The Wilderness Way #17

In my Episcopal address at Annual Conference I shared a brief (and admittedly incomplete) report on my “Shepherd Visits” through the Central Texas Conference. Allow me to lift up that mirror again and invite us to look together at this beloved part of the church universal.

This conference has an enviable record of membership growth. I discovered great things happening. I also encountered some challenging changes that are impacting our communities and churches.

Learnings from Shepherd Visits

1. We are strong, very strong, in missional engagement.

2. We don’t know how to do evangelism and must relearn and engage ourselves evangelistically if we are going to survive!

3. Preservation of buildings has often taken precedence over mission. In my visitations I was struck by how often a Baptist or Assemblies of God church had relocated in order to accomplish the mission of making disciples for Christ, but how rarely United Methodists were willing to relocate. People, especially people who do not know the Lord, have to be placed over property! Mission has to triumph comfort if we are to be both faithful and fruitful.

4. In many places we have more memories than dreams!

5. Young adults are often a missing generation (especially in smaller churches).

6. We know we have to change, but are slow and timid about doing so. (I was amazed at the number of people who made comments to me on this subject. We are late adaptors who have allowed a few people to exercise veto over new ideas and outreach. Our love of comfort negates our need to deal with conflict between mission and preservation.)

7. Courageous clergy and lay leadership are essential.

National trends can be seen in the Central Texas Conference. Large churches are growing larger. Smaller churches without a real sense of mission and purpose face problematic futures. Smaller churches that have embraced a real sense of mission and purpose beyond self-preservation are thriving.

Risk-taking leadership, by both lay and clergy, makes an enormous difference. The most significant decision an administrative council or board makes is to decide whether they are going to operate as if the new year is 2010 or 1960.

Of our approximately 320 churches, by my conservative count, 116 are a generation away from either becoming a less-than-full-time appointment or closing their doors. Please don’t misunderstand me. This will be a slow process, but gradually large clusters of congregations are disappearing from being viable entities.

Some of this is internal to a church’s understanding of its mission and purpose. Some of this has to do with the changing demographics of communities. Some has to do with our failure to witness and do evangelism. God is calling us into a great new future. The Word of God from Isaiah still speaks to us this day:

“those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

By: Bishop Mike Lowry On 7/24/2009

Topics: Bishop Columns