For Wilshire Baptist Church
Before they closed Plano’s Collin Creek Mall in June 2019 to make way for a billion-dollar mixed-use development, they threw a big party and thousands came. My father used to walk there several times a week and he could attest that in the final year it had become a ghost town with the only visitors being walkers like himself.
Local media covered the big closing party, with one reveler saying, “You would meet people here. It was almost like going to church.”
Interesting and sad that it took a wrecking ball to draw a crowd. Interesting, too, that the woman compared it to church. And sad, too, that some of our churches look like they may have a wrecking ball in their future.
So how do our churches not fall the way of the shopping mall? Some say the malls have been hurt by online shopping, but that hasn’t happened at NorthPark. Every weekend the parking lots are full. It looks like holiday shopping season all year round.
I’m no expert, so all I can do is list what keeps me coming to my church every week:
- Adult Bible study that is relevant and challenging and keeps me thinking and learning and asking more questions.
- Worship that is not entertainment but is reverent and feeds my heart, head and soul like nothing else can.
- Opportunities to minister to the larger world in a significant and real way.
- Meaningful fellowship with people from a wide background and with different life experiences to share.
If you’re not experiencing that, then maybe you are in the wrong place. Or, maybe you need to get more involved where you are and help create a vibrant church for yourself and the community around you.