

here will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.

Any church that cannot come up with ideas for evangelistic events is a church that is not worth attending.

he only thing left is begging.

A church funds its self througfh the giving of the congragation.
If it cannot pay its way it should close. Yon don't expect non christians to fund the church.

 

[bekkilyn]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

Is gambling the only activity that is fun? Surely there could be plenty of other activities that don't involve games of chance that could be used for events. They might have been a bit more diplomatic about it though and suggested alternatives that were not in opposition with the Discipline.

With that said, I don't believe that lack of fundraising (or fun) is the reason why many churches aren't growing.

 

[FireDragon76]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

Years ago I won an old banjo at a raffle at my Methodist church, growing up as a kid.

But we were more liberal mainline in our identity, I guess, and not very moralistic. It was a liturgically oriented Methodist church made of a variety of different people in the D.C. suburbs. We were sort of like Episcopalians, I suppose.

 

[Brian Mcnamee]

I have been a regular at a Methodist
Church. I knew a few people there
And my grandma went there. I have
Slowly become active and involved.
But, we are not growing, and there
Is no interest in doing anything.
There will be an upcoming event
At church, and ideas were asked for.
I suggested a cake walk, bingo, ring
Toss, beanbag toss, and have a raffle
For an item or two....

Boy was I ever put in my place, I was
Informed ""we don't do that""...even
Shown in the book of deciples no
Less !!!

No wonder we are not growing...

They are not a pleasant bunch to
Be around.
My feeling is you can have fun at
Church, and at times we need money
For items projects or needs.

The only thing left is begging.

in the book of Acts you did not see bingo, ring tosses, puppet shows, and all that nonsense. The LORD has a church growth program its called the gospel and the LORD added daily to those who should be saved. It is sad that the big churches like Saddleback church consulted unsaved men like Peter Drucker on how to grow a church and they created a business model that appealed to the unsaved to come to church. The problem is the churches are now full of people who are not saved. The gospel is not broken and the promise of Jesus is to come to Him anyone who thirsts and fountains of living water will flow out of their inner most being.
If your church was filled with those who have a fountain of Jesus coming out of them and the gospel is proclaimed you would see growth.

 

[FireDragon76]

Any church that cannot come up with ideas for evangelistic events is a church that is not worth attending.



A church funds its self througfh the giving of the congragation.
If it cannot pay its way it should close. Yon don't expect non christians to fund the church.

That's a really harsh judgment. I can't agree with it.

Social events provide an opportunity for fellowship and building relationships with other people in the congregation and the wider community. It's less about evangelizing people overtly, and more about maintaining a healthy community.

Jesus shows up at the wedding at Cana for no other reason than to throw a good party, and I believe that tells us something about what the Kingdom of God is like. The movie Babette's Feast is another illustration of this. A dour pietist community in Jutland, which is being slowly eaten up by resentments and quarrels, has their world upset by a political refugee from France, who goes from being a stranger to a gift to the community, because she teaches them the value of hospitality and joy.

 

[Tolworth John]

That's a really harsh judgment. I can't agree with it.

Social events provide an opportunity for fellowship and building relationships with other people in the congregation and the wider community. It's less about evangelizing people overtly, and more about maintaining a healthy community.

Jesus shows up at the wedding at Cana for no other reason than to throw a good party, and I believe that tells us something about what the Kingdom of God is like. The movie Babette's Feast is another illustration of this. A dour pietist community in Jutland, which is being slowly eaten up by resentments and quarrels, has their world upset by a political refugee from France, who goes from being a stranger to a gift to the community, because she teaches them the value of hospitality and joy.

Read the whole of the first post. It is more than just a social event, it is also fund raising for the church.

Any church that cannot fund it's self should close or cut back its activities to what it can self fund.
Harsh yes, but the church is not to be supported by an unbelieving society if anything it should be the church funding activities that benefit society.

 

[Serving Zion]

"Give to God what belongs to God" .. God did not make money, He made people, and He did that for the purpose to bless them so that they may fill the earth and subdue it.

What do you see in a stranger?

The churches these days are worshipping the spirit of mammon.

 

[FireDragon76]

Read the whole of the first post. It is more than just a social event, it is also fund raising for the church.

Any church that cannot fund it's self should close or cut back its activities to what it can self fund.
Harsh yes, but the church is not to be supported by an unbelieving society if anything it should be the church funding activities that benefit society.

Having a sale or raffle is one way a church can fund itself. I see nothing unbiblical about doing so.

Churches benefit society by simply being religious institutions that allow people to exercise their freedom of religion.

 

[bekkilyn]

Having a sale or raffle is one way a church can fund itself. I see nothing unbiblical about doing so.

Churches benefit society by simply being religious institutions that allow people to exercise their freedom of religion.

It's a United Methodist social principle:

Book of Resolutions: Gambling – The United Methodist Church

 

[Serving Zion]

Having a sale or raffle is one way a church can fund itself. I see nothing unbiblical about doing so.

I agree with this, so far as money is needed (give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar).

Proverbs 16:33 can support raffles where it is done in good spirit.

Churches benefit society by simply being religious institutions that allow people to exercise their freedom of religion.

I don't agree with this. The church is the only place I have ever found that a person has become violent against me for teaching Christianity to them. IMO, the gospel would be easier to share if there were no institutions of church at all, because it would no longer be an institution then, only a movement - as it should be. "Not one stone shall be left upon another".

 

[bekkilyn]

I think people forget that the point of a church (or even *the* church--believers in the body of Christ) is to make disciples and spread the gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ. Too many people have a country-club mentality about church.

 

[Serving Zion]

I think people forget that the point of a church (or even *the* church--believers in the body of Christ) is to make disciples and spread the gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ. Too many people have a country-club mentality about church.

It is worse than that, in my view. They have made Christ into an industry for themselves. They only let those enter who are naive enough to believe the mental gymnastics that they spin to escape the conviction of the scriptures, and they grievously maim and eternally sabotage the ones who have the integrity and spine to ask valid questions and expose inconvenient truths.

I tell you, I am looking everywhere I go, to find people who are worthy of the kingdom and the fruits of it. This evil, adulterous generation must pass away, as heartbreaking as it is that churches must be sold to be a trophy of evil's victory.. may God have mercy and may His people give ear!

 

[FireDragon76]

It's a United Methodist social principle:

Book of Resolutions: Gambling – The United Methodist Church

Are those statements the equivalent of canon law, or merely persuasive? In our church, all our statements are ultimately persuasive in nature and generally nuanced in their implications, meaning ultimately the moral agency rests with the individual: they lack any kind of juridical authority. The only juridically authoritative statement in our church is found in our constitution.

 

[bekkilyn]

Are those statements the equivalent of canon law, or merely persuasive? In our church, all our statements are ultimately persuasive in nature and generally nuanced in their implications, meaning ultimately the moral agency rests with the individual: they lack any kind of juridical authority. The only juridically authoritative statement in our church is found in our constitution.

For lay people they aren't binding, but clergy must agree to uphold them as part of their ordination/licensing. It's been stated that they aren't church law, but they sometimes have the effect of church law. In general, a church's pastor is unlikely to start up a casino night in the fellowship hall.