Reflections from Houston
I’m in Houston this week convening a gathering of most the pastors of the 30 largest United Methodist Churches in America. This is the second of these meetings. The first was in Kansas City last year at which the pastors of the ten largest churches gathered. Later this year we’ll hold a follow-up meeting inviting the pastors of the 100 largest churches. The aim of these meetings is to develop strategies for how the largest churches in our denomination can play a part in bringing about the revitalization of our denomination (which, like all mainline churches, has declined precipitously over the last 40 years). Before the meeting, several of the pastors noted that they were cynical and held little hope for positive change in our denomination. By the end of the meeting most of the pastors were energized and hopeful about the possibility that they, and their churches, could actually be a part of renewing the church. This evening (Wednesday) I joined a second gathering – a group of key leaders including both clergy and laity from across the denomination to develop strategic plans for strengthening the leadership of our churches and drawing younger clergy into our churches (the average age of clergy in our denomination is currently 57, and the number of clergy under 35 has declined by 75% in the last 22 years). I came away from both meetings energized, exhausted, and feeling hopeful about the future of Methodism. Church of the Resurrection’s role is important in these conversations. A number of pastors have told me that they would not have attended this gathering were it not for our church convening it. I believe because we “see gray” we’ve become a unifying force and a bridge builder between pastors who are a bit more conservative and those who are bit more progressive. It was a joy to see an amazing sense of unity and camaraderie among the pastors, despite the theological and political diversity among them. I’d like to invite your input on the question of renewing United Methodist Churches. What do you think it will take to see the United Methodist Church reverse its decline and to become a denomination filled with vibrant, healthy and growing churches? What are the three or four most important factors to a congregational vitality? What role do you think the Church of the Resurrection can play in the revitalization of United Methodist Churches?
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sms1980 | Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
The short answer, in my opinion, is to not be afraid to try new things and to change things up a bit. COR is a great example of this (blog, contemprary services, youth programs, etc).
Growing up I was always bored with the Methodist church. It was caused by the combination of me being young and the churches having traditional (slow) services. I moved away from the church for a number of years and then really started enjoying church again when I was able to come and be entertained and learn. I am 27 years old and my older brothers and family will say church shouldn’t be there for entertainment. I partially disagree. I think that being entertained was a vital part in keeping me coming back. The entertainment was focused and was always followed by a great lesson.
3 things:
The church must never forget its origins and keep those in mind during any changes that are made. Build your house on a rock philosophy.
The church must always have its arms wide open. This is the best way to bring people in and you are always ready to wrap them up and comfort those in need.
The church must not get ‘behind the times’. It IS ok to spend money collected for improvements to the church. Those improvements may not have direct benefit to people in need but it will come back ten fold if the funds are spent with God’s will in mind.
I think COR has done a great job of doing this. When the church can reach out to a younger crowd it will influence these kids and some of them will listen for God’s calling to become a pastor or be a part of the church body.
Northstar | Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
I think the most vital part of church is how relevant is it to my life I live everyday. That’s what keeps me coming back. COR does a really good job of staying current with the times, and equiping the congregation with the truth about how we should live.
Dannar | Jan 18, 2008 | Reply
I was raised Baptist and just assumed COR was not that different from most Methodist churches. LOL. Furthermore, I have not been a part of enough churches to say why certain churches grow, bring people together and change the world. Or why others dwindle, lose hope and maybe eventually give up?
It seems to me that the church and leadership are not always to blame. Sometimes people just don’t want to hear the truth. Many or most people even gave up on our Messiah at one point in His life. Later people seemed to sometimes ridicule His servant, Paul, at points in his ministry. Both were put to death in the end. In the last century, two of the greatest pacifists were again martyred, while Hitler, Stalin, and Mao martyred millions but escaped assassination. Add a few more centuries and every Western power is guilty too; their martyrs, innocent.
