Pursuit of the Normal Church

Author: Na T. Herr
Date: June 4, 2009

Introduction

I grew up in church often wondering what a normal church really looked like. The assumption was that MY church was abnormal. After all, we were a backward immigrant church trying to adapt to American culture and our new found faith. We struggled with with many problems like balancing the church budget or paying for youth camp. We could not afford our own building, so we rented space from a larger, more affluent congregation. Because they appeared more successful, we tried to emulate them, from their order of worship to their musical style. We tried and tried but somehow could never be like them. They continued to be the normal church, and we were the abnormal church in my mind. When I started exploring other churches and listening to their stories, I made a shocking discovery: they had the same problems. My church was more normal than what I had given it credit for.

So what is a normal church? A normal church is a community of believers who demonstrate God’s love in culturally relevant ways in its context. Often, churches at the margins try to mold themselves into those at the center. The result is usually a church unable to deal with the unique challenges of its context. In this paper, I will analyze two popular models of church, the five star church and the emerging church. The five star church is basically a seeker sensitive model. There are many strands and variety of emerging churches. The emerging church described in this paper is based on the book The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball.

The Five Star Church Model

The five star church is a church that provides the top level of service and comfort to its members. This terminology comes from the hotel world, where a five star hotel is one that provides the best experience possible for travelers. Stan Toler and Alan Nelson, in their book The Five Star Church, emphasize that God deserves our best.¹ For this reason, a church should always strive to improve itself. It should never settle for mediocre. There needs to be a culture of quality improvement.² When quality improvement is part of the culture, quality becomes second-nature. It all comes down to top-notch customer service.

A five star church gives its visitors a good first impression. First time visitors are more likely to come back if they received a good first impression. Ninety percent of visitors who come back a third time stay permanently at the church.³ Here is a scenario for why a visitor may get a bad impression. A single mother visits her aunt’s church. She gets lost because of a typo on the church website. Eventually, she gets to church but cannot find a parking spot. After parking several blocks away, she gets to the front door but finds it locked. She observes a small side door and enters through there. Once inside, she sees some people hanging around but no one greets her. She takes the initiative to introduce herself and asks where the nursery is so she can drop off her infant. She finds her aunt and goes to the sanctuary. During the worship service, she grows anxious after more than three hours had gone by. She can barely follow the preacher because of the faulty sound system. After service, she picks up her infant and leaves. No one notices her leaving. The church might actually be a great church with many committed believers, but from this woman’s first impression alone, she is unlikely to ever go back.

A critical part of quality improvement is gathering feedback.⁴ Surveys should be offered to members regularly and results should be acted upon immediately. A special tool to gather feedback is the secret church shopper. A secret church shopper is someone who visits the church anonymously. This shopper is not a member of the church. The shopper observes and makes note of different aspects of the church. Is the nursery clean? Does the pastor greet him or her personally? Secret shoppers are important because they notice flaws in the church that members otherwise would not, because they are so used to how things are.⁵ Toler and Nelson admit that a secret church shopper program may not work in some churches, because it can be offensive to some members, who see it as a breach of trust.⁶ If done correctly, it can be an extremely effective tool to gather quality feedback.

Quality also means spending money on the best possible equipment and facilities. In the parable of the talent, the servants who invested well and made profits received greater commendation from the master (Mt 25:14-30). “Financial stewardship is about getting the most possible for your investment.”⁷ A high-quality sound system may cost more initially, but in the long run, it will sound better and last longer than a cheap, low-quality system. The cost of repairing or replacing a low-quality system would end up costing the same as the high quality system.

Physical appearance goes beyond just looking good. One’s outward appearance often reflects one’s inner soul. “Our clothes, home and decorations all reflect what we value. More than ever, if we want to reach a secular society, we must elevate our curb appeal.”⁸ The theology of dressing up on Sunday has been a point of conflict in every church I have attended. Generally, the youth prefer casual wear (jeans and t-shirts), while older members of the church prefer formal wear (skirt for women, suit for men). Admittedly, the Bible is a little vague on what men and women should wear to church on Sunday. From a business perspective, formal wear generally give off a more positive impression.

