Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer
Today’s Alban Institute Roundtable weekly post is depressing. It features an excerpt from a book on the condition of the church, written by Kenneth J. McFayden.
It is a “Litany of Loss”—a list of ten losses to the modern church which seems all the longer for its hopelessness.
Very few in the church are unaware of the fragile state of the neighborhood church. Perhaps larger churches, in modern, squeaky clean facilities, in thriving suburbs can escape (for the time being), but small town/country churches and urban churches face challenges.
There is commonality. They are older than suburban churches (in most cases) and have experienced shifts in their communities that the Church never foresaw. Suburban churches have yet to face the same challenges — the same litany of losses.
They will.
Let’s learn from experience.
The challenges facing so many neighborhood churches might never have happened had the need for change been addressed decades ago.
Too much was left unattended. This is a failure of leadership, not of Christian community.
As long as bills were paid, the coming challenges were ignored. As times grew tougher, less was done but more was needed. Part time pastors were called when full-time effort was called for. Paying the existing bills became the mission when money was needed for change. All church activity was scaled around maintaining church as it was known. When things changed, the Church was unable to meet its fundamental mission — to reach first its nearest neighbors.
This didn’t happen overnight. It took years of neglect.
The lessons:
- If we focus ministry on existing community, we will face trouble when that community ages or relocates.
- If ministry focuses on tradition (including denominational traditions), there is little to attract new members from different traditions.
- Little changes are hard. Big changes are closer to impossible. The Church must foster an atmosphere where little changes are not so momentous as to shake traditions or threaten security. Make change a habit.
For denominational leaders and professional leaders to neglect their congregations’ needs for little changes over the years and then descend upon congregations with domineering strength when they face challenges damaging to the foundation of Christian community—fails fundamentally to nurture and empower the faithful.
Small congregations do not need dramatic overhauls. They need love. They need it now.
Love feeds hope. Hope fuels action. Action brings change.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12 (NIV)