As I was growing up, a preacher’s kid in the Southern Baptist Church world, there is very little about my life which wasn’t somehow intertwined with our church. From the time I was born, until 6th grade, my dad was engaged often as an interim pastor or pastor at a multitude of churches, especially in Alaska where I have lived, since 1972. Because these were all SBC churches, other than the names and faces, most everything remained very familiar from one church to another in terms of how things were done and what those things were. Later in life, we attended Faith Baptist Church in Anchorage, Alaska as a whole family. It was also there that my father, and eventually I, served on the pastoral ministry staff. This is also where Jason and I met, through ministry, some thirty-one years ago (so he tells me). All along the way, up until about 1996, the form and fashion of “church” changed very little. And, while other denominational groups have always had their distinctions, many of our practices were shared across protestant church life. For instance, there was a time when the church schedule went something like this:
Sunday School
Sunday Morning Service
Sunday Afternoon Youth Choir
Sunday Evening Bible Classes
Sunday Evening Church Service
Tuesday Visitation
Wednesday Night Bible Study
Wednesday Night Youth Group
Wednesday Night Children’s Activity/Bible Study
Wednesday Night Adult Choir Practice (After Bible Study)
Various other groups and ministries meeting throughout the week
Committee Meetings
Full Week Revivals a couple of times a year
Special Events
Denominational Meetings
I’m sure I’ve missed some things, but this is pretty accurate. Truth be told, there are plenty of churches still using a model similar to this, with varying degrees of “success”. In the first church where I was a pastor, this schedule began to moderate itself over time, simply by people voting with their feet on what they were willing to engage in. Mind you, regardless of what some would try and have you believe, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible which should make you believe there is anything more than singing together and sharing the Scriptures which should be part of a church gathering. Ministry of the church described in the New Testament includes serving one another, enjoying meals together, helping the poor and marginalized, and other worthy pursuits. But, everything else we do or don’t do in the context of a regular, whole of the local church gathering comes from human constructs, often in response to cultural shifts and practical matters. They aren’t necessarily “good” or “bad”, they are just tools which have effectiveness in certain times and situations.
Balancing Family,
Work and Activities
A friend recently suggested that a good way to think of our time is to break it out like this: Our lives and time are roughly segmented into three primary spaces, family & friends, work, and other. Our first space would generally revolve around our families and/or friends and most of us would say we spend a great deal of time in this space. Our second space is most often where we work. In some cases, we might even physically spend more time in that second space than the first but our emotional investment will be stronger in our first space. Third is the space where we can plan and engage in the other pursuits of our lives. This third space will often overlap with our first and second spaces to varying degrees but also has significant purpose all on its own. In this third space are things like hobbies, personal interests, recreational pursuits, and a whole host of other possibilities. However, there will still be one or two interests or activities which rise to the forefront of that third space.
Join me in my next newsletter item to read how these spaces and these activities relate to the life of your church and the spiritual mission around you.
Pastor Tracy Simmons