Beyond the physical aspect, a five star church needs to have a quality staff. The problem is not a lack of qualified people, but rather, putting the right person in the right position. “The leader's job is to help people find the place of ministry that will best utilize their gifts, skills and passions.”⁹ A good leader finds a person’s spiritual gift and matches that person with the appropriate ministry. In most instances, talent should be given priority over loyalty.¹⁰ Just because someone has been in the choir for twenty years does not mean that person is ready to lead the music ministry. A good leader carefully selects a well-qualified person for the job. The excerpt below sums up well the five star church philosophy:

Our programs, services and ministry events are basically conduits to accomplish certain goals. If these goals are not being accomplished, then we’re merely playing church, pretending to be something we’re not...God calls no one to mediocrity. When we’re dealing with the eternal destiny of people and matters of the heart, we must not do “business as usual.” Nothing is more important the the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Sacrificing familiar ministries that are unproductive and making changes in personnel, equipment and style are at the core of Christianity.¹¹

The Emerging Church Model

The emerging church is a reaction to the five star or seeker sensitive church. In the five star church, crosses are taken down and stained glass windows replaced. Worship service is designed to be quick and efficient. Music and drama ministries meet professional standards. Megachurches owe their success to the five star model. The only problem is that younger people are not drawn in.¹² Dan Kimball identifies the root cause of this problem as postmodernism. Postmodernism is “an emerging and developing worldview and culture pursuing what is beyond modernity. It holds there is no single universal worldview. Therefore truth is not absolute and many of the qualities embraced by modernism no longer hold the value or influence they once did.”¹³ We live in a postmodern and post-Christian era. Postmodernism has penetrated every institution in the United States, from education to music to business. As a result, many young people have grown up with little or no knowledge of Christianity. They often carry distorted views of Christianity and may resent Christianity. When these young people grow up, they will have no Christian heritage to look back to.¹⁴

In postmodernism, all religions are equal. All paths lead to God or a god of some sort. “What is interesting is that most people in the emerging culture have no problem believing in a ‘God.’ But this ‘God’ is pieced together from a mix of world religions and various personal beliefs.”¹⁵ Postmoderns often act in contradictory ways. For example, popular music artists routinely dehumanize or demonize people in their songs, yet offer thanks to God for their success.

A relational approach to evangelism is necessary for emerging postmodern generations, because they are disillusioned about Christianity. Many have bad experiences with Christians and the church. It is necessary to reintroduce Jesus to them. “We need to rebuild trust and point to Jesus as the one who can always be trusted.”¹⁶ No matter how resentful a person may be of Christianity, Kimball reminds us of Pascal’s immortal statement: “There’s a God-shaped vacuum in every man that only God can fill.”¹⁷

This generation yearns for genuine spiritual experiences. These young people have heard many claims to truth. They want to experience real truth. The emerging church seeks to fill this void. An emerging church needs to be intentional about creating a sacred space for worship. Kimball prefers dark mood lighting over bright lighting, which is preferred by megachurch pastors like Rick Warren. “In the emerging church, darkness represents spirituality. We see this in Buddhist temples, as well as Catholic and Orthodox churches. Darkness communicates that something serious is happening.”¹⁸ To keep the focus on Christ, the worship band or choir should be in the back. Church attendees should participate rather than spectate.¹⁹ They are given opportunities to participate in various ways. Kimball borrows from ancient Christian traditions. The church should provide indulgences for all five senses: taste, smell, sight, touch, and hearing. Communion provides opportunity to taste. This practice is already present in most churches. Kimball suggests making it more involved by having people actually leave their seats to partake.²⁰ Evangelical churches tend to have very passive communion services where people sit in their pews and wait for the communion tray to come. Burning incense appeals to the sense of smell. Bringing back visual elements, such as crosses and stain glass imagery, provides food for the eyes. In some emerging churches, members paint during the church service.²¹ Because it may be too expensive to produce stained glass products, Kimball suggests projecting religious images onto the screen.²² Clapping and singing together contribute to the senses of touch and hearing. Finally, one must not underestimate the power of silence. People today are exposed to constant media bombardment and loud noise. They desire a quiet space for spiritual reflection and meditation.²³

