Most churches are telling everyone how perfect they are for everyone.  I have seen in the last seven years that PromiseLand San Marcos is not for everyone.  I’ve seen people pick churches based on 3 categories:

1. Culture– What is the style of worship and ministry?
2. Doctrine – Do I believe what the church believes?  Am I open in the disagreeable areas (is it negotiable)?
3. Relationships – Do I have meaning friendships with people in the church?

We have had almost 2000 people join our church in the last 7 years and a little over 1000 have stayed.  Some people died, some moved, some lost the faith, and some left our church based on the criteria above.  We have not studied why people left scientifically.  Therefore, I don’t have percentages on how many are in each category.

Recently, I started a list of why people would not like PromiseLand.  Maybe this will scare people off.  Maybe it will draw people in.  Either way, it is reality.  We are not running a corporation that needs to worry about PR.  We are also not interested in bait and switch. We try to put our best foot forward and believe we are a healthy church.

PromiseLand San Marcos is not the church for you if…

• you are looking for a liturgical church – we do have repetition and traditions in our church, however, we do not worship the exact same way every time and we do not have communion every service.
• you are looking for a denominal church. Our church is independent, but we agree with a lot of denominations on a lot of things.
• you are looking for a ‘white’ or ‘black‘ or ‘hispanic’ church – our church is about 45% white 45% hispanic and 10% black
• you are looking for aquiet church– our worship music is fairly loud with guitar, keys, drums, bass, singing, etc
• you are looking for an older crowd– most of the people in our church are under 40 years old.
• you are looking for a politically active church – we have a morally conservative stance on issues and we encourage our people to vote accordingly, however, we do not push or preach many politically charged topics.  We are strong advocates of choosing life.
• you don’t agree with our statement of beliefs.
• you are looking for an ‘older pastor’ – I am in my 30s. I am getting gray hair though.
• you are looking for a pastor with a seminary degree. I have a degree in Marketing from Texas State University.
• you are comfortable being set in your ways– we will challenge all folks to get closer and move toward intimacy with God.  We encourage everyone to volunteer and serve in some capacity.  Sin is wrong.
• you do not believe that financially giving is important – We constantly give people the opportunity to GIVE to others in need including: local and international needs.  The church budget is supported by all members being actively involved financially.
• you want to hold onto grudges – We believe in dealing with issues, resolution, and reconciliation.
• you want a small church.  Our church is medium sized.  About 750 attend on the weekend, but since we have multiple services, we have about 250-300 in each service.
• you want a megachurch – We are committing to maintaining personal relationships with everyone and we don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks.
• you are looking for a specific ministry that we do not offer.  We do not have some ministries that other churches have and we do not apologize for it.  We have what God has given us the resources to do at this time. For an example, see below…
• you are looking for a huge, active college ministry.  We have 30-40 college students in our weekend services, but we do not currently have a special, separate college ministry night/meeting.
• you are looking for a regular Wednesday night service.  We have 1 Mid-week service per month (the first Wed). Every other week, we have small groups that meet on a variety of topics and locations.
• you are looking forward to us making big changes in the future to become like your old church or another church. OR you feel like you have been called to our church to change us culturally or doctrinally.  This is a wrong way to join a church.  Be up front at the beginning if you have a difference and if it doesn’t work out, we can part peacefully.
• you lean on legalism to get the job done.   Mercy, forgiveness, rehab, second chances abound at PromiseLand.

Having said ALL that, there are many things we encourage, teach, exhort, explain, believe in, etc that are not represented on the list.  The reason they are not listed is because most people believe/agree with them… or at least say that they do. (ex- Jesus is the only way)

+robin