Church on the Move (Part 3): 10 Reasons We Rejoice in Relocating

From 1928, the Highland Church of Christ in Memphis, TN grew from a suburban church plant of 24 to a large urban congregation with four Sunday AM services, two Sunday Schools, five church plants, and all-time high records in 2001 in Sunday School (1419), Sunday AM worship (1855), and membership (1806).  With the building capacity maxed out and the property landlocked, in 2001 leaders privately investigated an alternate property for the purpose of relocation.  By 2003, the relocation discussion went public and the congregation voted to move.  Nine years after the initial investigations, the Highland Church of Christ re-launched in a new facility on forty acres in a suburban location. 

Almost everything that could go wrong during a church relocation did go wrong with ours.  Yet, many things also went right.  In the previous series of posts, I explored that which went wrong–the things we regret about our relocation journey.  In this series, I’ll explore what went right–the things we rejoice in about our relocation journey.

#1 – It taught us that “success” is simpler than we thought.

In the South (and elsewhere, I’m sure) church “success” is spelled with the letter “B”: Buildings, Budgets, and Baptisms.  If you’ve got large and beautiful buildings, you are making budget, and you’re baptizing lots of people you are successful.  Our relocation journey, however, placed us temporarily into a situation in which we had no building (we worshiped for two and a half years in temporary facilities after selling our facility and before building a new facility), we were slashing the budget year after year, and baptisms were few and far between.  Though painful, we are grateful for those circumstances because they forced us to reexamine success.  God taught us once again that church is about the people, not the building.  Church is about the mission, not the money.  Church is about who we are, not about where we are and what we have.  Simply put, being “unsuccessful” taught us to be church once again.  We found success in the simple things, in the ministry we could do even without buildings and budgets.  Thom Rainer’s book “Simple Church” rang true for us during this period.  We no longer could be the church that did everything.  But we could do a few things and do them well.  And in that faithful service, we rediscovered success.

#2 – It taught us that people matter.

For the first time in a long time we were faced with significant membership loss.  The pain of that loss led us to realize just how important people and relationships are.  And as new members slowly began to flow back in (nearly 400 in six years), we rejoiced in those new relationships more than we ever had before (we’d practically fall over each other rushing to talk to a guest on Sunday morning or welcoming someone who just placed membership!)  We came to understand that all of this is really just about people.  It’s about loving neighbor as yourself.  It’s about the “one anothering” we’re called to do.  We became a church with a much higher value for forming and maintaining healthy spiritual relationships.

#3 – Our calling became clearer.

Through the turmoil, God forced us to ask hard questions about our identity.  Our relocation raised questions about “Who are we?” and “What is my calling?” both as congregation and as individuals.   These were questions that would not have been asked and answered with such intensity had we not gone through this journey.

This was especially dealt with at the staff/elder level.  During 2008, under the assistance of Lynn Anderson and Evertt Huffard (HUGSR) we reexamined what we believed about almost everything: the Bible, worship, our heritage in Churches of Christ, the mission of the church, and the vision of Highland.  Though difficult, these discussions brought resolution to value and vision differences which had existed for decades among us but had never been addressed.  We finally talked about the “elephants in the room.”  And that was a very good and healthy thing. 

We specifically rediscovered two things about our congregational calling.  First, we rediscovered a calling to be a regional church that was also a neighborhood church.  For years we had virtually ignored our own church neighborhood while drawing people from all over the larger region.  When we moved into a new neighborhood, however, where our temporary facilities existed, God used the experience to renew our hearts for a neighborhood.  We went door-to-door in a neighborhood for the first time in decades.  We invited neighbors to church events.  And, one of the first things we did when we our new facility began being constructed in earnest (13 miles from our present location), was to establish several new ministries designed solely to help us connect with and bless that new neighborhood.

Second, we rediscovered our calling to serve the city.  Highland had long championed the inner city and urban ministry and called others to the same.  Relocating 13 miles away put that calling into question.  In the end, however, the process actually renewed our heart for the city.  In fact, during our two and a half years in our temporary facilities, God started 7 new initiatives from Highland aimed at the city: We adopted an inner city elementary school, we significantly increased our partnership with Memphis Urban Ministry in their Summer Camp, we began a ministry to seniors in an urban assisted living facility, we began a worship service for homeless and pregnant women at Families in Touch, we began a ministry to patients and staff at an urban hospital, and we took the primary leadership in coordinating the annual fundraisers for Memphis Urban Ministry and HopeWorks.  Five weeks after our Grand Opening, we’ll be raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for these and other urban and world missions.

——to be continued.