I’m digressing…but…I hope we don’t all have to become martyrs before people understand Christ’s message! COR seems to be evidence that we do not! The reason? Our pastors take “the middle way,” yet there is at the same time a strong spirit of reformation. Our pastors do not stand in the middle because they are “lukewarm,” but because they are humble enough to consider that there are many sides of every question: young vs. old, male vs. female, raised in a church vs. raised in turmoil etc. etc. Even extremists are given ear. Perhaps its’ pastors and members have found the spirit of reform necessary to this age, which is not complete rejection or complete acceptance of any dogma, but a willingness to hear and listen to all with respect. They are constantly looking to greater promise in the future, not dwelling on failures of the past. Lastly, they look more to self-improvement than to judgment of others. All of these things were laid out by Christ and reasserted by his followers all through the centuries, but we occasionally, or perhaps constantly, need to be reminded not to be satisfied with how far we have moved forward, but remember how far we have to go. And to never give up on the world, just as Christ did not give up on us so long ago.
Andrew Conard | Jan 19, 2008 | Reply
Adam – Thanks for sharing about the gatherings in Houston. I think that both of them sound exciting and have potential to begin to change the shape of the denomination. Here are my responses to your questions.
I think that a focus on abundancy and not on scarcity is a shift in mindset that will need to take place before the denomination can continue to transition toward healthy and vibrant congregations. There is seemingly no end to the bad news about the state of the denomination, but not nearly enough focus on the good and celebrating the signs of life that are happening. Clif Guy also suggested a shift in urgency that will be necessary – from institutional to missional. An urgency for renewed life that is based on maintaining the denomination is an urgency that is ultimately bankrupt. However, an urgency for renewed life in the denomination from the desire to make disciples of Jesus Christ is more healthy and more helpful.
I believe that the most important factors to the vitality of a congregation are: committed discipleship of pastors and key leaders, connection with the community in which the congregation exists, leadership development and focus on mission.
I believe that Church of the Resurrection has and may continue to play a role in revitalization of United Methodist Churches, particularly in the state of Kansas. Sharing leadership practices and principles through Leadership Institute and other venues will continue to be important. However, I think that Resurrection has great potential to positively shape the denomination by making a commitment to planting new churches across the state of Kansas. This may be an example to other large congregations about what it might mean to support church planters. It would also have great potential to increase the positive impact that Resurrection may have on the annual conferences and the denomination.
Thanks!
Tom | Jan 19, 2008 | Reply
The more things change the more things stay the same. I do think there are some eternal truths of the faith that have stood up the test of time. Those truths are in the bible.
History has shown that if you stay true to the bible and the gospel the church will grow, even when the church is being persecuted. If you look at the churches and denominations today in the world the ones that are growing are the more conservative ones, the ones that are true to the principles of the bible. The churches that think the bible is archaic or in need of revision to “reflect” the times are the churches that are dying. They are the churches that have a median age close to the same median age as the local AARP chapter.
COR should stay focused on preaching the basic gospel. The church should preach the bible as the word of God as it has. It should focus on executing the Great Commission as it has in the past 15 years. There is a hurting world that needs to hear the message of the gospel. The massive growth of the church in the past 10 years has proven that statement to be true.
If the church chooses to be a political annex of either party for some feel good reason loosely connected to religious reasons I think you will see the past growth crash and burn.
mphilbrick | Jan 20, 2008 | Reply
Living in a small rural Kansas community, I am an active member of our local UM church. I am also a regular viewer of COR sermons via the Internet. Since Kansas City is often a ‘vacation’ destination, I have attended services at COR. Based on my experiences both locally and at COR, I would like to suggest the following as factors to improving congregational vitality.
Message — Keep it Biblically based with an application to daily life. The use of sermon notes encourages me to be an active listener. I really appreciate the weekly study guides. I believe they have helped me grow spiritually since I started watching COR sermons.
I prefer the use of sermon series versus the use of the lectionary. A sermon series plants the desire to see the next sermon. I also think that preaching in series will get visitors back to hear more. Using the lectionary does not provide that hook that will get a visitor back a second timd.
One thing I’ve noticed that is done at COR that my church doesn’t do (or at least very well) is to repeatedly discuss the expectations of a member during the sermon. I see this as a personal reminder of what is expected of me and think it would make my local church stronger if we were reminded of similar expectations.
