Visited First Baptist Church in Orlando today for their 10.45am Service.
This is where the Exponential Conference will be hosted later in the week and I thought it would be interesting to visit for their Easter Service. It’s about 30 minutes away from where I’m staying.
The church was founded about 140 years ago with 18 people and now has 15,000 members. The worship centre itself seats nearly 6000 people and there is a range of other facilities across the 100 acres that make up the church site. The annual budget is $17 million and the fact sheet says that they: “give approximately $1.5 million per year to missions, the largest contributor of any Southern Baptist Church in the U.S.” There are about 350 part and full-time staff and the senior minster is David Uth.
It’s the one of the few times I found myself in ‘peak hour’ traffic bumper to bumper down a church driveway with the police directing the cars into the parking lots! The church was full, both the balcony and ground levels, with not just a band but a 40 piece orchestra and 100+ person robed choir. Professional cameras were set up to capture the proceedings for broadcast later.
Though I was only a few minutes late the service was already underway, testimonies had been given and two baptisms had just been completed – a great way to start a resurrection service!
After a congregational song (not a series of songs!) David welcomed the people and spoke about the new life and hope we have in Christ and the sense of meaning that comes with being sent by Him into this world with the good news.
He talked about the transitional housing programme for the homeless they were setting up (The Coalition for the Homeless); and the meals program for feeding the poor and the Christian service Centre (“Compelled by the love of Jesus Christ, the Christian Service Center seeks to mobilize the community under one common mission to eradicate poverty through the provision of services and resources that foster hope, well-being and empowerment.”). He talked about the global commitment to mission, in places like Africa, Burkina Faso and Porto Seguro, Brazil. He talked about the strength he found in the resurrection of Christ when confronted by his own helplessness in the presence of those with life threatening illness or traumatic personal situations. The link was that because of the hope we share in the living and present Christ – so we dare to be on mission with Christ. The love of Christ compels us to action.
This was not the sermon, but at the start to frame the Service. The 20 minutes message later on was around 1 Peter 1:18-21. “If Peter could talk to us today, what would he say?”
18-21Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
Compared to the television services I’d been flicking through earlier that morning and some Easter services I’ve sat through over the years, this was a different and refreshing. It wasn’t a re-run of the Good Friday sufferings of Christ, or a stern reminder of how bad we all are; or even a celebration of our right to health, wealth and heaven. The morning ended with a gentle but strong invitation to begin the journey of new life with Christ, and an opportunity to meet with others to pray or talk further.
The terms ‘church family’ or ‘we are a family’ and ’relationships are important to us’ are used often. There is a meal for visitors with the pastors after the service; LIFE groups are extensively promoted as the vital foundation of the church. “We want to make our large church smaller.” There is a buzz of conversation and warmth that feels welcoming.
As I reflect on my years in churches of all sizes, the paradox is often true that the larger congregations can be the more relational. The reason they are large is because of a culture that encourages and embraces people. There is intentionality about creating processes and places for them to belong. On the other hand, sometimes (not always) smaller churches are small not because they are relational but because the culture precludes outsiders from belonging.
I remember, a number of years ago, meeting with a congregation of 30 with whom I was consulting about ‘vision’ – reaching into their community. As we began writing down ideas on butcher’s paper- I enthused about the new school around the block and imagined what it would be like to have a hundred of those kids and their parents at an evening ‘youth’ service! Immediately one of the leaders broke in firmly: “ No! No! No! That wouldn’t be happening here. I’ve seen them American mega-churches! Once you get that many, it’s not the same any more!” There was a murmur of approval from the other elders and glum looks on the faces of the few young ones in the room. 100 people is a mega-church?! You wouldn’t want to have been there in Acts 2-4 when the church went to 3000 and then 5000 virtually overnight – and that was very relational, albeit a tad messy at the margins!
As the discussion went on it became clear this was more about a faithful little cliché fearful of the loss of power and control. They had strong relationships amongst each other, they wanted a little growth, but not so much that new ideas and people took initiative – no critical mass for a run-away nuclear explosion. For any little church or church plant to grow there has to be a willingness of the custodians to let go and let God bring renewal through new people with new insights. Surprisingly, larger churches can sometimes be more ‘democratic’ in hearing God’s voice than a very small church!
I’m interested because at first glance, First Baptist is the attractional model to the max: a mega-church that pulls people in from across the city to a huge modern complex with a highly professional, multimedia focussed worship service and a wide range of counselling and educational programmes, and yet it seems to release people and groups and money for Kingdom work.
I love small groups and I see potential in multiplying incarnational, smaller, communities of faith that emerge out of local mission, and I note that such grass roots movements are changing the two-thirds world dramatically. I note too, that effective large churches are also ‘small’ in that they empower their members and their house groups to neighbourhood mission. Such churches are well organised, but also decentralised. The priesthood of all believers isn’t abdicated to the pastor or elders. I suspect that we Aussies often prefer smaller, independent, less organised, less ‘successful’ churches not so much for sound missiological reasons but because our colonial heritage makes us suspicious of structures, organisations, processes, accountability, theology, strong leadership and also anything that might be seen as too, 'trans-Atlantic', as Basil Fawlty once put it!!
