We can learn a lot from Church Planters especially in this era of
declining congregations. The Rev. Mike Michie
is a long- time friend and a church planter who was just installed as the
Rector of St. Andrew’s, McKinney, Texas.
For this edition of my blog, I asked him a few important questions.
KEM: You were just installed as the first Rector of St.
Andrew’s in McKinney in your beautiful new building after starting this
congregation just 7 years ago. How did
you get interested in Church planting?
MM: Church planting is all I’ve really ever
known. I can think of no better way to
serve my Diocese and the Episcopal Church than to start new churches. As hard as starting a church from scratch
might be, I find it to be much more energizing than trying to change the
culture of a church that is maintaining or in decline. In so many areas, cities have grown around
and, in many instances, away from our established churches. The need for new ministries in these areas of
growth is urgent. That I could do
something about this in McKinney is a great blessing.
KEM: Your
congregation grew fairly quickly, what size is it now in membership and
attendance?
MM: We started back in 2005 with about twenty
people. Now, our membership is just over
500 and our attendance since we moved in our building in January has averaged
297.
KEM: Was there a vision or core values that directed your
work as a planter?
MM: Yes! I
spent some quality time before getting started figuring that out. My wife and I took a big, blank sheet of
newsprint paper and put down what we wanted our church to be like. When the time came to ask Bishop Stanton for
a name for the church, we saw these values in the life of St. Andrew. We are a place that invites, involves, instructs and inspires. Our motto:
“a faith for all ages” has also been important. We are a ministry that is “child-friendly”
and intergenerational. (If you don’t
like to worship in a place with kids, we aren’t for you!) Before we had a building or even a
congregation, our ability to speak to this vision was a crucial.
KEM: In a time when
so many Episcopal congregations have been in decline, what would you say has
been the primary reasons for your growth?
MM: A few come to mind. First, and most important, be nice to people
when they show up! I’m always interested
in the reasons why people decide to join.
Almost always, folks say, “everyone was so nice! We visited other churches and no one even
spoke to us.” If your church wants to
grow, then act like it. Have nice greeters
at the door, don’t ignore people at the Peace, and clergy, please, please,
please, don’t hide from visitors.
Introverted as you may be, your church needs you to put a friendly,
inviting and compassionate face to your congregation. It does no good to have nice greeters if you
are hiding in the sacristy! Take the
lead. Second, make the worship
accessible. Remove all the obstacles you
can for folks who don’t have experience with our worship, the BCP, Service
Music, etc. Third, preach practical,
Biblical sermons. I preach at least twenty
minutes and always ground my sermons in one of the texts for the day. It works!
Fourth, do a children’s sermon. I
make sure each child gets to connect and hear from me every week. The grown-ups love it, too. It also creates that child-friendly
environment that is so important. Fifth,
have good music. Even if you do hymnody,
there are too many good hymns to ever sing a bad one. Break out, if you can, sing a worship song,
an old faithful from a Cursillo songbook, or even “I am the Bread of
Life”. Try to create moments of exalted
worship: give people the time and space
to be in God’s presence.
KEM: What advice
would you give to other clergy who would really like to see their congregations
grow?
Be strong and
courageous (Joshua 1:9)! I firmly
believe that every church can grow. You
can do it! You have to be willing to
work hard, though. Follow-up is the name
of the game in church planting, and I wish that Rectors of established churches
value it as much as church plants do.
Also, be creative. Do a sermon
series and start a new class like Alpha or Financial Peace University. Adopt a local elementary school or get your
church involved in a great outreach project.
Be willing to break out of the program-year rut. Finally, don’t give up! Even when it is hard, be content in reaching
the people that God sends you each Sunday.
One of the most difficult lessons I had to learn was to preach to the
people that were there on Sunday, not to the ones that weren’t. Ministering out of frustration, anger or
panic isn’t good for anybody, especially you.
Love and teach the one’s you’ve got and trust the Lord with the rest!
