I came across a post on the One Kirk forum in which the poster mentions that the reason one of their relatives doesn’t come to church often is a fear that someone will ask the to become more involved.
This isn’t anything new. There seems to be a sense that people only join things that don’t require anything of you (other than perhaps your membership fees).
The church is onto a bit of a loser here because joining is all we have, in fact that’s kind of the point. The church is all about community and community is all about commitment. Community isn’t easy. You can’t dip in and out of community. And you get out what you put in.
I wonder how we as the church can encourage commitment? I wonder if our communities are attractive enough to warrant commitment? And if not how can we encourage casual use? Can the two exist together?