Transcript Church Vitality and Faithful Discipleship in Difficult Times David Schoen Evangelism Ministry Team Local Church Ministries United Church of Christ Including material used with permission from Rick.

Church Vitality and Faithful
Discipleship in Difficult Times
David Schoen
Evangelism Ministry Team
Local Church Ministries
United Church of Christ
Including material used with
permission from Rick Morse,
V.P. New Church Ministry,
Christian Church (DOC)
Church Extension © 2007
All rights reserved
IT‘S A WHOLE NEW
WORLD
Taxes
done in India
McDonalds
order taken 2 states
away
Hundreds
of marketing choices
in any area
Instant
communication
44% of
Christians change
traditions/denominations
60-80% Unchurched
So how much have things changed?
Result of Karl Fisch’s, Colorado high school teacher, study on this
rapid change
What does it all
mean to the Church?
Churches are stressed today:
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Sustainability levels
Generational
Challenges
Birth rates
Numerous cultural
factors
Sustainability Levels
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1930: 30 AWA
2000: 130 AWA

Factors leading to
growing sustainability
factor:
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Health Insurance & other
benefits
Higher cost of construction
Utility costs
Lack of volunteers
BASICALLY EVERYTHING
More generations today than ever…
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Gen Z (0-6)
Millennials (7-26)
Survivors (27-43)
Boomers (44-62)
Silents (63-80)
Builders (81+)
Each generation has
unique events that
formed it, and a
different view of life.
Dominant values and behaviors of
older boomers and older groups
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Whatever is right for the group is right for me
Appreciate sameness (i.e. Traditional liturgy)
Committee structures that are tried and true
Deferred pleasure until you have what you need
to make the purchase
Spirituality of place
Organize as a group to form a block (tenacious
about position)
Circle the wagons; get people on your team to
protect what’s important
35% of the US
Get it done!
Population
Dominant behaviors of young
boomers and younger groups:
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Ask first, what is good for the individual
Individualized style and differentiation
Appreciate Difference/multiple choices
Trained to look for segments of population so
that one size never fits all
See themselves as the correctors of the previous
generations
Spirituality of journey…find spiritual insight
wherever they are and in relationship, not
primarily place
65% of the US
Population
Tribal
Churches didn’t use to worry
about generations…
A few
transplants
Founders
Their
children
Grandchildren &
families
Stephen Compton
Many Churches have Lost a
generation or 2:
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Churches do not anticipate
loosing youth…(even though that
has been the pattern for 40
years)
Young adults report:
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Relocation after college or school
Difficulty in assimilation because
church style
IF they visit—little generational
affinity
Most mainline youth become
unchurched
Roof and McKinney
Another part of the issue is
“membership orientation”
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Pay dues…sign line
EXPECT care, access, privilege,
control, service by staff…etc.
Loses vision for a mission that
can be characterized by God’s
love in Christ for the world.
It is Exclusive
The post-modern world has little
interest in membership
organizations
POWER SURGE,
Michael Foss
The result is aging
congregations
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While the
younger cohort
equals 65% of
the population,
they are only on
average about
30% of existing
congregations
Growing Gaps in
understanding
Age of Protestant Populations
Total Population
Total Protestants
Nondenom Charismatic Churches
Nondenom Evangelical Churches
Church of God in Christ
Assemblies of God
American Baptist Churches
Southern Baptist Convention
African Methodist Episcopal
United Methodist Church
Ev. Lutheran Church of America
Disciples of Christ
Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
Presbyterian Church in America
Episcopal Church in the USA
Presbyterian Church USA
United Church of Christ
Anglican Church
18-29
20
17
18
19
29
14
18
13
14
11
8
10
11
12
11
8
11
7
30–49
39
38
54
51
33
41
36
37
31
34
36
33
32
29
29
31
27
26
50-64
25
26
22
22
28
33
23
27
30
29
29
21
31
32
34
30
34
33
65+
16
20
6
8
10
12
23
22
25
26
27
35
26
27
25
32
28
35
Birth Rates:
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Since “the pill” Anglo birth rates dropping
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1960 24/1000
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2000 13/1000
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2002 11.7
Mainline Anglos
have a very low
birth-rate due to
aging populations
VERY Little Biological Growth!
There has been significant change
in our racial-ethnic population
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Racial ethnic
composition of most
neighborhoods has
changed since
1960
Many
congregations have
little or no affinity
with their neighbors
Racial ethnic growth must be
recognized
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Ethnic growth:
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In the next 50 years the
US Pop. Will grow by
50%. 90% of that growth
will be people of color
In 2000, Hispanics
became the largest racial
ethnic minority
The US has the 3rd largest
Spanish speaking
population
By 2050 there will be no
majority racial group
By 2100 Hispanics will be
the largest group
Did you know?
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More people of African
descent live in America than
any country except Nigeria
More Cubans live in Miami
except than in Havana
In the 90’s the Asian
population grew by 107%,
Hispanics by 38%, Native
Americans by 38% while the
general population grew by
just 6%!
Racial Ethnic Birth Rates:
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African Am.
