ESSAYS ON CONGREGATIONAL STUDIES
Pentecostal Theological Seminary
Formational Leadership
The Relation of Church and Culture
By Ron Barker
The church is an entity established by Jesus Christ and designed to be the human agency by which the gospel message would be taken to the world while being guided by the Holy Spirit. While this overarching definition well fits the function of the worldwide church, each individual local church must determine how it will work within its community to share the gospel. Much of what guides a church and determines how a church will function comes from the culture of the church.
Many aspects can determine a church's culture. First, a church's vision will have a great effect upon where the people of the church see the church going. I know of many local churches that do not have an official stated vision and even more importantly there is no vision for the church being spoken through the leadership. Proverbs 29.18 (K JV) states, “Where there is no vision, the people perish …" The aspect of vision within the culture of a church gives the people a forward the thrust aimed at a particular goal. Churches that are trying to survive without this cultural aspect being regularly strengthened in their minds are not only straining to fulfill Jesus' command to tell people about the gospel message, but are merely meandering with no focused direction.
Second, the way the people of the church comport themselves toward one another speaks volumes to the community. Churches can develop a culture of comfort, compassion, and encouragement towards one another which can be seen by people visiting the church and by the people in the community as they watched church members relate to each other. A church can also have a negative culture. A negative culture not only is visible to the surrounding community and visitors to the church, but perpetuates an attitude among the people of the church of adversity. Churches with negative behaviors toward each other will develop negative attitudes reaching new people and therefore has an effect on the church as a whole.
Third, one of the most important aspects within a church's culture is the principles driving the church's activities. Most churches have many programs or activities associated with the operation of the church as it strives to meet the needs of the people attending the church along with the needs of the community it is serving. The values of the local church affected church similarly as to how an individual is affected by his/her values except that a church's values are multiplied many times over because of the wide reaching the nature of the church throughout the community.
A church's values cannot be discovered by interviewing the pastor, the leadership, or the laity of the local church. The church's values can only be determined by listening and watching what the church hopes to gain from each program. Churches that are inward focused will have values geared toward supplying their personal needs to the exclusion of the community. Churches that are outward focused have values that are motivated towards their community. Values will touch every area of a church's culture.
The relation of church and culture is inseparable. There are many other aspects associated with the church's culture and the aspects that make up a church's culture come from the very heart of the people and therefore become the base elements of each church. The same is true for individuals. A person grows up enveloped within a culture. As this person goes through his/her life, s/he is demonstrating the various cultural attributes that they have gained even though s/he does not recognize the various cultural attributes. It is only when new people enter a person's life that they recognize the cultural attributes. A church’s culture should be driven by the Word of God and therefore manifesting a church culture others would like to join.
The Relation of Church and Culture
By Joyce Fox
During the last five years I have been a member of two different congregations of the same denomination and when I say “different” I mean different!
The first is in a strangely-mixed part of the Midwest. The town itself could be described as a typical “country-town” with a mostly Caucasian population of approximately 8,000 people who live there year around. Because the nearest town with a population above 20,000 is about an hour away, local businesses are well-patronized.
During the school year, though, the population swells to approximately 18,000 people. Many of these are students who have come from the Chicago area to attend Western Illinois University without the distractions and high costs of a big city school. Many of these students are minorities so, in the winter, the racial mix is roughly 82% Caucasian and 18% African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or mixed race.
Many of these students find local churches to attend and my church (which was only about 25 years old itself) was one of them. Because of this yearly influx of students the congregation is roughly 60% African American young adults (with a Caucasian pastor and an African American worship leader). The culture of this church, specifically the use of Black cultural norms (ie: the use of “First Lady” to designate the Pastor’s wife, African-American styles of music and delivery, etc.) and its expressed mission (a special emphasis on reaching the students of the University rather than the farmers and year-round residents who mostly attend the same churches their ancestors attended) is very different from the church I now attend. But it is a perfect focus for that church.
In contrast to that, consider the church I now attend. While it, too, is a rural church in a country town that has a (much smaller, Christian) college its mission and vision is far different.
The town is located only 20 - 30 miles from a large urban area and while daily marketing is done locally, it’s a common practice to “ease on down the road” to the city for shopping. The students at the local Christian college are already entrenched in their own denominations’ churches so to claim outreach to the college campus would be an insult to those churches. Instead, our church’s mission is to reach the unchurched residents of the town and the area.
The church itself was founded in the late 1920s and is approximately 90% Caucasian, simply because that reflects the population of the town. The church’s culture is, of course, more typical of an older congregation with a more varied age-range from children to seniors. It reaches out to the mostly Caucasian, middle-class, community using a mix of worship songs and old hymns.
Even so, the dominant minority of the area is not neglected since the church opens its doors every Sunday afternoon to the Hispanic community and its pastor for services.
Which one of these churches is “right”? Which one is “odd”? The answer for the first question is: both. And the answer to the second question is: neither. Both churches are responding to the cultures surrounding it and the congregations within it and this is the relationship of church and culture.
