I found out today that my church, Ekklesia Church at Raleigh, ranked second among over 75 Wesleyan churches in North Carolina in the amount of money given away.  To put this in perspective, the church that edged us out has over 2500 attendees each week.  We have 60. 

In our nation, church “success” is often measured by the size of the building, the number of people in the seats, and the abundance of dollars in the plate.  I have never been too compelled by these measures… especially from groups of so-called Jesus-followers.  (Since Jesus, himself, never seemed too concerned with impressive structures, solid attendance, or bringing in cash.) 

Instead, it is refreshing to have found a church with different metrics:  love and support for one another, love and support for our community (local and farther away), sincere and thoughtful faith, and radical generosity. 

Our church isn’t even a year old, yet this ragtag, but dedicated, group has accomplished the following:

• fully fund a care point in Swaziland, Africa which provides food, shelter, health care and education to over 200 children, many of whom are AIDS orphans
• send a group of people to Moneni, Swaziland to meet the workers and children at our care point and send our love in person
• provide clothing, baby supplies, and support to the many teenage mothers (and fathers) at Athens Drive High School (where we meet)
• cook dinner for the residents of the Raleigh Rescue Mission (RRM) each month
• take the RRM residents out for some fun like bowling and a baseball game
• provide a family from Athens Drive HS with a safe home

One reason that we’ve been able to accomplish so much is that at least 1/3 of all money that comes into the church is given away (and this is just a starting point).  The idea being that the church should not be a storehouse intent on building itself up, but rather a redistribution center - to take care of those who could use a hand.  God taking care of people through people.

God has blessed everyone with a unique set of gifts, talents, and resources that can be leveraged to push back the darkness and make the world a better place for someone.  I’m thankful for a church that, not only encourages and empowers me to do so, but measures success by how well we’ve impacted the world around us.

Without fail, when people ask me about my church, they want to know, “How many people are going there these days?”  I don’t think we even keep attendance, which is good because I’d much rather tell them about the cool things God has done and is doing!