Comments on: Five cultural trends killing the church’s mission

By: Daniel Clark

Daniel Clark — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:37:26 +0000

Trends bringing the church back to life: Physically distancing during a pandemic, Zoom calling the dying, texting with the distraught, volunteering with the government to feed the hungry, donating blood for the sick, picking up Perscription’s for the elderly, ordering delivery from local businesses, speaking hope for a better future, and learning from our twitter feed how to actually be used by God to be good news. .

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 06:03:12 +0000

Mike, you have this habit of ‘hitting the nail on the head’ and of verbalizing issues with which many struggle.
I remember Rick Warren once saying that the larger you get (the Church), the smaller you must become (small groups). It seems to me that it could now be time for a change in Church methodology, in that should we become smaller (home church?) in order to grow larger?
Most of the issues you raised would then no longer be, or would be automatically dealt with in the context of a small group.
Just a thought.

By: Merv

Merv — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 04:33:34 +0000

In short we want churches to be Restaruants rather than picnics. Professional services that we can complain about , pay for, appoint more off etc.
As you don’t have volunteers in restaurants it makes it easy to not be vested in one and to change restaurants when menus change.

By: Fay Magee

Fay Magee — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 02:37:43 +0000

In reply to Greg Brown. Good points about the downside of 'emerging' church trends particularly in relation to 'non-trained' leadership. It is important for professional approaches to inter-personal relationships. It is also important that the 'glow of success' doesn't result in less accountability over big issues like governance and doctrine.

By: Rhonda K

Rhonda K — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 22:49:59 +0000

In reply to Silva. I believe Jesus suggests we do both. The story of the good samariton mentions taking care of the injured man initially and then paying the innkeeper to continue his care.

By: Mark Baines

Mark Baines — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 05:33:17 +0000

Re: DEATH OF CIVIL DISCOURSE – I’ve just come across a Christian vlogger who’s become friends with an Atheist vlogger after acting like a decent human, finding common ground and listening to his story. You can see some of the evidence in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drkEVxzQXxU&t=488s

By: Greg Brown

Greg Brown — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 02:00:01 +0000

Mike
I appreciate your analysis, & agree that the five issues you have noted are part of a wider range of factors that are impeding the church’s mission. Some of the above comments identify other relevant issues.
I understand you railing against regulation (#5), but government regulation is almost always imposed in a reactionary way after events that have caused someone harm, or even death. (Child-safe church policies are a good example – we now have to build fences so that kids can’t wander onto the road. These policies have been introduced at significant cost to the church, but have probably saved lives.) The aim is to protect, even where the imposed process is onerous. Its the reality of the world we live in, so we have to find ways to deal with it – or open ourselves to litigation when someone does get hurt.
Another e.g. has emerged through the ‘fresh expressions of church’ movement & resultant de-clericalisation, which holds great promise for the future church. The downside is that it is producing church leaders who have not been socialised into the ‘professional’ aspect of the role of pastor, & are not properly aware of the necessity for professional boundaries with people in the pew. Their lack of training, as well as the inadequate level of training and scrutiny of those who are already ordained & in ministry, place people at risk, so the (Aust) Royal Commission has called for legislation that seeks to help minimise that risk.
Speaking of which, the RC has exposed our underbelly. We have crapped in our nest & where we should have been leading the way, we have been found to be lagging way behind community expectations, not to mention Kingdom-honouring behaviour. We – the church in Australia – deserve what we got, & demonstrated that we need much more robust governance. Maybe other jurisdictions around the world can learn from our experience
Joe (above) has mentioned the G factor. The church has faced enormous adversity through the last 2000 years – much it worse than government regulation – and we are still here. Christ is still, and will continue, to build his church.
Thanks for your reflections.
Greg

By: John Staub

John Staub — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 22:05:38 +0000

I’d love to connect with you about your second point and how it may relate to where I work, Remodel Health in Indianapolis, IN. I’ve been working with local churches to help with this exact issue using innovative software and service. Over the past 5 years, we’ve helped them save $11M+ to get back into their ministry budgets. Would love to connect and hear your thoughts on a partnership!

By: Colleen Schubert

Colleen Schubert — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 21:28:41 +0000

I’ve been following all the insightful comments on the blog. I might suggest Dr. Jerry Sittser’s new book Resilient Faith. He writes as a Historian studying the “Third Way’ in early Acts, a family of people (Christians) no longer practicing Jews or worshipping Roman gods/politics. He describes a formal deprogramming, in a sense, strict discipleship that occurred to break individuals from the habits that were formed beforehand in the other “two ways”. Strict discipleship succeeded in getting them fully immersed in a whole new way of worship/living/relating.
Perhaps instead of turning away from all formal (one might say ridged) ways of doing church (let’s hang out and have a beer) a structured type of deprogramming from consumerism, competitiveness, and “I” focus mentality (as Dave Tims pointed out) could be attempted/explored? What does it look like to implement a very structured discipleship plan in a setting that embraces the missional neighboring/community movement?

By: Fay Magee

Fay Magee — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:58:25 +0000

In reply to Marko.

As far as entertainment goes Neil Postman observed back in 1985 that this would become the main form by which we took in information but churches just folliwed rhe trend. And as far as excellence goes in music many of our church “stars” may be technically brilliant at what they do but my question is always “does the music serve the liturgy and the people” or just some notion of performance. And while there may be difficulties with “the academy” in the training of church leaders, we have become much more focused on performance criteria than on “body of Christ” thinking and pastoral caring.