Frustration... venting about a church

(Beware, this is long.)

I have this urgent feeling in my heart today. We are on our way back to Denver from Gillette and I have to say, I left there very, very disturbed. We went to church at First Baptist this morning and I felt like I was watching my beloved home church fall apart right in front of me.

I remember the church when I was young. It was so vibrant and full of life. There was an average attendance of 150 people. Members were joining the church by leaps and bounds. Children and adults were being saved and baptized as believers in Christ. Today there were about 50 people in the church, and I truthfully cannot say that I want to go back to that church. I just want to cry because I know that anyone who may be looking for a church could go in there and be repelled almost immediately.

The first thing that would repel the majority of people is the fact that the so called “praise” songs are sung along to a cd. Not an accompaniment cd, no a CD, as if you were riding in your car singing along to the radio. Then, during the “praise” songs, there is a noisy racket produced by the children on stage. The children of the church are invited up to play tambourines and drums along with the songs. The problem is, the children are not taught how to play these instruments in any kind of rhythm so it is just a racket. Seriously, I cannot concentrate on the music because of the noise.

Along with that, the church has put in a great new sound system. This system could be amazing, if it was operated correctly. The people who run the sound turn up the system so loud that frequently I have had to plug my ears. I sang in church a while back and I moved all the mics to the side of the stage because I felt that I did not need any amplification. The church is fairly small, has great acoustics, and I was singing a loud song. No one would have had trouble hearing me. However, with all the mics to the side and me standing in the middle of the stage, the mics were still picking me up. I have heard the pastor whispering to the deacon next to him a lot because the mics are turned up so loud and so is the speaker.

Today, I sang two songs. I decided to use the mic, just so I could control the volume of my voice going through the system. I shouldn’t have to worry about the sound and blowing out the system. But I seriously felt like I would blow someone’s ear out. Dynamics are produced by the instrument, in this case, my voice, and if I can’t do anything but LOUD I cannot convey my message correctly.

There is another thing that could run anyone away from this church. They have a video screen hanging on the wall. They moved the pulpit from one side of the church to the other so the screen would be behind the pulpit. The church is extremely lopsided now. The pulpit, the organ, and the piano are all on the same side now! It looks bad. I know looks shouldn’t matter, but in reality they can make or break a church. Seriously! The other problem with the screen is that it is not correctly used. The sermon today was on prayer. Great! I heard about half of it, because in the middle, the picture on the screen started changing and changed constantly for the rest of the sermon. About every 3 seconds. I couldn’t concentrate on more than one thing, so I caught very few words. I agree that screens are great, but they need to be used correctly.

I have to say with all the distractions, I got absolutely nothing out of the service. I was not worshiping God, I was trying to keep my sanity. I pity that church greatly. I really believe that they are running people of before they can bring them in.

Not only are they running off new people, they are running off all the current members too. Chris and Della Amend used to attend every single Sunday. I have not seen them for about 2 years. The Hitt’s have not been in attendance either. I think there are a few stubborn people that are just going because that is where their church “home” is and not because they really get anything out it. I remember my aunt and uncle and their two kids tried going to the church for a while, and left because it just did not suit their needs.I know that I would NOT attend that church if I lived in Gillette. I am sure that is what many my age feels also.

I feel bad because I know there are so many people in Gillette that do not know Christ and do not have a church home. FBC would be a wonderful place for many of those lost souls to find Christ, but they are just about to ruin themselves beyond the point of no return. People looking for a church will go somewhere else because they can leave the service without a headache. I am very frustrated because I know it is just a few people that are “controlling” the church and they make the decisions and the church as a whole—all 50 or so of them—doesn’t speak up for what is right and what would help this church.

Unfortunately I do not see this church lasting more than 4-5 more years. Those people that are making all the decisions for the church are going to run off all of those people that do not agree with them, then there are only going to be a few people left. A church cannot last that that many people.

