I want to take this week to discuss something I think is one of the most important aspects of church life. When we planted The Life Church 11 years ago, I wouldn’t have known how to describe it, but Leslie and I were literally establishing the “culture” of our church.
Culture = the predominating attitudes and behaviors that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.
Every ethnic group, every business, every family, every church has a set of predominating attitudes that characterize the environment and the way it functions. Culture is not the 10 values that are on your website. Those are desires. In some ways, culture is more evident in the “intangibles” of church life. Challenging seasons reveal true culture like nothing else.
How would you describe your church culture?
Do you think the people in your church would describe your culture the same way?
I would describe the predominating culture of our church (The Life Church of Memphis) as one of servanthood. New people come in and are immediately impacted by those who are serving. It doesn’t take long before they’re signing up to be a part of making a difference in others lives as well and helping the church advance in it’s purpose.
Taken from a book called “It’s Your Ship” Captain D. Michael Abrashoff’s attitude was winning his sailor’s trust and eventually, their enthusiastic commitment to our joint goal of making our ship the best in the fleet. The predominating culture of the Life Church of Memphis is an attitude of enthusiastic commitment to our joint goal of making our Church the best. Knowing God is in control.
One of the things I would say describes our church culture is “Life Giving”. We have a attitude that says you matter to God, and to us, so we will do everything we can to allow you to connect with God. In all that we do we try to eliminate the distractions so people can connect with God. We want to dish out life in our music, in our message, in our serving, in our communication, and in our words. I am stoked that I get to be a part of a church that is committed to reaching people. Our culture is life giving for sure. Thank you Pastor John for leading us. I have heard many times from guests to our church, “We felt alive and welcome when we attended your church. It was awesome.”
yes it is. simply put, full of life. life giving…
The culture of our church, The Life Church of Memphis, is priceless. It is not an idea or thought, but years of people laying down their lives for something beyond themselves. Our culture…is not about us. It’s a culture about others; it’s a culture reaching out to our city, nation, and world; it’s a culture that serves; it’s a culture that loves. Our culture is alive and moving.
I would describe the culture of my church (The Life Church) as that of “openness”. Just being able to come and worship God as who you are is something that one shouldn’t take for granted. You don’t have to try to put on a show or dress a certain way to feel welcomed. The Life Church is open in accepting you the way you are and we believe that by being planted in the church and serving in the church you will grow and flourish into the person God designed you to be. The freedom of being YOU in church is an AMAZING feeling.
Another word I believe describes our church culture is “fun”. We genuinely have FUN in church. I’ve been apart of several teams, groups, and organizations that had goals and aspirations to do great things but the people, including myself, didn’t have fun. We have fun getting to do what we do here at The Life Church, build God’s House and people. David said he was “glad” when he went into the House of the Lord, and that’s exactly what we want people to feel after they’ve left church. We want people to say, I’m glad I went to church today. I believe that happens every time our doors are open.
I’d describe our church culture also as “friendly.” I’ve always been amazed how friendly everyone is at The Life Church. Whether it’s when you are walking through the doors for the first time or just standing around after service, you’ll be greeted and talked to just like family. As we’ve said before, first impressions are huge and the majority of them are made even before the start of worship. We want people to come into the service with a smile and be ready to receive what God has for them. Any of the troubles going on can be temporarily forgotten by a simple smile or a friendly “hey, glad to see you” and God will minister to them when their heart is open.
I’m in a young church that has been around for about 2 years. What I am seeing is that you can’t just let the culture of the church just happen. You have to do it on purpose. The church leadership has to make tough decisions and then create the culture intentionally. Many members who founded the church came from another church in which the leadership was at times harsh in their attitudes and treatment of people. We have learned from that experience and we are working to avoid reproducing that environment. I would like to see us move to Sunday service that is more about the visitor – not a seeker-sensitive sell-out type of thing, but more of an attitude that “this is not about me and what I can get.”
There also seems to be a generational gap in my church, when it comes to views on church culture. Anyone else seeing this?
While it does seem much of culture is intangible stuff, the one thing I do know is that it flows from the top down.
