this bjturk.commentary:
in God we trust

When we are in times of trouble or in need and we've temporarily lost our faith, we often turn to our chosen deity, be it God, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, or another. This normally entails a visit to our preferred house of worship, and that often restores our faith and enables us to go on. What, then, does one do when one's preferred house of worship itself loses its faith?

I attend a non-denominational Christian church in Mesa, Arizona. The name isn't really important. It is a large church, counting over four thousand families as regular attendees, and about four thousand formal "members." To meet the needs of its tremendous following, there are four services held each weekend in its vast sanctuary. It is a relatively wealthy church as well, and routinely takes in thousands of dollars in each week's offering. Further, it is a growing church, and has expanded considerably since its founding when it met in a movie theater, then a larger city-owned facility, and finally in its own church.

Each time that it has grown, it has relied on faith in the Lord and a belief that it was doing the Lord's work to ensure that the funds would be there. And each time, the funds were there. The members and attendees gave of themselves and their money to move the church into ever-larger facilities, then buy a church of its own, and then build an even larger campus to accommodate its growing membership, all while continuing to fund its ever-expanding ministries and overseas missions.

A few years ago, something changed. Rather than simply make a direct appeal to the membership for financial assistance to build the larger sanctuary in which to conduct services for its rapidly-growing congregation, the board considered paying a consulting firm tens of thousands of dollars to help the church raise funds for the construction and purchases of a great deal of surrounding property. An elder appealed to the board to place their faith in God. If God wants us to grow and if God wants us to do this, he reasoned, then the money would come no matter what the board did. The money that might have been spent on the consultants could instead be used to help finance the expansion.

Rather than trust God, as one might expect the board members of a church to do, the board instead voted to retain the consulting firm to help raise the money. After the meeting, several attendees approached the elder to tell him that they felt the same way that he did, yet none of them spoke in support of his opinion at the meeting. In protest and in disgust, he stepped down as an elder, despite having been a member of the church since its humblest of beginnings and a close associate of the senior pastor and his wife. The outcome of the fund-raising program was adequate to fund most of the construction, but contributions versus commitments were several hundred thousand dollars behind schedule by the time the new sanctuary was opened. The church continued to carry the debt long after the campaign ran its course.

Now, more construction is called for. The facilites for the children's church have become woefully inadequate. While the new sanctuary is more than large enough for the adults (it seats 2,000), the number of children attending with their parents has expanded dramatically. During some Sunday services, when the adult service is a packed house, classes have become so large that some classes must be held in the halls. In fact, the situation has become so extreme that there aren't even any more hallways in which to conduct classes. Every available space in all of the buildings is fully utilized. There is no more room, and the age of some of the facilites is such that it would cost too much to remodel them.

Once again, the board is paying consultants tens of thousands to help with this new campaign. This time, they've gone all-out to raise $8 million over three years against a projected total cost of a stunning $9.5 million. The church admits on its web site that it is still making payments on the $7 million cost of building the sanctuary that was to be paid for by the prior campaign. Maybe it's because of that experience, but the church is taking no chances on this effort. There are far more than the expected posters and appeals from the pulpit. There are T-shirts, a rally at a local baseball park, a Devotional Guide to help members decide how much (but not if) to give, a pamphlet listing and picturing Steering Committee members, "informational" meetings, direct telephone appeals, refrigerator magnets, parades of children through the adult services, sloganeering ("Not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice") and much more.

I am sensitive to the needs of the children's ministry, and am more aware of their situation than many at the church. I am a shepherd (teacher) for a group of children during the Saturday evening service. Technically, I suppose that makes me a Sunday School teacher, but on Saturday nights. I know first-hand that we need space, and I know first-hand that we need facilities, but I also know that God ulitmately chooses whether or not we will get any of those things. Not only is it out of our hands, but it was never in our hands to begin with.

I find it very difficult to support this fund-raising drive. I oppose it on principle rather than on merit. As much as I would like to see the church grow, I don't like the way my church is going about it. This church has been my spiritual foundation since I was married eleven years ago. That my church would look outside God to find a way to raise money for this construction project, which is already underway, causes me to question the strength of my own church's faith. How strong can anything be when built upon such an apparently-weak foundation?

* * * * * PLEASE NOTE * * * * *

What my church is experiencing should not be considered characteristic of churches in general, nor of Christian churches in particular. That I am disappointed is clear, but my faith has not wavered. If you are seeking a church, and trying to find the Lord's path in your life, I implore you to find a church and find the Lord for yourself. If you don't like that church, there are plenty more from which to choose.

There are good churches and bad churches, and there have been since Jesus' day. If you are seeking the Lord, don't let yourself be turned off and turned away by stories of misguided leadership or, for that matter, perverted clergy. They are the exception rather than the rule. Jesus can and will work in your life if you but open your heart to Him, accept Him as your savior, and seek his guidance. Great things happen in the name of the Lord!

April 12, 2001
Revised November 9, 2004

You'll always be broke if people don't pay you attention!
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