Local pastors discuss the church’s place in a changing culture
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JACKSON, Tenn. — For hundreds of years, people have gathered to worship, but experts say about 75 percent of churches in the United States are declining in membership. As culture changes, the way leaders are attracting people to the Gospel is also changing, but is there a point where church is no longer church? In the Bible Belt, a church meets on nearly every street corner, each with its own challenges in the 21st century. Some will be dressed in suit and tie while others will come casual, but those are just the first differences to meet the eye. “The challenges pastors get in the modern world are the same and totally different than they used to be,” Highland Park Pastor Paul Riddle said. Everyone has had a different experience with what “church” means. “They stopped, literally, and said, ‘I don’t know if I can come through the doors. I think the walls might fall down,’ and for other people that space is a place of hope,” said Jeff Brown, pastor at Skyline Church of Christ. This means everyone is in a different place with different feelings about church. “You can’t move people quicker than they want, but you have to continue to plant seeds,” the Rev. Dr. Russell Morrow at Forest United Methodist Church said. Everyone comes for different reasons. “Some come for the music. Some for the socialization, and some come for the Word of God,” Pastor Charles Robinson at Devout Temple Holiness Church said. Some churches are taking a more progressive approach to getting people in their doors. “When you do church like people did in 1960, that’s the thing, if you did business like you did in 1960, it wouldn’t work today, but people have a hard time recognizing that in the church world,” Pastor Ronnie Coleman at Soul Quest Church said. “We try to listen to what people are saying from a consumer standpoint,” Jeremy Brown at Journey Church said. “Because the truth is that’s what they’re looking for, and that’s what will help them — take them where they are, and it’ll help us give them the opportunity to take a next step away from that.” Is there a line the outside world shouldn’t cross? It’s something pastors said they often consider. “Is this something God would have us do today? Is it Biblical, and most importantly is it effective?” Pastor Riddle said are the questions he asks. It’s about investing in people, not traditions or depending on a particular denomination. “That’s the problem with church and tradition,” Riddle said. “It’s not the tradition itself, it’s the lack of understanding the tradition, and maybe holding onto it too tightly when it’s no longer needed or effective.” “People get so tied down to a denomination that they can’t see themselves in a true relationship with other Christians,” Morrow said. Some changes in today’s church include a tech-savvy congregation. “Instead of turning in our Bibles, a lot of people pull out their phones now, and I’m OK with that,” Riddle said. “We provide WiFi for that very reason in the worship center.” But leaders say it depends on the members. “A good old-fashioned bulletin will put the words on paper, and all you have to do is pick it up and read it,” Morrow said. Although the tech world poses the potential for distraction, leaders want it to be a helpful tool that engages people. But still, they say their people are the best advertising campaign. “99.99 percent of the time, it’s one of two things — it’s a friend or it’s social media,” Coleman said. And it’s the people who are the reason for the church in the first place. “If church is just the place you go, then it’s also the place you leave,” Jeff Brown of Skyline Church of Christ said. As churches continue to plant locations across West Tennessee, each says there’s a unique method for a message that stays consistent. At the end of the day, it’s not a competition for members. “I think one of the opportunities we have as pastors is, what if we cooperated more than we competed?” Brown said. Church leaders said they’re working together through events such as Praise in the Park, which was held last October in Jackson. These events bring people out into the community. “If our efforts can be united, I think that’s a beautiful picture of what the church is supposed to be,” Riddle said. These leaders are reaching out to community members who need a church home and don’t believe in the Word of God. “I think the mission of the church — not Journey Church, the church in general — should be to storm the gates of hell with squirt guns and bring back as many hostages as possible,” Jeremy Brown said. “I have no desire to sit around and think that one day I should die and to think there was something else I could have done.” Church leaders said their churches are at different places in their growth. Those such as Skyline, Forest Heights and Highland Park have been around since the 1960s, while others such as Soul Quest and Journey Church have come into West Tennessee over the past few years. In Madison County alone, there are about 150 registered churches.
