A Church without Walls!

In the year ahead, the Oldham Lane Church of Christ will be in the process of expanding its auditorium to accommodate our recent growth. Building projects can be very exciting. They can also be an enormous headache. When finished, the new, renovated auditorium will be able to seat about 750 to 800 people comfortably.

Without a doubt, expansion beats the alternative. We would much rather be growing than declining. However, it is my prayer that the church never becomes confined by its 4 walls. Church statistics indicate that when an auditorium reaches 80% capacity that worshipers, especially visitors, will tend to look elsewhere. Its like going to a restaurant. If the place is packed with nowhere to sit, you typically won't go back, even if the food was good. Similarly, people will get discouraged if they have trouble finding a seat or a parking space. So the elders at Oldham Lane have decided to pay close attention to this trend and make the necessary arrangements to accommodate potential members. I agree with this step. I think the added space is necessary. If we're going to make it our mission to be a soul-saving church then we need a place for God's people to come and worship and fellowship. My only contention, as I stated previously, is that sometimes we put too much stock in a building and don't invest enough in the souls.

We should never adhere to the mindset of Ray in the movie "Field of Dreams"--"If you build it, they will come." We must go! We must step beyond the walls of our building and seek those who are lost. Christianity is not something that occurs at a building, twice a week, at an agreed upon time. Christianity must go with us in the world. We must be a people who strive to be a light in the community around us and who preach a sermon every day by the way that we live.

I am excited about this building project. I appreciate the foresight of our elders. I am thankful that we have a facility to congregate in every Sunday and Wednesday that shields us from the elements and allows us to worship the Father in total comfort. But it is just a facility. We could sit on the hot pavement in the parking lot and still worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The church is not a building made of brick and mortar. The church is us! It's the people! It's brothers and sisters in Christ who have been called out to make a difference in this world. A building should never confine us. We must be a church without walls.