Category Archives: church

Part 4: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural

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Have you noticed a decline in evangelism in your local church?

In most rural communities, the visible church is more stable and will likely remain (although many historic mainline churches are closing).  Naturally, change in rural communities do not happen as frequently; therefore, people will have the opportunity to integrate their spirituality and their religious life when they feel a need to do so (e.g., some may even decide to enter a church after a long absence after Baptism, Confirmation, wedding/funeral, or the odd Christmas worship service).

However, in the urban communities where the visible Church is less likely to be a permanent fixture.  Fast-paced change is common place (due to construction and new developments).  If an established or historic local church were to disappear from a major intersection in “City X”, the religious loss might not be very apparent; however, the spiritual void will eventually be felt by people whether we know it or not.

What does this mean for the visible Church in urban settings today?  The visible church triumphant must continue to remain and become a more visible part in our urban communities.

Are we, the Church, trying and working hard enough to make the visible Church more visible in our urban settings?  Hardly.

Tragically, many congregations of the historic mainline denominations are shrinking and disappearing from the religious landscape.  This will continue for the foreseeable future because they are failing to  help people make the connection between people’s spiritual lives with their real everyday lives.  There is a currently a huge void and lack of vision for evangelism in reaching out to people with Jesus’ Gospel message.

This means that our contemporary evangelical churches must continue to take responsibility and carry the load for evangelism and mission in urban communities.  Thankfully, many churches have not forgotten or lost their passion and vision for evangelism and outreach.  As Christ’s visible Church triumphant in North American society, we must remember and carry out Jesus’ Great Commission from Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”.

Is your local church doing taking responsibility in carrying out Jesus’ Great Commission from Matthew 28?

[ see previous post: Part 3: Religious and spiritual landscapes -- urban vs rural ]

Part 3: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural

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Is there still a need in people’s lives to express their spirituality in some way, shape or form–and within community?  Our  western culture seems to have taken individuality to the extreme where religious community life has been secularized and devalued to the sidelines of life, and even ignored.  Participation in religious community life has now become totally voluntary… but maybe this is good.  It separates true and genuine Christian believers/seekers who voluntarily commit to their beliefs from those who follow Christianity due to involuntary happenstance or family heritage.  As religious community life becomes more marginalized, what distinguishes the visible church from the invisible church will be pared down.  The expression of true spirituality and religious life will become more apparent to secular eyes.

Morever, and more to my point, is that, people who voluntarily desire to become a part of an organized religious/faith community (a church) are not as prone to sliding into spiritual oblivion. Here’s a few cases I witnessed the past month that explains our human need to be in Christian community:

The other day, a stranger walked into our church during our prayer meeting.  he didn’t know us, and we didn’t know him from Adam.  I admired his courage to enter our church.  I suspect the reason why he came might have been motivated by his desire to express his thanks to God for getting him a new job, after having been unemployed for the last four months.  In our prayers together, I felt that our small prayer group was successful in helping him express his thankfulness to God for giving him a job.  I ended up giving him a bible to take home, and we all welcomed him to come again to join us for Sunday worship and Wednesday night prayer meetings (may the Holy Spirit continue working in his life).  Also another fellow had walked into our prayer meeting a month ago. I don’t know what motivated him to come but I sensed he had a need to come.  He wasn’t a complete stranger to the church because he says he knew someone from a while back.

All of us need to have  an outlet for spiritual expression.  Without it, we will ultimately become disconnected from true spirituality.  If the opportunity for one to access  such expressions are denied them, will their spirituality become lifeless and formless? 

[ next post expresses what we need to do about this disconnect. See previous post Part 2. ]

Part 2: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural

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Have we, as a society, kept our spirituality hidden away too much from the eyes of others for the sake of being tolerant? 

In my move from rural to urban, I have also noticed a big difference in how people approach spirituality (as opposed to religion).   Spirituality in the urban setting (especially on the part of the postmodern generation), is much more individualized, where one person’s spirituality might not  be the same as another’s approach.  This is fine, but when one’s spiritual life is totally disconnected from the religious community life and privatized, there is a hidden danger.  When a person’s sense of spirituality goes dry and empty without some kind of organized religion to support and back them up, their spiritual lives can slide into oblivion.   They may lose their entire sense of spirituality and never know how far they’ve gone because no one is there to keep them accountable.

Has the expression of individual spirituality become too privatized?

