I read the letter again, and the following things came to my mind (this is further to my earlier post):
It looks like this new exec. pastor, who used to work at Cingular Wireless, seems to have brought with him some corporate tactics. Leading a church is different from leading a corporate body. He cannot treat the church members as he would treat employees.
If only half of its 8000 attendees are participating in church activities, I would first question the church leadership. Maybe it is the church leadership that has been complacent for the last 3 years. If the leaders were playing "community nanny," they were not doing their jobs as shepherds.
I wonder if the church leaders have personally met up with any of these "freeloading" members in order to encourage them to be active members of the family. If not, the new pastor must not try to streamline the church, as the new management of a corporate body would do. Most new pastors make this mistake.
A good shepherd lays down his life for his flock. Not one will be lost easily. A hired hand would not mind if the congregation leaves. Lost souls must be saved, but not at the cost of the sheep from the pen. It makes no sense when the pastor tells the church members to leave so that he can reach out to other people and make them members. A good shepherd strives to ensure that not even one from his flock is lost.
A hired hand cares only about performance- again a corporate mentality. Most performance-based leaders place heavy yokes on their junior leadership and on the congregation. The new converts also would feel the pressure to perform- i.e. to bring in prospective converts. We must remember that the yoke of Christ is easy.
No doubt, a church must save souls, but any act done by a church member must be fully from the heart, and not our ot coercion or out of compliance to a church policy. Deeds done out of coercion are not acceptable to God, as they lack faith. These are dead works.
I read that Julie and Bob responded positively. Most church going Christians are good hearted and would be willing to comply. Others would comply in order to avoid being confronted. Still others would comply in order to avoid the stigma of being excommunicated.
I think that the new pastor has good intentions, but he is being overzealous. He must realize that every church member has a different level of faith, and he must expect according to their faith.
