The Culture and Social Structure of the Church - Essay Example

The Culture and social structure of the Church Every community, organization and even family has a culture, which can bedefined as the total sum of how people interact with each other and with those outside their group; the rules of social interaction can be either written or unwritten and develop either purely out of chance or intentionally. Culture belonging to every group is passed on by an admired or an influential member of the group. The church has its own culture that makes it a unique organization, for instance, my church has clear outlined goals: to work in partnership with the Holy Spirit, to reach the world for Christ, to make disciples and release them into the ministry and to present the church as a fitting bride to Christ in eternity (Parris 30). It takes a lot of pride in having been in service for over twenty five years and having a big congregation that it ministers to the whole week long not just on Sundays. My church values being able to be reach the world for Christ through transforming the community, transforming the country and impacting nations, this is the slogan that it goes by. Its desire is to encourage everyone by sharing biblical messages and the good news of the risen Christ and also let every person know that God’s love is unconditional and is desire is to have a relationship with each and every person. Over the years, it has been involved in dissemination the Gospel to institutes, infirmaries, reformatories and the community at large (Harmon 5). By taking such steps, its main goal is to ensure that the word of God has been heard by each and every person it can reach. It is a family church, therefore it believes in giving wholesome service to every member of the family, from preaching the Bible to the adults in the main church, to teaching children in Sunday school, it also has separate mass for the teenagers, thus ensuring that everyone has been catered for accordingly. The church has embraced technology by reaching the faithfuls through the social media such as Facebook and Twitter; it also has weekly television broadcasts that help take the message of the Gospel even further. It encourages the congregation to be bold and have faith in its Christian life for this is the only way to be a true witness to others. Although it does not promote condemnation or crucifying of an individual if he/she goes wrong, it does not tolerate people with questionable integrity in its leadership. The leaders are clearly and openly vetted and on ascertaining that they are in line with what is expected of them as leaders in a church, they are then allowed to join the ministry. The impact that the church is having on the community is measured by a number of things; one f them is the attendance, if the congregation is growing, that means that the church is effective in its undertaking. Thus, it is attracting a larger number of people from the community in its endeavor to preach the message of salvation. It always encourages people to share their testimonies, that is, to tell others what the Lord has done in their lives, be it in form of healing from disease or provision, a job and so much more. There are missions that are organized every month for people to go to the community and reach others through works or also in form of crusades. In addition to the Sunday church service, there are other meetings that usually take place in the church during the weekdays, these consist of prayer meetings, Bible Study and also the daily morning devotions, these smaller church services are deemed important in keeping the faithfuls together and nourishing their souls, as it is commonly known that one should not be a Sunday Christian only but an everyday Christian. The greatest behavior that the church tries to cultivate is one of consistency, in that, members of the church are asked to be good to others and be a reflection of God in their homes, workplace and wherever they come into contact with people. It is emphasized that behaving in a manner that suggests otherwise of what is expected from a Christian, not only tarnishes the name of the individual but that of the church as well. Considering it is a church, being a social place is its second nature; people are encouraged to bring guests so that they can also hear the good news of the Gospel, everyone is welcome and there is no discrimination whatsoever (Lowe 127). When a person is new to the church, they are introduced to the crowd and afterwards are taken by one of the leaders for a one on one so as to establish where he comes from, his spiritual needs and any other information that may be deemed necessary. This information is crucial in helping the church decide which community cell or fellowship group he belongs to, a person is placed in a community cell that is closest to where he resides. This community cells meet weekly, at a specified venue though it can change, to read the bible, pray and share about what is going-on in their lives. When an individual is asked what his spiritual needs are, they basically try to assess if one is in need of more guidance in their spiritual walk. If they do find that one could use or would appreciate guidance, one is then enrolled to classes that are specific to his needs. For example, a person that is not born again might decide to take that step, after accepting salvation, he is then enrolled in new life converts class so that he can be taught to walk in the Christian faith. In the event that a member of the church does wrong, the choice is always to forgive the said person because it is in line with the Christian teachings. The church is taught to forgive anyone who wrongs seventy seven times which shows that getting rid of that person as a member of the church is not allowed unless it is his personal decision (Harper and Metzeger 20). In case the said wrongdoer is a leader in the church, he will not be sent away from the church but he will be expected to step down from his position. This is a necessary step due to the fact that being a leadership role in church, one is expected to take his duties seriously as his job is to be a good example to others. The social structure is basically made up of the individuals who attend the church, ranging from the adults to the teenagers and the children. From the same group, the leaders are appointed and there is a hierarchy according to the ministerial level that one has achieved. The Pastor has the minimal rank in the church, he is then followed by the Reverend and the highest is the Bishop. The Bishop is seen as the authoritative figure in the church and is the representative of the church, an individual rises through the ranks over time, usually years. Then there are other employees of the church who might not necessarily be ministers of the word, such as the treasurer, the secretary, the accountant, counselors and so on. This last group in conjunction with the ministers ensures the smooth running of the church activities and coordination of events, in addition to the employees there is another category of leaders in the church, only that they do not carry heavy responsibility as compared to the ones mentioned above. These are the community cell leaders or fellowship leaders, they organize and are responsible for the weekly meetings that take place, outside the church, and these are usually in peoples’ homes. They ensure that everyone is notified of the venue and any changes that might take place; they are seen as the spiritual authority in the community cells. Since the leaders in the church are not able to keep tabs on everyone, it is therefore a good initiative to visit one another as you pray and check on the person’s welfare. These groups become one’s support system when he or she is going through a rough patch and needs people to console and comfort him or her. They are especially useful during traumatic moments such as when one is bereaved or is taken ill and or admitted in hospital, these groups mobilize themselves to visit and stand in prayer with the affected person; they also bring home supplies such as groceries. This in turn becomes a small informal group, which is part of the bigger church and which aims at spreading the Gospel of Christ in addition to good works (Zayed and Kamel 12). In conclusion, the church is an essential organization in the community because it helps to balance it out and keep people in check. Meaning that when something is not right in a community, it is not always the law enforcers that come to make things right, the church also has a duty to correct the wrong done. The church is the moral voice in the community and it is very essential that its effects are felt. Works Cited Harmon, Elshivo Kenneth. Growing God's Kingdom: A Cultural Analysis of a Growing Midwestern Church University . ProQuest. 2007.Print. Harper, Brad and Paul Louis Metzger. Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical. East Fulton: Brazos Press. 2009. Print. Lowe, Kevin Joo Oon. A Cultural Analysis of Cambodian Methodist Church Worship Services and Their Implications. Asbury Theological Seminary. 2007. Print. Parris, Stanley Glenn. Instituting a Missional Worship Style in a Local Church Developed from an Analysis of the Culture. ProQuest. 2008. Print. Zayed, Adel and Mostafa Kamel. Teams and Work Groups. Pathways to Higher Education.CAPSCU-Center for Advancement and postgraduate Studies- Cairo University. 2005. Print. Read More