i THE MEDIOCRE CHURCH V'm not a theologian nor a minister. { have taught some classes at my chureh, but as far as being a true authority on religion, I can't back that up. However, [-can speak some plain truths about this topic that you need to heat. Doo’ I won't be too deep, because like most people, I'm sort of shallow. If yow think broaching the topic of education is risky, try talking about people's faith and their church. People get real defensive on this because iff there is a section of society full of achievers who need to chill out, it's this group. So, we're going to take it one step at a time so-1 can be sure to offend Just about everyone. If you were forced to rate your church on a scale, what would it be? We're not talking about God. Our God is not mediocre. We're talking about your actual church. The community that gathers weekly and sometimes twice weekly. The building, the facilities, the quality of members, the programs, and the chureh staff, including the pastor. All that makes up the church. How would you rank it if you had to? Excellent? Good? Pitiful? Thave a strong feeling most would say mediocre ‘if they were truly honest. It all starts up top with the Pasoe just like it does in the excellent compa nies. Ifyou have a boring speaker in the pulpit, it's sieges SB ch ‘h, That's just the way it goes. Like teachers, this is a tough job and you can't hit winners every Sunday. All you can hope for is a decent premise with one or two points driven across. Finding the excelent pasts is challenging. If they are truly excellent, you're going to have park- ing problems. If the building is too small, you'll have seating problems as well. This leads to hav- ing to get to church early which bothers me a great deal for some reason, My daughter gets on to me all the time, “We're ‘going to be late again, Daddy!” “No, sweetie. We're not late hecause we were never trying to be on time.” ‘The key to finding a church and being happy with your choice is not to expect too much, One of the happiest pastors | ever met shared with me the key to his happiness while we were playing golf,