[ next post expresses our lack or need of spiritual expression in society. ]

Part 1: Religious and spiritual landscapes — urban vs rural

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This will be the first post in a four part series.  I want to bring up and provoke some thoughts about differences in people’s attitudes toward religion and spirituality in both rural and urban settings. The Church is at a critical moment in the 21st century. Either we work to survive and thrive, or we curl up and die in a corner.  What has Christ called us to?

Have you noticed a difference in people’s attitudes toward religious and spiritual expression between rural and urban communities?

Having moved from a small community to a large one, I have noticed very big differences in the religious and spiritual landscapes between urban and rural settings.

In the rural setting, religion is still part of people’s normal everyday lives.  Whether or not they participate in organized religion, the established Christian church is there and is accepted as an integral part of the community.  It is funny how even non-church goers understand and accept the Christian church as  part of being people’s normal everyday life.  If the church were to collapse or close  in a rural community, there would be a marked void in their life because they will feel that something is missing.  I think this is due to how the church has remained somewhat integrated into the life of small communities.

In the urban setting, religion is hardly and rarely a part of people’s everyday lifestyle.  If a church is not sitting there in front of their face, it can very easily go unnoticed and be forgotten.  Furthermore, the impact of the Christian church is minimal and hardly felt in the midst of the busy and changing marketplace.  If an urban church were to suddenly disappear due to deconstruction to make room for a new condo and business developments, most people won’t even notice.  They will have forgotten that a church had even existed on intersection of Main Street and Central Avenue.

How is your local church integrated into your community (rural or urban)? Would there be an impact in your immediate community if your local congregation were to burn down or suddenly disappear?

[ next post touches on society’s approach to finding a connection with their spiritual lives. ]

Christian churches attacked by Muslim extremists

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Sometimes I wonder if political liberation is always a good thing—at least for Christians around the world.  Egypt’s Coptic Christians and churches have been under attack again since yesterday.  Muslim extremists just burned down a church and has sparked new protests. (read New York Times and Catholic Online)

Since President Hosni Mubarak was kicked out, these Egyptian extremists are beginning to think they have free reign to persecute Christians.  Same thing happened to Iraqi Christians after Saddam Hussein was on the run.  It may be a political game of choose the leader who will hinder your personal interest the least—not necessarily choose who you think would make the best leader for the nation.

What’s a Lutheran? Let a traditional Lutheran explain it

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If you’re an Evangelical, have you ever wondered how a traditional-orthodox Lutheran might feel about him or herself?  Or how a traditional Lutheran pastor might feel about Evangelicals?

I just came across an interview posted at The Gospel Coalition blog titled “Those Dern Lutherans“.  Blogger and Reformed pastor, Rev. Kevin DeYoung (RCA), interviewed Rev. Paul T. McCain, an orthodox Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor (LCMS) who is the editor at Concordia Publishing House, and who blogs at Cyberbrethren.  Let me say that he sure can tell you what Lutheranism is about. I have been a reader of his blog for years.    I’m not a traditional born-and-bred Lutheran; I’m an evangelical transplanted into the Lutheran church–so I provide this disclaimer–”What I say about Lutheranism is not necessarily representative of most Lutherans”. In this interview, Pastor Paul says it well.

Question 9. “Anything else you think the world needs to know about Lutherans?”

Answer: “I would say this: I think Evangelicals often find themselves searching for something they feel might be a bit “missing” in their Christian walk, and think that Rome or Eastern Orthodoxy may fit the bill, while all the while Lutheranism is there, right around the corner. Often when they find a traditional Lutheran Church they are surprised to find a robust, rich worship life, rooted in the Scripture (which is what the liturgy is, in its entirety). They find a rich focus on Christ and the Gospel–Lutherans are adamant that Christ is the heart and center of everything, and they also find a tangible experience with God, not based simply on feelings or emotions, but on a concrete and objective experience with God’s grace through the sacraments. And all this is wrapped up in such a vibrant passionate love for Jesus. We Lutherans combine the best of what is Evangelical, with the best of what is truly catholic about the Church, with the rich heritage of the Lutheran Reformation. I think it is a winning combination, but of course, I’m kind of biased.” (…Read full interview)

I think he’s right in what he says about some Evangelicals–whether we admit it or not.  Evangelical theology has much to learn from Lutheran theology, albeit, the opposite is true too.  The same goes for worship-liturgy too.  If you’re Lutherans, sorry but the vice versa is true too.

