Church is Irrelevant – A Church for Tomorrow?: Part 1

Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 11-05-2009

Category : Church, Religion

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A couple of weeks ago I introduced the idea that a decline in numbers in the majority of western churches was not only a result of a lack of new recruits or even because of a disappearance of the younger generations but increasingly because everyday, average Christians are staying away.

This is the first part in my promised “A Church for tomorrow?” series. I am going to look at the idea that the Churches relevance has somehow impacted the the membership and commitment of everyday Christians to a local congregation. 

This is a common reason given by Christians  for not being an active member of a local congregation. Before we even attempt to look at it’s validity I think we need to first ask a couple of questions and try and put down some definitions.

  1. What do we mean by Church?
  2. What do we mean by irrelevant?

Church

The Biblical idea of Church is the collection of people that act as Christs physical body on earth. I think we would be hard pressed to find any Christian that would suggest that is an irrelevant idea. The world today, maybe more now than ever, requires a physical outworking of the grace and love of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, cannot be what people mean when using this reason for non-committal to a local Church.

So what is the alternative?

I think this must be the weekly gathering of people that, generally speaking, happens on a Sunday morning.

Irrelevant

So a dictionary definition is; “Unrelated to the matter being considered”.

Where church is concerned; “the matter being considered” can only be one of three things (or more probably a combination of them).

  1. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
  2. The world “out there”
  3. Me

Using our Biblical idea of church, I don’t see how being Christ’s physical body on Earth is unrelated to any of the above.

How about the weekly gathering being unrelated?

I would suggest that a weekly gathering of believers is indeed related to God. I would find it difficult to argue against this.

Whether or not it’s related to the “world out there” is possibly contentious. Different models of Church will have a slightly different emphasis. Some will strive to be welcoming to “outsiders” while others will strive to equip their members to be ready for their interactions during the rest of the week. In reality I’d imagine most are somewhere between these two extremes.  So, with that said, I would suggest that Church, is indeed related  to “the world out there”.

So what about me? Is the Church related to me? I think that here lay the crux of the issue. Is the Church doing what I want, in the way I would want it to happen, when I would want it to happen?

I fear that, while all individual Churches will have varying degrees of success in it’s relation to the first two points it will never be exactly what I would want it to be.

Challenge

Is the Church irrelavant? I would suggest no. I would even suggest that it is possible more relevant now than it has ever been. However, as a western Christian it is becoming increasingly challenging to commit to a local body of Christians.

Apart from finding it difficult to commit to anything at all we are increasingly mobile.  Almost approaching nomadic in movements from place to place and therefore not having any great ties to a particular location. 

We are persistently encouraged to shop around in every other area of life. If the product we are consuming is not quite to our taste, or we simple fancy a change, we shop elsewhere.

We are increasingly busy. Work, friends, family, hobbies, etc. All put massive pressure on our time. Being part of a Christian community takes investment and our time is precious.

Please don’t misunderstand me. Church needs to stay in touch with the modern world. A valid charge can be leveled at many a Church door, of all denominations and styles, that it lives its life as though it was still the 20th century (or worse). But this issue is only increased when Christians dissociate themselves.

Being a member of a local Church can be a challenge. It is certainly effort (even hard work) and requires time and commitment. But let us all be clear that these are the issues. Irrelevance, I would suggest, is not.

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A Church for Tomorrow?

2

Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 27-04-2009

Category : Church, Religion

I have a series of posts lined up which have be floating around my head for a while. I feel it is time that these thoughts come to fore; partly inspired by some on going discussions with a good friend and mentor of mine about how the modern church is supposed to reach, help and serve Albert Rd (our short hand for the non-Christian masses), partly inspired by a great post I stumbled upon by Wess at â??gathering in lightâ? (Unless a grain of wheat falls: the church in 25 years), and partly because the local church of which I am a part is in the process of looking at what we are doing now, how we go forward, and why.

In general, the number of regular church goers in British churches is in terminal decline. This is especially true in the 16 â?? 30 age bracket. There are certain individual churches and certain types on church that buck this trend but as a broad sweeping statement, which I am not going to try and backup with statistics of any kind (*smile*), the church will run out of members in the next 50 years unless something changes.

Put in simple terms, as the older generation dies off. They are not being replaced by young blood. Thatâ??s not to say that there are not lots of young Christians out there. But they are, in the main, shunning the Church.

This is not just a problem reserved for the young. Increasingly people over 30 are also finding it more difficult to commit to a church. For whatever reason folk are choosing to either just dip in and out of a church community, or to disassociate themselves all together.

