I hate to see churches of any kind become corporate McChurches - vast suburban buildings and huge staff, lots of programs of all kinds, savvy marketing, and exceptionally easy to get lost in regardless of one's efforts. Lots of membership turnover and people just trying out the flavor of the month. In fact, anymore I pretty much dislike what "church" is, regardless of denomination or location or belief system. All those programs and ministers and huge buildings eat up the majority of any church giving income - which is problematic to begin with, IMHO.Memtiger wrote:When I have more time I will update you. Yes when I attended in the earlymid 90s there was clear message from the pulpit to serve memphis and stay where they were, Union Ave intercongregational services, and Shank preached it. But the fact was Shank and the current elders and staff had eyes east, they really wanted to be a Bellevue type church where Factory Outlet was, but they had to scale back to where they are now. Its country club church now.
Now Highland is an empty lot. Its a big deal in my family and inner circle.
I can at least respect a church that chooses to stay where it is, not pursuing big building dreams, and making a real attempt to influence its surrounding community for good. That's disappointing that Highland chose that route over what they had been advocating.
