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My wife and I left our church many years ago, at least in part because we had a hard time fitting Sunday church services into our work schedule. The biggest issue for us was that after we stopped attending, no one in the church called to say they missed us.

My advice to him is, forget the traditional/20th century American model and focus on bringing compatible groups of people together in whatever time/setting works for them. Don't create a place full of empty seats and sign up sheets and start preaching what you feel is needed to fill them.

The following statement is by the late theologian Stanley J. Grenz:

Today the chief rival to ministering from a theological base is engaging in the practice of “church” by means of a pragmatic outlook, that makes decisions largely if not solely on the basis of a consideration of what “works.” In the long run, however, the pragmatic approach is self-defeating, simply because it transforms the community of faith into an institution whose chief end is not the glory of God and the fulfillment of a divinely-given mandate, but survival.

Don't start another cookie-cutter church.

I should clarify one thing. My wife and I currently attend church every week, so we're not in the market. So to speak. [:->

"In the long run, however, the pragmatic approach is self-defeating, simply because it transforms the community of faith into an institution whose chief end is not the glory of God and the fulfillment of a divinely-given mandate, but survival."

All human institutions exist in order to survive. Pragmatism has always been the order by which they continue to exist. The self-defeat comes about because those running the institutions fail to understand what is needed to ensure survival.

For instance... how many people join a religion only for the purpose of "glorifying God"? I'll bet not many. No, the reason nearly all religions become popular is because they offer a personal benefit, whether enlightenment, eternal life, or access to supernatural health care. Glorifying God is a secondary concern. Recruitment and retaining recruits is primary.

Unless this fundamental need is met, no church or any other institution will continue to exist for very long. Leaders have to work using that as their primary goal. If not, they don't last long at all.

Look at the Gospels, for instance. One of Jesus most interesting messages was to the priests of his day. He could se far more clearly than they that the Jewish religion had become more burden than unifying force. He warned them to reform or die. They chose to die as a priesthood. Such is life.

I agree, John: unless reality is conveyed and the human situation addressed and remedied, religion will ultimately fail. Well, "religion" will always fail. It is dynamic, transforming LIFE that meets the need of lost and fallen man. There many in the Church who are seeking to address this fact, and are doing all kinds of things to acheive the NT Body of Christ model. There is no one-size-fits-all approach however; but in the end, if the type of transformative, sin-eradicating power that charged the early Church is not evident, all is mere religious game-playing.

I have my own approach, but dare not judge anyone who is ardently seeking to implement the NT realityin other ways. Personally, I believe that to depart from the Creeds and worship norms of the historic, sacramental Church is asking for trouble in the doctrinal area.

"Creative thinking" can sometimes lead to error and heterodoxy; aas can liberalism. The trick is to maintain the good and dynamic modes of the historic experience of the Faith, while allowing for innovative approaches that truly address contemporary needs and concerns. I opt for synthesis in this area; others want to jettison the past altogether.

The fact is that only God, as revealed in the Son, and conveyed through the Gospel of grace and the infallible Word, can meet the deep spiritual hunger of the soul. It is about Person-to-person, not law-keeping and do-goodism. Works follow faith, not vice versa.

God seems to have always allowed church-ianity to fail, in order to create an envionment of spiritual hunger and thrist. Church is not ALIVE just because of novel methodoloy, but when Christ is truly known, loved, worhipped and proclaimed by a regenerate people, filled with the Holy Spirit. True, biblical Christianity is totally unique, and incomparable to anything else in human history or experience. Hebrews 1.

John, the Church is not a human institution. To treat it as such is where the problems begin.

Jesus did not preach reform to the Pharisees; He preached rebirth.

Gary, the church is a human institution, made up of humans who have human minds and human needs. If that basic, simple fact is ignored, there is no future for it.

Joh, your staement is pretty accurate, except for the fact that, although it is made up of human beings, it's origin and ultimate sustaing power, is from God. It was indeed created by Him for the blessing of all mankind, and MUST bring to bear the NT resources made available by Christ to address all human needs and aspirations; just not in a humanistic, socialistic, big government way.
The church is a living spiritual organism that exists to transform individual and all society for the best - meeting real, pressing and obvious human needs, beginiing with the new birth and the subsequent application of biblical principles.

“For instance... how many people join a religion only for the purpose of "glorifying God"? I'll bet not many. No, the reason nearly all religions become popular is because they offer a personal benefit, whether enlightenment, eternal life, or access to supernatural health care. Glorifying God is a secondary concern. Recruitment and retaining recruits is primary. Unless this fundamental need is met, no church or any other institution will continue to exist for very long.”
John, your statement, in response to Gary’s entry, is quite understandable, in light of the typical American pragmatic approach to just about everything, from architecture to education. And of course you are right – to a point. If a movement, institution, political party etc. does not meet the needs of people they will not survive in the arena of real life and history. The truth is, however, that perceived, or invented, needs are not necessarily the true needs of people. In short, glorifying God brings all the solutions and blessings of God to people (His rain falls “on the just and the unjust” Mat. 5:45): the supreme cosmic dynamic. But this is lost on modern DIY man.
What we are talking about here is a consumer-driven culture that has lost its spiritual-transcendent-aesthetic soul, and is indeed driven mostly by “what works and makes money.” The seeker-friendly churches have become bland, watered-down, touchy-feely evangelical versions of this mentality. Nevertheless, might just be another application of St. Paul’s existential “oh well – whatever!” in Phil. 1. 16. Evangelism may indeed be successful in seeker circles, but theological fullness, god-centered worship and sacramental commitment all seem to be shoved into the closet, drug out only when necessary. It reminds me of an R. C. church that hid their life-size statue of Mary in a church closet, only bringing it out, like the Shroud of Turin, on her special days (Feasts, etc.). “Tradition” has become an embarrassing second cousin in many churches today – (perhaps for good reason in some cases).
BUT – true, theologically-robust, sacramentally-vital orthodox Christianity does exist; but it refuses to sacrifice the essence of what really does produce enlightened, apostolic, biblical, balanced faithful (people). The seeker churches, despite their reductionism, have re-emphasized a vital element of the Faith – it MUST be effectively alive and relevant. Actually, I see no other alternative than to combine these two polarities into a potent 21st Century incarnation of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. But I sometimes feel like a lone wolf baying at the moon. (Growl !)
I admit that this is the supreme challenge of modern Christian civilization, but I refuse to settle for either pompous, us-four, liturgically-fussy (dead) ecclesiasticism OR low-key, happy-clappy, jean-jumping religious rap session mod-iainity. Somehow, Mystery and MO must be dynamically wed in order to produce the kind of offspring that will “inherit the earth” – meekly, intelligently, biblically and effectively. Maybe, someday. Better get started though – before the next election? Only trouble is, the big fat elephant is dead, with no heavy-weights in the wings. And the jacked-up jackass is getting redder and redder by the minute. Oh well, six-o’-one, half . . . You know the routine. Another wild American pendulum ride to nowhere. Politics never ceases to depress.
But, praise be to God, Yeshua Ha-Meshiach is still on the throne, ruling and reigning ‘til all His enemies are made His footstool!

God Bless You