There was a time when the main question was why do people who are not Christians not seem to show any interest in what we do as Church. Now I fear the question is why do Christianâ??s not seem all that bothered either.

So why has this happened? And should we care?

Why?

Ok, so I donâ??t really have an answer here. But I have a couple of common suggestions.

  1. Church is irrelevant.
    Whatever that means.
  2. We are victims of other peoples success.
    Because of the battles of a by-gone age Church is easy, comfortable, and eventually, boring. There is no challenge, itâ??s just dull.
  3. Busy, busy, busy. We are just too busy.
    Sunday is my only day off. I want to sleep in, watch the football and spend time with my family. When else am I going to do it? And as for midweek, not a chance. Iâ??ve got three kids and I work sixty hours a week. You get the idea.
  4. We just donâ??t get the point of Church.
    Stand up, sing a song, sit down, sermon, stand up, sing a song, force out the pleasantries, run. A week until we have to endure again. *sigh*

Iâ??ll try and tackle each one of these in upcoming posts (and probably a few more besides when they come up).

Should we care?

Why does it matter? Those who like church go, those who donâ??t, donâ??t. If Church dies out then surely itâ??s just some form of Christian evolution. The way it should be

Unfortunately I donâ??t think we can get away with that. The New Testament is very big on us meeting together as a family of believers. We need it, and more than that, our local communities; the towns and cities where we live out our lives need it.

Maybe the â??should we careâ? post should come before all the â??why people donâ??tâ? posts, but thatâ??s the way Iâ??m doing it; unless I change my mind. So stay tuned. 

 

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The next few months

Posted by Rob Borley | Posted on 22-04-2009

Category : Beer and Bible, Bible, Bible Study, Church, Exodus, Habitat for Humanity, Information, Youth

There are a number of exciting new things going on in my world that I intend on documenting here on threedays. I thought this a good opportunity to get this old girl going again. These things are;

  1. Beer and Bible
  2. The Exodus Study
  3. Habitat for Humanity: Durban 2009

Beer and Bible

Every Wednesday night a growing group of us gather in a local pub to have a pint or two and discuss a portion of scripture. The idea is that we read the passage before hand and come armed with questions, thoughts, things we donâ??t understand, as well as the things have inspired us and together we move through the scripture.

There is no real agenda and the whole evening is allowed to drift organically and itâ??s led to some really good discussion. The idea is for this evening to be a real entry level option. Itâ??s for people who do not feel like the standard home / cell group is for them. And people right on the fringe of Church life can find a place to come and get to know people.

Itâ??s a bit experimental; some weeks we have spent more time talking about the football than about the passage. We are certainly getting to know each other a little better and we are discussing subjects and delving into things that otherwise would go untouched.

Currently we are working through Luke and I intend on having some for of documentation of events available on this site.

The Exodus Study

We will come up with a better name for this. *smile*

For some time now there has been an obvious undercurrent of desire at St Simonâ??s to have the opportunity to do some more in-depth Bible study. A recent course was run to test the water as it were. â??Godâ??s Bookâ? was run in March â?? April as a six overview of the whole bible. Around fifty people attended (just over one third of the Church) which for a mid week group is quite staggering.

With the obvious hunger establish and a call for more from the attendees of â??Godâ??s Bookâ? we are going to be running a regular six week Bible study course. I will be writing and leading a course (with one or two others) that will take us through the Book of Exodus from late May into June.

The plan is for course notes and other materials to be posted here.

Habitat for Humanity: Durban 2009

For some time now we have been wondering how to engage the older teenagers / young adults of our church with their young faith. With traditional middle class church increasingly alien and irrelevant to younger people they tend to disappear off the edge of the map when the youth programme stops meeting their needs.

Habitat for Humanity is a charity who build suitable accommodation for those in parts of the world where slum or street dwelling is the norm. They aim to lift people out of poverty and into an existence fit for a human being. Their is work that is ongoing and uses local people and resources to develop the projects.

When the opportunity arises they facilitate groups from around the world to go and join in the work. This raises much needed funds and equipment as well as the profile for such projects which does make a real impact on the long term goals of the charity.

However,  I am under no illusions here about saving the world. The primary reason for us going to help try and provide a context of faith for these young people struggling find their place in Christianity. If we happen to do some good along the way then that is a great bonus. So in late August I am taking a team of twelve to Durban, South Africa to build a house.

Lotâ??s of planning and a fair amount of fundraising to do. I plan to document it all on this site.

Busy, busy, busy

So there is plenty to keep me busy in the next few months and plenty to write about here.

Should be fun.

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