Transcript How Can We Reach Them?

“Becoming All
Things to All Men”
Understanding the Challenges of
Christianity in the 21st Century
Metropolis of Denver Clergy Retreat
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
The Results are Obvious
“In North America…Christianity generally, not
to speak of Orthodoxy, is not a respected,
accepted and supported part of public life and
education, but is rather warred against,
scorned and ridiculed by powerful forces in
society.”
-
Fr Thomas Hopko,
Keynote Address: 13th AAC, 2002
In Other Words,
Orthodoxy is irrelevant...
…and it’s our fault!
The Latest Church Growth
Statistics
“Overall, total U.S. church membership
declined by 1.05% over 2010
to 145,838,339 members.”
"The direction of membership (increases or
decreases) remains very stable.”
(i.e., growing churches continue to grow,
declining churches continue to decline.)
¹
National Council of Churches' 2011 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches
What Are We Up Against?
• Great Commission
9% knew; 84% could not even guess
• John 3:16
25% knew;
63% had no clue, 12% guessed wrong
• The “Gospel”
37% knew; 31% did not
What Are We Up Against?
Over the last decade:
• “Regular Bible reading dropped 45% to 37%.
• Volunteering declined from 27% to 20%
• Church attendance slipped from 49% to 42%
• 40% of Christians do not attend church or
read the Bible in a typical week
• 70% of Christians are not involved in a small
group that meets for spiritual purposes
• There are more than 10 million more
Christians who are un-churched”
What More Are We Up Against?
• Christians and Muslims worship same god
59%
• Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon are all
different expressions of the same truths
43%
• All people are eventually saved by God
25%
• All religions teach the same lessons
26%
The Importance of Religion
Factors in the Slide of MLD
1. “Any church that places few demands on
its congregants, and does not pay attention
to the ultimate questions of faith, will find
itself on the sidelines.”
2. “Another factor in the decline was the lack
of emphasis on evangelism or invitation
among mainline churches, in contrast to
evangelical churches.”
¹
In Vanishing Boundaries: The Religion of Mainline Protestant Baby Boomers, by Dean
R. Hoge, Benton Johnson, and Donald Luidens
Factors in the Slide of MLD
The level of "engagement" among
congregations is also of key importance.
Gallup research strongly suggests that the
role of engagement within congregations has
very little to do with theology or doctrine,
but has a great deal to do with the
engagement level of congregation members.
¹
Al Winseman, Gallup's Global Practice Leader in Faith Communities
Factors in the Slide of MLD
From all of the data the following steps are
important if a particular denomination seeks
to experience growth in the depth and
breadth of its followers in the years
ahead:
1. Focus on faith
2. Place demands on faithful/"engage" them
3. Build youth programs: One in four (18-29)
have no religious affiliation.
4. Stress evangelism and invitation”
¹
Results of a nationwide US survey throughout 2002 conducted by the Gallup organization
The Church of Yesterday:
A Church Culture
The Church of Today:
A Missionary Field
Early 1900’s
Early
Faithful
Traveling
Hire
Itinerant Priest
from Greece
1920’s – 1940’s
Full-time
Priest
Hired by parish
Early
Parish
Councils
1950’s – Present
Professionally
Elected
Trained Priest
Parish Council
General Assembly
Parishioners
Can you think of any
other non-ecclesiastical
organization that is
successful and is using
the same organizational
structure for 60+ years?
The State of the Church:
• Church attendance is at a 40 year low
• 28% have left the religion of their youth
• 4,000 (Prot) churches close each year
• 4 churches close per new one started
• 50,000+ people leave church each week
• 80+% of all churches are losing members
The State of the Church:
• 80%+believe in “god” or “higher being”
• 70%+ believe God cares about them
personally, but the church doesn’t
• 80%+ pray
• 70%+ are part of a religious group
• 70%+ have not experienced the presence
of God in their lives or in their church
Do They Understand
what the “church” is saying?
The Protestants:
• “Being covered in the
blood of the Lamb”
• “Being fed by the Word”
• “Being slain in the Spirit”
• “Possessing a broken
spirit”
• “Pursuing a Christian
walk”
• “Seeking the fellowship
of the Holy Spirit”
• “Repent of thy
transgressions”
• “Not trusting in yourself”
• “Preparing for the dawn
of the millenial age”
But We’re No Better!
• “We’re the Church of the Seven Councils”
• “The Eucharist is the heart of our liturgical life”
• “The Exopostilarion of the Sixth Ode of the
Canon”
• “In baptism we die to Christ”
• “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”
 We’re offering “Orthodoxy” but not always
offering “Christianity”
How Can We Reach Them?
