Finding the right Church

Post written by Steve Otto. Follow me on Twitter.

This past weekend we attended our church membership class in which the Pastor shared many different aspects about the church so we could make an informed decision about becoming official members. We have been attending for the past year and have already experienced the way the church operates, but were able to hear the philosophy behind how the church runs. We were able to put words to what we’ve seen for the past year.

I grew up in a Christian home and have been a part of many different churches during my lifetime. I find it intriguing how different churches operate, and primarily what their leadership model is. The vast majority of churches have a leadership model in which the Pastor is at the top of the pyramid, followed by a council, team of elders, then the ministry leaders, and then at the bottom of the pyramid you find the members and attenders. There are varying degrees to the separation between the Pastor and members and how they implement that hierarchy.

I’ve been in and heard of churches where the Pastor actually holds some sort of celebrity status and considers his elders his personal body guards and I’ve been in churches where you don’t even realize who the Pastor is until he steps up to the podium, because he’s off serving somewhere or doing some activity that you would never expect a Pastor to.

While I realize that each person has their own style of worship and church atmosphere that works best for them, let me share one of the most beautiful examples of a church that we have experienced for the past year and had the chance to see that painted into a picture.

This is a picture of what the typical church looks like. I’ll call this the Status Model. The interesting thing is that I think a lot of churches like to refer to themselves as the next example, but fall into this category. Many pastors fall closer to this model however, where they are the head and everyone falls below them. I don’t think this usually happens because of bad motives, but when this is the case, it’s a completely different experience from the next example. While most of the churches I have been in that followed this experience were a good experience, I didn’t realize what I was missing until I experienced the next model.

I’ll call this model the Servants Model. This is the model we have experienced for the last year at Rochester Calvary Assembly (which is actually in Chili) and we actually find ourselves in disbelief that this can actually happen. Pastor Bob has such a humble, servant’s attitude and he is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. The best way I can express the difference is that with this model, the Pastor is much more of a shepherd. It’s not a very easy thing to describe, but it’s also not something you can disguise. Again, I’ve heard pastors describe the servants model but exercise the status model. It doesn’t take long to figure out what model a church uses. You can often determine it simply from their website.

When a church uses the servants model, you find it exactly a place like Calvary Assembly has created, “a safe place to find faith, friends, and your future”. If you are not currently attending a church I encourage you to look desperately for one that fits the Servants Model. When we were searching for a new church, it was not easy. It was discouraging. We found church after church that just didn’t feel like home. But in the end, the change was so worth it. Our new home brings us new life. We are designed for community and I think the Servants Model best fits God’s desire for that community.

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