Brad, good to hear from you, my dear brother.
Here are some essentials that I would make sure I had to start with.

1. Active Prayer Team that took prayer seriously
2. Some sweet and senstive soul winners who had a passion to see people saved
3. Holy Ghost Preaching
4. Holy Ghost Conviction present in every service.
5. People are committed to see God do something great, whatever that means, instead of being locked into tradition
6. People that are willing to change
7. People who have a reverential fear of God
8. People that understand and adhere to sacrificial giving
9. People who have a right perspective of worship.

I would not care what the bldg was like.

Jim Law

Brad

Great question because I believe that what you focus on grows!!!

Some of the qualities that would be essential for me would be.

* Peole serious about the power of prayer. And expericence that power regularly like the Prayer ministry at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.

* A people that were desperate for the presence of God in their individual lives and corporate worship.

* A people that attracted the lost by the way God works in them on a daily basis.

*People that are enthused and excited about the life they have with Jesus and are not afraid to talk about it.

* A place where much Grace exists absent of Judgement and condemnation.

* A place where the people who are far away from God can come and feel welcome.

* Finally the place where I come to worship is a place each week I'm excited about attending because I know the Lord is going to be there and do some unbelievable things.

That's some of the things that would be part of my ideal Church.

Denny Brinkman

My husband and I were discussing last night's service and we both made similar comments about our perceptions of the "ideal Church". Brad, I am sure that you can identify with our thoughts. You did a wonderful job of refocusing the Church's perspective about "the body of Christ". As you were posing questions, I could not help but to think back to a time as a member of a church whose vision was focused 100% on spiritual growth, accountability and winning others to Jesus. We were teenagers and our families were part of a new start church here in south Bibb county. We did not have a building, a piano or organ, Sunday School books or even an organized choir. We meet in back yards and had Bible studies in homes. What we did have was a unified congregation whose desire was to take the word of God and apply it to our lives. There was tremendous spiritual growth, accountability groups, discipleship, etc. Even as a young girl I could feel the movement of the Holy Spirit in a big way in the midst of us all. That has had an impact on my life and the choices that we have made in regards to Church membership. It is not about the tangible or more visible things in our lives, but about our hearts and our desire to have a personal relationship with our Savior. I am on Board Pastor and want to do what I can to make a difference in the life of this Church!

hey brad...i dont know alot bout this stuff but you always seem to say what i need to hear.i guess im saying i would want some to speak from the heart.you cant go wrong cause some one is always feeling same way u r in some way or another.any way keep up the good work cousin!

My ideal church (in no particular order):

1. Has a God sized vision that people can rally behind. For example, "we are going to reach the world for Christ by having a radio station in every country in the world by 2020" or "we are going to build a church that the unchurched in our area will want to flock to"

2. Is not enslaved by debt. Perpetual debt is a big read flag that the body is not trusting God to meet its needs.

3. Has a pastor that is committed to proclaiming, teaching, and living God's Word without compromise.

4. Has an effective communicator behind the pulpit that can help me understand how God's Word is relevant to this generation. What am I supposed to do? Why is this old dusty book important to me?

5. Has one kind of service. The church is not divided along traditional/contemporary lines. Most churches that try to do both do both poorly. The old people do not need their own early service unless there is standing room only in the main service.

6. Is seeker friendly in the right kind of way. The gospel is not compromised, but unchurched or unsaved people are made to feel welcome and accepted (an attitude of we are just beggars telling another beggar where to find Bread). A person seeking the truth can actually find a good dose of it in the air on Sunday morning. Most churches that try to be "seeker friendly" leave the seeker still seeking at the end of the day...don't do that. Be a place where Truth can be found.

7. Is a place where membership is not automatic. Everyone is welcome to attend, but if you want to be a member you must have a ministry. At the very least, prospective members should have to go through a class explaining what it means to be a Christian and what is expected of members in terms of service.

8. Makes disciples. The church does not leave new converts or members to try to figure out their faith on their own. There is purposeful and life stage appropriate discipleship via Sunday School or small groups.

9. Has no programs outside of Sunday worship unless they have the lay leadership in place to do an excellent job.

9a. Does not rely on the same 10 people to do everything.

9b. Has a safe and inviting space for my kids.

10. Has a music minister that spends large blocks of time with God during the week so that his ministry on Sunday morning is just a glimpse, an overflow, of what he has experienced with God during the week. The "style" of music would irrelevant if the music minister could take the congregation to where he has been during the week (in my opinion).

11. Has a student ministry that is family focused. The father is the God ordained leader/teacher of the children. The student ministry would equip fathers to man up and take on this responsibility rather than (tacitly) encourage them or allow them to "outsource" the spiritual formation of their children to the student minister. You did say "ideal." I realize that this is not possible for many families.

