Digging In

A local church sought my advice a few years ago in reversing their decline in attendance. All their questions were programmatic—What kind of music does your church play? What do you wear on Sundays? How do you present announcements? Do you serve coffee and donuts?

All they seemed to be looking for was the right tweak in methodology that would attract people.

While methods can make a difference, programmatic changes alone are not going to turn a church around. When a church is in decline, the problem has a much deeper root. So I told that church that what needs to be addressed is not a program, a method, or a ministry, but the church’s soil.

The soil is the church’s culture—the complex blend of norms, beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and (yes) practices that define a congregation. Every church has a culture, and it has a tremendous effect upon the potential fruit the congregation can bear for the Kingdom.

Soil Affects the Harvest

Jesus used soil as an analogy for the human heart in the parable of the sower. He said the key to abundant Kingdom fruit is the ground in which the seed (the Word) is planted. It really doesn’t matter how you plant the seed; the main thing is the dirt where the seed falls. Without good soil, the harvest is limited. The culture of a church is comparable to soil in much the same way.

Without good soil, the harvest is limited. The culture of a church is comparable to soil in much the same way.

From childhood I have seen this firsthand. My grandparents were farmers in West Central Illinois, and a large section of their land was classified as top quality, Class A soil. A few miles away, my uncle’s land, though more visually appealing, was heavy in clay and, therefore, of a much lower quality. Every year before they ever planted their crops, my relatives knew that with the same seed, the same fertilizer, and the same weather conditions, my grandparents’ land would produce over twice the harvest as my uncle’s. It had nothing to do with sincerity, hard work, tractor size, or planting techniques. It was all about the soil.

Just as soil quality influences the outcomes of a field, the culture of a congregation establishes the environment that often predetermines the effectiveness of God’s Word in that body of believers. In other words, a church’s culture influences its impact.

That’s why two churches in the same town or even on the same street can have different results with similar ministries. They can have comparable buildings, sincere pastors and leaders, dedicated volunteers, and even the same doctrinal bent. They can sing the same songs, have the same programs, and use the same Bible translation. Yet one church is thriving, while the other is dying. The difference is usually due to a difference in “soil”—the deeper, unseen issues in a church’s culture.

Attitudes Are Contagious

I learned the importance of church culture the hard way while pastoring my first church. The leaders had assured me they wanted their congregation to grow, and they were excited to have a young pastor with new ideas. So I suggested a change to our music ministry in order to increase our outreach, but I soon discovered that an influential family in the church was adamantly against this. I thought they were simply opposed to the different style of music … but I soon discovered I was wrong.

Talking with the woman who was most outspoken in opposing the music change, we were discussing a new family who had moved into our small town. They were poor, loud, and didn’t care for their property well. I mentioned I was building a relationship with them and had invited them to church. She replied, "I don't want those people coming to my church!"

It was then that I realized our biggest problem wasn’t our music.

When this woman’s family told me they wanted to reach more people, I believed them. But in reality, what they meant was that they wanted to reach more people who looked like them, acted like them, and talked like them—not the messy, difficult people who needed Jesus the most.

Values shape, nurture, and sway the culture of a congregation.

This lady did not represent the entire congregation, but her attitude reflected a problem within our congregation’s culture. Some members displayed an attitude of resentment toward new people moving into “their town.” And they detested the thought of those people attending “their church.” God cannot bless such an attitude, and it is felt and seen by people inside and outside the church.

Even if we would have changed the music or tried other new ideas, we were unlikely to bear much fruit because the bigger issue was not a programmatic one. It was one of culture.

A Healthy Culture Must Be Cultivated

Can the culture of an existing church be positively changed? Absolutely. We can cultivate and enhance healthy values in the life of the church. Values shape, nurture, and sway the culture of a congregation. In essence, they provide the nutrients for a healthy environment so God's Word can impact the hearts and lives of people as effectively as possible. Without healthy values, the soil will always have limited productivity.

Values are commonly held attitudes, beliefs, and characteristics at the core of what is important to a church. They undergird all the various facets of a congregation. More specifically…

They are guiding principles that provide direction.
They influence conduct, behavior, activity, and mission.
They help define how things will be done.
They provide a foundation for determining what is most important.
They are passionately believed and emotionally owned.

By taking the time to clarify and embed healthy values into the heart of a congregation, leaders can positively influence the congregation’s culture, nurturing the church’s environment for maximum impact.

There Is More Than One Type of Healthy Culture

Once a church understands the importance of culture and how values shape it, the next question is… what kind of values are essential for a healthy culture? To answer that, let me go back to the analogy of soil.

In my state alone, there are more than 700 specifically designated soil types. Many of these soils are healthy and productive, even though they vary in nutrients, content, feel, and appearance. There is no one “correct” soil for growth. In the same way, there is no one culture that works for every church. Each congregation is a unique body of believers who must forge their own values in order to shape their culture in a way that glorifies God and enables them to reach their community.

The main thing is that a church must be clear, intentional, and committed to the values they espouse. Having this commitment over an extended period of time defines and molds the culture.

It’s Hard, But Culture Can Be Changed

Changing culture by instilling healthy values is not a quick solution for a declining congregation. It can take years for new values to become rooted in the heart of a body of believers. Therefore, when I came to my present church, I tried to focus more on cultivating the culture than on changing programs. This took several years. It was a church of 65 that had never been over 130 in average attendance. They were great people who sincerely loved the Lord, but some mindsets had to be changed in order to release our redemptive potential.

While I worked with the leaders to develop mission and vision statements, I asked questions, made observations, and began to take notes on the healthy values that could be built upon and the unhealthy values that needed to be changed. One that stands out was a flawed understanding of evangelism.

The church was so committed to outreach and missions that they were actually giving away 35 percent of their annual budget, and had a goal to give away 50 percent. While this indicated a seemingly noble commitment to outreach, it was actually a sign of what I call a value-gap—an area where healthy values are lacking or an unhealthy value is in place. Let me explain.

In spite of their generosity, the church was struggling to keep its doors open. They were not reaching people in their community or producing new disciples. Many members had no relationships with lost people, and the ones who did had no real burden to reach them. Furthermore, giving so much money to foreign missions was restricting their ability to reach their Jerusalem. They were outsourcing outreach, and the benefits of evangelism were taking place elsewhere, but not here. So, I began to teach, or re-teach, the values of love and outreach.

I commended the church for the great missions work they were doing, but I had to show them that outreach starts at home. I challenged them to show their care for neighbors, co-workers, etc., and reminded them that sharing the gospel was an expectation, stressing that Jesus wants his church to grow locally as well as globally, and that attempting to meet this expectation by giving money to others is in many ways a cop-out.

It took a long time to instill a healthier view of outreach into the heart of our congregation. It had to be consistently, creatively, and redundantly taught and modeled, but ultimately, the people were receptive, and the culture of our church became more vibrant as a result. People began praying more for reaching the lost of our town. They became more intentional about building relationships with people who didn’t share their faith and started to invest more time and money in local outreach. And they were more amenable to changes in our worship service in order to make it relevant to visitors and non-Christians. As a result, the church began to grow.

Today we are a multi-site congregation with three campuses and six weekend services, and we still believe our best years are in front of us. The challenges of cultivating a healthy culture continue. It is a never-ending process. But the journey has been worth it.

Jim Powell pastors Richwoods Christian Church, a multi-site congregation in Peoria, Illinois.