Fatal Traditions

Someone said that churches that celebrate their past more than dream about their future are doomed to fail. I believe that. It's not that we shouldn't be proud of our past achievements and successes. It just that the successes of the past must be built on and not just celebrated. Organizations that live in the past don't spend sufficient time dreaming and planning for a productive future. If we look across the American church scene I think we see the majority of churches bogged down with trying to maintain traditions that at one time were very productive but have become out of date and disconnected with the culture the church is meant to transform. There are ministries that really hit the mark in by gone days that just don't get the job done today.

Without listing all of the ministries and strategies that I think have failed here let me just say what I believe about a thriving growing, effective organization. Every organization or group, whether a church, a business, or a family is made up of a series of systems. A family produces in it's members what the family systems are designed to produce. A family consisting of dysfunctional relationships will produce people who are dysfunctional. The way to change what the family produces is to change the systems and expectation. In the same way, a church produces what the organizational systems are designed to produce. If the ministries are designed to only take care of the attenders then that church will not be a welcoming place for new people let alone effectively reaching out to people who are not there yet.

One of the things I love about Silver Creek Family Church is the dedication of the leadership team to always evaluate the effectiveness and productivity of our ministries. We ask the question, are we reaching our goal? We critique and then adjust almost everything we do. We ask the question, where can we improve even if only by 1%.

This year in our soccer camp we took a giant leap forward. The last three years we continued to lay a good foundation to build upon. This year we reaped some of the rewards of all that hard work.

This fall you are going to see some major changes in the way we present the FUSiON production. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag but this next year is going to be our best so far. Elizabeth and her team of volunteers have some great ideas for set design as well reworking the feel of the room. You are going to love it! Why do we do that? Because we ask the question, can we do it better? We are applying that attitude in every area of our church. It may be a little uncomfortable at times because change is almost never comfortable. The reality is God has called us to make a difference in the neighborhood where He has placed us and to do that we have to keep learning and responding to the needs we encounter.

I just got the year end report for our food bank. Wow! Over 71,000 people served this year! Over 23,000 infants! Over 7,000 seniors. Each of the past few years the food bank has grown in terms of numbers of people served. Lynnwood is a better place because of the 60 plus volunteers that work the food bank each week.

I hope you can sense my enthusiasm for our future. I would encourage you to find a place to serve if you are not already. If your serving, ask yourself, can I do better?

Last of all I want to thank everyone who is working so hard to make SCFC such a special place.

See you in Church!

Great Days Ahead!