Jun
25
Written by:
Dennis Atwood
6/25/2009 9:31 AM
As Bob Dylan once sang, "The times they are a-changing." I won’t begin to recite the massive cultural shifts that have taken place over the past few decades, but all churches are greatly affected by the tsunami of societal change. Newsflash: denominational churches are graying—even among Southern Baptists.
As the SBC meets this week to vote on meaningless resolutions, a recent study by the Southern Baptist research arm indicated that 34 percent of church representatives were younger than 40 at its 1980 annual SBC meeting, but only 13 percent in 2007. Over that period, the proportion of representatives older than 60 rose to 36 percent from 13 percent. (courier-journal.com) Add to this the fact that SBC membership and baptisms have been in decline year after year—even after the conservative resurgence got rid of all the moderates and liberals. Now they are talking of a new Great Commission “resurgence.”
Of course, these trends hit all the other mainline denominations long ago. So it’s finally becoming a painful reality that despite the seemingly giant theological issues of the recent past, Baptists appear largely irrelevant to those under 40 in the year 2009. The 18 year-old Cooperative Baptist Fellowship movement has shown some recent signs of an emerging younger crowd, but it is very slow and very small in number.
A recent survey on young people’s personal goals (ages 18-29) noted that while 80% responded that paying off all debts was “very important,” only 50% said that “becoming more spiritually fulfilled” was very important—well underneath other issues such as finding a job you enjoy that will make you financially secure, getting more education, buying a home, giving back to your country and community, having children, and getting married. (The Christian Century, June 30, 2009:9)
Bottom line… the times have changed, but the mission of the church has not. Our churches—regardless of the label—have a deep hole to crawl out of if we are to be recognizable as “salt and light” in the second decade of the 21st century.
In the old 1950s model of church growth, new people entered the church by way of the Sunday School class. Now folks are more likely to enter through a community service project, a church pre-school, or a worship service before they ever experience a Sunday School class or small group.
That means we church leaders are going to have to get braver and more creative in visioning with our people. The vision we have of our particular congregation should flow out of a clear understanding of who we are and what our purpose is.
Therefore, our task is to re-imagine and re-shape who we are as the church today in a way that is faithful to the biblical identity and historic mission of the church. A daunting task to be sure, but one that must be faced with hope and trust in the Spirit of God “who is making all things new.”
Creating and implementing a vision of this scale involves a sense urgency, clear communication, and measurable progress. More to come later on these crucial steps in the visioning process. As for now, I also need a little change. I’m going on vacation.