I think the culture of our church has always been defined by leadership and passion for the local church. The idea that all of us are leaders, whether we’ve ever been told that or not, or whether our personality leans towards that. More than an outward thing, leadership is when you take responsibility for someone else. Everything we do week in and week out is about someone else… about helping those who aren’t experiencing a flourishing life in relationship with Jesus Christ. And we’re passionate about the fact that the local church is where those people will find Jesus, and will grow and flourish. Everyone who serves here serves because we have each found that to be true in our own lives. Some may call it a high-commitment culture, but that’s simply because it’s a commitment to something higher than ourselves… with eternal value and impact. I count it an amazing privilege to give my life for that, and to do life with others who are doing the same.
Our church culture promotes a spirit of togetherness. We serve together. We laugh together. We endure challenging times together. We really are a family of believers. God created us to be in relationship with others, and our church does a great job of reaching people, connecting with them and making them feel welcome. God’s house really does have a place for every person. I believe people live better lives when they belong somewhere and feel useful.
There are so many important and valuable aspects of our church culture. To describe them succintly would be near impossible–sort of like choosing my dinner from a HUGE menu where everything looks AWESOME! (Those who know me know how difficult that is for me!) I will say that I’ve noticed one aspect of our culture that seems to be particularly impactful to first-time guests and new attendees and that is our super-friendly culture. In conversations with so many people who have joined us over recent years, month, and even weeks, that’s what I keep hearing. It’s something that really requires next to nothing from us, but makes such a huge impact on others. It’s simply a part of our “others-focus,” and without this INTENTIONAL focus, a church’s first impression AND lasting reputation suffer. I’m so glad that we intentionally create a friendly environment–it makes a huge difference!
Here at The Life Church, we have so many great attitudes that are attractive and one of them that stands out is the love of others. Others truly matter. We have a love and acceptance for everyone no matter where they are or where they’ve been in their lives. This kind of love will encourage others to desire the relationship with Jesus that we have. They will desire to move forward in life reaching for God’s best.
life is found in giving life away…
i am constantly amazed at the attitude of serving at our church(the life church of memphis) and it is a very contagious attitude. i haven’t been going here for very long but already do i feel so much more “alive” since i started serving. not only do you get the honor of blessing other people but you get blessed in return by seeing our city and the nations impacted. our church is a place that provides an opportunity for anyone to find a purpose and in some way be apart of a revolution. how exciting is that!!!
thanks to you all who always work so hard and for always making room for new people to become a part. it is SO MUCH fun to be apart of this team…
A word I would use to describe our church culture is energetic and passionate. From what I have always heard from visitors, people are blown away by the obvious passion and energy that they sense when they walk through the doors. One of the fun things to see is how contagious it is. I love watching people become inspired by the vision and the passion around them and before they might even realize it, they are full of the same passion.
Wow! Where do we begin? In our view, our culture is one that is full of aspirations. Whether you aspire to learn more about God’s word, or how to have better relationships(i.e. family, friends, coworkers, haters, etc.), or how to overcome life’s struggles, or just simply how to walk through life and see yourself at the end of the day how God sees you, this is the type of culture that we have here. This part of the culture set by our pastors has truly been a blessing to our family. Being in this environment makes you strive to do better or “move forward” in every area of your life. This environment takes you from where you are to where you can be through Jesus Christ. We see people in our office and read letters from those who say that being here or listening to our program, makes them dream again or want to be better. We know that all of this is done through the power of the Holy Spirit, but thank God we are intentional about having a culture that lifts people up instead of tearing them down. The culture here not only shows you where you are in the word of God, but also gives you practical steps that will enable you to have the victory that God has for your life.
I think that one of our predominating attitudes is thankfulness. So many people are thankful to be in a church family like ours – a place full of genuine love for others where so many people on so many levels have sacrificed and worked so hard to build our church. I think the biggest source of thankfulness is how much we appreciate being rescued by God’s love from the dark, hopeless places we came from – whether spiritually, mentally, emotionally, whatever. I think any one of us is overwhelmed by the debt that has been paid on our behalf and just cannot do enough to begin to try and pay it back.
A huge part of culture is the language you use. I think a great positive in our church culture is that we all speak the same language. Using words like “we” instead of “them” really knits people together more than one would think. Instead feeling alienated from different parts of the church, we all take responsibility for the whole. That type of teamwork is a huge blessing and not something that comes naturally.
