Almighty Lord and King, you are the Lord of all that is seen and unseen. The future is always hidden from our eyes but as Alpha and Omega you are the beginning and the end of all things and faithful in your love. Keep us steadfast in our faith and comtinually teach us to trust in you knowing you work for good in all things. Amen.
On Sunday, January 27th Bishop Robert Driesen met with congregational councils at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lewistown. His message was one about the changing face of the church and its impact on congregations and, particularly, the congregations of the Upper Susquehanna Synod.
The trends in the world today are reductions in the number of congregations that are able to support one pastor alone. It is a trend that we at Messiah can recognize as a potential reality and a challenge to overcome. What we may not realize is the breadth of this problem across the church. The number of congregations in the Upper Susquehanna has been reduced from 137 to 131.
Plus it is not a problem only for Lutherans but is a problem among Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, and independents, as well. The only religious body experiencing growth in the US are Roman Catholics but that is because the majority of immigrants coming into our country are coming from predominantly Roman Catholic cultures. Countering the overall statistical growth, however, is that worship attendance is not up overall in US Roman Catholic congregations.
Only 20% of people today identify themselves as regular worshippers in the congregations. Plus that definition of regular worshipper has shifted from weekly to twice a month. The fastest growing group of individuals spiritually in our country today is “non affiliated.” By 2050 it is projected that those self identifying as regular worshippers will be only 10% of the population. These statistics are a real indication for concern for the challenges of the future.
One question the Bishop put before us is “What are the options we have to maintain healthy and viable ministries?” The options are widely varied from more closing to merging as parishes to a pastor over seeing several congregations with Authorized Lay Worship Leaders helping to cover worship leadership to part-time pastors to bi-vocational pastors having a secular job to joining ministries with our ecumenical partners to attain financial viability. Whatever the solution in a given location what is clear is that the future is complex and the role of the pastor in ministry is going to be significantly changed. Lay people will need to be much more central to numerous types of ministries, especially, worship leadership and visitation.
Whatever the future holds the Bishop reminded us that it is the nature of the church, the Body of Christ, to be about the work of God. He, also, noted that we are a resurrection people and that belief in resurrection, also, means acknowledging that death is our constant companion in life and that the Body of Christ has experienced death in many forms in the past and has always continued to move forward in ministry proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and caring for God’s children. It indeed may look different in the future but we will still be God’s people doing God’s work.
On Sunday, January 27th Bishop Robert Driesen met with congregational councils at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lewistown. His message was one about the changing face of the church and its impact on congregations and, particularly, the congregations of the Upper Susquehanna Synod.
The trends in the world today are reductions in the number of congregations that are able to support one pastor alone. It is a trend that we at Messiah can recognize as a potential reality and a challenge to overcome. What we may not realize is the breadth of this problem across the church. The number of congregations in the Upper Susquehanna has been reduced from 137 to 131.
Plus it is not a problem only for Lutherans but is a problem among Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, and independents, as well. The only religious body experiencing growth in the US are Roman Catholics but that is because the majority of immigrants coming into our country are coming from predominantly Roman Catholic cultures. Countering the overall statistical growth, however, is that worship attendance is not up overall in US Roman Catholic congregations.
Only 20% of people today identify themselves as regular worshippers in the congregations. Plus that definition of regular worshipper has shifted from weekly to twice a month. The fastest growing group of individuals spiritually in our country today is “non affiliated.” By 2050 it is projected that those self identifying as regular worshippers will be only 10% of the population. These statistics are a real indication for concern for the challenges of the future.
One question the Bishop put before us is “What are the options we have to maintain healthy and viable ministries?” The options are widely varied from more closing to merging as parishes to a pastor over seeing several congregations with Authorized Lay Worship Leaders helping to cover worship leadership to part-time pastors to bi-vocational pastors having a secular job to joining ministries with our ecumenical partners to attain financial viability. Whatever the solution in a given location what is clear is that the future is complex and the role of the pastor in ministry is going to be significantly changed. Lay people will need to be much more central to numerous types of ministries, especially, worship leadership and visitation.
Whatever the future holds the Bishop reminded us that it is the nature of the church, the Body of Christ, to be about the work of God. He, also, noted that we are a resurrection people and that belief in resurrection, also, means acknowledging that death is our constant companion in life and that the Body of Christ has experienced death in many forms in the past and has always continued to move forward in ministry proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and caring for God’s children. It indeed may look different in the future but we will still be God’s people doing God’s work.
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