Another post from April . . .
I wish church was not just a sermon but a discussion.
They would love to be able to participate and ask questions.I wish the Church sometimes met outside the church building.
Can’t you worship in a coffee house, a home, a dance studio?I wish church was less programmed and allowed time to think and pray.
They long for more time to quiet themselves and pray meditatively.I wish the church was a loving place.
Post-Christians believe that folks in the church love one another and perhaps others that are like them but they do not love those who have different beliefs or lifestyles.I wish the Church taught more about Jesus.
Post-Christians like Jesus or at least they like what they think they know about Jesus and they would like to learn more. And they would like it if the Church acted more like Jesus taught!I wish someone would ask me to be a part of a church.
They want an invitation from someone they trust who they believe accepts them and loves them as they are.
Outreach magazine
Are we at Trinity the kind of church they are looking for? If so, how do we reach out? If not, how should we change?
2 comments:
We are not yet the church they are looking for in my opinion. Can we be? Certainly, but not without some painful choices that pits Institution VS Cultural Relevance. In my brief experience in ministry, I have not witnessed real changes take place until everyone involved is sufficiently miserable with the current state of ministry. I don't think we are there yet, sadly. Our culture is moving too fast for decade-long decision-making processes. If we don't move toward this type of church soon (as described in the article)I believe the mainline church will become irrelevant in this culture within 20 years.
I'm not sure if Trinity is ready, but I am. I just started the journey groups and quickly realized that I'm stuck on the "belong" facet of faith formation because of my negative perception of church, and Chrisitans in general. Even though I identify myself as Christian, it has a negative meaning because of past experiences, negative press. It's going to be challenging for me to move on to the other facets of faith formation without coming to some resolution on the belong part. It's hard to sincerely and fully covenant, study, give to, serve, and invite to a group that you're not sure that you belong. I just want spirituality and faith to be simple. Culture and church makes it very complicated and miserable.
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