The Faith is an anvil which has worn out many hammers. -- Lord Tweedsmuir

The drive from Richmond, Indiana to suburban Chicago is a familiar one for me. I had made it many times before. On this particular trip, I was quickly tiring of the miles of interstate highway that stretch north of Lafayette through some of the flattest farmland this side of the Mississippi River. For diversion, I exited Interstate 65 and traveled west on Route 24 into Illinois—a decision calculated to change my pace and provide a welcome change of scenery.

As I moved west through such communities as Remington, Crescent City, Gilman, and Forest, I began be intrigued with a common pattern in the towns and small cities through which I was traveling. On street corner after street corner, through town after town, there were the familiar 19th century church buildings with all of the familiar "mainline" names.

All of them displayed on their front signboards (most of which were in need of repair) the same dull-sounding sermon titles and the same true, although trite, "God loves you"-type sayings. All "welcomed" passersby to worship on Sunday morning, and all looked as if they had not had a visitor traverse the intimidating steps in a long time. You could almost smell the "mustiness" emanating from the basement as you drove by.

On the other side of the street, often on the opposite corner, were the video stores filled with people. Just down from the video stores, you could usually find the local high school—a large brick structure, built within the past 20 years, and filled with activity from morning until night. Reflecting on this drive through America's heartland, I began to consider some unpleasant questions: "Had the church become an anachronism in the culture of modern America?" "What does it mean to relate to a 21st-century society from behind the stained glass windows of 19th-century structures?" "Is the church prepared to respond to the new realities in a different world?" "Has the church become—quaint?"

The NET Groups program responds to the needs of a new generation of Christian seeker, to the new realities of a rapidly changing world. It provides a portion of the meaning and purposes needed if the institutional church is not to become quaint. Combining everyday experience with theological reflection and the fellowship intensity of the small group, the program brings spiritual empowerment. I believe it is one option for congregations who would like to breathe new life into their communities of faith.

NET Groups can be an important part of the five factors which I have discovered to be essential to spiritually alive and growing congregations:

1. An openness to an experiential relationship with the Living Christ and a worship setting that provides opportunities for such a relationship to develop. Experience as opposed to a spiritually stifling tradition—and "acquaintance with" as opposed to mere "knowledge about" Jesus Christ—are the most basic factors needed for an attentive and spiritually alive congregation. Good leadership, of course, can be the key to setting the tone for this important experiential dimension of the faith.



2. A strong sense of community where the members and attenders truly love one another. We know from recent studies that the word we respond most favorably to, besides our own name, is care. The tremendous success of the Stephen Series and its emphasis on "caregiving as a way of life" is largely due to this hunger for a sense of community in the local congregation. First time attenders to your church can quickly sense whether or not this concern for one another is present. Coming out of the competitive and individualistic secular world to which we all along, people today are hungering for a place where they can be accepted and loved.



3. A clearly articulated belief system where the members and attenders can coherently explain what they believe in. This does not mean a fundamentalism that provides no room for the questioning process so essential to spiritual maturity. It does mean that spiritually alive congregations have members who are studying and struggling with the tough issues of the faith, finding their own "place to stand" amidst all of the remaining questions. Churches experiencing a new life that will be sustaining have not opted for a "cheap leap of faith," but have faced the hard questions of life and Christianity and are dealing with them. They know that it is only through the maze of complex thought that one can truly experience the release found in a profound simplicity, where one can say, "This is what I believe."



4. An understanding that "Christian" and "minister" are synonymous terms, and that if you claim the name "Christian," you have a responsibility in the ministry. Spiritually vibrant and growing churches have moved from an understanding of the ministry of the few to an encouragement of the ministry of all. In these congregations the pastors are not threatened by the ministry of the laity, but rejoice in equipping them for their Christian service to the world.
   
   
5. Finally, spiritually alive congregations do not focus on their own survival. Instead, they look outward from their institutions to the needs in the world. They know that when their attention is focused outward in ministry, rather than inward in survival, concern for their future is where it should be, in the hands of God.

"Change," said Alvin Toffler, "is the process by which the future invades our life." Beyond the focus on numerical decline and spiritual inertia, we have an opportunity to change—by becoming open to an experiential relationship with Jesus Christ; by building a strong sense of loving community; by developing a clearly articulated belief system; by enlarging our understanding of ministry; and by focusing our attention outward, to the needs of the world. Wherever these things are happening, hope is renewed, and spiritual vitality is present. Through the NET Groups program, such hope and vitality can find concrete expression and a positive response is made to a new generation of Christian seeker.