Why I Wrote A Book About Going to Church

[The following is excerpted from the book, Gather: Getting to the Heart of Going to Church, Copyright © 2021 by M. Hopson Boutot.]

“Beware of your second church,” my pastor friend warned me. “The first church you pastor is such a blessing. The fellowship is sweet, and the people just dote on their young pastor. It’s the second one that’s the real challenge. But if you can survive your second church and make it to the third, that’s when it really gets special.” 

This is conventional wisdom in many pastor’s circles. By God’s grace it has not been true for me. Honestly, I never really desired to leave the first church I pastored, but I simply could not provide for my growing family where I was serving. And besides, we never intended to stay in the seminary town where we lived, no matter how much we loved it.

So, in August 2016 we packed up our belongings and traveled over 600 miles to Poquoson, Virginia, a sleepy saltwater town with an amazing church. Not perfect, mind you, but still amazing. Nearly five years later we still love each other. And it’s with the sweet saints of Poquoson Baptist Church in mind that I’m writing this book. 

Perhaps you did a double take at that last sentence. “Wait a minute, this is a book about church attendance! And you had your ‘amazing’ church on your mind as you wrote this book?” Isn’t that a bit like telling your wife, “I was thinking about you when I saw that ad for deodorant or diet pills?” Flattering.

That’s not at all what I mean. Most of the saints of Poquoson Baptist Church have continually blown me away that, week after week, they still faithfully gather to hear this imperfect pastor proclaim God’s Word. Even amidst a global pandemic, most PBC members were willing and able to gather regularly (facemasks and all!) to hear God’s Word preached. 

So why did I write this book with them in mind? Because as I’ve labored to shepherd these saints towards a more meaningful understanding of church membership there have been some challenges. Not knock-down-drag-outs, mind you, but a few tense moments here and there. Some confusion. Godly men and women who didn’t understand why a church would insist that, unless providentially hindered, a member should faithfully gather with God’s people. Beloved members who were willing to submit, but still struggled to understand why a church’s elders would recommend church discipline for a member who never darkened the doors of the church. It’s for PBC members like this that I wrote this book. I hope you’ll read what I’ve carefully labored to write, and I pray the Holy Spirit will use my imperfect words to bring about a greater love for the gathering of God’s people and a deeper understanding of why it matters. 

Soli Deo Gloria.