A Word to Immovable Christians - It’s
Time for a Tent Theology – Ecclesiology Again
We just relocated. The move was a catalyst for a moment of
reflection on the places I have lived. Noble
St., Buttonwood St., James St., Breeze Hill Rd., Silcam Dr., Spruce Hills.,
Higate Lane, Woodside Circle, Maple Ave., Gloucester Rd., Falmouth Rd. – these
are the streets where I have lived! The places I have called home are many - Norristown, PA; Lancaster, PA; Danbury, CT;
Lewisburg, PA; Fairfield, CT; Simsbury, CT; Greenwich, CT; Hilton Head, SC;
Mashpee, MA. My parish and national
staff ministries were lengthy….houses in the same community were changed. Where is my home? From birth until the present I have lived in
11 houses. I have been deeply involved
in 7 hometown communities. I had
significant community longevity – 21, 10, 14, 7, 10 years. But I had to leave the security and comfort
of the familiar for new adventures.
A wandering Aramean
was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in
number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for
a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing
where he was going. 9By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised,
as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs
with him of the same promise.
20 Jesus
replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have
nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
As I mused
on the places I have called home, I remembered these passages from Scripture, and
the realities of many of our churches – I could give you numerous statistical
data on the state of many struggling churches -, a few foundational thoughts on
local church vitality came to mind.
·
Many Christians are stuck with a
theology and ecclesiology of immovability.
Immovability runs counter to the foundational truth of our
Judeo-Christian heritage. We are
wanderers, like Abraham and Sarah and Jesus.
We move out chasing the new adventures in seeking and building the realm
of God. We live in temporary tents along
the way. It is on the journey that we
find tastes of God’s realm. This
“settler” – “stay put” belief directly effects the vitality of our local church
ministries.
·
Church members are often more
committed to past ministry programs and historic buildings than to the journey
and the call of the adventuresome God. This stifles
our ability to bring new ways of proclaiming the Gospel for new days.
·
Along with an openness to new and
fresh ministry programs, we are choking Christ’s ministry and mission because
many of our churches have structures that suffocate and repress the empowering
of our ministry with enormous maintenance costs.
Our ability to hire creative leadership, develop dynamic worship,
spiritual development, and outreach witness ministries is smothered by having miniscule
financial resources left after for building maintenance. This reality is particularly true for most
“mainline” churches that have buildings that date back to the 19th
and early 20th century. In one of the
churches I served the maintenance costs required $300,000 for buildings and
grounds before any staff or program or wider mission dollars could be allotted.
,
·
In many parts of the country because
of a lengthy community history “mainline” denominational churches have over
populated towns and cities. 100 and 200 years ago with the torpid speed
of transportation and limited roads and bridges, churches sprung up within a
small radius of each other. Thus was
born the circuit rider preacher. Also,
the history of many churches is filled with theological and interpersonal
disagreements which led to new churches created by disgruntled members which
were in close proximity to a former church.
·
Church leaders often see endowment
funds as a stop gap measure to keep the building maintained while waiting for a
turnaround rather than seeing them as a resource for creative ministry.
·
Downtown / urban / small membership
church leadership often fail to analyze the community surrounding the church in
an effort to shape its ministry in light of the community’s spiritual and
outreach needs.
·
Church future envisioning plans are
perilously too short term. While 3-4 year planning and goal setting is a
positive step in strengthening the witness of the church, an honest and candid
10-20 year view of cultural and local demographics as well as the church’s
spiritual and financial health is positively essential.
In these
challenging times of ministry many mainline churches fail to address these
realities and in doing so jeopardize the long term health of their ministry. The component parts of the equation are “
church maintenance cost + an unwillingness to let go of the past and think
outside the box for the future + too many churches of a similar theological
viewpoint in close proximity + a settler / immoveable mindset = the long term
death of a church.
There are
some avenues to renew the vitality of these immoveable Christian / settler
mentality churches.
·
Have a serious theological
reflection on the journeying nature of our Judeo-Christian ancestry.
Return to the “real” good-old-days when the tent was the worship and
community gathering structure of the faithful.
Reflect upon faith being a pioneer (Hebrews proclaims Jesus was the
pioneer and perfector of the faith.) rather than settler community of faith.
·
Implement a serious discussion
about the long term – 10-20 years - realities of and challenges to the church’s
ministry.
·
Discard the notion of seeing the
church as a building rather than a community of believers.
Remember that for many of us
the geography of home changes many times in our lifetime.
·
Study the geographic placement of
churches of the same denomination or similar theological ilk.
In light of the long term realities consider discussing with those
churches a shared approach to ministry.
Shared ministry, union and federated churches of the same and similar
denominations have been a model for ministry for a long time. At the appropriate time be open to the
discussion of “whose” or “new” building will become the physical church home.
·
Consider endowment funds not purely
for building maintenance until we “die” but also as a creative program funding
resource that may bring increased vitality and renewal to the church. Spend the last dollar on faithful and joyful
ministry rather than funeral expenses.
·
Consider new, less expensive
overhead places for gathering as church……rental spaces, houses, storefronts,
unoccupied business or factory space, schools.
If the structure you call your church home is strangling its ministry
and you decide to seek a new home, consider what physical objects, symbols have
deep meaning and give identify to the church.
Think creatively how they could be used in the new church home.
·
Consider times of ordained
ministerial transition as opportunities to examine shared ministry
possibilities.
·
If the merging of the community of
faith and the selling of one of the buildings consider ways a portion of the
money received could be used for the welfare of those in greatest need or
creative ministry opportunities.
·
Pray for the Holy Spirit to help in
the discernment process and to free you and others from an immoveable Christian
theology and ecclesiology.
To use the
Biblical tent image, in our lives almost all of us will pull up stakes several
times and move to a new place that we will eventually, sometimes reluctantly,
call home. As we journey on through life
we will cherish important spiritual landmarks from each of our homes. Let it be so with our church homes. How quickly we forget the innocent theology
of a children’s song – “I Am the Church, You Are the Church”: “The church is not a building; the church is
not a steeple; the church is not a resting place; the church is a people.” Let us be the people with the Spirit of the
journeying Abraham and Sarah and of Jesus, the pioneer of the faith whose home
was where his ministry was most needed.
