{"id":3361,"date":"2015-02-16T05:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomrainer.wpengine.com?p=3361"},"modified":"2021-06-10T14:09:45","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T19:09:45","slug":"top-ten-fiercely-defended-traditions-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/top-ten-fiercely-defended-traditions-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Ten Most Fiercely Defended Traditions in Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I embarked on a major research project for a new resource. Part of my research included a long review of thousands of comments made on this site over the past few years. Though my research had another purpose, I became intrigued by the comments related to church traditions.<\/p>\n

Of course, by \u201ctraditions,\u201d I am referring to those extra-biblical customs that become a way of life for many congregations. A tradition is neither inherently good nor bad. Its value or its distraction in a given church really depends on how members treat the traditions.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, I began noting the most frequently defended traditions in churches. As a corollary, these traditions can also be a potential source of divisiveness. They are ranked here according to the frequency of the comments.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Worship and music style. <\/strong>Though I have noted elsewhere that this issue is not as pervasive as it once was, it is still number one.<\/li>\n
  2. Order of worship service. <\/strong>Thou shalt not change any items in the order of worship.<\/li>\n
  3. Times of worship service(s). <\/strong> The first three most frequently defended traditions are related to worship services.<\/li>\n
  4. Role of the pastor. <\/strong>The pastor is to be omnipresent and omniscient. Many church members have clear expectations of what \u201ctheir\u201d pastor should do.<\/li>\n
  5. Committee structure. <\/strong>Many congregations continue committee structures long after their usefulness has waned.<\/li>\n
  6. Specific ministries and programs. <\/strong>The healthy church constantly evaluates the effectiveness of its ministries and programs. That\u2019s good stewardship. Other churches continue their ministries and programs because that\u2019s the way they\u2019ve always done it.<\/li>\n
  7. Location of church facility. <\/strong>A church relocation can be an issue of fierce debate, even contention, in many congregations.<\/li>\n
  8. Use of specific rooms. <\/strong>Some of the more frequently named rooms are the worship center, the parlor, the gym, and the kitchen\/fellowship hall.<\/li>\n
  9. Business meetings. <\/strong>Traditions include the frequency of business meetings, the scope of authority of business meetings, and the items covered in business meetings.<\/li>\n
  10. Staff ministry descriptions. <\/strong>Some churches insist on having the same staff positions with the same titles with the same ministry descriptions even though the needs in the congregations may have changed dramatically.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    My purpose in writing this article is twofold. First, I thought it might be of interest to church leaders. Second, I hope it can provide a cautionary note for those who are leading change.<\/p>\n

    Let me hear from you.\u00a0Do these fiercely defended traditions seem familiar in your church? What would you add?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These traditions can be a potential source of divisiveness. Do these fiercely defended traditions seem familiar in your church?","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,195,177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-lead"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Top Ten Most Fiercely Defended Traditions in Churches<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These traditions can be a potential source of divisiveness. 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