12. Is "man friendly." Reference "Wild at Heart" or "Barbarian Way." Most churches are overly feminized. It is a chore to go to church and act like a civilized girl and sing girly songs. Church should be a place where the wild men are energized to go do something wild and adventurous (for Jesus.. of course). Jesus' disciples were wild men. They carried weapons and were willing to die for what they believed.

Sing "As He died to make men Holy, let us die to make men free...His truth is marching on" rather than "Jesus, precious Jesus, how wonderful precious Jesus you are.. I Love you sweet lover Jesus." No warrior sings songs like that to his general.

13. Is a house a prayer. Lots of prayer - not just for sick people. I get so tired of prayer requests being just about everyone's latest illness or operation. Yes, we should pray for the sick, but we should also pray for God's power to do things that make an eternal difference. Pray that God will do something so amazing that no one can deny His power or attribute it to circumstances.

We have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof... pray with power that LIVES will be changed as God uses us for his own purposes.

14. Is free from man made traditions. No one has to be circumcised (or whatever the Baptist equivalent to that is... reference Galatians). Love God, love people. For example, if you miss Sunday night or if you cannot serve on that 18th committee, you shouldn't be made to feel you will lose your salvation.

15. Is a place where the people love... really love each other and want to be around each other. "you will know them by their love for one another." In some churches you can hear the cricket chirping at about 12:05. Its empty. In my ideal church people are excited about coming. They come early and stay late for the fellowship.

thanks for the opportunity to share... I am sure that is quite enough. I had to break it in two pieces for blogspot to take it! :)

My ideal church is one made up of people who show up early for worship, who hunger and thirst to be more like Jesus. A people who realize worship is more than the music but it is what each bring, themselves, to the service through daily private worship! It's a people who so love the lost, that it does not matter what they wear or what they look like or what they have done, they just desire that the lost meet our Lord! It's a group that embraces whatever it takes to reach the world including new music, instruments and technology. My ideal church would consist of families in different stages ministering to each other. Families who realize, before it is too late, the need to instill in their children a love for the Lord and the requirement to worship Him! There would be a desire to grow spiritually and never think that they have grown or given enough. A people who during the week ponder what they learned on Sunday and send in questions for the next week. A people who hunger for more. When a church has this, God will use even the most unlikely to be great! Ministries that should fail will prosper. Communities that are unreachable will be reached. Lives that should be doomed will be saved!

Lisa Moore

Brad

To build the ideal church, it would have to be on another planet. People,because of egos and the inherent sinful nature we all possess, want to be powerful and/or have "It" our way!
To me the ideal church would not be about the facility, although it would have to be basic, adequate and comfortable with all of the utilities and comforts of HVAC....
we would focus on the fields that "are white unto harvest" and seek to reach all of the lost men and women, boys and girls all around us in our neighborhoods and surrounding community. It would have to extend to "tithing" and ever increasing amount of the church's income to missions to reach all of the world here and at home. If we truly believe what the BIBLE says and that there really is a day of JUDGEMENT and the reality of a literal H E L L ,
then we would "do" church differently and the focus would no longer be on "me" or "I" but what WE could do to keep a lost world from dying and going to hell!
Just remember what you felt like when YOU WERE LOST and destined to spend an eternity in HELL.
That will change your whole perspective!!
Love you and our entire staff and your families.
GOD bless you and KEEP YOU
Bro Morley

• Not a church that has a great building
• Not a church that has your type of music
• Not a church that has wonderful programs
But a church in which the leaders are equipping the saints through teaching the word of God verbally and by example, where each person is thus being built up, where false teaching is unknown, where each person is then contributing to the building up of every other through playing his part in the body.

-Focus on Prayer - I know of a church in Macon that has prayer time every Friday night.
-Focus on individual growth and Bible study - maybe some Bible study classes
-Life groups that have leaders who care, who are connected and available to their students, and who apply lessons to today's issues, who make their students think, who give their students material to take home and study so that they can contribute their thoughts and ideas to the next lesson - leaders who don't just give a history lesson every week and then get out as fast as they can without inquiring or trying to know what's going on in their student's lives.

-Help with local missions - become more involved locally with programs to feed and minister to the homeless and help others on a regular basis, not just at Christmas or a few times a year. I know of another church in Macon that goes downtown every Thursday night and cooks hot dogs for the homeless, and others who have breakfast every Sunday morning or once a month. We need to be doing something like that every week, all the time - we need to advertise how we can help and serve others.
This may sound like a lot and it gives more specific examples than the other posts, but our purpose is to serve, and we're supposed to have a desire to serve Him. And we're supposed to grow in Him and have a daily walk.