From listening to COR sermons, I know what the mission of COR is and what that church is doing toward that mission. I also know that it is a Biblically based mission statement. I also have the feeling that the mission is discussed by the church council as they make decisions. My church has a mission statement, but we haven’t used it as a guiding force for the church. I also think the process for “creating” a mission statement is too quick. When our school district developed it’s mission statement, it took several meetings to deliberate over the wording. Our church’s mission statement was determined in about 2 hours. Why can’t all Methodist churches have the same (or very similar) mission statement — one similar to CORs?
I think having a presence on the web helps reach seekers. However, there are very few guidelines within the church on what policies the church should have in place regarding a web site or blog. Having some guidelines would be particularly helpful to smaller churches that don’t have an IT staff. Training for lay leaders would also be helpful in this area.
When it comes to the nominally religious, I think the liturgy or order of worship becomes a factor. COR’s order of worship is fairly simple and very easy for a visitor to follow. Ours on the other hand is jumbled. Those of us who attend regularly know what to expect — especially in terms of standing/sitting. However, it could be very confusing for a first time visitor.
Has anyone done a survey of the larger churches and/or those on the “America’s Most Innovative Churches” list to see what percent preach in series? Has anyone compared the order of worship for these churches to see if there is a similarity? Do all of these churches have a Biblically based mission that drives the decision making of the church? Do all of these regularly tell their members what is expected of them?
Please don’t forget the smaller churches as you work to revitalize the denomination. For many of us in rural areas, the small church is our only choice.
william.jackson | Jan 20, 2008 | Reply
I try to check out on the internet what various churches around the country are trying from time to time. So far it looks like this it is the largest churches that are making the most use of the web to broadcast either all or part of their services. COR seems to be among the best at trying to spread its arms wide to reach its community. I would be interested in hearing sometime about what COR considers its greatest challenges in bringing this about — in other words are there specific groups that you are aware of that don’t seem to respond to COR’s outreach efforts?
Canopus | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
1) Podcasting! The sermons are great, and I’m glad they are podcast, but I would suggest giving them a little bit catchier name and getting them out there on Podcast Alley and calling on loyal listeners to vote once a month to get the podcast up there in the listings on Podcast Alley so more people find it.
2) Radio. There is a reason the dominionists have the airwaves sewn up. One or two denominations have huge command of the frequencies and how to get frequencies. Brian McLaren called a lot of the theology people bring to their congregations by word-of-mouth “radio orthodoxy.” I figure moderates don’t want to sully their hands with some of what is out there on the airwaves but why should only one view (dominionism) have so much sway? Because it’s all over the airwaves.
I hate the politics of publicity but people are listening to dominionism because it’s all over the radio. They’re bringing dominionism to their pastors and frustrating their non-dominionist pastors with the dominionism they are picking up from the radio. Grrr! If only there were another view now and then on the airwaves.
The sermons are good enough to be on the radio. Why isn’t there more Methodism on the airwaves? Why is it dominionism from 87.5 to 108.6 megahertz!
Canopus | Jan 22, 2008 | Reply
Oh and one more thing. I wish I would see someone do this.
Tackle dominionism head-on. Call it by its name. People don’t know that’s what they’re picking up from the radio, their neighbors, home-schooling literature publishers, famous people from another denomination that is having a lot of congregations and seminaries (some say) steeplejacked by dominionists, boot camps, independent megachurches, and even the military. Dominionism is everywhere but people don’t know it by its name. They probably recognize many of the principles. I think people are very interested in some of these topics that are hot right now among dominionists. We had a woman die in childbirth right here and the tv news spoke of their religious beliefs as if it were a small obscure sect or something–well it’s not. I think their influence probably grows tenfold a day. Sorry if I’m paranoid. I grew up in a sect that was dominionism lite but these folks make the sect I grew up in (you guessed it, COC) look like a dancing hoedown center stage in the poker pavilion at the Argosy Casino. This stuff is all over and no one’s talking about it because there’s a wide gulf in society between the people who live in it and the mainstream. I think if there were some podcasts countering dominionism people might be really interested. Nationwide.
