the boutique church

the baby boomers, many from the early days of the jesus movement, helped found, establish, build, fund, etc the recent phenomenon known as the mega-church movement wherein churches in this country have grown numerically much larger than previously thought possible. the results are a variety of large, multi-thousand member churches which are doing great things in their respective communities. i've had the honor at serviing with several churches that fit this description and can and will testify to the effectiveness of these churches.
the question that arrises is, what is next?
for the baby boomers and the next generation down.
will they stay involved with these large churches or do those churches primarily minister best to single adutls (who can connect with other single adults) couples with children, (who can find great children and teen programs for their kids), single parents (who find incredible personal support as well as the aforementioned great programs for their children) and multi-generational families who live in close proximity and can attend church together, grandparents, parents, children, etc.
what of the empty nester couples who no longer need the exemplary children and teen programs? will they continue involvement with the mega-church or look for something different.
i think many will seek something different.
the mega-church is similar to the big box stores where a consumer is able to find everything desired under one roof, and at affordable prices. i think empty nester couples are going to begin looking for boutique churches; smaller fellowships with incredibly creative, diverse music, inspiring messages and worthwhile opportunities to support and serve others, but without the mad dash from theme park size parking lots.
for those of you ministering at small churches, your time is coming and perhaps has already arrived. but you will need to offer creative, high quality music and messages.
mega-churches will continue, because they offer something small churches cannot, and there are still huge numbers of people who need and want the mega-church experience.
one does not cancel the other. god is at work in churches large and small.
it is time, though for small churches to begin improving their quality and be ready for the rush of empty nesters who will begin walking through your doors. most of them are already christians, already tithers, and already willing to volunteer time, but you need to be ready because if you're not, they will move down the street until they find a boutique church that is ready.

t-shirts to polos

once upon a time a young man lived and ministered in a place called the jesus house. in said house he had several closets. one of these closets contained a shelf upon which young man neatly (most of the time) folded and stacked his assortment of t-shirts. these t-shirts were a nice accompanyment to said youn man's normal attire of jeans, jeans, and cut-off jeans. on special occasions he doned a sport coat that correctly matched the jeans and t-shirts. (sure he was known to wear an occasional suit, but this is the t-shirt blog). the t-shirt normally proclaimed special days, events, and other assorted universal spiritual truths; i.e. sonshine music festival, muster weekend, conglomerate weekend, adamsfishodor reunion tour (four of them!), french lick retreat, and many other too numerous to remember. for cold weather, the t-shirts were covered by sweatshirts proclaiming some of the same messages but also announcing the various colleges and universities the young man was known to visit for the purpose of speaking or performing a concert. (the young man learned that in addition to a love offering, a free meal and place to sleep most campus ministires were happy to include a school sweatshirt as part of the honorium so it became part of the contract!)

fast forward several years and young man, now older, still has a few t-shirts but now finds that the closet includes many polo shirts. most with addornment of various churches, ministries, schools and/or retreats. there was a time when said young man would not have worn these polos. has the world gotten fancier or has the young man, now older, moved into a new life stage. admittedly, the t-shirts do not look as nice. they fit tighter around the middle! o from what hights the mighty have fallen!