So Much for "Seeker Sensitive"

For years Willow Creek Church in Illinois has been one of the foundational models for the "seeker sensitive" church services favored by many churches today. After a large study of worshippers and what they're looking for in their church, Willow Creek is making a huge change (h/t SmartChristian - from Out of Ur):

Here we go again. Willow Creek’s REVEAL study has been a very hot issue on this blog. Rather than recapping all the history, I encourage you to review a few previous posts.

Willow Creek Repents?: Why the most influential church in America now says "We made a mistake."

Willow Creek Repents? (Part 2): Greg Hawkins responds with the truth about REVEAL.

REVEAL Revisited: One sociologist says Willow Creek’s research may not be as revealing as we think.

Today, Greg Hawkins, executive pastor at Willow, recapped the study and then shared some changes that the church is now making in response to the research. He said they’re making the biggest changes to the church in over 30 years. For three decades Willow has been focused on making the church appealing to seekers. But the research shows that it’s the mature believers that drive everything in the church—including evangelism.

Hawkins says, “We used to think you can’t upset a seeker. But while focusing on that we’ve really upset the Christ-centered people.” He spoke about the high levels of dissatisfaction mature believer have with churches. Drawing from the 200 churches and the 57,000 people that have taken the survey, he said that most people are leaving the church because they’re not being challenged enough.

Because it’s the mature Christians who drive evangelism in the church Hawkins says, “Our strategy to reach seekers is now about focusing on the mature believers. This is a huge shift for Willow.”

I attended a "seeker sensitive" church for many years, and as someone who had been in church all his life, after awhile the service got pretty boring. I'd heard many of the rather simplistic sermons multiple times and could almost preach them myself. The music was always contemporary and generally lacking in much heft in either lyrics or music.

I hope this change works for Willow Creek and then spreads like wildfire. There needs to be some reason for people who have gone to church before to come back on Sunday.