Now before too many other denominational protestants, or Catholics, become smug thinking this is NOT your concern, that is a wrong assumption. You see the church has to always be willing to reinvent itself, not the GOSPEL, not the Christ we represent but the HOW we do it.
We have to be willing to move outside our comfort zones, the way we have always done it, and be willing to embrace things that help reach this generation of souls for Jesus Christ. You see we have been too comfortable for too long doing the same old things the same old way and expect new and exciting changes or results. We tend to embrace change in our lives in entertainment, communications, food stuffs, medical procedures, and even in the cars we drive plus all the comforts of home, etc. However, when it comes to our worship, we tend to stay with what WE like over what THEY who are not here NEED when we can get them to the church.
I believe in new and improved in the free market. Better laundry detergents, better food products, improved cell phones, thinner televisions that take up a whole wall, better sound systems, headphones, games, and the like. If we can't make the product better we improve the container that it is in so it looks better. Take bleach in a better pour bottle, it's still bleach but sales go up for the new container. How about grape juice in a new easier to handle container to minimize spills? It's still grape juice!
Church, we have to look at, focus on, and target/reach those that are NOT here. How do we do that? Maybe you don't know, maybe I don't know, maybe no one really knows for sure but we do know one thing for sure; what we have been doing IS NOT WORKING! IF IT IS WORKING IT'S NOT WORKING AS WELL AS IT USED TO!
I believe that when you see a church that is NOT catering to or coddling any certain group but is targeting, budgeting for and giving resources to the children and the youth; well that church is more alive. Take a mental inventory. Has your congregation reached a median age that is near retiring and there are not any or very many young couples, babies or teens there? I plead with us as church leaders, we have to not worry, fret and stress over those in our congregation that we may loose if we try to reach those that are NOT here. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost!
Kingdom work is hard and difficult. Bu we have to ask ourselves are we Alive or on Life Support!?
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/24/former-archbishop-canterbury-warns-christianity-as-risk-dying-out-in-generation/
Former Archbishop of Canterbury warns Christianity at risk of dying out in a generation!
FoxNews.com
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has a warning for Christian churches: Attract young people to the faith or risk losing it forever.
According to The Telegraph, Carey said Christianity is just a “generation away from extinction” in Britain unless churches have a breakthrough in attracting young people.
Clergy are gripped by a “feeling of defeat” and congregations are worn down by “heaviness," he said.
Carey said the public greets both with “rolled eyes and a yawn of boredom," according to The Telegraph.
Carey made his remarks at a Shrewsbury conference discussing how the church could be "re-imagined."
“So many people do not see the average church as a place where great things happen," he said. “To sit in a cold church looking at the back of other peoples’ heads is surely not the best place to meet exciting people and to hear prophetic words.”
According to The Telegraph, Carey cited a lack of youth ministries as one of the sources of the problem.
“So many churches have no ministry to young people and that means they have no interest in the future," he said. “We have to give cogent reasons to young people why the Christian faith is relevant to them.”
Sunday congregations in the U.K. have almost halved since 1970 to just 807,000 in the most recent figures, The Telegraph reported.
According to The Telegraph, Carey said Christianity is just a “generation away from extinction” in Britain unless churches have a breakthrough in attracting young people.
Clergy are gripped by a “feeling of defeat” and congregations are worn down by “heaviness," he said.
Carey said the public greets both with “rolled eyes and a yawn of boredom," according to The Telegraph.
Carey made his remarks at a Shrewsbury conference discussing how the church could be "re-imagined."
“So many people do not see the average church as a place where great things happen," he said. “To sit in a cold church looking at the back of other peoples’ heads is surely not the best place to meet exciting people and to hear prophetic words.”
According to The Telegraph, Carey cited a lack of youth ministries as one of the sources of the problem.
“So many churches have no ministry to young people and that means they have no interest in the future," he said. “We have to give cogent reasons to young people why the Christian faith is relevant to them.”
Sunday congregations in the U.K. have almost halved since 1970 to just 807,000 in the most recent figures, The Telegraph reported.
1 comment:
Maybe we with the Gospel message need to learn from other messages out there--like Shakespeare or the epics of the Greeks. These stories endure and remain relevant because the medium through which they are broadcast is constantly reinvented. The message--in these cases the story--remains unchanged, but the way the message is transmitted changes. I love Star Wars, but how stale would it get to watch the same movies over and over and over? Books, games, TV shows, sequels and prequels keep it fresh, make it relevant. The core story--what matters--doesn't change, but richness and variation enhance it and enable it to reach broader audiences. But our faith, unlike these examples, isn't a fantastical fiction; it's real.
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