God of Spirit, you have blown across creation from the very beginning and in the Christ you gave your breath to the Apostles and sent them out into all the world and you breath upon every generation that faith may continue to grow. Breath on us in the midst of creation where the rate of change is continually accelerating and make us new once again. Amen.
A great deal has been made out of recent PEW Foundation survey concerning spiritual and religious trends in the U.S.. The percentage of Christian but unaffiliated persons, meaning those not attending and not identifying connection to any specific Christian denomination grew by 6.7% from 16.1% to 22.8%. Every other category of Christian denomination including, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant and Mainline Protestant (including the ELCA) all decreased from 2007 to 2014. At the same time non-Christian faith traditions grew from 4.7% to 5.9%.
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
Clearly, the American religious landscape is changing. The trends above are most pronounced among 20-30 somethings but it is not limited to those age groups. It, also, cuts across racial lines.
What does this mean for us as a Christian community and as a Lutheran community? It means that we need to continue to recognize that the faith community no longer grows internally and needs to move outside the doors of the church as I noted in a previous coverletter. It means we, also, need to consider how we do things internally. Sunday school has been a program dying across much of the church for a full generation. It is statistically being diminished quicker than worship participation. I am presently reading a book by Rev. Dr. Rich Melheim entitled, “Let’s Kill Sunday School (Before It Kills the Church).”
What Rich Melheim is saying is that we as the church, the Body of Christ, need to recognize is that the same old, same old no longer works in our present culture. We can whine and complain about that, we can lament that, we can fear that or we can step out of our comfort zone and take risks seeking to find new ways and new opportunities to do ministry.
What this means is that we must learn new ways of listening, seeing and engaging the world. Note that I began that sentence with listening. Just like the old political saw, “People need to know you care before they care what you know,” our path into the unknown begins with listening. It begins with listening to the challenges our families, our neighbors, our neighborhoods, and our world all face. Listening means more than hearing the words it means hearing the emotions and hearing the realities of their lives. It means having genuine interest in them as persons and children created by God whether they already know the story of Jesus or not.
I am presently part of a synodical task force working to create an 18-24 month program for congregations across the synod based on Dr. Stephen Bouman’s book, “The Mission Table” because more than at any time in the last two generations we need to discover new ways of serving Jesus in our world.
Bob Dylan sang, “The Times Are a Changing.” For this reason we, too, must be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Below are are Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman’s marks of a congregation in mission. Read them, learn them and most of all pray them they can help to lead us out the door and into the world. Jesus said to his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Hear those words, “preach the good news to ALL creation.” It is all outside our doors.
A congregation in mission is always listening.
A congregation in mission mentors and trains its leaders.
A congregation in mission nurtures communal leadership.
A congregation in mission faces paralysis with courage.
A congregation in mission reroots in its community.
A congregation in mission risks new things.
A congregation in mission makes all decisions based on its mission.
A congregation in mission is clear about money and relationships.
A congregation in mission is propelled by the resurrection of Jesus.
A congregation in mission is shaped by Word and sacraments.
Bouman, Stephen P. (2013-08-14). The Mission Table: Renewing Congregation and Community (p. 40). Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A great deal has been made out of recent PEW Foundation survey concerning spiritual and religious trends in the U.S.. The percentage of Christian but unaffiliated persons, meaning those not attending and not identifying connection to any specific Christian denomination grew by 6.7% from 16.1% to 22.8%. Every other category of Christian denomination including, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant and Mainline Protestant (including the ELCA) all decreased from 2007 to 2014. At the same time non-Christian faith traditions grew from 4.7% to 5.9%.
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
Clearly, the American religious landscape is changing. The trends above are most pronounced among 20-30 somethings but it is not limited to those age groups. It, also, cuts across racial lines.
What does this mean for us as a Christian community and as a Lutheran community? It means that we need to continue to recognize that the faith community no longer grows internally and needs to move outside the doors of the church as I noted in a previous coverletter. It means we, also, need to consider how we do things internally. Sunday school has been a program dying across much of the church for a full generation. It is statistically being diminished quicker than worship participation. I am presently reading a book by Rev. Dr. Rich Melheim entitled, “Let’s Kill Sunday School (Before It Kills the Church).”
What Rich Melheim is saying is that we as the church, the Body of Christ, need to recognize is that the same old, same old no longer works in our present culture. We can whine and complain about that, we can lament that, we can fear that or we can step out of our comfort zone and take risks seeking to find new ways and new opportunities to do ministry.
What this means is that we must learn new ways of listening, seeing and engaging the world. Note that I began that sentence with listening. Just like the old political saw, “People need to know you care before they care what you know,” our path into the unknown begins with listening. It begins with listening to the challenges our families, our neighbors, our neighborhoods, and our world all face. Listening means more than hearing the words it means hearing the emotions and hearing the realities of their lives. It means having genuine interest in them as persons and children created by God whether they already know the story of Jesus or not.
I am presently part of a synodical task force working to create an 18-24 month program for congregations across the synod based on Dr. Stephen Bouman’s book, “The Mission Table” because more than at any time in the last two generations we need to discover new ways of serving Jesus in our world.
Bob Dylan sang, “The Times Are a Changing.” For this reason we, too, must be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Below are are Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman’s marks of a congregation in mission. Read them, learn them and most of all pray them they can help to lead us out the door and into the world. Jesus said to his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Hear those words, “preach the good news to ALL creation.” It is all outside our doors.
A congregation in mission is always listening.
A congregation in mission mentors and trains its leaders.
A congregation in mission nurtures communal leadership.
A congregation in mission faces paralysis with courage.
A congregation in mission reroots in its community.
A congregation in mission risks new things.
A congregation in mission makes all decisions based on its mission.
A congregation in mission is clear about money and relationships.
A congregation in mission is propelled by the resurrection of Jesus.
A congregation in mission is shaped by Word and sacraments.
Bouman, Stephen P. (2013-08-14). The Mission Table: Renewing Congregation and Community (p. 40). Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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