When all is said and done, I can honestly say that every denomination, church, or tradition, e.g., Lutheran, Presbyterian, Evangelical, etc., we have much to learn from one another.

The Mushy Middle series: on church life

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… a series of posts on politics, church life, culture, theology-discipleship, and ministry

It seems that it’s not only the mushy middle in politics that is being pushed out, but also the mushy middle in church life.  Take a look at the life of the established (or rather, de-establishing) mainline churches.  The United Church and Anglican Church have been the fastest dying churches in Canada for years. The Lutheran Church is also headed in a similar direction today.  The United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA), amongst others, are also quickly emptying out in America (see 2011 Yearbook).  Today, there is a feeling of desperation—a desperation to find a last gasp of air before easing into oblivion [maybe this is an exaggeration, but it's only to make a point].

Soren Kierkegard, a Lutheran religious philosopher, railed on the wishy-washiness of the spiritual state of cultural Christians and state-run Lutheran church in the 18th century (Attack upon Christendom).  Today’s state of Christendom in the northern hemisphere is in a similar state—a state of death and dying.  The numbers of young people attending historic mainline, and some mainline evangelical churches, are decreasing each year (Hat Tip: Rev. Tim Keller).  The mushy middle within church life today is too comfortable.  There is no need to have a clear conviction in one’s personal religious beliefs or any need to live as devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Many pastors are no longer preaching Law and Gospel. Their faith does not really mean very much to them, and lacks any sense of urgency or intent.  If you’ll allow me, I wonder what would happen if our churches were to burn down?  Would it upset many Christians who are in the mushy middle?  I suspect that it might not affect many in “Christendom”  This explains today’s closures of our mainline congregations.

As a result, generations of children of unchurched families rarely ever darken church doors (except for the occasional wedding, funeral, confirmation, and infant baptism).  Spirituality in their eyes is privatized and is not lived out in fellowship/communion with other Christian believers.  Today, as a result of generations living the mushy middle life of “church-ianity”, people have either become atheists/agnostic, or living like as if they were one.  This is why there is an increasing number of people who are declaring themselves as ‘non-religious’, ‘agnostic’, or ‘atheist’.  The alternative, which is increasingly more popular today, is that they are rejecting the wishy-washy ways of their parent’s past life, and are seeking to live a more devoted Christian life, and are attending church more often and regularly. This explains the growth of evangelical churches.

Here’s my point.  The mushy middle in church life seems to be in the process of being weeded out.  People who do want a new way of living in spiritual/faith community will find it.  They want to be a part of a spiritual Christian community in which they are challenged to live as devoted disciples, othewise, they may choose to have no part of the church at all. Wishy-washiness should no longer be tolerated.  It’s time to say bye bye to the mushy middle attitude.

Role the church council-board chair

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Church councils sometimes flounder because leadership are not sure of their purpose, roles, and responsibilities. Here is a great 15 minute video that teaches the role and purpose of church council-board and its council-board chairs. This is put out by the Virginia UM Conference of the United Methodist Church but can be translated for any denomination.

The Role of the Church Council Chair from Vaum Communications on Vimeo.

The state of the church in Canada

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There’s a journal article just published on church attendance in Canada.  News but not news.

“Changing Patterns of Attendance at Religious Services in Canada, 1986–2008″.  Author: David E. Eagle, Department of Sociology, Duke University.

Abstract: According to the General Social Survey, the combined rate of weekly and monthly attendance at religious services in Canada has declined by about 20 points from 1986 to 2008. Approximately half of this decline stems from the increase in the proportion of people reporting no religion, who, for the most part, do not attend religious services. The other portion of this decline is attributable to eroding attendance rates among Catholics, particularly older Catholics, and Protestants in Quebec. Attendance rates for Protestants outside of Qu´ebec show signs of increase.  Journal Article here…

Quebec has gone secular and I don’t see much hope there unless there is a spiritual revival.  This study doesn’t separate mainline Protestantism from evangelical Protestantism but I highly suspect that the rise in evangelicalism has balanced out the decline in mainline Protestantism.

Christians in China’s house churches still being persecuted

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For people who think that the Communist government in modern China is no longer persecuting Christians who worship in house churches, here is very recent news.  Though China (PRC) seems to be modernizing, their human rights and freedom of religion is still far behind.

By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 2 hour 51 minutes ago

BEIJING, China – Beijing police on Sunday detained at least a dozen worshippers from a Christian house church who were trying to hold services in a public space after they were evicted from their usual place of worship.

