The church is in an interesting place. By church, I mean “The Church”; the holy catholic church which you and I confess most weeks in the Apostle’s Creed.
Now, to be sure, there has never been an idyllic time in the church’s history. Never. I have a small book titled, “Why on Earth did Anyone Become a Christian in the First Three Centuries?” Why, indeed! Persecution, superstition, a faith that was about carrying crosses, not avoiding them…why indeed?
Note I said an interesting time. It is also very much an uncertain time. The only thing that is clear is that our previous way of doing things is not working. People are leaving the church and study after study says it is not because they have lost their faith or that their faith does not matter. The vast majority of those leaving the church do so because of their faith! What they see in Jesus, how they understand God through the lens that is Jesus, is not what they see reflected in the institutional church.
Congregations can no longer get volunteers for even the most basic of tasks. Many choose to watch worship on line rather than worship in community. In our own metro area two of our churches are ridding themselves of their property and buildings not for survival but so they can do more than survive; they can both have and lead a mission.
Are these and more such acts tossing out a life-line or are they pruning for a healthier, stronger ability to follow Jesus? Time will tell. What is clear is that God doesn’t need brick and mortar to do ministry. Christ’s church can survive in a number of new ways, but it is not survival we should be about. It is thriving; thriving in following Jesus in the mission of Jesus.
We are among the fortunate here at University Lutheran Church/Lutheran Campus Ministry. While many congregations struggle to discover their mission and discern the call of God in their locale, we are clear in ours. The original writing still in our file says we are here to serve the community of Tempe and Arizona State College (ASU had yet to become a university) We have an outreach to ASU that is clearly our call. Other congregations are envious of us with all our young adults. We are an encouraging sign to many that young adults are interested in faith and can be reached.
I heard such talk last week at our bishop’s convo. We represent to many the hope that faith continues to be passed on. Yes, but all of us need to remember what I wrote in the beginning of this piece: people are leaving the church because of their faith. What needs to be done, what changes made, what parts need to be retained, to continue to have the Christian faith be what it was created to be: a faith exercised best in and through community and a faith that is relational; a faith that often relates to and with God through the people of God. What form might that take?
Certainly, it takes a people unafraid to talk about their faith and talk about it outside the church, not only within the church using understood code language and in-house terms. Risks must be taken by all the church. Standing pat is a recipe for continued downfall.
At this same conference I heard for seemingly the one-thousandth time in my ministry, most churches in order to grow must first stop doing some things, perhaps even long-held and valued traditions that make growth difficult. The church must be willing to change and even to fail so its message of Good News can reach those with needy and ready ears.
We do not need a dose of positive thinking. I don’t believe God to be a positive thinker. Rather I see God as a positive doer. That is the path we must take. Can we have faith without putting it all on the line? The difficulty should not be our willingness to risk, but rather the figuring out what risks we are called to take.
The biblical God is a God who keeps coming after us. Such a God requires a people of pursuit, a people willing to be uncomfortable. …willing to give up their way for God’s way. I just heard a speaker, a Presbyterian pastor say, “You can be right, or you can grow.” There can be a certain narcissism in our demand to be right…even when we might be right.
Yes, we are in interesting times. Keep in mind we are also, as always, in God’s time. The church has been here before. More importantly God has been here before. Go ahead, trust the process you may develop, but trust more in God.