The first is in a strangely-mixed part of the Midwest. The town itself could be described as a typical “country-town” with a mostly Caucasian population of approximately 8,000 people who live there year around. Because the nearest town with a population above 20,000 is about an hour away, local businesses are well-patronized.
During the school year, though, the population swells to approximately 18,000 people. Many of these are students who have come from the Chicago area to attend Western Illinois University without the distractions and high costs of a big city school. Many of these students are minorities so, in the winter, the racial mix is roughly 82% Caucasian and 18% African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or mixed race.
Many of these students find local churches to attend and my church (which was only about 25 years old itself) was one of them. Because of this yearly influx of students the congregation is roughly 60% African American young adults (with a Caucasian pastor and an African American worship leader). The culture of this church, specifically the use of Black cultural norms (ie: the use of “First Lady” to designate the Pastor’s wife, African-American styles of music and delivery, etc.) and its expressed mission (a special emphasis on reaching the students of the University rather than the farmers and year-round residents who mostly attend the same churches their ancestors attended) is very different from the church I now attend. But it is a perfect focus for that church.
In contrast to that, consider the church I now attend. While it, too, is a rural church in a country town that has a (much smaller, Christian) college its mission and vision is far different.
The town is located only 20 - 30 miles from a large urban area and while daily marketing is done locally, it’s a common practice to “ease on down the road” to the city for shopping. The students at the local Christian college are already entrenched in their own denominations’ churches so to claim outreach to the college campus would be an insult to those churches. Instead, our church’s mission is to reach the unchurched residents of the town and the area.
The church itself was founded in the late 1920s and is approximately 90% Caucasian, simply because that reflects the population of the town. The church’s culture is, of course, more typical of an older congregation with a more varied age-range from children to seniors. It reaches out to the mostly Caucasian, middle-class, community using a mix of worship songs and old hymns.
Even so, the dominant minority of the area is not neglected since the church opens its doors every Sunday afternoon to the Hispanic community and its pastor for services.
Which one of these churches is “right”? Which one is “odd”? The answer for the first question is: both. And the answer to the second question is: neither. Both churches are responding to the cultures surrounding it and the congregations within it and this is the relationship of church and culture.
The Relation of Church and Culture
By Raheel Rizvi
“Gospel" always involves a way of living in a given social environment as a Christian community.... To ask about how the gospel relates to culture is to ask how to live as a Christian community in a particular cultural context. . . . Indeed, there is no other way to reflect adequately on gospel and culture except by reflecting on how the social embodiments of the gospel relate to a given culture. (Miroslav Volf).
Though my involvement in local Church at Cleveland, TN, is much shorter, but the effects of those few months have truly inspired my life by the living testimonies of Church leaders, biblical teachings and ministerial works.The main core values of the Church are:
The primary focus of the Church is to strengthen the body of Christ to impact lives in their own communities and neighbors. Church has expanded their feeding program from soup kitchen to door to door food distribution to the less fortunate people in the area with free medical clinic once a week.
The majority of the Church attendees are from lower middle class who are working full time in order to meet the needs of their families. Worship, preaching, teaching, culture and practices of Church are deeply rooted in Wesleyan Pentecostal traditions.
The result of community vs society interviews clearly identifies that most of them are satisfied with the leadership and also understand the effectiveness of team work as a community.Although is a multicultural Church but most of them like to remain simply because they can feelsense of community, relationship and friendship with other people. I believe leadershipsuccessfully managed to develop own mutual identity and Church culture.I think Christians of all traditions have been challenged to think more broadly of theirown identity as a follower of Christ. With the recent expansion of Christianity around the worldand the anticipated spread of the gospel into all peoples, we can hope to realize the beauty of both the particular and the universal in a truly global Christianity.And I am excited. Because the future is one of unity, diversity, LOVE, tradition,innovation, community, justice, and Christ centered disciples.
Though my involvement in local Church at Cleveland, TN, is much shorter, but the effects of those few months have truly inspired my life by the living testimonies of Church leaders, biblical teachings and ministerial works.The main core values of the Church are:
- Hospitality is a Christian virtue.
- The gospel creates a new community.
- The gospel completely transforms our relationships with one another.
- Emphasizing leadership development and empowerment in order to encourage Christians to initiate and lead team-based ministries.
- The key to the rapid expansion of kingdom movements is disciples multiplying disciples.
The primary focus of the Church is to strengthen the body of Christ to impact lives in their own communities and neighbors. Church has expanded their feeding program from soup kitchen to door to door food distribution to the less fortunate people in the area with free medical clinic once a week.
The majority of the Church attendees are from lower middle class who are working full time in order to meet the needs of their families. Worship, preaching, teaching, culture and practices of Church are deeply rooted in Wesleyan Pentecostal traditions.