Leaders of the unregistered Shouwang house church had told parishioners to gather at an open-air venue in Beijing for Sunday morning services, but police, apparently alerted to their plans, taped off the area and took away people who showed up to take part.

About a dozen people were escorted by police onto an empty city bus and driven away.

Christians in China are required to worship in state-run churches, but house churches are becoming increasingly popular, despite being technically illegal and subject to police harassment.

Shouwang had been holding services in a Beijing restaurant until last week, when they were evicted from that venue.

One parishioner who evaded police told The Associated Press that no one made it to the open-air mezzanine where services were to take place. The man would give only his English name, Kane, for fear of police reprisals. …Source here

Can small churches be strategically small?

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Is your church too big?  Maybe think about downsizing.

What?!  Why would you want to get smaller when churches are thinking of ways of how to grow?  Author Brandon J. O’Brien in his new book, The Strategically Small Church (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2010) thinks that small churches have advantages that large churches do not have.  They are more intimate, nimble, more conducive to being authentic, and more effective.

O’Brien likes the idea of being lean and nimble and this is one natural trait of a small church.  Small churches do not think like large churches, which is a natural advantage because when churches become large, people have a tendency to take on a consumer mentality and think of the church as a service provider.  I totally agree because I have also felt this way when I was church-hopping larger churches as a younger person.

Being “authentic” is important for this post-modern youth generation who are trapped in a throw-away, temporary, and materialistic world.  The author says: “Many young worshipers are turned off by over-produced worship music and a speaker who is too polished” (66).  I agree; but why do many large successful churches have polished worship music and speakers? I guess that’s why may be large and filled with people, but some might also be lacking young people in their teens and 20s. There is a falling away of the young generation in many churches. There’s nothing wrong with large churches, as long as “its authenticity shines through its professionalism.”  Along these same lines, O’Brien advises readers to not confuse relevance with trendiness.  “True relevance is being sensitive to the culture or subculture” in which we do our incarnational ministry in our specific location.

I especially like this wisdom on recognizing the benefits of small congregations:
“When a pastor fails to recognize the benefits of the small congregation and insists on running it like a large ministry, he will ultimately undermine and obscure the church’s strengths. Rather than creating a mega ministry, a think-big strategy can destroy the church’s spirit” (73).  He says to “Just be yourself.”  Furthermore, being authentic is not a strategy because once it becomes a strategy, one becomes inauthentic.

The two congregations where I minister are small and so I have personally found this book very helpful and encouraging for me in my own context.  I am sure other pastors of small congregations who might feel limited by small congregations will also be encouraged by his positive outlook on small churches. The author, Brandon J. O’Brien, is editor-at-large of Leadership Journal and is a contributor to the Out of Ur blog.  I’m sure he has gained much insight from the challenges faced by the various pastors who have articles submitted for the Leadership Journal (e.g., Alan Hirsch, Dave Gibbons, Willow Creek). However, O’Brien is not just an editor, but many of his points are qualified because they are insights he has gained from his experience as a pastor.  This is a good book for you if you minister in a small church, or also in a big church, but want to do ministry like a small church.

And thanks to the fine folks at Bethany House for sending me this book to review.  Book available at:  Amazon and CBD.

Why I don’t want to be a “cool” Christian

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These days, many evangelical churches are noticing a lower attendance of young people.  Young people are not returning to church after they leave home–either for college or to live independently.  Why is this?  Wall Street Journal has an article written by a twenty-something author Brett McCracken, author of Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide (Baker, 2010).  McCracken says:

As a 27-year-old evangelical myself, I understand the concern. My peers, many of whom grew up in the church, are losing interest in the Christian establishment. Recent statistics have shown an increasing exodus of young people from churches, especially after they leave home and live on their own. In a 2007 study, Lifeway Research determined that 70% of young Protestant adults between 18-22 stop attending church regularly. Statistics like these have created something of a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn’t megachurches work to attract youth in the long term?) and scramble to figure out a plan to keep young members engaged in the life of the church.  Read entire article

He makes a very good point here.  Pastors, especially the young hip ones on the internet, look all slick and cool, but are their churches keeping our young people or losing them after they see through the slick and glitz?  What do young people want? Do they want authenticity or the slick glitzy cool “Christianity”?

It seems to be that evangelical churches are going down the same pathway that mainline churches have gone in the past, that is, trying to be relevant at the expense of failing to preach/teach the core of the gospel.  Is this “coolness” a factor in the church’s decline of young people?