“I have become all things to all
men, so that by all means I
might win some.”
- St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:22
True Evangelism is Not:
• Pew stealing from the Greeks…
• Pew transfers from “up north” or other ‘burbs…
• The disaffected who don’t like the new
Antiochian mission…
This is NEITHER church growth, NOR
evangelism, NOR missionary expansion!
“I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the growth.” - St. Paul
“Remember always that the
conversion of a sinner or a heathen
to the right path comes not from us
or from our skill, but directly and
solely from God.”
- St. Innocent (Veniaminov)
“I have become all things to all men so that
by all means I might win some.”
- 1 Corinthian 9:22
Why Don’t We Understand This?
• Paul knew what it meant to be a Jew…
• …but he also knew what it meant to be
a “Roman”
• We need to know what “they” are like
• We need to know the culture, but…
• We also need to know how to adapt and
contextualize
If They Don’t See the Relevance,
They Can’t Embrace the Truth!
“Being exposed to
information does not mean
they are able to absorb it,
understand it or embrace
it.” –George Barna
Jesus and Evangelism
• He spent time with the community
• He discerned their felt needs and
addressed them
• He attracted their attention
• He provided them with something of
value
• He challenged their thinking
They LISTENED to Him...
They RESPECTED Him!
“From the moment when you first enter into your
duties, strive, by conduct and by virtues
becoming your dignity, to win the good opinion
and respect not alone of the natives, but of the
civilized residents as well.
“Good opinion breeds respect, and one who is
not respected will not be listened to.” – St.
Innocent of Alaska
Non-churched, or De-churched?
“There is a hunger for
spirituality in the general
poplulation which isn’t
reflected in the number of
people going to church each
week.” –Reg Bibby
Listening to the Unchurched:
Why Don’t You Attend?
• 70+% • 60+% • 45+% • 40+% • 40+% • 38+% -
No value in attending
Too many problems
Too busy, no time
Simply not interested
Ask for money too often
Never found one of interest
Listening to the Unchurched:
Why Don’t You Attend?
• 35+% • 35+% • 33+% • 33+% -
Services are too boring
Prefer to pursue other activities
Unaware of church they’d like
Yet to find church with theology
and doctrine paralleling own
Listening to the Unchurched:
Why Don’t You Attend?
• 31% -
Lifestyles would be incompatible
with the expectations of the
church
• 30+% - Hold no relevance for my life
• 17+% - Do not believe/unsure God exists
80+% Believe, but only 20% are in
Church on any given Sunday!
Listening to the Unchurched:
What Do You Want?
• Worship: to experience God (34%)
70%+ of Americans say they have never
experienced the presence of God.
• Developing relationships: A nonthreatening environment in which to meet
other people in the community (25%)
Listening to the Unchurched:
What Do You Want?
• Valuable religious teaching or
training for their children
• A better and more practical
understanding of the Bible
• To discover better ways to deal
with their everyday problems
Listening to the Unchurched:
What Do You Like?
• Friendliness of parishioners (86%)
• Friendliness of church staff (45%)
• Preaching (44%)
• Worship, including music (44%)
• Facilities (43%)
Listening to the Unchurched:
Where Will You Go?
• Adults are more likely to change parishes
than switch denominations (76%)
• Only 15% are “very likely” or “somewhat
likely” to switch
• At any given moment, over 4 MILLION
Americans are seeking a new church home
Listening to the Unchurched:
Where Will You Go?
• Average church size in
America: ~ 100
• 61% of adults would rather
attend a church of 200 adults
or less
Listening to the Unchurched:
Where Will You Go?
• 58% of regular church goers first
began going when they were
invited by someone they knew.
• 63% of those who do not go to
church said that none of their
friends or acquaintances had ever
invited them.
Source: George Gallup
Turn-On’s
• Build honest caring relationships with nonchurch people (i.e, to “engage the culture”),
eventually inviting them to attend
• Sponsor non-religious events
• Sending top quality brochures about the
church to people’s homes
• Thank-you note from pastor after they visit
Common Theme:
Churches growing faster than
10%/year are spending 10-20%
of their budget on evangelism
AND
a large percentage on youth
ministries
Where Do We Go From Here?
• Declines do not have to be a “given”
• Many examples of turnaround ministry
• Commitment of time, energy & resources
• 7 years
• Support from church health coaches:
http//oncd.us/coaching.html
• Do we really have any other choice?
Not reaching the lost ...
...is the same as telling
them
they can go to hell!