Some Concerns

Our church currently has no facility and so as we rent this other church’s facility and entered the partnership, there were some concerns expressed (on both sides) and some personal concerns that I have about the success/failure of the partnership.

General Concerns

1. The “host” church wanted to be sure that our members would not “jump ship” and join their church. We do not anticipate this happening though always a possibility. It was good to know the host church was thinking through scenarios like this as it could cause tension between the churches should it happen.
2. The host church is a little further out than where we had met previously. There was some concern (on our staff’s part) about members driving the extra distance. While this has nothing to do with the partnership, it does speak to the people. Would they be committed to the roughly additional 10 minutes it will take to get there and then return home or would attendance for Sunday evenings drop off?  As we look for land or a facility, location is always a concern. I see this location and partnership as a “test” to see how committed our people are to the church. If this additional 10 minute travel time is a detriment, then as we look at a permanent facility/location, then we will need to factor that into the decision.
3. This is on a trial basis for the year to see how both churches view the partnership as we want to work well together, and not with conflict. This is important as people have different expectations. We want to “play nice” with others, but because we are human, people have  had bad experiences and sometimes expect the “worst”. We are striving for a good scenario of the churches working together.

Personal Concerns

As noted, there are a lot of “unknowns” as we enter this partnership. People in general do not like the “unknown” and so I am getting questions from various people about this fall. My personal concern is that “our people” may be what makes the partnership fail, as they focus on building “our church” and the “need” to have our own facility. Here are some of those questions I have received already…

1) Will their youth be joining our youth on Sunday nights?

Our youth group is small and has struggled to grow for various reasons (a topic for another time on another blog). The question is posed because their children are joining us and so logically the youth should as well, right? Their youth will not be “partnering” with our youth as the children will be. It is our people understanding that we are renting their facility, and their children’s ministry director expressed an interest to parnter, not the youth director. Just like any Awana club, we welcome any child who wants to participate. In this case, it is in their church and we will garner some leaders from them. The children had no other programs (so this meets a need) whereas their youth do. Youth from the “host” church may actually serve in our Awana club! This could be interesting.

2) What if people visit Awana and then join the “host” church and not ours?

Praise God!!!! Our commission is not to build our church, but to make disciples wherever they may attend. This mentality stems from people seeking a permanent facility. We need more members, increased giving, etc before we can get a permanent facility. These thoughts are what hinders churches from partnering together, the competition for members.

3) Why are we paying them for using the facility if they are a part of Awana?

I addressed this in the previous post, but people may still question it.

So as we begin this partnership, there are concerns that we face. Instead of backing down, we will address the issues and concerns head on. I will work to convey to our church the partnership and that we are working together for the Kingdom. Together, we can do great things for God’s Kingdom!

Along this journey, I will share how these concerns are being “tackled”. Posts in the future may be shorter as these posts are designed to give you some background as we begin on this path.