Why I have hope

Optimism for me is not a luxury I can afford. I'm a realist.

I also feel that cynicism is also a luxury I can't afford. Both optimism and cynicism lead toward a detatchment from reality. If ever in the history of the church, we need to be realists, now is the time.

I preface this post with those words because I want you to know why I have hope in the future of the Presbyterian Church USA. My hopefulness is not an optimistic hope against hope. And it is also not a form of self-deception. Rather my hope is based on what I see taking place in the church. Here are three examples. 

1. Church for a New Generation  - Presbyterians Today, December 2011 cover story,  "Spirit-filled Worship," "Authentic Community," and, "Meaningful Service.

This isn't just some fringe movement. This is the future that is happening right now.

As I read this, it reminded me of what I've been observing in organizations, including churches, for about a decade. People, regardless of their spiritual orientation, have been telling me in widely diverse ways that they want three things for their life. They want it to be Personally Meaningful, Socially Fulfilling and To Make a Difference That Matters.

In practice, this means that people want a purpose, to have a mission and let a set of values define what is meaningful in their lives. The difference between this in the past is that these ideas are not just symbolic totems for appearances sake. Instead, these are the guiding principles for how their lives are to be lived.  These ideas help to create social environments where healthy relationships can result. And with these people who share a common mission and values that can do things that create an impact that fulfills their calling.

This perspective gives me hope because each of these goals create positive, constructive change wherever they are practiced. This is what I see in this article from Presbyterians Today.

2. 1001 Worshipping Communities in Ten Years.

This initiative is a grand vision for the future. Here's a pamphlet that describes ten of these churches.

What gives me hope is the boundaryless nature of speaking of faith communities. A community is a network of people in relationship to one another. Where I live near Asheville, their are prominent mainstream churches downtown. And more hidden because of their lack of church facilities are new worship communities of various traditions. One meets in a converted retail space. Another in the theater in the basement of an office building, another at the YMCA, having moved from a local music hall.

The moment I heard about this initiative, it gave me hope for the church. To create this number of worshipping communities requires us to recognize that many of them will be parallel structures that will not be like congregations that have been the dominant form of church over the past several hundred years. The world is changing, and as many institutional forms decline, new alternative structures emerge to carry on the mission and values of those legacy organizations.

3. North Carolina Presbyterian Higher Education Ministries.

NCPHEM is an organization formed by the five presbyteries in North Carolina in 2004 to distribute funds returned to the presbyteries by the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic. In January, 2011, the board embarked on an awareness / fund raising campaign to support and serve the campus ministries and chaplaincies in North Carolina. I was hired to staff the effort.

A year into our campaign, my hope for the future of our church has grown beyond my expectations. I'm overwhelminginly impressed with the quality of ministers serving the young people on our campuses. I'm even more impressed by what I see happen with students. Here are the worshipping communities of the future. You see and learn about some of them in the Presbyterians Today article linked above. And while, I don't think we needed any validation as to validity of our campaign, it was a tremendous boost in confidence when The Morgan Foundation of Laurel Hill, N.C. made a challenge endowment gift of $500,000 to the support of Presbyterian Higher Education Ministry in North Carolina. We are grateful for the leadership of Jim Morgan, his family and the board of the foundation for their vision of the church in the future.

For a long time, campus ministry has been the forgotten mission of the church. It isn't romantic like going overseas. It isn't visible like the youth ministries in our churches. Yet, it is the link, the linchpin to the future of the church. It is how these 1001 worship communities will be realized. It is how young adults will remain in the life of the church in the future.  I believe this is so because the students in our campus ministries are learning how to create authentic community in a worshipping, missional context.

These ministries deserve our support, just as do the work of 1001 worshipping communities does, and the new church developments in presbyteries throughout the church. Do these ministries need us? Yes. They need our financial support. In addition, they need our mutual partnership as followers of Christ. We, the people in local churches across the nation, need them because the forms of worship and community of the future are being created today through them.

I have hope because as a connectional body, we are at the very beginning of discovering a boundaryless church that is open to many new forms of being a worshipping community. I encourage you to support the 1001 effort. It is an important step for our church.

As we tell people here in North Carolina, there are three things you can do for us. May I suggest that these apply wherever you are.

  

* Graduating HS Students with Campus Ministries and College & University Chaplaincies in NC and across the US
* With Youth Pastors, Young Adult Ministers, Campus Ministers, Mission & Outreach and Campus Ministry Committees
* With Potential Contributors

 

 

 

* Conduct Special Presbyterian Higher Education Ministry Sunday
* Include campus ministry updates in your church newsletters
* Link to Campus Ministry links on your congregation’s website 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* By Including campus ministries in your church’s budget
* By having a special offering to support Presbyterian campus ministries one Sunday each year.
* Helping us identify potential contributors to help us support, sustain and initiate ministries across the state.

 

 

May you find hope in Christ's life expressed in new ways. May you find a place to connect, your story to tell, and a way to contribute that makes a difference that matters. The next generation of the church is here already. It is a good day for hope.