Mega Church ReMix - Rev. Magazine

12,000 member "Community Church of Joy" is having to reinvent itself...

After years of epitomizing the "seeker sensitive" approach to church growth and creating a massive edifice, the church finds itself at a crossroads and increasingly ineffective in reaching the unchurched.

What's lacking is substance despite the size.

In a humble move to deepen the spirituality of the church, CCOJ turns to the form pastor of "St. Tom's" in Sheffield, England... a church built on radically different assumptions about how the Body of Christ functions.

“I discussed [the idea of a successor] with other pastors across the country. But it was in Washington, D.C. that I felt the ground shaking all around me. ‘Why would anyone want your church?’ a pastor there responded. ‘Anyone who is serious about ministry today does not want to be stuck raising money for maintaining buildings and mortgages. They want to be on the cutting edge of making a difference.’

As hard as it was to hear, I knew what he had just said was right.”Kallestad slowly became certain that the church-growth methods he knew, wrote about in his doctorate, and used to build a megachurch, weren’t working anymore—not even cutting-edge methods of entertainment evangelism. “In our zeal to attract seekers, we became very presentational,” he said. “We believed no one wanted to give anything, no one wanted to sing anything, no one wanted to be known—all of the ‘seeker principles.’ In my spirit, I knew that the old principles and practices, including those for seekers, weren’t working. And I was dying inside.”

In an ironic providence, CCOJ may be returning in some fashion to elements of its Lutheran heritage which were sacrificed as not "seeker sensitive". It would be easy to criticize CCOJ for "throwing the baby out with the bath water". Instead, let us thank God that Pastor Kallestad has assembled such a large number of seekers. Now may God give the church grace to see seekers transformed into catechumens and disciples. And may we have grace to do the same.

May God bless all those devoted to the renewal of Christ's Church.

+Chuck