Is Tradition Stunting the Growth of Your Church?

There was a great turnout of pastors at the quarterly BRM Pastors Roundtable which was held at New Praise Ministries in Euclid Ohio where Roscoe Heath is Pastor. The subject of the Roundtable was: "Is Tradition Stunting the Growth of Your Church"

The issue of the role of tradition in the church is significant because although tradition can safeguard the critical doctrines of the church, tradition is more often used to hold on to old and outdated practices and customs that prevent effective evangelism, discourages leadership development and prevents church growth, especially adding men and young people.

In order to defeat the negative aspects of Tradition in the church we must:

1. Recognize that the church exists for the purpose of evangelism and discipleship, rather than keeping disobedient members at all costs.

2. That although we all want to see our churches grow, God is calling the Pastor to "present every man as complete in Christ" Col 1:28.

3. God Himself is responsible for the growth of our churches, success belongs to Him, faithfulness belongs to us.

4. The primary purpose of the worship service is to exalt God, primarily through his Word, and not to provide every member with something to do.

It is possible to be accurate in the Word of God but to make the Word inaccessible by church traditions and practices more suitable for the Agricultural Age rather than the Information Age. Because of unquestioned traditions we can drive people into the arms of false teachers who understand their people and the times in which we live.