The Way We Do Things

The Way We Do Things Around Here

Have you ever been a stranger in a new place. It’s hard to get a feel for the culture. Moving from town to town in our Annual Conference, I have noticed that each town has it’s own feel. It’s hard to put into words what I am talking about, but I bet those of you that travel a lot know what I mean. One word that I use to describe this different feel is to say that each town I have lived in has its own culture. Each town has its own way of doing things. Some of those things are traditions that go back for decades. In Jasper, I always knew I could count on going to the town hall/fire department on Halloween night. Members of the fire department, the mayor and his wife, and other town dignitaries would be there and they would pass out candy and gifts and even run a metal detector over a child’s bag of candy (That is a sign of the times that I really don’t like.) I knew what it felt like to be in Jasper on Halloween.

Churches are a lot like towns. They are made up of groups of people with differing ideas, values, and goals. I believe that each church I serve has its own unique culture. In my first church, the Walland United Methodist Church, I knew that after the Wednesday night Bible Study, everyone would be heading into town to eat the buffet at Pizza Inn. In several of my churches, I knew that when fall came, it was time to get out the copper kettles to make apple butter. In other churches, there was a certain way in which worship was conducted and a certain way that you conducted yourself in worship. All of these kinds of things help to make up the culture of any local church.

Culture, tradition, and heritage are all important things for a church to have. However, we have to make sure that these things do not impair the growth of the church. Imagine what it is like for a first time visitor to our church. We say, “Hello” to them at the door. We put a bulletin in their hand. We help them find a seat. Then they are off on their own. There’s a good chance, they won’t know when to stand. They might not know the songs we sing. They might not be familiar with the order and flow of worship. The tings that we take for granted as common and everyday occurrences—the things that define our culture of worship—are totally foreign to the visitor.

One of the things that we are going to attempt to do in the months ahead is define our culture and design an aid—probably a DVD—that we can give to visitors to help them begin to understand who we are and how we do things and invite them to come and join with us as we all seek to get used to yet another culture—the culture of the Kingdom of God—we are all strangers in that culture, but we are seeking to learn more about it with each passing day.