Gordon Ramsay Goes To Church (Vitalization Recipe)

NOTE – We are glad to share this guest article with our readers, trusting the insights and metaphors within can assist those who are pursuing vitalization in their churches. Rev. Waters has engaged with Pinnacle in a variety of ways over time, now contributing these insights to our larger network. Enjoy!

— Rev. Mark Tidsworth, Pinnacle Founder and Team Leader

Gordon Ramsay’s Recipe for Revitalizing the Church

by Rev. Dana Waters, Interim Pastor, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Athens, GA

Gordon Ramsay consistently tops the list of most popular chefs in the world.1 The British chef is famous for his Michelin star restaurants, his fiery temper, and his colorful language on shows like Master Chef and Kitchen Nightmares.

If you haven’t seen it, Kitchen Nightmares features Chef Ramsay as he spends a week with a failing restaurant trying to turn their business around. Each show begins with Ramsay tasting the restaurant’s food. Most of the time, it falls well below his standards. And after the disappointing meal, he inspects the kitchen to see what other problems may be lurking just out of public view.

What I find so interesting is that whenever Chef Ramsay meets with the owner of the restaurant to tell them why their business is struggling, they are reluctant to heed his advice – even though they invited him in the first place!

Sometimes the owner is reluctant to change anything because the way they ran their restaurant used to work. They think that if they keep doing things the same way long enough, eventually their customers will come back. It reminds me of the quote that, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

So, what does Chef Ramsay tell them to do? Make a few simple, but significant changes. Focus on the basics of what makes a restaurant successful. Simplify the menu. Home in on what you’re best at instead of trying to be all things to all people. No one wants to eat at a restaurant that offers a large variety of mediocre dishes.

However, over the course of each episode, the restaurant owners move from reluctance to outright resistance. They actively fight against the changes Chef Ramsay is encouraging them to make. Maybe it’s because change is unfamiliar or because it requires them to put in more effort when they have none left to give.

The response of the owners sounds a lot like despair: “Chef, we’re tired, and nothing we do ever seems to be enough.” These struggling restaurant owners remind me of conversations I’ve had with many disciples in the church today.

The church has been feeding people since Day 1, both physically and spiritually. Churches have crafted meals through soup kitchens, food pantries, and community gardens, meeting people’s physical hunger in many different ways.

And churches have worked faithfully to feed God’s people spiritually, too. Over the years, churches have even expanded their menu of offerings, trying to reach new people through worship, Bible studies, programs, and events.

But now we are seeing that a bigger menu doesn’t necessarily mean more people coming to be fed. In some cases, the oversized menu of programs has spread the church’s staff and volunteers too thin, and they are worn out. Or, in an attempt to be all things to all people, churches have found themselves offering mediocre dishes that don’t really appeal to anyone.

And then there’s the elephant in the room, always lurking behind conversations about what might need to change. “This menu was wildly successful a few years ago. If we keep offering it long enough, the people will come back.”

Cue the quote about insanity. All of this has led me to a realization: I would absolutely watch a show where Jesus and Gordon Ramsay team up to help churches with their menu, so to speak. Although I’m not sure how long Jesus would put up with Chef Ramsay’s drama or his outbursts. And this kind of work takes a lot longer than a week. It takes time to focus on the basics: to drill down on what a church does well and get everyone working toward that common purpose.

Thankfully, churches don’t have to rely on Gordon Ramsay or any other celebrity in order to start this work. And there’s even more good news here. Many churches have already started down this path. The volatility in our world has led to every church I know going through some kind of transition. And, a big part of this transition work involves church leaders evaluating their congregation’s menu.

They are asking good questions, such as: Are we stretching our staff and volunteers too thin? Are there ways to simplify the menu so that we can focus on what the congregation does best?

These are the questions the congregation I serve is asking right now. They are identifying what they do well and what makes them stand out in the community. During a recent sermon, I told them if I could boil down everything they’re doing into one phrase, it would be this: “Church, we’re cooking, y’all!”

Then I pulled out the largest, most well-used pot I could find in their kitchen and set it on the pulpit. And I said, “Think of this church as a big chili pot. Y’all have made some delicious chilis over the years. It has brought in people from far and wide. And now you’re working on adjusting the recipe so you can continue to feed God’s people.

“You’re taking a look at what the needs are in 2022, and asking, How can we feed God’s people now? What do they need today? And what ingredients do we have on hand? How many cooks are available to help?”

Churches may not be able to feed everybody all the time, but they can make a big impact if they do a few things really well. And like any good chili recipe requires, it takes a while to cook. If you add too much heat too quickly, you risk burning out your disciples. But if the heat’s too low, the chili will never be ready.

For any disciples struggling with their church menu today, remember that Jesus is the head chef in God’s kitchen. I am so very glad we don’t report to Gordon Ramsay. Jesus is and always will be the one who guides us back to the basics when we need a reminder of why we are here: “Feed my sheep.”

1 https://www.chefspencil.com/most-popular-chefs-in-the-world/ April 13, 2022.