Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

PCC is now eleven years old. It has been interesting to see the many changes that have taken place in this ministry. Yet, at the same time, the most important things remain the same.

One of the reasons God has blessed PCC is because we have simply stayed consistent in our efforts and refused to give up. We’ve never looked for a magic key or some lightening in a bottle to bring about growth and church health. We’ve always kept the main thing the main thing. Now that we have been at it for eleven years, we have a forward momentum that is almost self-perpetuating.

Did you know that most new church plants do not make it past the 3 year mark?

Sticking with it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take risks, start new initiatives, step out in faith, set goals, develop strategies, or even make changes. But it does mean that we make sure God is leading us and directing those decisions.

PCC has remained consistent with our MISSION. Our mission is based upon the Great Commission that Jesus gave the church. This is a Biblical mandate, and as such can never change. Our church has always been deliberate about reaching those who are far from God and turning them into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

PCC has remained consistent in our MINISTRIES. We don’t try to do everything. That burns people out and gets the church running off into too many different directions as once. If you are looking for a church that has a full menu of options - (some 92 different ministries) – there are other churches that might be a better fit. We only do five things at PCC: the Weekend Services…. Children… Teens… Small Groups… and Outreach (and anything else that can support these ministries and provide congregational care). This gives us laser focus and makes us more effective. It also prevents mission drift.

Most churches have way too many activities, programs, and events on the schedule. That can be a huge drain on the family, and additionally, it creates excessive competition within the church for limited resources.

To ensure that the most important and productive ministries thrive, it is necessary for us to periodically prune the programs and ministries that are least effective or most draining upon people’s time and limited church resources. In other words, we find ways to cut competing systems from the church docket.

At PCC we have made some tough decisions in the past about certain programs and ministries because they were a drain; decisions that were very unpopular at the time. We have had to say no to a great many ideas that would have broadened our ministry but blunted our impact. For instance, from the beginning we decided not to provide Sunday night worship services, Easter cantatas, Christmas specials, and a host of other good but potentially competitive programs. There is nothing wrong with any of these programs or ministries. But for us, they compete with other areas we deem to be more important.