Church

I'm still working my way through my notes from Bishop Carder's book, Living our Beliefs. Read this quote from Chapter 9:

The church is treated as another voluntary organization that people join as they do a civic club or a political party. Loyalty is measured by frequency of attendance, payment of pledges, service on committees and participation in activities. The church is considered to be something we belong to rather than someone we are. Membership and participation are viewed as optional, depending upon personal preferences and satisfaction. The church, then is seen as another institution among many institutions competing for our times, energy, and financial resources. Its distinctiveness as a called people of God committed to being a sign, foretaste and instrument of God’s presence and power is lost amid institutional survival and personal satisfaction.

How do we measure the success of a church? Do we use the same criteria that we use to measure the success of a civic club? At Rotary today, we talked about a membership drive. The hope is that we can recruit 25 new members so that the club's vitality continues into the future. Do we have the same goal for the church? Do we recruit new members to maintain our budget? Our roles? Or do we have a higher calling?

Are we a choice among choices for financial giving, for volunteer services?

Or are we something else? Is church something outside of who we are, or is church something that we are?