The shifting ground under the church

Roger Nishioka, Columbia seminary professor, has been looking at trends in what he terms the "post-denominational young adult" cohort.  Leslie Scanlon in Presbyterian Outlook reports on what his research is showing.

“Pay attention to trends,” Nishioka advised the Presbyterian Communicators Network, meeting in Louisville in early August. “Fads are what toss us to and fro,” often as a way of marketing new products. “But trends are worthy of your attention.” His research, for example, has investigated why so few young adults stay with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), even if they have been baptized and confirmed in the denomination and, in many cases, were involved in their high school youth groups. 

“They’re saying they’re post-denominational,” Nishioka told the Presbyterian communicators. “That denominations really and truly do not matter.” In many ways, the religious distance among Protestant denominations is collapsing, he said. Fifty ears ago, a Presbyterian marrying a Methodist “was a big deal. Now we’re just glad they’re getting married.”

So for many young adults, the issue of denominational affiliation is insignificant. Instead, as they consider whether to become involved in a church, the question is, “Is the Holy Spirit active in this place?”

Roger notes the following trends.

From tribal education to immigrant education

"... congregations would do better off to consider new folks as immigrants — people unfamiliar with the landscape — than as people already familiar with the tribal ways ...  So if someone stands up and says, “Let’s open the Bible to this familiar story” or “Let’s sing this familiar song,” that can come across as saying, “You don’t belong. The gospel’s not for you. This is just for the tribe,” Nishioka explained. The good news is just for “people who think like us, who are at our income levels, our educational attainment levels, all of that.”

But that leaves out so many."

From mission out there to mission right here

“it is so clear that there is a weariness and a wariness among these young adults that mission is always somewhere far away, out there. … They’re wondering … ‘Do we have any impact right here where we live?’ ”

From reasoned spirituality to mystery-filled spirituality

Many young people today are drawn to a sense of mystery, awe and wonder — to an approach to spirituality that’s based on more than reason, which can make some rationally-leaning Presbyterians nervous.

From official leadership to gifted leadership

... the use of commissioned lay pastors in the PC(USA), a program that bubbled up from the grassroots. At first, some involved with the national levels of the church were skeptical.

But Nishioka thought as the proposal flew through the General Assembly: “Good grief, is it possible that the Holy Spirit is at work in this place?”

What he sees there — and what Nishioka says he sees young adults expecting — is a shift from leadership in the church based on credentials alone to leadership based on gifts among all who are willing to serve.

From long-term planning to short-term planning

In a world in which change comes so rapidly, an important question is how agile the PC(USA) can be, Nishioka said. For example, he recounted how his father, a retired pastor, once served on a presbytery planning committee that took seven years to draft a 10-year plan.

From mass evangelism to one-on-one evangelism

... congregations want to learn “how to talk to people about Jesus Christ in a way that isn’t coercive or manipulative, that isn’t oppressive, but that engages them,” Nishioka said. His friend told him: “We are besieged by these requests” for such training.

From "traditioning" to experience

“This is the most image-conscious and image-driven generation in history,” Nishioka said. “If they don’t see it, they don’t know it.”

And the author Sharon Daloz Parks, in the book Big Questions, Worthy Dreams, says “we owe young adults when they come to worship three images,” Nishioka said. “In worship, young adults should see an image of hope. They should see the image of what cannot be allowed. And they should see an image of life in Jesus Christ.”

From duty and responsibility to "What's in it for Me?"

There’s no question: this is a consumer age. “The influence of consumer culture means we’re looking for what meets our needs,” Nishioka said.

And that poses questions for religious institutions — from seminaries trying to decide what are necessary amenities to include as they build new residence halls, to congregations setting priorities for what to do next.

Recently I gave a presentation to the leadership of a large Presbyterian church where I was asked to speak about current trends that I saw happening in the church.  Reading Roger's list was helpful because I realized that I wasn't too far off his perspective. Here's what I presented.  Our perspectives are different however. He is looking at this from a generational perspective as a seminary faculty member more embedded within network of the denomination. My perspective is almost that of an outsider, consultant to churches, whose vantage point is not from the inside out. 

For this presentation, I was asked in particular to look at trends in the four areas that were most significantly affecting their congregation - Membership, Stewardship, Worship & Communication.  Here are the trends that I see. It is a shifting landscape that requires pastors, members and churches to learn to how to manage the transition that is now taking place.

Transition from 1^st Generation (20^th century) renewal/change movements to 2^nd Generation (21^st century) movements: *This is a representative list, not an exhaustive one.

1st Generation Movements 1940’s to 1990’s

Jesus Movement
Fundamentalists
Non-Fundamentalist Evangelicals
Charismatics    
Lay Renewal
Mainstream Schismatics
Neo-Orthodox   
Liberation Theology       
Social Gospel

2^nd Generation Movements 1990’s to Today

Post-modern      
Post-liberal   
Post-evangelical   
Post-charismatic
Post-Christian   
Radical Orthodoxy         
Generous Orthodoxy   
Emergent         
Missional

MEMBERSHIP Shift

From Member to Personal Call
From Institution to Community
From Consumer to Contributor

Shift to Personal Call

Faith Experience Needs To Be Personally Meaningful & Socially Fulfilling

WORSHIP Shift

Shift away from a Sermon-centric, Music-centric, Sunday-centric & Performance-centric Worship

Shift to an Ancient/Future Liturgy

Music, prayer, scripture, sermon and congregational response are integrated for an experience of God’s presence and communal unity.

Shift from Consumer to Contributor

Consumer Mindset:

Church Serves Me.

Contributor Mindset:

I serve Christ through participation and contribution.

STEWARDSHIP Shift

From a Budget Focus to a Whole Life Focus.
From Annual Campaign to Year-round Program.

COMMUNICATION Shift

From a One-Way, Formal Distribution of Information to a Two-Way, Informal Conversation as a Community.

Communication Technology

Newsletters      
Worship Bulletin          
IM: Instant Messenger
Websites
Email   
Weblog
Podcasts
Live-Streaming Video
Social Network Sites
Parking Lot

Communal Communication

Small Groups 
Conversational Planning Projects
Social Gatherings
Stories and Testimonies
Service and Outreach

Other Trends

The Role of Mission

Faith and Personal Call
From a Sending Church to a Church that is Sent

Global Christianity as the Future of the Church

Africa
1900 – 10 million Christians    10% of population
2000 - 360 million Christians   46% of population
Source – Philip Jenkins, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

Leonard Sweet - Church in 21^st century

EPIC:
Experience
Image-rich
Participatory
Connecting

It is important to understand the changes that are happening in the church. Where there is a lack of understanding, there is also resistance to change.  However, if you look through these two trends lists, you'll find that where the church is changing is in many ways validating through fresh means the values that older generations have had about the church. 

We are in the midst of the greatest shift in the church of the past 500 years. These observations are hints at what is to come. I like Roger am very hopeful and confident about the future of the church.

Note: if you have gotten this far, you may be curious about the reference to the parking lot as a communication technology.  Watch what happens in the parking lot after church. Listen to the conversations.  When communication is poorly developed in a church, the parking lot is where the real honest communication is taking place. Therefore, it is my contention that we need to bring the parking lot conversation into the church.