Really interesting! I am about to be ordained as deacon in the Church in Wales in South Wales, where the recent census puts the area as below than 50% Christian, the most secular place in the UK.
I think this led former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (an honorary bishop for the Diocese of Llandaff) to reflect on the nature of Church in his Chrism Mass sermon this year. He made some similar comments!
I think the challenge is being missionaries (and making congregations into missionaries) is doing so as a summons of the Gospel rather than primarily to buttress dying institutions.
This is absolutely right, and if that wasn't clear from my piece, mea culpa! Let the Episcopal Church die, but only let the Church of Christ grow anew in North America!
Really good post. Have you come across "Rewilding the church" by Steve Aisthorpe? He is creative at thinking what this might look like in an established institutional mainline setting (he is writing out of his experiences in the Church of Scotland)
Regarding the view that "this collapse ... might not be such a bad thing", I think it's worth pointing out that rather than people believing in something else life-giving and fulfilling, more and more people seem to be hopeless and drifting (e.g. "deaths of despair"). Even on its own terms, the idea that "actually, people are finding their own meaning and that's OK" seems not to be true (or perhaps, it just isn't working out all that well for people).
I think that's a good point, yes. Even in purely this-worldly terms, despite levels of affluence unprecedented throughout human history people...are not all right.
Dear Ben, thank you for this essay. I too having been thinking along these lines for some time. Baptized, formed, and educated in mI the Reformed tradition (Hope College ‘70) , I came to the Episcopal Church as an undergraduate student and confirmed on 03/17/1968. Following Following a decade of graduate study in music and library science, I spent 37 years as Fine Arts Librarian and Professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, retiring in 2017. In 2922 I completed the M.Div. At the School of Theology, Sewanee and am anticipating ordination to the transitional diaconate through the Diocese of Fond du Lac, WI next month (age 76), although I currently reside In Champaign-Urbana, IL (Diocese of Springfield) - a long story. In my current parish, even though we spend a lot of energy and $$ on electronic outreach, yet to many of us, the Sunday in-person attendance seems to slowly slide downward. Ours is not a country club parish, rather a predominantly academic one. Evangelism in traditional garb, while not dirty word, makes most folks feel a bit squeamish (including myself) although I preached on our evangelical mandate this past Sunday. Your piece touches a very sensitive cord in my soul, brother. I suspect it won’t happen, but I would ever so much enjoy faire ton reconnaissance face à face quelque fois. Sincere regards, Robert Carlton Delvin
Really interesting! I am about to be ordained as deacon in the Church in Wales in South Wales, where the recent census puts the area as below than 50% Christian, the most secular place in the UK.
I think this led former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (an honorary bishop for the Diocese of Llandaff) to reflect on the nature of Church in his Chrism Mass sermon this year. He made some similar comments!
I think the challenge is being missionaries (and making congregations into missionaries) is doing so as a summons of the Gospel rather than primarily to buttress dying institutions.
This is absolutely right, and if that wasn't clear from my piece, mea culpa! Let the Episcopal Church die, but only let the Church of Christ grow anew in North America!
I had no doubt what you meant! I was thinking more “on the ground” in our congregations. Perhaps the motives will be mixed
Really good post. Have you come across "Rewilding the church" by Steve Aisthorpe? He is creative at thinking what this might look like in an established institutional mainline setting (he is writing out of his experiences in the Church of Scotland)
Ooh, I haven't, but this sounds right up my alley. Thank you -- I will check it out!
Regarding the view that "this collapse ... might not be such a bad thing", I think it's worth pointing out that rather than people believing in something else life-giving and fulfilling, more and more people seem to be hopeless and drifting (e.g. "deaths of despair"). Even on its own terms, the idea that "actually, people are finding their own meaning and that's OK" seems not to be true (or perhaps, it just isn't working out all that well for people).
I think that's a good point, yes. Even in purely this-worldly terms, despite levels of affluence unprecedented throughout human history people...are not all right.
Good stuff, Ben, and I’m glad you used the word “missionary” and not “missional.”
I wrote in a similar vein this week too on a new pub: https://truthscript.com/culture/is-reconquista-a-good-strategy-for-the-mainline-churches/
Thank you so much!!
Dear Ben, thank you for this essay. I too having been thinking along these lines for some time. Baptized, formed, and educated in mI the Reformed tradition (Hope College ‘70) , I came to the Episcopal Church as an undergraduate student and confirmed on 03/17/1968. Following Following a decade of graduate study in music and library science, I spent 37 years as Fine Arts Librarian and Professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, retiring in 2017. In 2922 I completed the M.Div. At the School of Theology, Sewanee and am anticipating ordination to the transitional diaconate through the Diocese of Fond du Lac, WI next month (age 76), although I currently reside In Champaign-Urbana, IL (Diocese of Springfield) - a long story. In my current parish, even though we spend a lot of energy and $$ on electronic outreach, yet to many of us, the Sunday in-person attendance seems to slowly slide downward. Ours is not a country club parish, rather a predominantly academic one. Evangelism in traditional garb, while not dirty word, makes most folks feel a bit squeamish (including myself) although I preached on our evangelical mandate this past Sunday. Your piece touches a very sensitive cord in my soul, brother. I suspect it won’t happen, but I would ever so much enjoy faire ton reconnaissance face à face quelque fois. Sincere regards, Robert Carlton Delvin