Sermonless Sundays
I had been pondering for months the idea that Strategy isn’t Sacred…
That strategy, the approach to accomplishing our goals, should evolve over time and adapt, because the world around us is ever changing. This principle applies not only to businesses, governments, and churches, but also how we more generally function in life. For one obvious example, the strategy for staying connected to loved ones living in other places has changed drastically over the past 100 years. The common strategy has evolved from infrequent letters to regular video calls, social media posts, and occasional flights to visit, which I might add is a much more effective strategy and one that I am thankful is possible. (For those interested, there will be an entire article devoted to this subject of ever-evolving strategy in the future, so stay tuned!)
On one occasion of reflecting on this principle, I considered how it would apply to something as steeped in tradition (one might even say sacred cow of sorts) as Sunday morning church services. Surprisingly enough, there has been very little change in Sunday services for as long as anyone can remember, especially considering how much has changed in the last two hundred years, not to mention two thousand. Sure we have new music styles, video announcements, high-end audio equipment, and online giving, but the elements themselves haven’t really changed much at all… Most church services the world over still have a time of musical worship, financial offering, a scripture-based sermon, closing prayer, and occasional communion. The question that I am posing is: Does this strategy for the gathering and equipping of the saints still make sense in our present time or are there better approaches? Better strategies? Obviously, I wouldn’t be writing this article if I didn’t think there were good alternatives to at least consider, so brace yourself as I attempt to humbly and graciously slaughter some sacred strategic cows… hopefully this doesn’t get too graphic!
The alternative I am about to present had its genesis in reflection on some passages of Scripture focused on the Church as being the Body of Christ. The specific passages include 1st Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, for those that would like to go and study out the theological basis themselves. The short of it, in no uncertain terms, is that for the Church, the Body of Christ, to truly function well, each member must know and play their God given part! The idea is that each Saint has been assigned a role in the Body that is essential to the life and vitality of other members and by extension the Body as a whole.
Thesis: Truly it appears that although God could have given each person every gift necessary for faith and life, He chose to distribute these necessities throughout His Church, His Body, such that we would be required to lovingly work together, as His good pleasure dictates, or suffer alone.
Now for a quick bit a logical reasoning using our thesis as a springboard: We need each other’s gifts to thrive and be whole. In order to benefit from the gifts of others, we must have time and space that facilitates the usage of these gifts. Our current culture, even within the local church, is wildly distracted and busy with the cares of this world and life. This reality is to the point that typically we ALL meet as a local corporate body only once a week, on Sunday morning. During this Sunday gathering, 90+% of the congregation typically doesn’t utilize their gifts, but instead receives from typically a handful of Body members, which are the same each week. If each person’s gifts are indeed necessary to a thriving Church, how can we ever hope to attain this with our current approach?
This reality of only receiving from the same few “gifts” each week on Sunday wouldn’t be so problematic if we all got together to lovingly serve one another some other time during the week, which is different than a traditional Bible Study I might add. The truth is that it is hard enough to get everyone to church once a week, such that the idea of twice is almost certainly out of the question under current cultural conditions. So what happens? Well the Bible is clear that if one member suffers, the whole body suffers (1st Corinthians 12:26). So what happens when 90%+ aren’t engaged using their gifts to grow and strengthen the Body? The answer is that we end up with a weak and anemic Church, that is losing its ground on every front, made clear by virtually every statistical metric we have over the past few decades…
Now for some hope! Although I am not claiming to right all wrongs and provide a panacea to present church ills, I do believe the changes about to be proposed could start to make a positive dent in some, if not many. The change would simply be to remove most, if not all, sermons from Sunday morning. And there it was, for those that missed it, the graphic slaughter of a sacred cow… “Oh the horror!” For those few that are about to stop reading, I am not advocating getting rid of sermons altogether, so take a deep breath. The proposed solution here is one that has in the last decade or so been made possible by technology, which unfortunately is a main contributor to our slavish distraction from connecting with others in the first place. Time to turn the tables! The idea is to post sermons online during the week, so that the congregation can view them on a regular day/time or whenever works best for them. We would then repurpose Sunday morning for more community related activities where we could each lovingly serve one another in practical ways. How I like to think about it is: If we are taking the time to get together, why would we not use that time to actively be together, especially when we can watch the sermon on our own time (ironically, as some already do)? This concept even has clear and direct Scriptural basis as 1st Corinthians 14:26 says:
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
In addition to freeing up Sundays for other more relationally driven activities, there are other numerous practical advantages to prerecording the sermon and releasing it during the week. This includes things like having some midweek encouragement, ability to splice in other media, multiple takes until you get it right, and a ministry team that can work ahead to complete an entire series at a time, then releasing it over several weeks.
