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Editorial:
"There's Nothing New About Change"
Anna Rankin
Comment:
Embracing the Stranger
Denise Wright
From
the Director: Change and Decay – so what's new?
David W Porter
Alwyn
Thomson
Ethel White
A
Changing Church
Chris Easton
Women,
the Church and Change
Lesley Carroll
Interview
with Noel Fallows: Multi-cultural Church Life
Anna Rankin
Urban
Grit
Ken Groves
Higher
Throne
Keith
Getty & Kristyn Lennox
2003
Conference: Reconciliation – Illusion or Elusive?
What's
Jesus got to do with Forgiveness?
Stuart Noble
Review:
Lost in Translation
Gareth Higgins
Review:
The Church Beyond the Congregation by James Thwaites
Claire Martin
Review:
A Time for Mission by Samuel Escobar
Ben
Walker
Review:
Against the Stream by David W Smith
Cheryl
Reid
Review:
Evangelicalism and National Identity in Ulster, 1921-1998 by Patrick
Mitchel
David Hewitt
Review:
I was a teenage Catholic by Malachi O'Doherty
Fran
Porter
A CHANGING CHURCH
WE LIVE in a democratic pluralistic society. It sounds almost utopian, but the price for the church, has been the steady erosion of Christian values. Economic and political forces increasingly dominate the decision-making machinery of society. Over-the-top political correctness has dampened our evangelistic courage. Hedonism is finding new strength in a liberal moral climate. The perceived value of the church in a post-Christian society has shifted, so that an increasing proportion of the population regards the church, at best with indifference, and at worst with hostility.
This shift in opinion cannot be attributed solely to economic and social trends. The church in its response, or sometimes lack of response, must share the blame. Recently, a Japanese theological student in the province for six months said to me, 'In the six months I have been in Northern Ireland, I have learned that, unlike in Japan, people here attend church. They seem to attend out of habit rather than from conviction. Faith seems to be about allegiance to tradition. I have not seen much saving faith – faith demonstrated through action. Japan is a pre-Christian country, but Northern Ireland is post-Christian. That's worse!.'
From the perspective of a large town parish, it sometimes appears that today fewer people than ever attend church. Marriages are just as likely to take place before the Civic Registrar than before the "altar". Fewer parents present their children for baptism. Young people say they find religion "boring". The church is no longer the first port of call when there is a crisis.
Society appears to have lost confidence in the church. There's still a glossy, up-front "display" required at some formal civic and national events. It's part of the pageantry after all! The ministry of the church is still available for the minority that chooses to avail of it. Step outside of those carefully controlled parameters and social tolerance levels plummet.
The following issues may have helped precipitate a shift in public attitudes:
Disunity poses one of the greatest threats to the church's credibility. In John 17 Jesus prays that his followers may be one – why? 'So that the world will believe that you have sent me.' (Jn. 17:11).
Capitulation to transient social values. Out of rising desperation, declining churches have sometimes sought to court secular society in the mistaken belief that capitulation will stem the tide of decline. Liberalisation is not the answer to declining church attendance. The answer still lies in the timeless, changeless truth of God's word, accepted and applied consistently. Society will not build itself upon the shifting sands of churches that cannot always agree on what constitutes sin.
A lack of church discipline. Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 5:12, that it may not be our business to judge what goes on outside of the church, but surely we must keep our own house in order.
Communication. Every business knows the worth of effectively promoting their products in the market place. The church is still playing catch-up in a consumer society, which effectively utilises every media opportunity. Very often the church still seeks to communicate through obscure historical language, black and white stencilled sheets and music that fails to communicate today.
A lack of vision is surely one of the greatest issues facing the church. The Great Commission is clear – 'go into all the world and make disciples.' This is the raison d'être delivered by Christ to his church. 'Where there is no vision the people perish.' (Pr. 29:18). I was deeply moved on a trip to the Seven Churches of Asia by the fact that in six locations there was only rubble to walk on. Visionless churches are often only a short step away from being rubble! Where there is no vision, churches die.
A loss of evangelistic fervour. If we are a disciplemaking church, in obedience to the Great Commission, we will also be a growing church, spiritually and numerically. Christ clearly anticipated his church growing. No one says, 'I wonder why my child is growing?' It should grow! If it is not growing then we ask, 'Why not?' A church that is not growing is likely a sick church. A church that is not growing may have lost sight of the Great Commission.