A church is supposed to be a group of people coming together to worship God. Inevitably, there will be conflict. However, a church guided by God can and should come out of the conflict a strong and wiser church. It does not mean that the parties in conflict have to agree, but they should agree to disagree. There should be an urgent need to reach out to those who do not know God. They should be working on ministering to those who need Christ and not working on destroying themselves.

After 2 years of running people off, shouldn’t a church re-evaluate what they are doing and try something different. If there was success at one point in a churches life, a church should revisit that successful time and see what they were doing right. I understand that times have changed, but the fundamental purpose of the church shouldn’t have changed. There are a lot of people out there that do not like the new “style” of worship and would like a more traditional way of doing things. But there are those who want the more contemporary “style.” A balance needs to be obtained for the purpose of helping all those who want worship do it in their way.

Worshiping is not only about the music in a church. So many—so many—believe that music is the only way to worship God. Prayer is probably one of the most important ways to worship the Lord. Reading, listening to, and learning from the Word of God is also a very important way to worship. Each of these things, including music, should work in harmony to produce a worship service that acknowledges differences, yet accepts them, and works to try and win lives for the Lord.

The other thing that has disturbed me about the church is the lack support from its members. I am not taking monetarily. I do not know those figures. I am talking about “spiritual gifts.” There are many people in that church that have been asked to do something. However, they do not want to do it because their lives are too busy, too hectic, or they just don’t want to volunteer for “one more thing.” A church cannot run without people who volunteer to be a part of the inner workings of the church. My biggest example is the music and those who control it and provide it. (I keep coming back to that because it is such a big part of my life and the life of many, many churches.) For the last 4 years, each time I have come back to the church fewer and fewer musicians are sitting in the pews and up in front of the church.

Chris Amend, Carol Beirbaum, Diana (I forgot her last name), and many others used to keep the churches music going strong. FBC used to have a very powerful church choir. There was a rotating schedule of pianists. My mom was on the schedule and usually only had to play piano once a month. Now there is my mom and Shirley Jervis, the pastor’s wife, that play piano regularly. The Mark, the pastor, is retiring next year, and there will be only my mom left to do the piano. She cannot be there every Sunday. She can try, but it is just not possible with family in Denver, and Sioux Falls, and every where else around the country. So what is the church going to do? Sing along with the CD for the whole service. Yikes! I do not want to see that. A praise band would be wonderful, but I have not seen anyone in the church that has been up there playing the guitar or something like that since my brother left a couple of years ago.

A couple of people in the church need to step up and take on a role of worship “music” provider, and leader. There has been quite a few times when I have come to Gillette from Denver and have been asked to be the music leader. I do not feel comfortable doing that. For one, I do not attend the church regularly any more. I feel that any person that goes to that church regularly should be asked over me. I don’t know if it is true, but I know that there are a lot of people in that church that do not know me very well. They would probably be wondering, “Why is she up there? She doesn’t go to our church.” Every other time that I go up there, the same person is leading the music. That is fine, but they need to have someone that will fill in for him on a regular basis. Not be asking anyone who just happens to walk in the door to lead music. I know that I do not like leading music if I haven’t had time to look at the music and practice, even possibly have a choice in the music. Plus, I do not approve of the children going to the front, banging on drums, and not learning the art of worshiping God with music by singing it! I cannot lead music to a CD either. I would rather just stand in the congregation and sing along with everyone instead of stand up there and “pretend” to lead.

Volunteering is an essential part of a church. I know, I just said that I couldn’t stand up there and lead music. I understand that music is a spiritual gift of mine. I would be up there leading the music IF I went to the church regularly. I also understand that the membership of the church has declined very rapidly. Getting volunteers for the variety of different needs can be hard for a pool so small. However, it is essential for a church to have those volunteers and until the church “pool” grows, those few people need to step up and take on a couple of those jobs and pray and work hard to increase the church membership, not decrease it by scaring people away.

I feel that First Baptist Church of Gillette is hanging on by a thread, and if they do not change, they are going to run their membership and any perspective lives, and run themselves right out of Gillette. I pray that the church wises up and sees that things need to change. I pray that they can refocus and win lives for Christ.