Church physics

Building on the idea of a decentralized community, there are a couple of analogies from physics that apply. One is centrifugal and centripedal forces. Centrifugal movement is outward from the center (think of a centrifuge or the game whiplash). Centripedal movement is from the outside toward the center (think of gravitational pull). A centralized church is centrifugal, spinning off smaller groups where people can experience intimacy and accountability. A decentralized church is centripedal, with groups coming together to form a larger identity, to interact with each other, and to engage in collective action. Neither force is better than the other; they just build spirituality in different ways.


The other analogy from physics is the ratio of volume to surface area. Imagine two balls, one small (say, a ping pong ball) and one larger (a basketball). The amount of air in a ping pong ball is much less than that in a basketball. Let's say it takes the air in 50 ping pong balls to equal the air in one basketball. (Stay with me here.) But now the amount of surface area of the 50 ping pong balls - the amount of contact with the outside environment - is much greater with the combined surfaces of the 50 smaller balls than with the one large ball. The point being that in the community of smaller communities that I imagine, there is a greater interaction with the "outside world" than with a larger, centralized church. More of the resources of a large centralized church go towards the functioning of the large institution: salaries, building, programs, and internal communications that keep the large center coordinated - the air inside the ball, if you will. 


Here again, we can't really argue that one is better than the other. However, people will have preferences for one over the other. With my passion for an active spirituality that makes God's kingdom more visible to all of creation, I prefer the collection of ping pong balls.  

Centralized and Decentralized

I mentioned earlier how I find many churches alike, having a 3-1-1-2 Sunday morning template: 3 songs, 1 set of announcements, 1 sermon, and 2 closing songs. Another factor that makes churches alike is a central organization structure. By this I mean, the Sunday morning gathering of a large group of people, say 200 or more. This structure determines how the church spiritually forms the members and sets up a financial model.

The spiritual formation of a large group is programmatic. Teaching occurs through sermons and classes on Sunday and Bible studies in smaller clusters mid-week. Systems are created to cover certain material on some schedule. And the vast majority of teaching is done without knowing what the individuals in the congregation are wrestling with. In fact, it would  be virtually impossible to take all of those needs and struggles into account - there are too many to attend to individually. On a communication continuum from one-on-one conversation to a book or recorded message, programmed teaching is closer to a recorded message. In fact, in some church services, that is exactly what it is - the broadcast of a sermon taking place somewhere else.

I question the degree to which deep spiritual formation can occur in a programmed way. One can learn the basic story lines and values of the Bible. But in my experience, the deep learning occurs when I am really struggling and I get advice from a wise friend, or I listen to the thoughts and watch the decisions of someone else struggling. This is an important reason why the larger churches encourage people to also take part in a smaller gathering midweek.

Because the teaching is centralized, larger churches want a trained and talented teacher. That usually means someone who has attended seminary and has a certain amount of charisma in front of crowd. People with that training and those skills typically make their living at what they do. To have such a person leading the teaching means paying them . That, in turn, determines that the church must be of a certain size in order to support the salary of the teacher. But the salaries seldom stop there. With a fully salaried pastor, a church has bought into a model that is logically extended to other paid staff - associate pastors, ministers, facility managers, and more. And now that I've mentioned the facility manager, I should also mention the facility and the expenses it takes to pay the mortgage and maintain the structure.

With this model of centralized teaching in a centralized facility owned by the church, much of the unstated mission of the church becomes feeding the demands of the centralized system: the salaries of the staff and the mortgage of the building. A cynical view of church growth is that a centralized church must have it to sustain its budget. And a centralized church is going to be more cautious in its teaching because to offend is to potentially lose income. This takes us back to the deep spiritual teaching that following Jesus requires. That teaching is often radically contrary to popular ways of thinking and acting, and can be offensive to some, if not many.

An alternative model is the community of communities that I imagine. Where the principal gathering is small, say 10-20, the learning is driven in part by working together to be a blessing to others (not just listening to a prepared message), the leaders are gifted but not professional, and they meet in homes or other places not requiring money. Still, they gather as a larger group once a month so they remain connected to the broader body of Christians. This decentralized model, too, has its limitations. But I believe it is one that needs to be tried and refined over time, offering an alternative to the centralized church model.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

Yesterday, the Bible Church gave me a send-off in the church service. I was honored by the recall of my roles in the church over the 22 years we attended there, and the prayer for my next endeavor based out of Emmaus Way. Not all churches would let go so graciously. This is a real strength of the Bible Church that they have used to bless a number of people quite significantly.

At the end of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is revealed that dolphins were extraterrestrial beings. As they depart earth to return home, they say "So long, and thanks for all the fish." Although not as clever as that image and phrase, I want to say to the Bible Church, so long and thanks for all the friendships, trust, opportunities, and blessings.