Secular society has a huge range of support mechanisms on offer to those in need. They often offer specific and sustained practical help, delivered by trained professionals. Although no one can fault the genuine efforts of the church, it is, by comparison, less well equipped and lacking in adequate training and resources to deal with specific needs. People will turn first to where they feel they will find the most help.
Perhaps the church corporate needs to examine again the collaborative nature of ministry that is exhibited in the Acts of the Apostles. Very often, the human expertise and resources to minister in a relevant and practical way to a needy community are already available in a local congregation. There must be means by which gifted individuals can be identified, trained and released into specialised ministries within the local church. The things that make this difficult include: already demanding lifestyles, lack of credibility ascribed to lay ministry, clerical dominance, lack of vision, unwillingness to re-evaluate centuries of tradition.
The church shouldn't allow the secular world to monopolise society's response to those in need. The church meeting the community at real points of need, in a relevant way and in the name of Jesus, is a significant step to recovering the initiative and restoring vision to the church.
By losing sight of the Great Commission, the church has effectively decommissioned itself. It survives on the legacy of yesterday's evangelism by building walls around itself and seeking desperately to cling to what still remains of its inheritance. Uncomfortably, the Great Commission asks us to "Cross Over" and claim new territory. Having decommissioned, the church is then left wondering how that happens. Its usual response is to start some new organisations or revamp some old ones. This may have the effect of perpetuating something that worked well in the past, but is no longer effective for today.
In St.Patrick's we are beginning to confront reality and give the church a cutting edge in society. It's a slow process and not without complications! The need for change was felt initially by many of the worshipping members who simply recognised that we were not growing. The elderly population was increasing and the young people were disappearing. It became increasingly difficult to find leaders to run any organisation and a number of organisations simply folded.
We were stirred into thought by the account of God's dealings with Joshua. We felt God particularly speaking to us through a few key verses: 'now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross . . . I will give you every place where you set your foot.' (Jos. 1:2-3). Did we want to be conquerors and experience God extending his territory, or did we want to remain in the desert – that dry unproductive place? It was a clear choice: change or die! What are our key responses to date?
Commit to serious prayer. A Prayer Co-ordinator was appointed, and various prayer initiatives undertaken. It was impressed upon leaders, 'If you only have time to do one thing in the parish then pray! Stop everything else if you have to.' Central to our "Crossing Over" vision, as it became known, was concerted prayer for the renewing of God's church.
Changes in our worship patterns. Valuing the old and the new, we sought to bridge the communication gap between the church and the world. The challenge was how to faithfully proclaim the unchanging truth of God in a way that each rising generation could hear it.
We hired more staff. In the past, traditional structures have required ministers to wear many hats, only some of which they were gifted by God to wear. This seemed an odd marriage! We matched ministries to individual's gifts. Job descriptions were refined so that staff members could focus upon their God-given strengths. This has required a huge leap of faith, asking the Select Vestry to finance posts for which it had no money; parishioners to accept a new model for ministry that broke patterns established centuries ago; and staff to work to more clearly defined roles and to say "no" to things outside the scope of their abilities.
Started a "Discipleship School" called "Hyper-Link". This is the place where our leaders are grown in prayerful fellowship around God's word. It is for those who share the vision and are committed to being a church that claims territory for the Lord. The course is run by the parish, involving dozens of gifted individuals and organisations from right across the province.
Pastoral Care has been part of the traditional role of the clergy and has often been very effective. Nevertheless we cannot assume all clergy are gifted as pastors. Neither can we assume clergy have the diverse skills and training necessary to meet every pastoral situation. This narrow model limits the church's effectiveness; starves it of God-given resources; and encourages the body to neglect its call to corporate care. Our response: a Lay Pastorate.
Ministry Teams. How can we touch real places of need in other people.s lives with the transforming love of Jesus Christ? Ask questions! What is it that new mums want as they come out of hospital? What is it that the elderly really need? What's on offer to the drug abusers and the unemployed? What do people just moving into the area really need from the church? Identify local needs and facilitate the training of people with appropriate gifts for ministry. This may mean examining how human resources are applied, reprioritising financial commitments and moving from being organisationorientated to being ministry-orientated.
Buildings. Are your buildings designed to hold on to what you have, or to reach out to the community? We plan to look at how we use our buildings, and what sort of buildings we really require.
Rebuilding your church for growth is neither straightforward nor painless, but if we love God and our neighbour with all our heart, then we have no choice. Remember, it's God's church – he will build alongside us. Jesus said, 'I will build my church', but we are his labourers.
CHRISTOPHER EASTON has been Rector of St Patrick's and St Andrew's, Coleraine since 2001.
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