Umm…that’s a tough one. There are so many ways to describe the culture of our church. I was thinking on the way home from work today about the question. The one cultural aspect that stands out to me is RELEVANCE. We are a moving and going church. I believe relevance has played a role in the growth of our church. Not only do we say we are going to do something…we actually DO it,make it reality-for the long term. We constantly have our eyes peered, ears alert and hearts open to the current needs in our church, around our city and in our world. Then we apply God’s princples to TEAMWORK in making life less daunting for those around us. It propositions us to move forward, to go to the next level. To go back down would be futile! I am thankful to have walked through those doors 4 years ago and into an amazing, thriving and RELEVANT LIFE!!
At the Life Church Memphis our culture is the Kingdom Culture. In a city where life seems to be focused on self, the Life Church of Memphis has established a culture where serving others is what we are all about. This culture has completely saturated the lives of people that will change our world for the better. Our church is truly moving the Kingdom of God forward. May God continue to bless the Life Church of Memphis.
One word that I would use to describe the culture at The Life Church of Memphis is tangible. Every guest that comes through the doors can feel it and see it in the way that the body as a whole “does life together”. We are a true family, in that we celebrate together, we cry together, we labor together, and we laugh together. We depend on each other, and not just within the confines of the building or only on Sundays, but in our everyday lives.
The atmosphere of our church has impacted my life in so many ways. All my life I have been involved in church and I am definitely appreciative of my background. However, there was always a part of me that had a vision for a church far different than the one I grew up in. I even came up with a name when I was younger, it would be called Freedom Church. A place where ANYONE could come and experience the “freedom” to be who God called them to be. A place where Christians were actually excited about God and expected amazing things to happen. This was all in my heart before I ever came to Memphis. Let’s just say, I felt right at home when I got to Life Church. That’s our church; a free environment of believers that are working hard to reach as many as possible and seeing God do so many amazing things along the way!!
A word that describes the culture of The Life Church of Memphis is diversity. Everyone is welcome. We love and value each person along with his or her race, ethnicity, gender, age, background, and unique giftings. God blesses each of us with experiences, talents, and skills so we can be a blessing to others. The church reflects the diversity of our community which enables us to reach beyond our building to meet the physical and spiritual needs of our city, nation, and world.
Imagine if you tried to make a spice cake with just flour and sugar. Bla! It’s the combination of all the different spices that makes the cake so good. Of course there’s the essential ingredients such as eggs, salt and a leavening agent. In our church, diversity is the combination of spices. The teaching of foundational Biblical principles, opportunities for Fresh Starts, and the presence of the Holy Spirit are those essential ingredients. All of these together create a dynamic, multicultural, spirit-filled, life-giving culture that is The Life Church of Memphis.
i think of our culture as “charged”…there is an intangible, indescribable resonating energy that translates life, hope and strength to those who encounter it. it hasn’t been instantly created; it’s a long-term product of desperation for God’s presence in everything we do and intentional efforts to create a life-giving church environment where people can encounter God…our culture is a reflection of the passion, commitment and vision of our people who serve together. it radiates out of the hearts and lives of those who make it up…and i love that about our church. pastor john and leslie have carried a God-breathed picture of His church in their hearts and given their lives for over the last 11 years to make it a reality. there’s no other place i’d rather be than here, doing life with awesome people, growing, seeing barriers broken and mindsets changed in our city and being a part of expanding God’s kingdom around the world through an awesome local church…wow!
I don’t have one word but i have a phrase… accepting without filters. We had another AMAZING sermon delivered today that directly refers to this but this is something that has impacted me in a big way since the first time I came to our church almost 5 years ago. This is one of the many things I love about our church and is most dear to my heart is there are no discriminations about who you are, what you are, what you’ve done, what you’ve grown up in/with, where you’re from, who you know or don’t know, etc… the list could go on… Yet, when you come in, NO MATTER WHAT, someone will love you, and usually, it’s the first person you see when you come to our doors or in the parking lot. When you come in and share something about yourself, you will find (this is not a maybe or a “i hope you find” this is a confident, i know you will find) acceptance for whatever it is you have to share. We live in a hurting world, nation, city, neighborhood, and I hold it such a great pleasure to be able to tell anyone that I can guarntee you that when you come in here, no matter how much you want to try to hide your secret past (as we all have one), there is no need to. You are going to be loved thru anything, with anything, by everyone. Acceptance. I am so thankful to be in a church where all are accepted and loved so much that it enables you to drop your walls and let God love you. Even though He does anyway, this culture in our church will enable you to let Him love you the way He desires… with open arms.