Accommodating New Realities
a pastoral change and post-COVID fatigue bumped them out of that church. These are some of the “religious dones” we read about. They are done with the Sunday event but active in ministry and hungry for fellowship.
The couple in question lead an extremely informal Gen-Z microchurch. Their former pastor decided“You should keep your tithe; it no longer belongs to our church…”
A wise pastor recently uttered those words to a couple who quit attending but mailed their tithes out of loyalty to Jesus and their former congregation.
No, they hadn’t moved to another city. A combination of that their tithe should fund pizza, pancakes and disciplemaking materials.
Did I mention that both are in their upper 60s? The church of a dozen young people takes the form of lots of food, Gen-Z youth traipsing in and out of their home at all hours, along with Sunday mornings spent in the Bible around breakfast.
That leader wisely admitted that he was no longer their pastor; he adapted to reality and accommodated to the needs of these fruitful saints.
Albert Einstein said, “A man should look for what is and not for what he thinks should be.” Wise words!
The word accommodate means “to provide with something desired, needed, or suited.”
This guy accepted what is rather than what he desired, then proceeded to accommodate reality by directing funds to a house church led by his former members. In doing so, he became both a hero and a network leader.
I’ve spent time with several longtime friends in the past few days. One of them described a dinner gathering as the “scattered sheep of Israel. These people used to worship together. A leadership change splintered their former congregation, but COVID put the nail in the coffin for all of them. They simply no longer feel interested in a ninety-minute spectator event each weekend.
All love Jesus. Each is part of a different loose-knit fellowship of believing friends—too loose by my standards.
It is the “too looseness” that we must address.
One lady attends a woman’s Bible study, off-and-on. Meanwhile, she shepherds several other women via email and an occasional lunch date.
Another couple meets monthly with friends they know from a small group they used to attend. One man remains in contact with former members of their Christian rock band.
Still, another family attends a small megachurch while waiting for the release to start a home group—that church is weak in that area, and the pastor isn’t responsive to their willingness to serve.
So, what’s to be done?
A forward-looking shepherd will see opportunity while others wring their hands.7
Accommodative leadership won’t waste energy struggling to lure people back to something that no longer interests them. Instead, an adaptive leader could organize what is into what ought to be.
Helping Jesus-loving lost sheep circle their wagons could accomplish three things:
- Instant multiplication—nudging people from loose fellowship into agenda-driven circles of fellowship is another way to describe multiplying microchurches.
- Freedom to grow—removing the “return to church” monkey from your back will free you to focus on making disciples who are truly your disciples. Church growth will naturally follow.
- The power of the Acts 2 playbook—adapting to and understanding the behaviors of former attendees will probably help you shift from a spectator-oriented event to a more organic large-group experience on Sundays.
Do you see similar situations that might be turned into gospel opportunities? We’d enjoy your comments…