7 minute read
OUTLOOK – October 2023
Simon Liversidge
Five Non-negotiables for Churches
Simon Liversidge has been serving as the lead pastor of the College View Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, the largest congregation in Mid-America territory, for one year. OUTLOOK editor Brenda Dickerson recently sat down with him to talk about his pastoral journey, his practices and his hopes for Adventism.
Please share a little about your growing up years and what has shaped you as a person.
I had lots of different influences in my life growing up as a missionary kid. I was never like all the other kids, for better or worse. There were parts of that experience that were hard. And there were parts of it that were good. Obviously, being an attorney also shaped my way of thinking. Being a critical thinker helps me to be prepared.
How have you been able to successfully remain in ministry for over 27 years without burning out, as many other pastors have?
For me, number one is my wife, Cecilia. She has not only put up with a lot, she has taught me a lot. She has prioritized our family, and forced me to prioritize our family even when I wouldn’t otherwise do it. And that has been a blessing, even though it’s been a battle for us all along. I don’t think I would be in ministry without that continual focus.
Of course, I have to have my own devotional life with God. A devotional life is such an amazing thing because it allows you to walk that line—that balance between absolute confidence that you are called as a child of God—and you can do whatever God has called you to, and the humility that is required in order to be an effective pastor. The role of a pastor is asking for almost impossible things—be supremely self-confident in what you think God has called you to do, and yet maintain absolute humility and service for the least. Those two things are antithetical in our world, and yet that’s what God invites us to do. And so there’s no way to do that without God.
The other thing for me that’s really helped is that I don’t let people call me “pastor” at church. And it really doesn’t have anything to do with the title. To me, it’s simply that I want to be real at church. I want to have real friendships because I think a lot of pastors don’t have real friendships.
Let’s shift now and talk about church growth. What do you see as the most successful methods of evangelism and discipleship across various cultures and age groups?
What’s working is that people are still looking for God. I’ve shared with my church board and my elders and my staff —I have it written on the board for our staff—and we have five “non-negotiables of church life.” To me, if you do those five things, you will grow.
The first one is quality in worship. What I’m talking about is a worship service with quality presentation, including music. Because the reality is, in most churches, the worship service is going to be the number one draw for new people who are looking for church.
Number two is excellence in children’s ministries, because most of the people who will come looking are going to have kids, especially young kids. Over 90 percent of people who join church do so before the age of 18. And yet most of our evangelistic opportunities are pointed at that small percentage—maybe 7 percent—which doesn’t really make sense when you’re just looking at the numbers. Plus, children are more naturally invitational than adults; they’re very good at inviting their friends and now we’ve got families coming to church because their kids came last week.
Number three is small groups. I know most people don’t believe in small groups because it’s too much work. But for me, small groups are non-negotiable in church life for two reasons. One, it’s the most effective form of community building, and two, because of the leadership opportunities. Literally, you have an unlimited number of leaders in charge for groups both in the church and the community. Pickleball, dog training, families with special needs—it doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistently providing opportunities to connect.
Number four is providing regular connection points for people. And that can include social events at church. But you have to be intentional about creating those opportunities for people to connect.
And lastly, you have to have some intentional way of moving people from being guests into active membership. You have to have the mindset that the first people we’re thinking about in this church are the new people. You have to greet them first, you have to invite them first. It has to be primary. And if it’s not, you’re not going to grow, because how are you going to grow if the new people aren’t going to stay? That’s not rocket science, right?
I’m thinking that if Adventist churches were doing these five things we would not be losing those 40 percent of people who get baptized, that we have heard about from recent reports.
No. The percentage of people who leave your church who are part of a small group—from my experience of 27 years of ministry—you’re talking about less than 5 percent. People don’t leave once they’re in that kind of community connection. Sure, sometimes things happen in their life, like divorce or other tragedies. But otherwise, they don’t leave.
How do we go about shaping the church within our sphere of influence to be something that our kids and grandkids see value in and want to be part of?
To me, that goes back to the non-negotiables—those five things. You are inviting every single person who walks into that place of opportunity to be fully involved as a functioning member of the body of Christ: every single person. That’s what God’s desire is within that community. Each person has to go through this journey with the church community, if that church is going to be excited and full of the Holy Spirit power in their lives.
As we’re wrapping up, is there anything I haven’t asked you about that you’d like to say?
Well, I didn’t talk at all about eschatology. And I’ve never preached much through eschatology. I have found that the heart of the gospel is the heart of where eschatology becomes real, and if you’re not living in the present reality of being a child of God, then there’s really no point in worrying about what’s coming down the road. So much of the identity of Adventism has been wrapped up in eschatology—being different from other people, or being special. And the reality is that the most important thing that makes anyone special is being a child of God. But it’s hard for people to let go of the idea of their specialness coming from that, rather than from being a remnant. And that’s why we’ve seen a lot of joylessness in Adventism. I think the only real joy comes from seeing your identity as a child of God. And I think if we do that primarily, then we can have an understanding of the hope that we have in eschatology. But I’m not sure you can have it otherwise.
Thank you, Simon, for sharing your thoughts with OUTLOOK readers. We at Mid-America Union pray God’s abundant blessings on you as you continue to lead and serve in building up God’s kingdom in the heartland of America.
Read the full interview at OUTLOOKmag.org/simon-liversidge-interview
