open letter to churches.

Dear churches,

There is a problem with churches nowadays. I assume that it has always existed but I'm not an expert in this field by any means, so I don't know (or care to know). These are just my observations with the problems churches have now - from a patron's perspective as well as an employee/volunteer perspective from one or two churches ONLY. Remember, I never said this is all churches - I consider myself to be a Christian. These are my experiences only. So save your snark for another day.

1. Pushing faith on others

At one point in a person's faith as a Christian, the Bible asks for you to more or less "recruit" people. Many people are good at this. Many more are not. I don't believe you should do this unless you know what you are doing, because it tends to have the opposite effect on people - most often permanently. You and your sad pitch-for-jeebus are all they will remember. I think turning people away from God by being a douche should be a bigger sin than not sharing your faith with others.

2. All up in your grill

Whether as a volunteer, employee, or patron of a church, once you go there for a while and take the next step in your faith to get involved, it seems like everyone suddenly takes this as an invitation to get up in your personal grill. This step doesn't involve opening up and sharing all your hidden sins but that's how it seems. Honestly, I would love to know why people who work for a church feel it's their personal duty to talk to you on behalf of God. Obviously if you have reached this point you have a pretty open channel. Which leads me to my next point..

3. Judgy-judgerson

The more you are involved in a church, the more it seems you are judged. And the more it seems like people think you are open to being judged. God is the only one who should ever judge, because his judgement is the only one that matters. Churches really don't get this. They often veil judgement by calling it something like accountability or consultation - calling you into a meeting and asking you personal questions that you should only share with God himself.

4. Shady business practices

I won't go into details, but the experiences I've had have been oh so shady. I realize a church is a business, and is the source of income for many people. I realize that certain things must be done in business to keep a profit turning. But whether you are a church, a McDonalds, or a locally owned specialty shop, there are things you just don't do. You don't give people raises in shady amounts, you don't do things to get tax cuts, you don't screw or take advantage of your employees, and you don't ask your own patrons to donate more when you yourself don't take a pay cut in order to keep living above the standard in your posh 100k+ home in the suburbs.

5. All fluff, no stuff

Many churches are catching onto the modern worship sort of style. These churches build huge buildings, have elaborate audio/visual setups, spend all their time on branding their sermons and marketing them, incorporate specialty crowd draws like a coffee bar, or research the best meeting times to get the most attendance. All this stuff is used by few churches in the right way. The rest of the copycats just fail, and their problem is the staff. They think they are willing to take risks - have controversial topics, risky formats, interesting and new techniques - but they only go halfway. They stay in the safe territory too much and just look foolish. If you are trying to brand your church as a new wave, modern worship but you have attendees that may not be comfortable with this, you need to be prepared to have a traditional service AND a modern service. You have to have the staffing and resources for that. The modern service needs to be filled with young, independent, and very open-minded individuals who have experience in ALL faiths but a deep commitment to God. They need to be great at multimedia, storytelling, and incorporating all sensory experiences into one package. If you can't do this without compromising your standards, you shouldn't try (which goes back to number 1 - permanently scarring people from attending church ever). The churches I have attended fail at this, but I know there are some that exist successfully.

6. God god god god god godogdogodogod

God is in everything, that's true. But then churches chalk EVERYTHING that happens up to God, it becomes contradictory. "God gave us this gift of money." One week later. "God took away this gift because *some long winded explanation.*" It's never "Shit happens." And if I understand free will, I would assume that there would be some "shit" that would "happen" in between God's doings (shady business practices perhaps?) I admit I could have this point all wrong, but imagine how this looks to someone who has little knowledge of Christianity and what it entails. It just makes you look stupid, like instead of thinking for yourself you dismiss it as God's doings.

I'm not perfect - nobody is or can be except God. Some people are more imperfect than others. I think the one thing most missing from the teaching of Christianity in the US is the principle of OPEN-MINDEDNESS. I have found much better company in people outside of my church, with mixed faiths, beliefs, morals, and histories, than I ever did at my past churches.

I don't really think that's just a coincidence.

Love, Kylee