What is a program-based church? A program-based church is one that sets up various programs in response to perceived needs, or often just because "it's the way things are done." These include Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening informal services, music programs, children's ministries, youth ministries, evangelism (visitation and door-to-door), mission-oriented groups, service-oriented groups, midweek, Bible studies, prayer meetings, committees of various sorts... The list can go on and on.

None of these things are bad in and of themselves. The problem comes when:

Their purpose for existing eventually becomes to maintain themselves.

In a way, they come to be considered sacred, even if they show little fruit.

They have little, if anything, to do with each other. There is no sense of overall vision.

They compete with each other for the time, energy, and money of church members.

A tiny minority of the church (rarely more than 15%, according to Neighbor) is heavily involved, while the majority is happy just to "attend."

The majority serves as chair-warmers (this is Christianity?) while the minority eventually gets burned out.

They enforce the notion that church life consists of activities, not relationships.

Each activity has an understood "script" which people follow.

The result is that people think they are spending time together, but are actually quite insulated from each other. What are the heartfelt needs of the people in your Sunday school/choir/ committee/Bible study... do you know? Does anyone know?

You end up involved in so many church activities that you don't have any time for non-Christians. Often, you really don't know any well enough to call them your friends!

There is nothing wrong with programs; all churches need programs. But a deliberate effort must be made to shed the tendencies described above. Here is the key: Programs must serve people, not the other way around. A good barometer to judge the usefulness and attitude of a program is to ask some serious questions,

"Does this build up believers' relationships with God, with each other, and with the unsaved, or does it get in the way?"

"Does this program strengthen edification, discipleship or evangelism in the church, or hinder it?"

Careful planning prior to commencing with a new program and honest, regular evaluation of existing programs should keep churches from the program snare.”