The folks at Granger Community Church, Mark Waltz and Julie Smedes, Mark's administrative assistant, were great.  For an hour and fifteen minutes we talked about discipleship at one of the United Methodist Church's largest churches.  (Bet you thought GCC was non-denominational.  I did.)  GCC is a megchurch located in a suburban setting (Granger, IN), but with every bit as much heart as The Open Door--if Mark and Julie are any example of the GCC's ethos.

Now before I begin writing about the missional conversation we had, I need to mention that when I set up the interview weeks ago, it somehow totally escaped me that Mark was the author of one the books we use at HBC to train our First Impressions team--which by the way "borrowed" its name from Mark's book title, First Impressions.  Had I known who the Mark Waltz was that I was to interview, I would have expected exactly the kind of answers I received to my questions--sharp, perceptive, and cutting edge. 

As to GCC being missional, Mark said that from GCC's beginning the church has been missional--though the word has only recently come into common usage in conversation.  From its inception the church has sought to reach its world for Christ.  GCC's leadership tries to balance "attractional" and "missional" approaches to ministry--it's not either/or, rather it's both/and.  Mark says their leadership team is always recalibrating.  Bottom line--GCC is asking the question, "Once we get 'em in here, how do we get 'em out there?"  Among the many solutions to this challenge, GCC provides the ability for attenders and members  to participate in "First Serve" opportunities.   "First Serve" is a kind of service opportunity in which anyone may easily participate.  They simply show up at the church the second Saturday of any month and work with a team from 9 a.m. to noon on any number of projects: "Feed The Children," construction projects in South Bend, or packing food boxes.  They also have ongoing mission connections in India, Mexico, and Chicago. Mark says two things happen when members of GCC serve others.  They experience the indescribable presence of God, and as they serve, they are transformed--their heart is changed.

So how is GCC seeking to form disciples who, among many things, are missional?  Discipleship is a challenging task for any church, but when your church is running over 5000+ in worship, daunting might be a better word. (The actual worship attendance may be larger.  Unbelievably, I never thought to ask the quintessential pastor's question "What's your attendiance?") Yet, Mark  and others at GCC are working hard to instill in both attenders and members the characteristics, that for them, mark the missional aspect of discipleship.  Certainly in a church like GCC, which in many ways defines "attractional", it is no surprise that GCC focuses on encouraging folks to "Have a friend, be a friend," and "Invest in and invite those who don't know Jesus."  Yet, in additional to the evangelistic side of the missional mix, they've added the challenge for members to "serve once a month" by showing concern for those outside the walls of GCC and making an investment in their lives.  Recently they've begun taking a survey in the  worship service three times a year that asks just  how folks at GCC are doing in achieving, among other areas of discipleship, the important challenge of going out of the church and into the world.

As to Mark's leadership style in this very suburban church that has been a model of attractional ministry (nowhere better seen than in the children's suites), not surprisingly, as Julie pointed out, Mark is able to paint a picture of what discipleship looks like not only verbally, but also with his life.  When you talk to Mark, you get a real sense of his passion for making disciples as evidenced by his honest wresting with the questions I had sent him advance to guide our discussion.  As Sandy pointed out, "You can tell he takes his ministry to make disciples very seriously."

Bottom line.  These expressions of church (GCC and The Open Door) are as different as they come, but both are hard after the Mission of God and, at the end of the day, that, not their size, is what charcterizes both these churches as being significant in the Kingdom.