Sunday I attended the largest church service I have ever attended at a local church. Southeast Christian Church in Louisville is one of the nation's largest protestant churches, averaging more than 18,000 in worship. They have five services each weekend including a very contemporary, alternative service on Saturday night and a Spanish speaking church service on Sunday morning. The two regular Sunday morning worship services are held in a 9,100 seat sanctuary.
I arrived nearly half an hour early for service. As I exited the interstate, I noticed several things. First, it was the first church I had ever attended that created a traffic jam on an interstate highway. Police had set up cones and directed traffic off the interstate and into the church parking lot. In addition to dozens of officers, there were dozens of volunteers working the parking lot. The facility is only four years old, but the attendance is so large that they provide shuttle buses from the parking areas to the sanctuary. I found a spot near the church facility and walked to the front entrance. The facility is so large that the entryway looks like a convention center entrance. Inside, the "narthex" area is enormous. My friend, Lisa, said that when she attended a service there the lobby reminded her of being in an airplane terminal. That is a pretty apt description. On one wall was a long counter area (like a ticketing area in an airport terminal) with people behind the counter dealing with deaf ministry and disabilities information, security concerns, counseling needs, and other issues. A large, circular information booth was in the center of the room. However, this huge, open space was there to accommodate the fellowship of the congregation before and after services. I would estimate the space to be larger than the Fresno sanctuary - probably twice as large. At the end of the space was the entranceway into the sanctuary. There were three entry points. One walked you directly onto the main level. Another was the elevators that would take you to the upper level. Still another was a series of escalators that would take you to one of the two upper levels. At the other end of the space was the entryway to the bookstore (open seven days a week), fellowship hall, and tape ministry. Entrance to the Christian education wing was on the second level. Trust me, the place was huge. Their web site says that they have 770,000 square feet under roof. That's right, 770,000 square feet. It takes 9 full time and 3 part time people and 45 volunteers just to clean the complex. They employ over 250 people.
The service was perfect. A 200 voice choir, 30 piece orchestra, 5 baptisms, communion served every Sunday, two solos, a 5 member worship team, and media screens everywhere. Bob Russell, who has been pastor for over 40 years and has taken the church from a few hundred to over 18,000 was the preacher (he is one of three preachers and this was the only Sunday this month he would be preaching). His sermon was direct, powerful and wonderful. Dozens of people responded at the end of the sermon to meet the pastor. Some for spiritual counseling and many to join the church. It was timed to the minute and flawlessly shared. I sat in a theater seat in a full row about 10-15 rows from the front. I was greeted by ushers, greeters, and three people on the row where I sat. It was friendly and warm. I took it all in.
If there was one point that bothered me it wasn't the size or the fellowship. It wasn't the service or the preaching. I kept looking at this 200 voice choir and 30 piece orchestra and could count less than 10 people of color. I realized that there was an entire Spanish speaking service separate from the services in the sanctuary, but the absence of color was very, very noticeable. They had dozens of ushers serving communion and greeting attendees - some were even teenagers, which I found refreshing. However, none of the 50 ushers who served communion was of color. None were women. The service had people of color attending but not leading. It was a very white crowd - a very affluent white crowd. I realize that with Rick Warren's highly influential "The Purpose Driven Church" and the Church Growth Movement's teaching on the homogeneous unit principle, that the most effective way to grow a church is to identify a specific group (educationally, socially, economically, and racially) and seek to draw them into the church. It has been proven to work in thousands of churches. I just don't find it to be a biblical model that I can agree with and work under. I missed the diversity of the community. I missed the influence and involvement of all of God's children. The service was perfect, the facility was impressive, and the crowd was enormous . . . and I left feeling something was missing. God was certainly there. The Spirit was unquestionably at work. Jesus Christ was being honored. Everyone was welcome. But not everyone came. Somehow we, the church, must move beyond not only our sanctuary walls, but also our segregated conclaves.
Ephesians 4:26-29:
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise
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