worldtenor | Feb 2, 2008 | Reply
During my time as a regular member to several United Methodist Churches in the United States, I would say that the decline in our denomination has to do with one main factor: Failure to address and reach out to a younger generation. The manifestation of this lack in communication will be discussed below, but I would first like to clarify that by “younger generation” I mean those under the age of 60 years old. That being said, I am extremely grateful for the elders in the churches I have attended and by no means think that we should “leave them in the dust” by pursuing services focused only on what the current culture finds interesting in the way of music, sermons, etc…
This leads to one of the first reasons the church is failing to communicate with the younger generation. The services are based upon a tradition of liturgy, hymns, pastors reading their sermon from behind a pulpit, etc… This is less than spiritually or intellectually stimulating for the church-goer who did not grow up with this tradition. Now, I do not believe that the purpose of coming to church is to be intellectually or spiritually stimulated. That is the purpose of Bible studies and other avenues of pursuing a deepening relationship with Christ. Church is an opportunity for us to praise and worship God. The first-time or potentially interested church-goer, however, is most likely not of this mindset yet…and no one should expect them to be. Many will attend church just because they are interested to hear what the pastor says, or maybe because they like the music. If they finally make the choice to come to a service and are met with a sermon that does not ask them to think for themselves, or give them a reason to pursue this relationship with Christ further, there is no reason to come back. Also, if the music is boring, the text out of date, and they are given a text to read aloud which was written by someone else as a personal confession of their sin (which they may not be aware of yet), it will also be a turn off.
That long intro is all to say that a church wishing to revitalize simply needs tools in order to reach out to the culture and times in which they are living. I think many churches are simply at a loss when in comes to doing this. They don’t know where to start. They can’t create a contemporary music program over night. Even if the pastor decides to change the way he does his sermons and update the services more, how are they going to get the word to the communities in which they live. COR has a wonderful leadership retreat for these churches if they so desire. I think it is important to let them know that even small steps towards reaching out to the culture in their local communities will accomplish a lot. They need to be taught how to teach their congregations to reach out as well.
In achieving a vibrant community in any church, large or small, it requires time spent with one another. Vibrant communities happen because people are interacting. A Sunday service and a fellowship hour afterwards is great, but it won’t create the type of atmosphere that will breed a growing church. Also, in addition to Bible studies, there needs to be opportunities for people in the church to enjoy one another’s company. Movie night, game night, flag football, golf outings, etc… Community is defined by the word itself–a group of people participating in life and activities together.
COR should definitely continue with it’s wonderful Leadership Institute and focus on giving churches small tools that they can put to work in their church and communities right away. Empower pastors and let them know that one step at a time makes a difference.
dhen08 | Feb 7, 2008 | Reply
our churches here are losing people to the mega church down the road because we need the huge entertainment factor the mega church provides. We have all been made by tv to be such critics. Just look at our tv shows which have us judging everything. The average pastor is under fire. If he is less than perfect we leave church for the better show. We are sick. We think we have to be entertained all the time. Just look at all the money we put into sports and entertainment. Follow the money trail and you will find why our small churches are failing. People lack commitment..they want entertainment. If you have a great show you succeed….and perhaps we need a large screen tv in our sanctuary..hooking us up to COR
worldtenor | Feb 13, 2008 | Reply
dhen08
I understand your frustration and concerns. I do not, however, think it is a matter of our “sick” society as you stated above. It is my experience as an affiliate member of several small churches (one which I am currently attending outside of Kansas), that they are lacking in areas that can be improved without changing the amount of money spent (i.e. moving to some huge entertainment system). Pastors in many smaller churches that I have visited or been a part of are delivering very sub-par sermons. To change this, of course, the pastor must be aware that he needs to improve and seek the necessary tools to do so. People today want to go to church and be challenged to think. We are living in an intellectual world, and people don’t want to check their brain at the door before entering into a service about the most important thing in life; God.
Also, as I stated in a previous post; music. Singing hymns that visitors cannot read right off the bat, with old text, and what can sometimes be boring music, is another turn off. It’s not difficult to find free copyright contemporary music hymns and worship songs online and use those every once and a while.
Liturgy can be cut way down–another free change.
There are many ways that small churches can change up their services in order to keep people coming. This is exactly why COR has started leadership courses. Instead of small churches becoming bitter that members are heading to larger churches, maybe they should take a look at what some of those churches are doing, and find out what they might be able to incorporate into their worship as well. Churches do not want to steal members from other congregations (at COR Adam is very intent on this issue). They want the Kingdom to grow, and therefore reach out to help smaller or diminishing churches.