Tuesday EveningClick here to listen to Mike Slaughter's sermon
The area he is in is still in the industrial area with mostly blue collar workers, but his church is still growing. They average 4,200 in attendance. He showed a video that was shot around the area of Ginghamsburg. It featured rundown cars and trailers. In attendance, Ginghamsburg is now fifth or sixth in the nation. The church growth movement did a couple of good things. A Megachurch is 2,000 or more. They are growing. "We did a great job of attracting crowds that are soft, secular people who have brought Jesus into their world view but have never been transformed into his," he said. Slaughter outlined worldviews.
He wrote a book "Unlearning Church." He didn't want to build another church that would turn into a mausoleum. "We have incredible theology," Slaughter said. I choose to use the word 'mission-driven church.' It will truly be a demonstration to people in the community. What does the Lord require? Act Justly, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). Slaughter said, "The Lord is known by his justice. Follow justice and justice alone. When we talk about true renewal it has nothing to do with size. We have to forget about numbers. The light of the church goes forth when you demonstrate the righteousness of God in the community where you live." In Ginghamsburg, they still had outhouses 10 years ago. "We couldn't do anything like the churches around us, but we could demonstrate the righteousness of Jesus," he said. "We didn't have projection systems like this." The famine was going on in Ethiopia and slaughter showed a tape. He said Christmas was coming and whatever they spent on Christmas, he asked his members to bring the same amount to help the Ethiopians. "Christians make donations but they don't make sacrifices. We decorate mitten trees and put $10 toys in a box. It's not about you. Christmas isn't your birthday. That little tiny church brought in $18,000 in 1981. It was because of people who were committed to act justice." Slaughter is heading to Darfur this Sunday. Two years ago he saw that no farmers had gotten crops into the ground. He went to the church and said whatever you spend on your family, bring an equal amount for Darfur. They brought over $300,000 in one day. They've established farms and helped blacksmiths create tools and sent seeds. It's now feeding 55,000 people. "I'm giving away secrets to church growth," Slaughter said. They then moved on to child protection there and they brought in $535,000. They showed a video of what that money did for the children there. They have a kindergarten to bring children off the street. They are meeting immediate needs every day. Some 55 classes have been established with over 100 teachers. Teenagers are leaning skills to support themselves. They are growing hope, one life at a time. They brought $1.9 million this past Christmas. Love mercy. "What is mercy?," Slaughter asked. "Isn't it close to grace... undeserved favor. Soft-secular folk have a moral world view. Moralistic people say I work hard to be right. Inside we look down on people who don't have initiative. We are a middle class church. Here's the gospel world. I'm accepted so now I'm free to work harder to prove I'm right. Mercy is demonstrating the mercy of God in the community." Ginghamsburg started a food pantry that's now feeding over 200,000 people a year. They started a clothes closet and a used car ministry, a prison ministry. People coming out of jail were being trained to work on the cars to be given to single moms. "People aren't looking for meetings," Slaughter said, "they're looking for meaning. I didn't learn anything about this at evangelism seminars. It's in the Bible." Walk Humbly with the Lord. "This will be hard for us at a United Methodist Annual Conference," Slaughter said, "especially in a voting year. The church is not an organization, it's a living organism. We are literally the body of Christ through the presence of the living Christ. We're the only hands and feet Jesus has. In the 1990s we started referring to ourselves as CEOs. We aren't CEOs, we're the spiritual advisors. We need to maximize mission and minimize brick. Come here for a little while to get trained and then we'll move you out. The model of the New Testament is not expansion but multiplication." Ginghamsburg church is now in the process of starting small churches and worship communities. They started a Saturday night service for people in recovery. They've begun Sunday morning cafes. They've started a younger age group on Sunday evenings. They've started a food pantry church. "These people would never come to the big megachurch," he said. They are also starting house churches. They have communion together over a meal. They worship together and watch Slaughter's sermon from the week. He showed a video of lay person, a recovering addict, who was sent from his church to help save a church that was to be closed. The church initially lost some members but as the members that stayed started doing mission in the community, it grew.
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