diocese of northern california bishop’s conference canon neal michell april 2012 theological...
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Diocese of Northern CaliforniaBishop’s Conference Canon Neal MichellApril 2012
Theological Reflection:God’s People in Exile – Jeremiah 29:1-14
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What is Unusual about this picture?
Question:
What year is it in your church?
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First, the bad news . . .
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Is this your church?
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28%
20%22%
18%
13%15%
10%
19%
26%
30%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Children & Youth Young Adults (20-34) Median Adults (35-49) Middle Age (50-64) Seniors (65+)
Age Group
USA
TEC
Age Structure of the USA and TEC: 2010
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1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
1,600,000
1,800,000
2,000,000
2,200,000
2,400,000
2,600,000
2,800,000
3,000,000
Activ
e Ba
ptize
d M
embe
rs
Episcopal Domestic Membership: 1991 – 2010
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400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1,000,000
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Episcopal Domestic Average Sunday Worship Attendance: 1991 – 2010
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Did you know . . .The median age of Episcopalians is 57; fewer and fewer young people identify
with TEC.
Average age of Non-retired Priests: 56.
Half of all Episcopalians will die in the next 18 years.
Average age of Priests at Ordination: 46
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Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
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The Challenge of a
CHANGING
DEMOGRAPHIC
TEC
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The American culture and the Episcopal Church have changed. The “old rules” don’t apply anymore. This changed environment calls for
a different perspective of being the Church.
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The Challenge:
Our WORLD is Changing
A New Image for the Church: GOD’S
PEOPLE IN EXILE
Implications for the Church
The Big Picture
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Our Surrounding Culture has Changed
The Big Shift• 1963
Post-Modern• No Center,
Anti-Hierarchy, Multiple Truths
Post-Christendom• Church no
longer has “home field advantage”
Post-denominational• Baptist
Churches with Candles; Episcopal Churches with Drums
The Challenge: Our World is CHANGING
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MODERN CHRISTENDOM DENOMINATIONAL
POST-
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Post-Modern
Postmodernism is the chaotic reaction to and rejection of Modernism.
Modernity:• belief that progress was unending
• optimism that man can solve all the world’s ills
• placed faith in ‘experts’
• confidence in structures and institutions
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Post-Modern
Postmodernism:
• ‘there’s no such thing as progress’• push all limits• no such thing as objective truth• skepticism toward institutional authority • personal experience over rational thought• Blurring of lines between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture• Virtual reality—things look real, but they aren’t
The Postmodern Trinity--Down
with: Reason Progress Hierarchy
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Post-ChristendomUnder Post–Christendom, Church no longer has “home field advantage” in culture Under Christendom:• Sunday “Blue Laws”• Prayer in Schools• Church services held in US Capitol
Under Post-Christendom (1964):• Church is not a safe place • Spirituality without Christianity• Institutionally Suspect• Clergy are Suspect• People not formed by Bible stories
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Post-Denominational
A Working Definition – Denominations lose their distinctivenessIn Denominational Heyday:• 1950 – only 6% of Church members had been in a previous denomination• Children followed their parents in Church • “The Protestant Hour”Post-Denominational Era:• The Ecumenical Movement has succeeded• Rise of Independent Churches• Children don’t necessarily follow parents
I’m an Episco-bapti-presbyteri-catho-metho-costal . . . this year
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Upshot of Living in a Post-World
Apostolic Age – Mission occurred at the door of the Church
Christendom – Mission took place Overseas
New Apostolic Age – mission takes place at the door of the Church
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Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age
• Society is both secular and pluralistic
• Church is no longer a natural gathering place for people
• Question: What are the “Natural Gathering Places today???
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THEN
• The culture and society supported the values of the Church.
• The Church was a natural gathering place.
• Clergy were treated with respect and honor.
• “Respectable people” went to church.
Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age
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NOW• The culture and society are hostile to
the Church.• The Church is a place that people
avoid.• Clergy are treated with distrust and
ridicule.• Fewer and fewer people identify with
the Church.
Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age
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The New Reality
In years past, you could manage a
church poorly and it could still grow.
Now, you can manage a church really
well and it will still decline.
THEN
NOW
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IN OTHER WORDS . . .
The NEW NORMAL is DECLINE. If we continue to
live as a church as we have always lived, we will
continue to
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Under Christendom, we as a Church functioned pretty well. We knew the ground rules, and we played by them.
In a post-Christendom world, we have shown that we:
• Don’t know the ground rules
• We don’t know how to play by them, and
• We are stuck in a world that doesn’t make sense to us.
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Our world is playing Chess . . .
AND WE ARE
PLAYING CHECKERS
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The People of God in Exile . . .
— Jeremiah 29:1-14
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1 These are the words of the letter that
Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem
to the surviving elders of the exiles. It
said . . . 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have
sent into exile from Jerusalem to
Babylon . . . . 7But seek the welfare of the
city where I have sent you into exile, and
pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its
welfare you will find your welfare.
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1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
–Psalm 122
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1 By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
– Psalm 133
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“Resident Aliens” – Hauerwas and Willimon
Clement of Rome to the Corinthians:
“The church of God, living in exile in Rome, to the church of God, exiled in Corinth.” (AD 75-80)
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Seek the Welfare of the City
• We seek to bless people as we engage in life where we are.
• We form our people to be the Church instead of merely going to church.
• Church as a noun to church as a verb.
• The Church as being a blessing among people rather than simply a building on a corner.
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Seek the Welfare of the City
May we seek the welfare of the city
where God has sent us into exile,
and let us pray to the Lord on its
behalf, for in its welfare we will find
our welfare. –Jeremiah 29:7