In week 1 I attended a church service in the same church building where I went to services as a child. This week I venture further out in my town to visit the congregation that left that building to build a bigger campus on the outskirts of our fair city.
Why do churches move out of their neighborhoods? What statement does it make? From the church’s perspective I suspect that it reveals their vision is larger than their neighborhood. Since America has very mobile citizens who have the means of traveling from one side of town to the other, churches can target a whole city with their vision and don’t have to be limited to the current size of their building or neighborhood. Prime real estate for a church is very little different than for a shopping center or strip mall; growth is all about location, location, location.
Of course bigger buildings, with people driving from miles around requires vast amounts of asphalt for parking lots- another reason our churches need bigger acreage. There wasn’t enough room in the old location for all the vehicles. But something to remember is that when the church was located on the neighborhood corner, people could actually walk there.
At least to me it seems that when a church moves into a neighborhood and makes the focus of their attention the people in their immediate vicinity, community has great potential. The neighbors might actually get the idea that the church is there for them. Unfortunately that message can get easily lost when the church moves out of the area. Though the church may try to communicate that they exist for the people (and may honestly believe that sentiment), when the church makes decisions that are centered on their own vision, people learn that they are expected to make themselves available for the church.
I have to be honest and admit that I’ve had more conversations about our church’s parking lot and whether or not we needed a Disneyland trains to get people into the sanctuary than I’ve ever had about our immediate neighbors. Hell, I don’t even know their names.
I don’t suppose the folks at church #3 who moved away will remember mine either.