The result of community vs society interviews clearly identifies that most of them are satisfied with the leadership and also understand the effectiveness of team work as a community.Although is a multicultural Church but most of them like to remain simply because they can feelsense of community, relationship and friendship with other people. I believe leadershipsuccessfully managed to develop own mutual identity and Church culture.I think Christians of all traditions have been challenged to think more broadly of theirown identity as a follower of Christ. With the recent expansion of Christianity around the worldand the anticipated spread of the gospel into all peoples, we can hope to realize the beauty of both the particular and the universal in a truly global Christianity.And I am excited. Because the future is one of unity, diversity, LOVE, tradition,innovation, community, justice, and Christ centered disciples.
The Relation of Church and Culture
by Clay Bishop
It is clear that in the relationship of Church and Culture throughout history, multiple streams of culture may or may not flow through the church in order to form its values and establish its place in society around it. On a larger level, there has been a view within the church (i.e. Church of God) that the kingdom of God and human culture around them are at war, and therefore Christians should live in sharp contrast to their society. Over the years what this would entail has changed, and I would say for the better. While the church must be radically different than the world, we must not become isolated from the world in a way that we cannot impact the world with the gospel. Nevertheless, we see churches that are putting out effort to be counter-culture, some that totally adopt the culture of society around them, and many, who through multiple influences, have created their own type of sub-culture knowingly or unknowingly. Being shaped by secular culture around us is one thing, but the culture our churches develop individually is another interesting anomaly.
In his article, Giving Voice to Local Churches: New Congregational Studies, Carl S. Dudley noted in 1992 that only recently had we begun to pay careful attention to the dynamics of the congregation as living communities with distinct identities and ways of doing things.[1] Faith takes form within the context of local communities. Often, congregations become so familiar with their own unique identity, that they are uniquely unaware to the very identity they possess. They come to believe that what they do is obvious, normal, unremarkable. The things that are often taken for granted in the the formation of a church, their progress and values usually come from events that unveil a much richer story than expected.
I pastored an independent Pentecostal Church that had been active for nearly 75 years. I became the seventh pastor of this church at the age of 27. The average age of my congregation was somewhere around 60. Needless to say, there was quite a generational gap and many of the things that I and my congregation valued were quite different. They had become very attached to certain objects within their church that had clearly not been changed or updated for many years. Whether this is right or wrong I won’t deal with now, but I began to notice that what they valued was formed by many years of memories and struggles that they had dealt with in the past. Lighting or seating that could easily be changed was a sensitive subject for them because when they purchased the seating or lighting, they had to scrape together every dime to do so.
The stories that the congregation offers will tell us much about who they are, and therefore we must listen attentively. How did it get started? Was it a church split or a church plant? How long has the congregation been active? Who has been the pastor or pastors, and for how long? What did they teach, what did they emphasize, what was their vision? All of these questions allow us to become sensitized to the thoughts and feelings of the local churches beliefs and commitments. Often these will not always be in line with scripture and this is why effective biblical teaching and practice is important to correct the culture and values that have been adopted by any congregation. When we fully understand the congregations we are working with, living with, etc., we can then work toward the future more effectively having grasped the past that has shaped us.
[1] Carl S. Dudley, ed., Giving Voice to Local Church: New Congregational Studies. The Christian Century, 1992. pg. 742.
In his article, Giving Voice to Local Churches: New Congregational Studies, Carl S. Dudley noted in 1992 that only recently had we begun to pay careful attention to the dynamics of the congregation as living communities with distinct identities and ways of doing things.[1] Faith takes form within the context of local communities. Often, congregations become so familiar with their own unique identity, that they are uniquely unaware to the very identity they possess. They come to believe that what they do is obvious, normal, unremarkable. The things that are often taken for granted in the the formation of a church, their progress and values usually come from events that unveil a much richer story than expected.
I pastored an independent Pentecostal Church that had been active for nearly 75 years. I became the seventh pastor of this church at the age of 27. The average age of my congregation was somewhere around 60. Needless to say, there was quite a generational gap and many of the things that I and my congregation valued were quite different. They had become very attached to certain objects within their church that had clearly not been changed or updated for many years. Whether this is right or wrong I won’t deal with now, but I began to notice that what they valued was formed by many years of memories and struggles that they had dealt with in the past. Lighting or seating that could easily be changed was a sensitive subject for them because when they purchased the seating or lighting, they had to scrape together every dime to do so.
The stories that the congregation offers will tell us much about who they are, and therefore we must listen attentively. How did it get started? Was it a church split or a church plant? How long has the congregation been active? Who has been the pastor or pastors, and for how long? What did they teach, what did they emphasize, what was their vision? All of these questions allow us to become sensitized to the thoughts and feelings of the local churches beliefs and commitments. Often these will not always be in line with scripture and this is why effective biblical teaching and practice is important to correct the culture and values that have been adopted by any congregation. When we fully understand the congregations we are working with, living with, etc., we can then work toward the future more effectively having grasped the past that has shaped us.
[1] Carl S. Dudley, ed., Giving Voice to Local Church: New Congregational Studies. The Christian Century, 1992. pg. 742.