Over the course of 16 years in the ministry, I've become increasingly aware of the huge investment of time, energy and money that American churches put into self-preservation. This begins with the maintenance of church buildings, of course, but extends to what I call cultural transmission -- the passing of particular congregational traditions, worship styles and administrative practices from one generation to the next. Such an inward focus can lead to a range of problems, from the perpetuation of esoteric worship services to the secretive handling of sexual abuse cases. And, most important, it overlooks the need to concentrate first on the concerns of the larger community.

An outward orientation, on the other hand, looks first to those broader needs and elevates Christian mission above institutional maintenance. Outward-looking congregations put their energy into establishing church projects in troubled areas and turn their attention to issues such as family disintegration, illiteracy, alcoholism, domestic violence and prostitution -- areas of ministry that have an enormous and obvious public benefit.

And in an unexpected way, this outward focus has an internal advantage: It results in a more vital congregation. There's a Biblical underpinning for this approach.Jesus said that those who lose their lives for his sake will actually save their lives as they discover the vitality that comes through service and sacrifice. He wasn't kidding: A community orientation not only benefits society, but makes the church more appealing. People are attracted to congregations that put faith into action and set out to make a difference in the world.

Just how important this outward focus is became clear to me last month when I took a 10-day trip to Brazil for a seminar led by American missionaries and Brazilian church leaders. Brazil's multicultural society has been shaped and reshaped by a number of religious movements, as has America's. And while you might not think that any other country could teach Americans about marketing, in the American church we've got some lessons to learn. Like it or not, a major challenge for us today is to become more "customer-centered" by focusing on religious mission instead of cultural transmission.

It's not that the Brazilian Christians got it right from the start. The Portuguese -- especially Jesuit missionaries -- imposed Christianity on Brazil's indigenous people in one of history's greatest examples of cultural transmission, expecting the Indians to believe in Christ in the same way the Europeans did. Of course, we American Christians do the very same thing today when we expect college students to regard their faith the way their grandparents do, and when we offer services and educational opportunities that look, sound and feel very much like church life in the 1950s.

I've experienced many occasions when the American church has concentrated more on itself than on the world around it, when it has put more energy into maintenance than into mission. In my previous congregation, Calvary Presbyterian in Alexandria, some members objected to the incorporation of African music and dance into our worship after Ghanaian immigrants joined the congregation. They argued that

the new practices were destroying Calvary's traditional American style. Many Ghanaians, who wanted to transmit their language and culture to their children, left to form their own church.
The problem with adhering to past practices in this way is that it fails in large part to carry forward the church's mission. A focus on tradition does little "to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind" (Luke 4:18). I learned on my trip that it was only in the 20th century, when Brazilians finally broke away from the influence of European and American missionaries, that religious mission began to overcome cultural transmission there.

Today, in the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, visions for church ministry arise from the needs of the community. Members have organized soccer teams for children, held dinners for neighborhood families and created milk programs for the poor. Since violence, poor housing, bad sanitation and sub-standard schooling are facts of life for many Brazilians -- especially in urban areas -- every church is challenged to take on a social project.

There are signs that such an outward focus can be a component of vital church life in the United States, but I'd like to see many more of them. Lewis Galloway, a colleagueat the Brazil seminar, told me that his church, Shandon Presbyterian in Columbia, S.C., has a strong mission emphasis. It includes a counseling center, a child development center that ministers to more than 300 children a day, a youth center for middle school students, a campus ministry at the University of South Carolina, overseas mission trips and building Habitat for Humanity houses. "The mission we do continuously reinvents the church," he explains.

Brazilian churches take this notion of reinvention to another level: In São Paulo, the Rev. Wanderley de Mattos and his Vida Nova (New Life) Independent Presbyterian Church have started a creative ministry for children from a nearby slum. Every Saturday morning, up to 70 neighborhood kids get together to eat breakfast, sing contemporary Christian music and attend a Bible class -- gatherings that the church hopes will help keep these at-risk children away from drugs and violence. For many of these kids, the church becomes a place of light and joy in a city of darkness and despair.

I've been wondering why so few American Christians reach out so extensively. The threats of drugs and violence are every bit as real here,yet few churches in the Washington area have programs designed specifically to get neighborhood children off the streets. More energy goes into serving the young people of our congregations through activities that are heavy on cultural transmission: youth retreats, children's choirs, family nights.

I'm embarrassed to say that I know of no Presbyterian congregation in the Washington area that is planning to start a church extension in a slum, as Wanderley's church is doing. My own congregation tends to concentrate on providing financial support to various established Christian social service agencies. When it comes time to start new congregations, Americans usually focus on new church development in affluent suburbs, areas where congregations can grow in membership, succeed financially and then pump more money into the denominational coffers. Wanderley's New Life Church, on the other hand, plans to offer social action in the slums -- classes on sewing, silk-screening, painting and cleaning, designed to help the poor develop marketable skills.Its focus is not just on the soul but on the needs of the whole person. "We can and must help the needy," explained Pastor Jango Miranda, the team coordinator of a mission project in the semi-arid Sertão region of northeastern Brazil.

What really struck me, however, was how the Brazilian focus on missionhas improved the culture of the church's life. At a Sunday evening worship service in Natal, the church was packed and more than half the worshipers were young people (quite a contrast to a typical American church). Young people wore T-shirts with the message Jesus: Ele Me Faz Feliz ("Jesus: He Makes Me Happy"), and offered rousing pieces of inspirational music, complete with choreography. A young adult praise band led the congregation in lively contemporary songs. The preacher, Sherron George, a Presbyterian (USA) mission worker, reminded the congregation that the church is the church only when it exists for others.

Clearly, the church in Brazil is succeeding where we are failing -- in attracting young people. And it is doing it through mission, not cultural transmission. People are naturally going to be attracted by a missionary church -- one that works from the walls of the church outward. I now realize that much of the success of one of Fairfax Presbyterian Church's projects -- our youth program -- stems from its focus on adventurous mission trips for junior high through college age young people every summer. Our youths have discovered something that is only now hitting the news through announcements of President Bush's new USA Freedom Corps initiative -- that the good life is found in enthusiastic service to the community.

There is a great deal that we in First World churches can learn from "Two-Thirds World" churches such as the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. While cultural transmission will always be part of the way we communicate our religious values, this activity should never be allowed to take a back seat to a primary Christian value -- service to the world around us. The future of our churches may depend on understanding that.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company

Henry Brinton is pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church.

Author's e-mail: hgbrinton@aol.com

Link to Henry Brinton's Washington Post Articles Index Page

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