18 Questions for Mainline Church Denominations

  1. If a group of Christians can afford ministry but can’t afford a minister, can they still be a “church”?
  2. Has religion become unaffordable? Has access to Christian community become something for the affluent?
  3. What is the purpose of church hierarchy in a world which is largely literate and rarely dependent on benefactors? Does church hierarchy make any contribution to the lives of the laity?
  4. Can the Church minister as effectively as secular not-for-profits?
  5. If the Church separates its social services from its Christian message (in order to qualify for government support), is it still ministry?
  6. If Church-related institutions for higher learning, separate their mission from Christian mission (to qualify for government support or to appeal to richer demographics) are they still Church-related institutions?
  7. Are our seminaries training theologians or pastors?
  8. Are pastors leaders or servants?
  9. How will the congregational/pastoral model, developed in eras of slower social change, function in the modern era of constant change and life-long learning?
  10. What is the future of the Church and its reliance on pastor-centric leadership in a world where success is often the result of teamwork and intermeshing of multiple and changing skills and talents?
  11. How will the role of pastors change if the laity in the Church are expected to “transform”?
  12. How do we become inclusive and diverse when sociologically people tend to find comfort in conformity?
  13. Can the trend toward larger churches serve the needs of smaller communities?
  14. Why does the Church allow congregations to fail while shuffling the pastors who served them to new leadership positions?
  15. How can an institution based on trust and respect guard against abuses of power (as seen in the clergy sex scandals, for example)?
  16. How can a system based on hierarchy protect supporters from bullying?
  17. How does the Church reconcile the Christian mandate to reach all the world with its reliance on demographic studies for church-planting and support.
  18. How do Protestant churches, which often have no parochial school structure, educate youth in the limited time modern families allow for “church”?