Preparing for Discussion - Church: An Imperfect Family

This week's video challenged us to think about why we go to church and what the church really is. Naturally then, the first question to ask ourselves is why do we go to church? Why do YOU go to church? Have you had periods of time in your life when you have chosen not to attend church? Why or why not? Where do your ideas of what church is and what it should or shouldn't be come from?

A 2007 gallup survey gives us some interesting information about church attendance in the United States. Check it out here: Just Why Do Americans Attend Church?

There is a strong relationship between age and church attendance, with older Americans much more likely to attend than younger Americans. There is a strong gender effect, with women of all ages more likely than men to attend. There are region-specific effects, with residents of Southern states and of Utah much more likely to attend than New England or West Coast residents. There is a race effect, with black Americans much more likely to attend church services on average than white Americans. And there is an effect within specific religious denominations, with members of evangelical non-Catholic Christian denominations and Mormons more likely to attend than those who identify with traditional mainline Protestant denominations.

Another interesting article on church attendance can be found here: Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple, Open the Doors and... This article is cited in the facilitator guide and references the nursery rhyme on p111 of the journal book.

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

How do you feel about Bruce Reyes-Chow's statement on page 105 of the journal book, " Whether new to the church, a longtime member, or even the pastor - there are times when not being part of a church seems like the best option for expressing and living one's faith." Does that ring true for you?

Pages 104 & 105 of the journal book ask us to write on both sides of a scale the pros and cons of attending church. Take some time to write those things down for yourself.

How does Hebrews 10:23-31 speak to our need to meet together in community? What is the role of church community, according to this passage? Why does the author encourage people to continue meeting together?

Further explore WHAT the church is intended to be using these passages:
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 Corinthians 14: 1-5, 26
Ephesians 4:11-16

How do church buildings contribute to how we view the church? Look at the drawings on pages 110-111 of the journal book of different types of church buildings? How does the building contribute to how we understand church? What does it communicate about who is welcome, who has authority, and what role the church plays in the community?  For extra credit, imagine how you would design a church building! :) What would be different and what would be the same as your current church building?

Bruce Reyes-Chow mentions a number of metaphors for the church: social club, classroom, sporting event, theater, hospital... Why are the pros and cons of each metaphor? Look up these scriptures for more metaphors (listed on p111of the journal):

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
John 15:5
Ephesians 5:25-27
Matthew 18:20
Ephesians 2:17-22

What metaphors appeal to you most? What about church as family? In what ways does the church resemble family for you? Has the church been a place of love and support? Of mess and dysfunction? Both? What would your ideal church family look like (see p112 of the journal book)?

It has been said that you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family? In what ways does this apply to church as family? Do you think it ought to apply more? We do have the ability to choose our church, but that seems to have led to a lot of division within the church. It is said that there are over 41,000 Christian denominations around the world (wikipedia). What if we treated church more like family? How would that change things?