Thursday 26 April 2007

Mainly Music

On a visit to Moonee Ponds today, we were treated to a Mainly Music session, conducted by one of the corps officers, Lieutenant Cynthia Stelling. About 12 mothers with their children were there, enjoying the ministry and having a lot of fun. This New Zealand based programme is in wide use in the territory. Last year there were 80,000 in attendance throughout the territory.

Part of the dialogue about the programme revealed a hope that somehow we might get these families to attend on Sunday as well. It's here I simply want to ask why? They already come on a Thursday. Isn't that a good day to draw them to Christ and into the fellowship? Should we not go with what God is honoring and perhaps rethink our ministry patterns?

I believe Lieutenants Don and Cynthia Stelling are going about this the right way and would suggest that the 80,000 in our territory is a wonderful gift of God to extend His kingdom.

Mark 10:14 (CEV)
14 When Jesus saw this, he became angry and said, "Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these little children belong to the kingdom of God.
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8 comments:

Totally sold out on Him said...

I agree, about why we need to get them in on Sundays. this week in our session we had 54 present in M/Music, we've been going for only a few months now and this is the largest group we have had to date.We are very excited about that... We have invited them along to this weeks Sunday night Church family pizza night and around 3 families said yes, they will be there and another 4 families thinking about it.
To me, we already have them, all we need to do, is now share life,love and concern and watch God do the rest...I think too much emphasis is placed on Sunday mornings...it is important , but so is Monday thru Saturday, coz being a Christian is more than church attendance on Sunday mornings...(as if I'm telling you anything new ?)
I'm sure you will dream with me that if these 80,000 came to faith what that might mean for our Salvation Army In Australia...God can do it - He's good enough.
Thanks be to Him for a resource such as Mainly Music

7:55 am
Anonymous said...

I don't think we need to get them there on Sunday let's talier something specific for them at the time they are already coming into our church. I don't think we think out of the box enough on this stuff. I love the two expressions of church we have at the monent on a Tuesday night and on a wednesday night. some of these people may never attend on a Sunday, but they are still part of the church.
gotgumonmyshoe

8:54 am
Anonymous said...

So very refreshing to read your blog. We live in the birthplace of Mainly Music, Mt. Roskill, and run a Mainly Music programme with an average attendance of 120. We also run a weekly community meal with an average attendance of 50 and a drop-in-centre. We consider these and other weekly events at our Corps to be intentional faith communities, but when they are measured and recorded they are considered by our leaders to be Community Ministries. We have been asked by one leader why our Church services are not growing, yet we have planted two new communities of faith in our first year here with an average attendance of 75. If these were held on a Sunday the Corps would be considered to have grown. To be honest for the most part I could not care less what those who record stats think, so long as people are coming into the kingdom, but every now and again it does bug me. We really need to look again at our theology of church don't we? In fact I suspect we really need to look again at our theology in many areas!
May hope guide us.

11:31 am
Anonymous said...

Does it come back to... is church something that you do or something that you are? Two or more gathered in His name is all it takes.. walking with is equally as valid as preaching at
may God bless those running and attending these meetings.
Grace

2:12 pm
Totally sold out on Him said...

for me, and I am interested in all this dialogue, especially here... that it is most certainly who we are and not what we do so much, but so often all that is measured and perceived as important therefor is Sunday mornings...and thats only one 2 hour time slot in a normal corps average week.
a corps health and growth shouldn't be determined by Sunday mornings, but by the overall ministry.

4:01 pm
Anonymous said...

It is true that in many places "chuch" happens outside the Sunday morning or evening timeslot. Church for many is a very foreign experience yet they meet Jesus through the coming together of community at other times. We do get very hung up on Sunday morning attendance figures however we should be counting conversions instead.
Those who are responsible for the handing out of resources however seem to prefer to count the traditional church numbers.

Dialogue is needed on this issue.

4:56 pm
Jim Knaggs said...

Everyone counts...and I am covinced the Scriptures call for accountability. How shall it be done?

Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)
25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

7:52 pm
Totally sold out on Him said...

How shall it be done ?
Not sure.
I guess thats why we pay you the big bucks...(hehe)

Can i just say, that I love sunday morning church and it is the pinacle of what we do here each day of each week. the culmination of everything else...we just love the coming together of God's people as the gathered church to celebrate Him and to worship Him, after all that's a major part of why we exist.

we will work this out...but I think it might be an attitudal thing for all leaders in every position everywhere.

8:12 am

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