Ted Campbell, in his presentation last month at Bishop's Convocation, quoted some who describe the UMC (and others as well) as being a "sideline" church rather than a mainline church. That got my attention. There are many reasons why that may be true. The fastest growing churches today are not the old "mainline" (UMC, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc.) churches but in those churches broadly characterized as "non-denominational." Why are they successful? For many reasons, and those reasons fill the pages of many, many books.
Today, society and culture fast are passing sideline (I'll use that word) churches by. Too often these churches are caught in the trap of "doing church" in old and out-moded ways. Rather than experience what is new and different, the church may keep to its set patterns, i.e., the "way we've always done it." No wonder young people are not flocking to our churches! Instead, if they do get connected to a worshiping community, it probably will be in a non-denominational setting. While we may look down at these churches, and disparage what they are doing, the truth is, they are growing much faster than are our churches in the UMC.
Why is that so? At times it's because we expect the unchurched and the de-churched (those who grew up in churches but left once they were on their own) to worship and participate in the patterns and customs which are important to us. We expect they'll see church in the same way we do. That's not going to happen. The church that has brought such comfort to us fast is becoming an anachronism, and moving toward irrelevancy. Now, I'm sure that statement made many of you bristle. It did me when I was first confronted with it. But, I believe it's true.
Who's at fault for this? All of us, lay and clergy alike. I'll admit that I'm what a friend in another church I served called a "smells and bells" guy. That is, I like "traditional" worship, heavy on liturgy, whatever that means. Yet, I recognize that if we continue in these patterns, we're riding a decaying and dying horse. Young people aren't coming to our churches, and that's a fact experienced around not only the UMC, but the church at large. We want them in, but we want them to worship and participate the way we do.
I'm becoming more and more a consumer of social media. I grew up reading the newspaper, but less and less do I do that. I want the news quick, so I go online, or watch TV. Recently I saw some statistics (and I can't recall where I saw them or the stats themselves) that said young people today (and to use marketing and advertising demographics would be in the 18-40 age groups) do not use traditional media. Instead they're on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. They get their news in non-traditional ways. They live in a world of instant communication and instant gratification. In short, they will not respond in ways we think they should.
The truth is, they see us as old-fashioned and behind the times. When I look around the floor of Annual Conference, what I see is heartening: young clergy and young lay leaders. When they take over the church - and it's happening faster than we may think or even like, it will not be, to borrow an old advertising expression, "your father's Oldsmobile" any more.
Do we want young people in our churches? Of course, we say, but it goes much deeper than that. Are we willing to allow them to take over the leadership of our churches? Are we willing to allow them to change the style of worship to which we've grown accustomed? Are we willing to go in directions that may not be comfortable for us? These are the questions we must ask ourselves today. Otherwise, the young will go to the churches where this is happening. It may be difficult for us, but it is the future of Christ's church on earth. Our choice? Get on board, or get out of the way! See you on the journey.
Grace and peace,
Mike
March 15, 2015