the End of Attractional Church

naked religion posts this.

You can see it brewing on the horizon. The worship wars will look easy by comparison. Pastors and churches will struggle to find middle ground. Church executives will hire expensive consultants to help them understand and navigate the turbulent seas of change. And even then, this challenge will result in wounded pastors, churches, and bewildered middle-judicatory trying to figure out how to patch the hole in the boat. What is this challenge? It is the subtle shift taking place as the church moves from the “attractional” model to the “missional” model of being and doing church....

... the missional model essentially turns the attractional model on its head. Instead of being concerned about bricks and mortar. Rather than an “if we build it, they will come” mentality, the missional model asks, “how can we be the incarnational presence of Christ in our community with no strings attached?” And while it might be argued that these two models are not mutually exclusive, they will be until they can learn to co-exist comfortably together.

Right now, the missional model doesn’t have enough traction in the United States to make any difference. But I predict... the tension will rise when the co-called “seeker church” realizes that no one is seeking any more and the attractional model will go the way of the pet rock.

This will be an exciting transition. It will not be for the faint of heart. Just when you thought your church had survived the “worship wars”, little did you know that this was only an intermediate step to something far more significant and exciting than we’ve ever seen before. From “attractional” to “missional” will be the next challenge to the church. Are you ready?

The bolded text is my emphesis. Go read the whole article.

As an aside, I read recently that the worship wars will only be over when “Veggie Tales: Mass in B Minor” is released. It is interesting he uses the phrase survived the "worship wars". I'm not interested in surviving worship... I want to see the church enter into the fullness of the presence of God - that's worship - not endless (& often mindless) debates over hymns & choruses or standing & sitting & raising hands or whatever.