Transcript Where is your neighbor? Evangelism Event Wisconsin Conference UCC David Schoen Congregational Vitality and Discipleship United Church of Christ.

Where is your neighbor?
Evangelism Event
Wisconsin Conference UCC
David Schoen
Congregational Vitality and Discipleship
United Church of Christ
Neighbors – a Biblical Focus
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Hebraic Scripture focuses on neighbors
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Ten Commandments and Torah
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How to treat our neighbors, their family and livestock
Wisdom and prophets
Assist your neighbor to your best ability
 Be merciful and just to them
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Leviticus 19:18
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You shall love your neighbor as yourself
Jesus’ Commandment
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You shall love your God
with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind
and your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27
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Love of God and love of neighbor combined
“You are not far from the Realm of God.”
“Who is my neighbor?”
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The one who showed compassion
The Samaritan
Jesus, Paul and James
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extend ‘neighbor’ to all humankind (with some surprises)
Neighbors Today
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People don’t know their geographical neighbors
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New neighbors and neighborhoods on web
Neighbors are seen in negative ways
Craziest Neighbors postings on You Tube
 Video Games
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Neighbors from Hell
 Zombies ate my Neighbors
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Neighbors and the Church
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Churches do not know their neighbors or
neighborhood.
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Many congregations are commuter churches.
We call the folks outside of church
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‘unchurched’, ‘unfaithed’
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Sounds a bit like ‘Samaritan’
‘lost’
We are the lost if we don’t know and reach out to our
neighbors.
 We’ve lost our purpose and calling.
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Where is Your Neighbor?
Where
 Do
are you?
you know your neighbor?
 What can we find out about our
neighbors?
Where are your neighbors?
Rural Villages and Farms
18.9%
Industrious Country Living
8.4 %
America’s Farmlands
5.9 %
Small Town Connections
4.6 %
Metro Fringe
10.1%
Steadfast Conservatives
5.6 %
Southern Blues
4.5 %
Successful Suburbia
7.6 %
Successful Suburbia Info
Small-town Success
5.6 %
Family Convenience
8.2 %
Family Convenience
Ministry Applications for Mosaic
Lifestyle Portraits
Ministry Applications for Mosaic
Lifestyle Portraits
Where is your Neighbor?
 In
Population/Family Trends
 In Racial Ethnic Background
 In Generations and Age
 In Technology
 In Politics
 In Religious Practice
Where is your Neighbor?
In Population and Family Trends
Where are Your Neighbors?
In School
Where is your Neighbor?
In Racial Ethnic Background
Where is your Neighbor?
In Racial Ethnic Background
Living into our nation’s diversity
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In the next 50 years the US population
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 in the world
By 2050 there will be no majority racial
group
By 2100 Hispanics will be the largest
racial/ethnic group
Where is Your Neighbor?
In Generations
Each generation has
unique events that
formed it, and a
different view of life.
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Gen Z ages 0-9
Millennials 10-28
Survivors
29-49
Boomers
50-67
Silents
68-85
Builders
86+
Some dominant values of
older Baby Boomers and later eras
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Whatever’s right for group is right for me
Appreciate sameness (i.e. Traditional liturgy)
Rely on “tried and true” committees and similar
structures
Deferred pleasure
(i.e. don’t buy it
until I have what I need for the purchase)
Spirituality of place
35% of the US Population
Dominant behaviors of younger
Boomers and younger groups:
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Individualized style and differentiation
See themselves as the correctors of previous
generations
Spirituality of journey…
find spiritual insight in situations
and in relationship
Tribal; build family with
community of friends as they often live further
from homes of origin
65% of the US Population
Where is your Neighbor
in Generations and Age
Where are Your Neighbors?
In Age
Where is your Neighbor?
In Technology
Where is your Neighbor?
In Politics
Liberal or Conservative
Where is your Neighbor?
In Religious Practice
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”.
Religious Practice
Generations and Religion
Religious Switching
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
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
Where are your Neighbors?
Concerning Same Sex Relations
The vast majority of young
non-Christians view Christianity as:
•Anti-gay
•Judgmental
•Hypocritical
•Unwelcoming
•Out of touch
•Unchristian!
And yet, of those polled…
72 percent agreed that God "actually exists“
 86 percent said they believed they could have a good
relationship with God without church involvement.
 78 percent said they would
be willing to listen to someone
who wanted to tell them about
his or her beliefs.
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Where is your Neighbor
in religious belief
Where is your Neighbor?
In Volunteerism
Where is your Neighbor?
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The urgency of our times should not be driven
by our decline in the United Church of Christ.
The urgency of our times should be a new
generation and population
attuned to the values of our
message and witness.
See Millenials report
Pew Research
Where is your Neighbor?
 Where
are you?
The
church is no longer the center
of our communities. We can be
good neighbors.
 Where
is your neighbor?
 How do we meet our neighbor
where they are?
Where is your Neighbor?
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Meeting your neighbors
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Missional in purpose
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Get the church outside of itself
Relational in outreach
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Reclaiming a focus on neighbors
It’s all about relationships
Conversational in witness
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Talking about faith and life