Is your congregation cut off and inwardly focused? Primarily a storehouse of resources? Or a connector that brings things together? The images of swamp, reservoir, and canal can reveal the challenges and opportunities impacting your church's vitality says F. Douglas Powe, Jr., Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, and James C. Logan, Chair of Evangelism (an E. Stanley Jones Professorship), at Wesley Theological Seminary.
The key is to continually ask, “How do we as a congregation participate in God’s transforming work?” And the answer involves the congregation’s mission and vision. How do they align with efforts to participate in God’s transforming work?
Swamp
Thurman describes a swamp as a place that hoards, is friendless, and where things decay. Applying Thurman’s definition of swamp to congregations, a swamp church is one that hoards, is friendless (or only inwardly friendly), and where things decay. If your congregation is like a swamp, it hoards all forms of resources. It does not seek to connect with outsiders. It is decaying slowly. Ultimately, the congregation will die.
Reservoir
Thurman says a reservoir “is a place in which water is stored in order that it may be available when needed.”
Reservoir churches are perceived as places that have resources. These congregations often focus on providing material resources to those in their community. They are involved in feeding ministry, clothing ministry, and so on.
Canal
Thurman wrote that “the function of a canal is to channel water Imagine a canal congregation as a body that links to things outside of itself. It is outwardly focused because it is always looking to connect to things beyond its origin.
A canal congregation knows its transforming power is in the ability to move away from its center and not remain stagnant in one place. It seeks to touch others in the community and get them engaged in discipleship. A canal congregation realizes this may not always happen inside the church building. It seeks to reach people where they are and impact their lives.
Honest self-appraisal
Is your congregation a swamp, a reservoir, or a canal? This is the question that all congregations need to ask and answer honestly. Here are some key questions in a process of honest self-appraisal.
How many visitors do you see on average in a month?
How are you modeling for those inside the congregation what it means to be to imitators of Jesus?
How are you modeling for those outside the congregation what it means to be imitators of Jesus?
How many visitors return a second time or continue coming?
How many people do you connect with in the community during the month?
How are these community connections happening?
Are these connections based on giving out food, clothing, and so on?
This list is not meant to be comprehensive but to help you take a serious look in the mirror. If you are not seeing visitors or they do not come back, that should raise a red flag. If you are making no community connections or the connections simply exist to hand out goods, that should raise a red flag.
Realistically, not every congregation will end up as a canal. But many swamp congregations can take the next faithful step and become a reservoir. Just think of the difference it will make in our communities if there are many more reservoir congregations. I truly believe we are called to this work for such a time as this!
This article is excerpted from The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Abingdon Press, 2020) by F. Douglas Powe, Jr. Used by permission. The book is available at Cokesbury and Amazon.