Kimball also makes an important point in noting that churches need to create more opportunities for families to worship together. All too often, churches become the spiritual caretakers of children. Their parents hand them off to church staff while they worship in a separate room. Kimball suggests having children stay in service at least for the first portion of the program. Children should also be invited to read Scripture verses and sing in the worship band.²⁴

Preaching in the emerging church is different from preaching in the modern church. Kimball likens the distinction to what the Apostle Paul did in Acts 17. When Paul was preaching to Jews, he used Scripture and proved that Christ was indeed the Messiah. When he was preaching to Greeks, he started by acknowledging that they were spiritual people. Then he went back to the beginning of how God created everything.²⁵ Likewise, in the modern church, most church-goers are familiar with Judeo-Christian stories and values. One need not explain or deconstruct ideas like gospel or Armageddon. In the emerging church, these terms need to be descontructed and redefined. Furthermore, in the modern church, “preaching takes place within the church building during a worship service. In the emerging church, a lot of the preaching takes place outside of the church building in the context of community and relationship.”²⁶

Evangelism is radically changed as well. Typically, evangelism targets what Kimball calls pre-Christians—people who have not heard of Christianity before. In today’s world, there are many more post-Christians than pre-Christians. Post-Christians are those who have encountered Christianity in one way or another and have decided against it. Evangelism in the emerging church is decidedly discipleship-based and not entertainment-based. In the modern church, evangelists organize large events with big bands and flashy videos. People come to Christ at these events, but when they go to a real church which usually does not have the big bands and flashy videos, they get disappointed and fall out fast. Evangelism must be accompanied by discipleship and community. It is the job of all members in the church. “A church does not need a missions department if its people think of everyone in the church as being on a mission, both locally and globally.”²⁷

Critical Analysis

Before analyzing the two models of church presented above, I would like to define what the church is. The term church is translated from the Greek ekklesia, which means “the called out ones.” Furthermore, ekklesia is used to translate the Hebrew qahal, which usually refers to God’s covenant people (Israel in the OT).²⁸ God’s covenant people today is the church. There are three aspects to the church. First, it is the nation of God, a holy priesthood of all believers who have unmediated access to God. Second, it is the body of Christ that exists to do the will of Christ. Third, the church is the temple of the Spirit, where the Spirit resides.²⁹

The church is the sign of the Kingdom of God, which is both present and not yet. Stanley Grenz writes that “the kingdom of God comes as that order of peace, righteousness, justice, and love that God gives to the world.”³⁰ The power of the kingdom is at work in the church today. “What the church is, in short, is determined by what the church is destined to become. And the church is directed toward the destiny God intends for humankind—participation in the consummated reign of God.”³¹ As the eschatological covenant community, the church is called to the ministry of reconciliation. However, reconciliation extends beyond healing our relationship with God. Grenz reminds us that “it extends as well to the healing of all relationships—to ourselves, to one another, and to nature.”³²

The five star church seems to focus only on reconciliation to God. There is not a lot of attention paid to reconciliation among people groups. As Dan Kimball notes, the five star seeker sensitive church has a mentality that “if you build it, they will come,”³³ regardless of their race, culture, class, or gender. The emerging church, on the other hand, is built on the ministry of reconciliation among human beings. It targets specific social groups and reconciles them through relationships and discipleship. However, the scope of its ministry is limited.

My main critique of the emerging church is that it focuses too much on spiritual experience at the expense of preaching. It almost seems like the emerging church is a Protestant version of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Dan Kimball mentions incense and liturgy often in his description of the ideal emerging church. The Eastern Orthodox church has been using incense and liturgy for over a thousand years.

