Next Church 2012

I’m looking forward to hearing about Next Church 2012 from afar this week.

There are two things for certain that will happen:

1. There will be prayers for our sister – The Moderator –  who is preparing for a different kind of Lent this year.
2. There will be exceptional leaders sharing their ideas for the future of the PCUSA.

Here are two things that I hope will happen:

1. The ideas will be new.
2. The ideas will be about the deeper issues at hand for the 21st church (paradigm shifts) and not about the shallow issues (worship wars, generational differences.)

Of course there are very few truly new ideas.  Several of my colleagues and I read a new report this past week about the state of the church and there was nothing new in there.  It could have been written ten years ago.

But there are voices in the church with fresh ideas who are in the trenches of parish ministry.  There are those of us who work every day with weary leaders, anxious elders, and dysfunctional boards.  But we are still here working for a healthy church that seeks to make disciples of all nations.

A paradigm shift is everything and I see almost every day where it’s needed.  Two examples from this week in ministry:

–  I met a woman who was once a faithful church member serving in several ministries in her congregation.  She had church friends and was a regular leader in worship.  But when her marriage fell apart and her financial situation took a nose dive, she found herself alone.  Her church friends blamed her, shamed her, and gossiped about her.  And so she left.

Paradigm shift required:  real hospitality and pastoral care involves lavish acceptance of those who find themselves on the edge.  We in the church often fail to love broken people as we pretend that we are not ourselves broken.  Churches that “present well” – i.e. everyone looks good, acts ‘appropriately’ and doesn’t offend – are sometimes oblivious to the brokenness sitting right next to us in the pews, much less out in the neighborhood.

– I met a man who described his congregation according to “business metrics” (his words.)  His church is “failing” he said because attendance is down, finances are tight, and his parish is not offering the services it used to offer.

Paradigm shift required:  the church was never meant to be a vendor of spiritual goods.  The church has been called to make disciples (followers) of Jesus in every corner of the earth and to make earth as it is in heaven.  As long as  we consider the A,B,Cs (attendance, building, cash) to be the building blocks of a healthy church we are doomed to fail.

The real building blocks of a healthy church are the N,O,Ps:

How are we serving the Neighbors?  What’s breaking God’s heart in our neighborhood and what are we doing about it?  (See Luke 10:25-37)

How are we Organized for all to be ministers?  Is the pastor considered the only minister or is her/his primary responsibility to equip others to do the ministry?  (See Ephesians 4:11-12)

How has our Paradigm indeed shifted from a Constantinian Church to an Apostolic Church?  (See  the entire book of Acts)

So, may Next Church equip everyone who attends in how to make real changes that expand the reign of God (rather than focus on the survival of a denomination.)  This is my prayer.