Rediscovering the Church’s Purpose
Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
The Revd Johnsan David, Rector, Parish of West Perth
A snapshot from my sharing at this year’s Diocesan LPM Training Days at Wollaston.
Many years ago, during my curacy at St George’s Church in Penang, I stepped out one afternoon looking for lunch. Just down the road, I noticed a long queue of people standing patiently under the tropical heat.
Curious, I joined the line. About 25 minutes later, I finally reached the front. It was a small roadside stall selling Nasi Kandar, a beloved Penang dish of rice and curries. There was nothing impressive about the setting, no air-conditioning and terrible furnishing. In fact, nearby restaurants offered far more comfort and had no queue at all. But the food at this stall was excellent and people were willing to wait for it.
That memory has stayed with me over the years because, strangely enough, I have often seen a similar principle at work in the life of the church. After nearly three decades in parish ministry, one lesson has become increasingly clear to me: healthy churches are not built primarily on impressive programs or constant reinvention, they are built on clarity of purpose. The food stall knew its purpose: to serve good and delicious food. The crowd was a natural outcome.
Whenever we speak about parish revitalisation or evangelism, it is easy to assume that the answer must be found in something new: a strategy, a model, a fresh initiative that will somehow reverse decline or generate excitement, but often the answer is much simpler.
It begins by asking a basic question: Why does the church exist?
The church is not merely a gathering built around personal preferences or familiar programs. It is the Body of Christ, called to proclaim the good news, nurture believers, and love our neighbours as ourselves. When that purpose remains clear, many things begin to align naturally. But when that purpose becomes blurred, churches can slowly drift into becoming communities shaped more by preferences than by mission. Over the years, many clergy and leaders would recognise familiar conversations: “I think the church should do more of this,” or “I wish the church were more like that.” Often these suggestions are sincere and
well-intended. Yet sincerity alone does not always keep a church spiritually healthy, we need to get back to the basics.
The deeper question is whether our energy and priorities remain anchored in the church’s true calling. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing the modern church is not a lack of activity, but the temptation to lose sight of the main thing. The Church has never been called to entertain the world into the kingdom of God. It has been called to faithfully bear witness to Jesus. Like that little Nasi Kandar stall in Penang, the strength of the church does not come from trying to offer everything. It comes from doing the essential things well.
Faithfully proclaiming the good news, nurturing young believers, prayerfully caring for people, loving one another and serving the needy with compassion. These things are not new or fashionable. In fact, they are wonderfully ordinary. Yet throughout history, God has often chosen to work powerfully through the ordinary faithfulness of His people.
As Anglicans, we already possess a helpful framework in the Five Marks of Mission: proclaiming the Good News, nurturing believers, responding to human need, transforming unjust structures, and safeguarding creation. When churches consistently live out these callings, they become spiritually grounded, outward-looking, and resilient. And very often, genuine growth follows.
So perhaps the question before us is not, “What new thing should we try next?” Perhaps the better question is this: “Are we keeping the main thing the main thing?”