“So I’m mostly with ya, but what actually becomes of Sunday morning?”
— You (Hopefully…)
This is where the creativity comes in! Each congregation will be different in how they approach this and each Sunday might look different as well. What’s the right answer for your church congregation, church body? Only Spirit infused prayer and experimentation can determine that. To help get the creative juices going though, here are a few ideas that have come to mind during my pondering sessions:
Sermon Discussion – What if instead of sitting in rows, you came into church with round tables where you met with other people and a facilitator who led you through a discussion of the sermon you watched online during the week?
Targeted Classes – What if there was a number of targeted classes that you could self-select to take part of, put on by staff and lay leaders, including: Evangelism Training, Bible Study Methods, Apologetics, The Gospels, Book Studies, Biblical Counseling (Training In and Receiving), Small Group Leader Training, Discipleship Training, Christianity 101 (New Believers), Church History, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Gifts, Doctrines, Etc…
Extended Corporate Prayer & Worship – What if you had an entire Sunday morning devoted to corporate and/or small group prayer and worship time?
Community Outreach – You could put on an outreach activity for the surrounding community both within and outside of the church building, including service projects, meals, evangelism, etc…
Small Groups – Since it is often hard to get everyone to commit to a night of the week for small group time, what if small groups met on Sunday morning instead?
Discipleship Meetings – Could have one-on-one or small meetings of a staff person or lay leader helping people grow spiritually through a number of activities.
Hands-On Services – Could have services with a short teaching followed by the real-time implementation or practice of what was learned. To learn more about this concept, checkout this article.
Fellowship over Meals – Just have time for the congregation to meet with each other and share a time of thankfulness and encouragement, over a good meal.
Mixture – You could incorporate several of these different ideas/elements on the same Sunday or successive Sundays and while we are in the cow slaughtering mood, maybe a different day and time of the week altogether!
In some cases, smaller congregations could even move away from a formal teaching pastor in the traditional sense. Content has become a bit of a commodity, with an almost unlimited number of good sermons on virtually every conceivable subject available online. often for free. These can be used and reviewed at any time, with possible direction of church leadership. What we are often missing though is sacrificial shepherds, covered in the stench of the sheep they look after, which is not something you can easily replicate online.
The Transition!
For all the joking around about sacred cows and such, sacred strategies are no misnomer, with truly diehard fans and defenders. So if you are planning to try and make a transition like this in your church, there inevitably will be someone, if not a sizable chorus, that might declare blasphemy and open war. Your likely counter to this well-intentioned but misguided mob is to use the time-honored strategy of leavening. To slowly work this yeasty new strategy into the dough that is your congregation until the whole lump is good and leavened. (I know Jesus warned against it, but that was concerning Pharisaical intent and not cutting edge, Spirit-inspired strategies…) For example, you could start with a “Special Sunday” where you do an extended time of corporate prayer and worship, and if it goes well, propose doing this quarterly. You could also try flipping the script on a three-week sermon series, where you prerecord the sermon releasing it midweek and then discuss it in groups on Sundays. Assuming this goes well with your congregation, you could consider working in additional ideas like the ones above or your own creative, Christ-centered concoctions until you have collectively, fully embraced vibrant Body Life!