The five star church runs the risk of turning into a full-blown business. As a business, the pastor becomes CEO. The church focuses more on profits and physical growth instead of spiritual growth. More money is spent on comfort and image than on actual ministry. The church becomes a vendor of goods and services. These are very real risks involved in a five star church. Business professionalism is great and all, but it seems to come at the expense of spirituality.

Both models are necessary for their specific purpose. The five star church appeals to modern thinkers. The emerging church appeals to postmodern thinkers. As such, both models are important and valid. They are culturally relevant in their context. However, I would argue that the five star model is more robust than the emerging model. The five star model targets a whole range of people, regardless of race, culture, class, and gender. Therefore, it has potential to reach postmodern thinkers as well. In the five star model, the ongoing goal is to improve quality of service. It is open to new ways of doing ministry in order to improve. The emerging model is targeted toward a specific group of people, namely postmoderns, and may never reach other groups. But that is a minor critique, because the emerging model is the most capable of reaching postmoderns. Today, postmoderns make up a large segment of the unreached.

Personal Reflection

As I pursue the normal church, I become more aware of the fact that no church is truly normal. Each denomination has its vision of the normal church. In Veli-Matti Karkkainen’s book, Introduction to Ecclesiology, he presents different perspectives of church from all traditions. Each theologian has his view of what the normal church should look like in his tradition. While this paper has focused on free church models, there are other models, i.e. Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, etc. It is unwise for any church to seek “normal” status by emulating churches at the center of their denomination. I believe all churches are better off focusing on their specific and unique context. It is healthy to borrow ideas from other churches, but it is unhealthy to emulate them everything they do. Jung Young Lee reminds us that marginality is not necessarily a bad thing.³⁴

My church would struggle as a five star church because we have few business people in our congregation. Most of our members work in low level immigrant jobs. They would not understand why business principles are being applied in the church. The secret church shopper idea would tear the church in half. Furthermore, the individualistic tendency of the five star church would not bode well in my church, because we are very community-oriented in our culture. Whereas the five star church prefers talent over loyalty, my church prefers loyalty over talent.

My church would also struggle as an emerging church. The younger generation might appreciate new spiritual experiences like meditation and burning incense. The older generation, on the other hand, already have more spiritual experiences than any emerging church can provide. They have been battling spiritual forces ever since they were born. Spiritual warfare is real and alive in the lives of all older Hmong people. Most of them converted to Christianity in the context of spiritual warefare. Many faced intense spiritual resistance prior to conversion and baptism.

Even though my church can never become a five star or emerging church, I feel there are important principles in both models that can contribute positively to our ministries. As mentioned earlier, the younger generation in our church who grew up in the States would benefit from emerging spirituality. We have the same problem of young people leaving the church, much like every other evangelical church in America. Certainly the lack of experiential worship contributed to this. As a Hmong church, we are very community-oriented. However, we are also a Baptist church, which means we do evangelism in a very individualistic manner. We would benefit greatly from the emerging approach to evangelism, which emphasize relationships and discipleship over large one-time events. The five star value of quality improvement is something every church should have. Gathering feedback and implementing changes to improve quality of facilities, programs, and services are key to sustaining a vibrant church.

Conclusion

A normal church is a community of believers who demonstrate God’s love in culturally relevant ways in its context. Saddleback Church has a model that works for them in Orange County, California. Likewise with Solomon’s Porch in downtown Minneapolis. My church is a Hmong immigrant church. It would be disastrous for us to emulate Saddleback or Solomon’s Porch. These two churches seem more normal than ours, but normalcy should not be our goal. It is OK to stay at the margins. They probably see themselves as churches on the margins as well. Our focus should be on our people and our context. We can borrow ideas from others when necessary, but we should never try to emulate them.

Endnotes

 Bibliography

Grenz, Stanley J. Theology for the Community of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.

Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. An Introduction to Ecclesiology. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2002.

Kimball, Dan. The Emerging Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

Lee, Jung Y. Marginality. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.

Toler, Stan and Alan Nelson. The Five Star Church. Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1999.