Churches grow not because of how the people act inside the church doors, but how they act OUTSIDE the church doors.
Entertainment and good speakers don’t matter, and frankly, neither do outer demonstrations of reverence (postures, costume, gestures, etc.) and practice of ancient traditions. Anyone can put on a good show.
**What matters is what kind of Christians come out of the church and what they do in their daily lives. **
Are they holy? And do they demonstrate in their daily lives by their ACTIONS, not just their words, their deep and true love for Christ and for their fellow man?
I’m a convert to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism. Most of the churches I was involved in grew slowly and basically just maintained their numbers.
But at least two of the churches grew exponentially in a very short period of time. One of the churches actually doubled its numbers in just a few years.
The reason the church grew was because almost all of the members practiced an outgoing, active, practical LOVE, for the sake of Jesus, in our spheres of life.
We helped those who were in crisis. We helped the poor–we didn’t just give money to some organization, but we actually dug in and provided assistance. We took care of children for free and provided them with wonderful activities in and out of church. We visited the sick and brought meals to their families. We visited prisoners and provided them with whatever help they and their families needed. We provided good classes in not only religious topics, but also useful topics for teenagers. We had a lively and loving senior citizens group that sought out lonely elderly adults and brought them into the fellowship and gave them a new lease on life. We gave rides to people. We sponsored immigrants.
My husband and I were involved in a shepherding ministry and took young women in crisis pregnancies into our home. We didn’t have a fancy house by any means, but we opened our doors to those in need. We also gave housing to newly-arrived refugees from Viet Nam. And I took care of children for free of poor teenaged mothers so that they could finish high school. (I had two babies of my own at that time.)
Our pastor had been a missionary in Viet Nam throughout the Viet Nam war, and so he was recognized by all the news media in the city, and also by the university faculties (we had 18 colleges in our city) as an expert on Viet Nam–he spoke both Vietnamese and also one of the Montagnard languages. He was often a guest on local shows and panels about the war, and lots of people in the city knew him by sight. He was actively involved with helping Vietnamese and Montagnard refugees get settled and become self-sufficient in the United States.
Not all of the “good works” were so “big.” One of the families that ended up joining our church had experienced a terrible tragedy–both of the wife’s parents had died within 48 hours of each other (and they weren’t that old). Our church people went over to her house and helped with pretty much everything, including caring for her little ones while she made funeral arrangements. One of the things she said when she was giving testimony is that “God’s people even cleaned the nasty hair out of her shower drains!”
All of this sounds very organized, but it wasn’t. It was a spontaneous manifestion of the Holy Spirit’s work in Christians who allowed themselves to be used by God. It was amazing to be part of.
And it was astonishing how the church grew. Every week, dozens of people would show up, and when asked how they heard about the church, they would say, “I’ve seen how the people from this church love everyone, and I want to be part of that.” They would describe some loving action that someone they knew had done, and often, it was just some little thing (like the hair story), but it convinced them that this is where Jesus was to be found.
Yes, having great music in church is good. IMO, the Catholic Church excuses her ho-hum Mass music by clinging to the truth that we are the “Church that Jesus Christ founded” and that we offer Christ, Truly Present, in the Holy Mass." And that means that we don’t need that new-fangled good music, dag nabbit, because we’re not about entertainment, we’re about the Sacrifice of the Lord! And so there!
I disagree with part of that. Music is not entertainment, it’s prayer. And for the sake of Christ, Truly Present, Catholics should strive to have the BEST music, not be content with lackadaisical music in the Very Presence of the Christ. We’re just making an excuse for our musical mediocrity.
And good speakers are good, too. It’s too bad that more priests aren’t good homilists. But it’s amazing how people are willing to excuse a poor homilist IF he is a loving, kind, and generous man with a joyful countenance who obviously loves the Lord and other people. One of the priests in our city who died a few years ago attracted a huge crowd to his Masses, not because he was a good homilist, but because he literally gave away everything he had to the poor. His family (I know them) knew that any Christmas or birthday present that they gave him would be given away to someone else in need. THAT attracted a crowd at his parish!
It’s LOVE that grows a church. Music, good speakers, and other Mass extras do not attract people to church. What attracts people to church is when the Christians get down on their knees and clean hair out of shower drains and give their Christmas presents away to someone in greater need. We must LOVE our neighbors, not just with a “hi” and a wave, but with service and sacrifice.
When we do that, people will come to our churches because they will know that “that’s where Jesus is.”
I John 3: 16-19
I would never change to another religion–the Catholic Church is where I belong.
Our Lord, His Church are Our Reward, imo. You’re right-on. Maybe you can invite some of them to Mass, and tell them It’s Our Lord’s Last Supper Feast and Eucharist He told our Apostles to do In His Remembrance
Same here. It is The Lord Himself celebrating the Mass, and in Communion, Through the Priest; Not many know that.