Categories: general-nonsense, spiritual-journey, evangelicalism, ecclesiastical-stuff, fresh-expressions, ranting
Date: 10 June 2010 09:34:54
I have been thinking about different types of church and different types of training and things like that recently. For various reasons the whole question of "how we do stuff" is looming large in my mind at the moment. I want to scream.......Now for various reasons this might not be the best place to have this discussion but for other reasons it is exactly the right place. I want your ideas and feedback.
My starting point is the church is a mixed bag and full of mixed ages. It also is a sub-culture, set of sub-cultures of its own. The majority of its members in the UK, particularly amongst white majority churches are of a certain age demographic (and yes I am aware there is plenty of life in many of them, yet). However, facts have to be faced, most of those under 35 in this country are unchurched and a vast number of the over 35s are dechurched, (many of the next age group up only having experienced church through Sunday School). Of the 45 and unders in church (and quite a few of the others who have the gen x or gen mindset) many are struggling with church because they don't think it reflects them or more importantly the world. Yet at the same time there are many older people in our churches struggling with what has been lost and what appears, it seems, to becoming devalued. They look back and tell the stories of "how it was when..." and seem saddened.
In looking how to deal with this there are questions being asked about appropriate ways of training our leaders and future leaders. Do we train them for the now inside the church or for the now outside the church? Do we train them through distance learning or through bringing them in? Do we give them more widely recognised accreditation through part-time more rigerous courses or what?
The central questions for me seem to be:
1) How do we reach the unchurched?
2) How do we relate to the dechurched?
3) How do we support the thoroughly churched?
4) Do we want our lay leaders to be fully rounded and able to move between different groups and ways of doing church or do we want to have a dichotomy with people trained for different bits?
5) Can a training course be developed that can support both inherited and new ways of being church together?
6) What is the place for multi-generational church in all this?
7) How do we handle the realtity that in 20/30 years time many of the people currently in church will be dead and this is already having an impact on our buildings and congregations?
8 ) Where is God and his vision in all this? How do we plan but also allow for the powerful and awesome revitalising work of the Holy Spirit?
9) How are we going to fund things? What decisions do we need to be making now to train people and prepare people for the long term future?
10) What does mission really mean to us today?
I don't have the answers, but I/ we need them. I am currently preparing a presentation on "the challenge of developing Christian Community amongst unchurched 20 and 30 year olds" and that has made me think loads. But the questions it is raising, particularly as I research, are not comfortable questions. One big issue for me, beyond all the obvious ones about how do we reach these people and build Christian Community with them is what their relationship with "inherited church" will be. How will those within inherited church be able to learn from them and interact with them but also how will those within inherited church mentor and support them. It has to be two way. At the moment a two and in reality probably atleast a six way dichotomy is emerging. Firstly there are the fault lines between "old" ways of being church and "inherited ways of being church", (and I make the distinction here to show the difference between mainstream inherited and "old" more conservative ways which feel threatened by the way "mainstream inherited" forms are evolving). Then there are the fault lines between these two groups and "fresh expressions" and "emerging church". Within the latter two there are the fault lines between those who are working within and those who are working outside the denominational structure. Finally there is the final dichotomy which goes across the others between "evo/ pentecostal" churches and "mainstream/ liberal" churches. Then there is the whole "high" and "low" division. How do we bridge all of this to be "church" together? I am part of "the body" with all these people. In relating to those within and beyond the church I want to be able to signpost them into the right type of Christian Community for them and build the community with people where they are. This means I want to build community across the divide. For many of us eccumenicalism is taken as granted, but how do we then engage in a similar process for "the mixed economy"?
Listening to stories involves listening to those who look with sadness on some developments within the church and distilling what they are saying which is of worth rather than resentment, as much as it does listening to those outside the church and distilling what they say which is of worth rather than cynicism. We also need to support all these people aswell as those who in the mist of all this are sitting on the edge of our churches praying WTF God?
So that means that those who are being called into leadership of whatever kind, including and perhaps particularly lay, need to be trained appropraitely for this. We should not be in a position of having to choose between courses which are aimed at supporting the different types of church but not at supporting the reality of difference within the whole.
I want to be able to be trained up with a course which teaches me how to:
1) Reach out to and help develop faith within those who are unchurched
2) Reconnect with and help develop faith within those who are dechurched
3) Support the growth and discipleship of those on the edges of our churches who are praying WTF?
4) Support the growth and discipleship of those who have faithfully served our churches for years and have much to teach us if we listen to their stories and distill what might be transferable into the current age and variety of sub-cultures we face.
I want to know how to share the gospel, in appropriate ways, with all these people according to the time and place I am in. I do not want to be taught in away which confines me to one time, place or group of people when that is not the world I live in! I want to build community, learn from and share the gospel with all the nations*! (* for nations read sub-cultures and groups). I want recognition that we are a hinge generation! (Note here much of post-modernist theory as it was related to the church in pop-form during the 90's was crap but the whole hinge thing wasn't.....current leaders in the 15-45 age group particularly are hinges. Our lay training needs to reflect this!!!!).
Apologies for a long rant, but I needed to scream this out this morning in order to make room for some more reasoned and mature evaluation and decision making.