committment

Israel Trip

Israel Day Four: Bethlehem

An earlier incomplete post was accidentally published. This is an updated post.

Today was a great day of visits and meetings. It was full of though provoking conversations with leaders.

Our first meeting was with Jack Sara the President of Bethlehem Baptist College. Jack is a Palestinian Christian and is an alum of the school. His perspective of education was through the lens of peace and transformation of the area. He talked about being imprisoned and beaten because of his work with churches and education.

As we sat in the newly built building, he told us how the school was created. With a vision of a Christian college in the area in 1971, a pastor responded joyously that he wanted to help it start with a donation. The pastor quickly gave $20. So with $20, the school was created. Jack is leading a community of Christians who are very hopeful that local people can be transformed through the hope of the Christian message. He also believes that mercy plays an important role in reconciliation conflict in Israel. Christians are a shrinking group in Israel but they are still leading the way for peace and transformation.

It is very reassuring that Baptists are leading the charge in transformational change and education in a place where Christians only make up 2% of the population. The school offers a BA, MA, a program for mass media, and a course of study in tourism guiding. A number of Muslims attend these programs and give people education for a career. Unemployment in Bethlehem is high. Jobs are tough to get.

Churches

Mega Church, Not So Mega Committment

Several news outlets, including the Associated Press and USA Today, are reporting today on a new study published by the the Hartford Ins titute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network that found some surprising trends in mega-churches. In the study they found:

Nearly two-thirds of megachurch attenders are under 45 years old, as compared to only one-third for all Protestant churches (62% vs. 35%).
Nearly a third of megachurch attenders are single, unmarried persons. In a typical church, singles account for just 10% of the congregation.
Megachurch attenders are both more educated and more affluent than attenders at other churches.
The majority of megachurch attenders are not necessarily new to Christianity but nearly a quarter had not recently been in another church before coming to a megachurch.
While newcomers almost always attend a megachurch at the invitation of family, friends or co-workers, the real attraction tends to be the church’s reputation, worship style and senior pastor.
Long-term attendance flows from an appreciation for the church’s music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.
45% of megachurch attenders never volunteer at the church, and 40 percent are not engaged in a small group, the mainstay of megachurch programming.

As I have commented in the past, mega churches are meeting a need and are leading to people to Jesus Christ. Two awesome things. However, this study of 25,000 people at 12 mega churches indicates that megachurch attenders volunteer less and give less money than people who attend typical Protestant churches, although megachurch-goers tend to be wealthier and better educated. This follows the greater cultural trend of people being less committed to things because of their other commitments. We are over committed and give less energy to our commitments. For megachurches, this is problematic because it shows that attendees are less commitment to the church and they are not commitment enough to their stewardship through tithing or giving. Mega churches draw in mega amounts of giving, so it leads me to believe that they can survive on less giving per member.

Israel Day Four: Bethlehem

Mega Church, Not So Mega Committment

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