Our churches are so good at teaching a human-centered theology but struggle with putting Christ in the center of our teaching and preaching.  We like talking about self-improvement, but we don’t like to talk about what’s wrong with us and how we need Christ. If evangelical churches continue walking down the same dangerous road, evangelical churches will eventually turn into dying churches within 10-20 years. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen. Just give me the pure gospel straight-up please.

Leaving church #7: Let’s be the missional church in the world!

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This is the final post in the series on Leaving Church. Related posts in this series: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7

Why the missional church conversation? It seems to be a conversation that mostly involves the North American church rather than the universal church around the world.  I think the reason why this whole conversation has emerged within the last decade is because we have finally begun to notice that the North American church is no longer really working for many of the younger generations.  They are no longer seen in our churches. People have been leaving the church. Thus, the need for this conversation is a symptom of a bigger problem–and the problem is clear.  We have not been the evangelizing church that we have been called to be.   Furthermore, as a result, attendance in many churches, or at least our traditional and mainline churches, have been rapidly declining, even though our population has grown. We are now getting desperate.

The purpose in the missional church conversation is to discover a new ecclesiology for mission. In the old paradigm of mission, mission used to revolve around the institutional church, which is an ecclesioentric model.  The newer paradigm of mission revolves around God’s mission, missio Dei, and must now be theocentric.  In my readings, I’ve learned that this shift away from an ecclesiocentric to a theocentric model of mission has signalled a big change in the way we think about doing God’s mission in the world.  This is a reflection of a much bigger change in society.  Our North American society no longer values the institutional church like it once did.  It is no longer the central point in our cities, towns and villages and has not been for a long time.  In fact, churches have moved off the grid of significant institutions.  Therefore, our expressions of spirituality have also moved off the grid and have been made more personal and private.  Therefore, the way we do ministry and outreach should be from the world rather than from the church.

Who needs to be in this conversation? We already know that a huge shift has already happened and most progressive evangelical churches, e.g., seeker-sensitive, megachurches, have already began realigning themselves to a new paradigm.  However, many of our traditional-mainline churches have not yet seen the light and we are still debating whether Christians should be doing evangelism.  We are still operating under the old paradigm of an inward-looking ecclesiocentric model of church.

Let’s be missional! We can no longer afford to wait for the world to come to the church.  It just won’t happen.  It is we, the church, that must be the salt and light of the world; and we must go into the world rather than wait for the world to come to the church. The funny things is that our language and grammar still revolves around people going to, coming into, a place called church. We must think of ourselves as people going out into the world to do God’s work in the power of the Holy Spirit. The institutional church does not initiate or generate the work of God.  It is God’s Holy Spirit who operates in the lives of people and Christ’s followers to do God’s work in the world.

Leaving Church #5: Non-transparent use of money

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In some churches, pastors seem to constantly talk about money.  Sometimes, we pastors can over-spiritualize tithing.  We don’t want to talk about giving money to the church so we prefer talking about giving to God, and to the work of God’s kingdom.  Personally, I think I’d be embarrassed if I had to publicly announce that their tithes were partly going to pay for my pastor’s salary.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not even talking about unfaithful stewardship or misuse of church funds. I do believe in tithing. As a family, we do try to tithe as best we can.  I believe 100% in doing the work of God’s kingdom and fulfilling God’s mission on earth to the best of our abilities.

In the past, I have personally become dissatisfied about how some churches continually talk about the importance of tithing–and it conveniently happens just prior to offering time.  They continually stress the idea of bringing up to God’s storehouse (from Malachi), and that the bible shows  how tithes and offerings have a direct correlation to God’s blessings on your life.  I would assert that there’s an indirect correlation.  Anyways , the time some spend talking about this just prior to offering time is almost the same length of a full-length sermon of some churches.  When does our over-spiritualizing of tithing reach the point of spiritual abuse? When doubts arise, some will begin asking questions:

Is the money really being used for the work of God’s mission in God’s kingdom?  Or is a part of it being used to build their own kingdom, or used for their own personal benefit?  Where is my hard-earned money really going to?

I ask this question because I have wondered about this myself.  If people don’t have answers when doubt and questions arise (and they will), they will feel disillusioned, and eventually leave. Why not?  I did.  Why is it that some churches expect their people to give while assuming they are also gullible? Are we parishioners that gullible?