SCOLDING IS NOT THE ANSWER
Those old reporters who began writing about religion after WWII must be wondering what happened to the predictions they made about the future of the church.
Very few of them ever came true and those predictions that did become reality lasted only briefly.
For instance, remember the fervor sixty years ago about the ecumenical movement? Look back on how those militant veterans returning from the destruction of WWII called for all churches to come together in understanding and love. Some people believed the ecumenical movement was the last hope of the Christian church - the only vision worth preserving.
And now, the ecumenical movement is a shadow of what it was meant to be and what it hoped to achieve. The great organizations, the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, are in dire financial shape and their mission is diminished.
At this point in history the ecumenical movement is so bankrupt that it probably could not muster a celebration even if all of Christianity joined hands and hearts.
After WWII the churches grew like crazy, the ecumenical organizations became bureacratic, and in less than four decades the entire movement was searching for issues and a focus for its energy.
The culprit in all this is change - the world changed faster than the churches could respond. That's certainly a sign that should haunt all other themes and missions of the church.
For instance, all across the fabric of the church, small neighborhood churches are working to support a living congregation - that is, at least a hundred people who will worship and participate in church functions. And every week, a tiny fellowship somewhere in the United States dies a quiet death.
There is no stopping change. When it gets into an organization, change will execute its mission one way or another.
A friend tells me about her congregation where change has wrought terrible things. The church is filled most Sundays with elderly people, no one under 70 years and a few pushing the century mark. The parishioners have very little energy. Programming is almost nil and new mission is averted.
Everything has to happen on Sunday morning, and many worshipers have barely enough energy to last through a worship hour. This frustrates the pastor, a man of reasonable talent and vigor.
On Sunday morning the pastor scolds the people for having no fire, for not burning themselves up for Jesus. They sit in their pews heartsick and wishful. Their main concern most Sunday mornings is maneuvering the walker to the car and then driving home without an accident.
This congregation is dying a slow death. Unless pastoral leadership can rustle up new members, the weary decline will continue. Currently, the leadership does nothing but scold the people for growing old, an anger-based ministry of fear.
Too many congregations face change with anger. The preacher scolds and the people wince. The congregations and church bodies that will thrive in the future are those that can face change with creative ministry, anticipating great initiatives of flux and movement.
My prediction is, the Christian church will always exist but not in the forms we've known. I'm guessing church leaders somewhere are beginning to think creatively about change.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For 6-5-02