In the four years Grace Community Church has been a church we have received much praise from people that love what we do.  Hundreds of lost, hurting people have chosen to unite with us.  We have had some previously churched people join us who felt we were a better fit for them or their family, but mostly we have reached people who previously did not attend church.  Most exciting to us is that we have baptized more adults than children in our four years, indicating to us that we are truly evangelizing and not just helping people swap churches.  It has been a wild, exciting, thrilling time watching God shape us over these first few years.

Along with the praise, however, there have also been many false assumptions and even criticisms made about who we are as a church and who we are not, mostly from people who do church in a different way from us. It seems I hear a new wave of those each time we have a growth spurt, which we are currently in this fall. The fact is that we are not the church for everyone, but that has been hard for some people to understand.

Here are a few false assumptions that come to my mind about who we are or are not as a church:

• We get many offers to host an evangelist or hold a revival, but if you advertise your speaking ministry in a 3-piece suit, you are probably not a good fit for our church.  For some churches that would work fine, but for our church it’s just not a good fit.  Please don’t be offended by that.
• We frequently get request from other family or friends of people asking, “Can you send someone to visit _______?” We don’t knock on doors or do home visitation.  It’s not that we don’t care, but it is simply not our method of recruitment.  Again, for some churches this works great, but we are trying a different approach.
• We get many requests to book groups for special music venues, but if you sing Southern Gospel music exclusively, you are probably not a good fit for our church… I even love some Southern Gospel music, but it’s not the style we have chosen for our church.
• Yes, it’s true we don’t currently advertise unless it is to support a cause we believe it, but not for the purposes of increasing church attendance. We think that should happen as our people invite their friends and family…
• Yes, it’s true we allow people to serve in most volunteer positions without first passing a litmus test.  We believe (and have seen) that serving can often help change a person’s life.
• We don’t have Sunday school, but we do teach the Bible.  We do small group meetings in the homes…
• If the Bible makes an issue clear, we land on that clarity.  If it is simply a matter of tradition, me may dismiss it if it gets in the way of our vision to reach people for Christ.
• With the previous said, we do have some traditions.  We meet at the same time and place each week, for example, but everything traditional is subject to change.  We actually like change if it helps us better complete our vision.
• We haven’t watered down the Gospel…
• We haven’t tried to alter the way to salvation… (It’s all Jesus for us too!)
• We aren’t trying to offend you…but if you are offended by how we do church, we are probably not the church for you….
• We don’t believe we are the only church in town where people can find truth…
• We are not the church for everyone, but we are a church…
• We aren’t like every other church.  That in itself doesn’t make us better or worse…

…We just do church differently.  Please do not be offended just because we are different.  It takes all of us working together, even though we look different on Sunday mornings, to do the Kingdom work.  Look at our people, see if they are becoming more like Christ, loving God and loving people more, and make assumptions based on those results.

The great news is that we are a church for many people.  If you are not currently attending a church and maybe have had some false notions about church yourself, come give us a visit soon.  You may be surprised how much fun we have!   And, by the way, everything you hear about how friendly our church is, how much we love our community, and how welcoming we are to others….ALL TRUE!

Are there any false assumptions made about your church?

Related posts:

1. Why Another Church Plant? (Happy Birthday Grace Community Church!)
2. Inspiration from a 200 Year Old Church
3. Additional Questions About Church Planting
4. Thank You to Church Volunteers! (My experience at church today)
5. A Personal Message to Gcom Church People