Native Am.
Asian Pac. I.
Hispanic
(Anglo 11.7)
16.1
13.8
16.5
22.6
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Per 1000
Most future growth will
be in Racial Ethnic
congregations
There is also a shifting attitude
towards “organized” religion
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65% of the US
population cannot
remember a time when
clergy were respected.
Denominational loyalty
means nothing to most
people.
The average person
believes that no
particular religion has
claim to truth.
Shifting attitudes towards faith
1990, 2000 & 2004 Percentage of the Population Attending
a Christian Church on Any Given Weekend
25.0%
20.4%
18.7%
17.7%
20.0%
15.0%
1990
10.0%
2000
2004
9.2% 9.1% 9.0%
7.2%
6.2%
3.9%
5.0%
5.5%
3.4% 3.1%
0.0%
Evangelical
Mainline
Catholic
Total
Unchurched USA
•Since 1991 adult population
in the US grew by 15%.
•During that same period the
unchurched population grew
by 92%! 75 million US
adults do not attend church
'Unchurched' Americans
say church is 'full of
hypocrites' consider
Christianity to be more about
organized religion than
about loving God and
people, …“unchristian”.
Mr. Bean Goes to Church
New Generations –
Outsiders to Christian Faith
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Age
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61+
42-60
18-41
16-29
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% Outsiders
to Christianity
Population
23%
27%
37%
40%
12 Million
21 Million
34 Million
24 Million
44 percent -- agreed that
"Christians get on my nerves.“
Vast majority of young non-Christians
view Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental
hypocritical, unwelcoming, too political,
out of touch.
But 78 percent said they would be willing
to listen to someone who wanted to tell
them about his or her Christian beliefs.
Almost three-quarters -- 72 percent -agreed that God "actually exists“ and an
even larger percentage -- 86 percent -said they believed they could have a
good relationship with God without
church involvement.
It’s a Whole New World
UCCvitality.org
21st Century Culture and Church
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Post-Modern - Modern World is crumbling
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Reason
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Optimism
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Where moderns wanted their preachers to explain
mystery, post-moderns want to experience mystery.
Post-moderns are not so sure that salvation is
around the corner or that science and technology are
our saviors.
Universality
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Post-moderns revel in the local and the particular.
21st Century Culture and Church
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Post-Modern - Modern World is crumbling
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Objectivity
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“Everybody is coming from somewhere,” say postmoderns. “What you call ‘objective truth,’ we call the
interests of the powerful and privileged.”
“the grand story”
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Post-moderns tend to be skeptics about this big
story. Small stories, particular stories, and different
versions of reality appeal to the post-modern mind.
21st Century Culture and Church
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While modernity was liberating and
powerful in many ways, it was also and
especially for Christianity, reductive.
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highly moral, but not especially spiritual
modern Christianity explained miracle
and mystery (away) and proposed moral
values and lessons as universal truth.
What was missing was spiritual
connection and experience, the
experience of a sacred, numinous,
transcendent Other.
Postmodern Culture
and Church
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Christianity in North America has moved (or been
moved) away from its position of dominance
 loss not only of numbers
 but of power and influence within society.
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Rather than occupying a central and influential place,
North American Christian churches are increasingly
marginalized,
 in our urban areas they represent a minority
movement
 It is now a truism to speak of North America as a
mission field.
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Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, Edited
by Darrell Guder, the Gospel and Our Culture Network
What does it all
mean to the Church?
We are all at a threshold,
a ‘kairos’ moment:
Where will we be in 2020?
It means CHANGE!
It means CHANGE!
PHYLLIS TICKLE’S basis thesis is that
every 500 years, the Church goes
through a rummage sale, and cleans out
the old forms of spirituality and replaces
it with new ones.
Play Video
Change = Opportunity
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Exodus 3:13 - 15
Then Moses said to God, "If I
come to the people of Israel and
say to them, `The God of your
fathers has sent me to you,' and
they ask me, `What is his name?'
what shall I say to them?"
God said to Moses,
"I AM WHO I AM."
YAHWEH
I Will Be
What Tomorrow
Requires
The Future Question
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God will be what the future
demands,
but,…….
Will we be the churches and
disciples that tomorrow
requires?
Vital churches and faithful
disciples are missional minded
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Missional in purpose
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“The Church exists to serve God’s
Mission” Mission as Missio Dei, UCC
Committee on Structure, 1992
Vital churches in the 21st Century
Missional, Relational & Conversational
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Missional in purpose
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Relational in outreach
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Conversational in witness
Resources for Missional Congregations
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Vitality Resources on www.ucc.org/vitality
 “It’s a Whole New World” Anthony Robertson
 Vitality Interviews
 Vitality Powerpoint - Retreat Resources
www.ucc.org/vitality/retreat-resources/
 Web ministry resources
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www.ucc.org/vitality/web-university/freeresources-for-internet-ministry.html
MissionInsite demographics
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www.missioninsite.com
In these tough times….
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God has a future for the church
The stillspeaking God calls us to be
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Churches that the future requires
Churches that tough times demand
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Missional in purpose
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