Here is a real life situation that I am trying to figure out. My church is in the middle of a building project and I have to choice of one of two rooms to base the youth ministry out of. One is the old sanctuary and the other is a triangular room next to the new sanctuary. Both are bigger than the current room and have much higher ceilings.
Sanctuary: Has a pretty old school feel but it has lots of potential. It already has a sound system and screen. We would have to replace the lighting and clear out some stuff. There are some storage rooms to the side and I am considering making one of them a prayer room. The catch is I have already been unofficially warned that I should not do any “youthifying” for at least a year, if ever or I might upset some folks.
Side room: The side room has the advantage of an outside door and it is bare so we can do anything we want to it. The cons are that it does border the new sanctuary so noise level might be a problem, but considering it has no sound equipment in it that might not be so bad. It also does not look that much bigger than our already cramped current room.
The trade offs are pretty simple. Go with the side room and don’t rock the boat but loose space and money or go with the sanctuary and get more space and save money but possibly get stuck with it as is or remodel anyway and make some key folks unhappy. It is a bit of a catch 22 so what should I do?
Deep in my heart I know that style should not matter and that worship can take place in a bare room. Yes, for the believer style should not matter. We should be ready to worship at all times and with all places and styles. But, we are not trying to reach believers are we. It is not the healthy that need a doctor…it is the sick.
I am not sure what room I will take but I do know that that room will be dedicated to the kids in my area. If that means someone’s feelings are hurt because I replace the 60’s wood paneling with something a little modern, so be it. If I have to drain the budget to make a bare room feel inviting, so be it. I am not after the coolness factor I am after the relevant factor. Shouldn’t we be all things to all people?
What do you think I should do? What other things am I not considering?
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5 comments:
Be praying for you, good friend. I hope that answer comes to you more easily than the question. Keep me updated on what happens.
okay questions for you. are you allowed to take out the pews? and how many board members have you talked to about "youthifying" or is that just the opinion of the pastor? discuss these ideas with people in the church. ask them about the pros and cons. personally any old sanctuary woould make a good youth room. but i agree with you that i would want to change it around. but i would much rather go with the sanctuary because of the potential that you have in that room. sound, projector and things like that. if you take the room that is not too much bigger then yours now, you limit the ability to grow. we are packed out in a youth room right now and we need to do something fast.
Justin! no words of wisdom on the room dilemma...but I just now stumbled upon your blog via Kevin Wright and I'm glad to catch up a bit. You've got some great, thought-provoking stuff on here. And it's good to know you and Linds haven't dropped off the face of the earth :) I miss you two! Hope you're doing well.
I see this as a classic case of not "What" you do but "How" you go about doing it. In agreement with what Nate said, I think you need to have this conversation with some of those "key" people in your church. If they start hearing your heart to reach kids, and they start seeing that it might be better done in the old sanctuary, maybe they'll come around quicker than you thought?
Or maybe you have a bunch of stick in the muds in your church?
Glad it's your call, not mine ;-)
To reiterate something that was already said, I am glad it is your call and not mine. Why is that some people are so traditionalist that they miss what new things God is doing? It drives me NUTS! I would tell you to just do what you want and to heck with the "key" people- if they don't like they can leave.
Wow, how mean did that sound? But it is how most of us feel when we hear those situations. Justin, I admire your heart and sensitivity to the issue. I pray that you have resolved it in a more tactful manner than I suggested above. Wouldn't ministry be easier to do without people?
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