Al Lind, Parksville, BC

1. Welcoming: This is key whether it be in the parking lot, inside the doors, inside the sanctuary, after the close of the service, coffee hour etc.

2. Homilies/Sermons: These must be clear, relevant, and totally prepared. They should not be read verbatim but instead with as much spontaneity and passion as possible.

3. Music: There should be ample choice allowing for certain kinds of music to be available for different services or age groups. Parishioners should be encouraged to sing as it creates a joyful, celebratory, and engaging element of the service itself.

4. Christ centered: The service should focus on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the light of the world. Lets us start by “Examining the Resurrection with Records and Credibility “so we are better equipped to face our family, friends and strangers with evidence of the GOOD NEWS! Our living out our faith must come from our words and actions when we are either at work or play.

5. Education: If we are to “go into the world and share the gospel”, we in the Church today must learn the fundamentals so we can share the good news with those outside the church. We can do this with groups such as high quality bible studies, Christian book studies, Alpha courses, an apologetics courses, etc. It is important to note that these studies must have highly trained leaders such as pastors of the church.

6. Mission and Outreach: There are different ways to accomplish this depending on the size of the congregation. The mission can be local, regional, national, or overseas or any combination of these expressions. The projects can be administered within the church or by way of financial support for an outside Christian organization. If it is an outside organization, the congregation must maintain a critical eye on the project!

7. Developing Community Within: The church community itself can be strengthened by developing congregational luncheons, breakfasts, coffee hours following services, church maintenance days for gardens and buildings, gatherings to attend local musical events and excursions.

8. Communication: Healthy churches are not dysfunctional organizations! Dysfunctional churches tend to be insular and closed, in denial, secretive and non-transparent. Healthy organizations have completely the opposite characteristics of dysfunctional ones. They are open, desiring to receive honest feedback, refusing to live in denial, and are transparent!

9. Develop and engage a Strong and Meaningful Youth Program: Most churches in North America today are dominated by the grey haired parishioner! They tend to have money, knowledge and likely involvement in leadership decisions.

Today, these are the ones who keep our churches afloat! This unfortunately is not sustainable without developing and engaging our youth to participate in these important decision-making and leadership roles. Developing such youth leaders is so important. They should be young and energetic with a love for Jesus Christ. “WHO” will occupy the pews in ten years time! And in ten years time, will we even have a church parish itself existing at that time?

Respectfully submitted by Al Lind, a concerned Christian
St. Columbia Presbyterian Church, Parksville, B.C.

(See Gerald Archibald’s Column titled ‘The Way Forward for a Troubled Church’)