Life After Christendom

1. Life After Christendom Fall 2012 Conference Gatherings

2. 2 Stories “A teenager with no church connections hears the Christmas story for the first time. His teacher tells it well and he is fascinated by this amazing story. Risking his friends’ mockery, after the lesson he thanks her for the story. One thing had disturbed him, so he asks: ‘Why did they give the baby a swear-word for his name?’ “

3. “One Sunday a man visits a church building to collect something for his partner who works during the week in a creative-arts project the church runs. He arrives as the morning congregation is leaving and recognizes the minister, whom he knows. Surprised, he asks: ‘What are all these people doing here? I didn’t know churches were open on Sundays!’”

4. Athens and the Areopagus

5. Acts 17: 22-34 23”For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”

6. Pre-Christendom to Christendom to Post-Christendom Birth of Christ-321 A.D. Emperor Constantine claims Christianity is the religion of the Roman Empire 321 A.D.-1960’s-Rise and decline of Western Christianity-move from center to margins Today-Pew Research-affiliation and attendance in faith communities continues 50 yr. decline

7. “We know things are not how they used to be and sense change in the air, but we are unsure what is approaching.”

8. Across America, growing numbers of national church leaders are starting to voice what they describe as a “holy discontent.” The idea of growing their church larger and larger is no longer appealing, they say, especially as they face the truth that no matter how large their church gets, they’ll still miss an estimated 60 percent of people in the U.S. (187 million) who won’t set foot in a church.

9. Until recently, the church retained a significant cultural connection with the society around it. Most people were within the cultural orbit of the church and open to being influenced by the ideas that energized the church. Most church leaders know that’s not the case anymore. The prevailing, contemporary church-growth approach will have significant appeal to only about an estimated 40 percent of the American population.

10. What about the other 60%?Who are they? A sampling: David Kinnaman-UnChristian and You Lost Me (Looking at 18-30+yr olds inside and outside) Barna Research Group Keynote at Arizona Ecumenical Council Donohoe Forum in November, Phoenix

11. Nomads: those who walk away but still consider themselves Christians. 1. They describe themselves as Christians.2. Involvement in a Christian community is optional.3. Importance of faith has faded.4. Most are angry or hostile toward Christianity.5. Many are spiritual experimentalists.

12. Prodigals: those who no longer consider themselves Christians. 1. They feel varying levels of resentment toward Christians and Christianity.2. They have disavowed returning to the church.3. They have moved on from Christianity.4. Their regrets, if they have them, usually center on their parents.5. They feel as if they have broken out of constraints.

13. Exiles: those who still invested in the Christian faith “but feel stuck (or lost) between culture and the church” 1. Exiles are not inclined toward being separate from “the world.”2. Skeptical of institutions but are not wholly disengaged from them.3. Sense God moving “outside the walls of the church.”4. Not disillusioned with tradition; frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of religion.5. A mix of concern and optimism for their peers.6. They have not found faith to be instructive to their calling or gifts.7. Struggle when Christians question their motives.

14. Criticisms and Challenges Overprotective Shallow Anti-science Repressive Exclusive Doubtless or too Certain

15. Insights from Kinnaman “When they see Christians not acting like Jesus, they quickly conclude that the group deserves an unchristian label. Like a corrupted computer file or a bad photocopy, Christianity, they say, is no longer in pure form, and so they reject it. One quarter of outsiders say therefore most perception of Christianity is that the faith has changed for the worse. It has gotten off-track and is not what Christ intended. Modern-day Christianity no longer seems Christian.”

16. “Fewer than half of churchgoers, including born-again Christians, felt strongly that their church demonstrates unconditional love.”

17. “Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ. Yet in many ways a focus on spiritual formation fits what a new generation is really seeking. Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision.”

18. A Look in the Mirror

19. Rather than be defensive how self-aware are we in our congregations in response to the challenges or the criticisms?

20. What are We Learning Robert Weber-Leader in Worship Assessment Boomers (1946-1960)-the church needs to be open and inclusive Gen Xers (1961-1981)-For this generation the church must be a haven. GenXers are attracted to congregations committed to being open and inclusive of others, the family most of them never had.

21. The Millennials (1981-2000)-they want to return to a more stable time, a period of tradition. Not the tradition of the fifties, but of a much earlier time, the traditions of very old times.

22. What Might We Do? • So what can we expect from the Millennials as they lead the church and its worship into the future? Here are a few things to watch for: • The primary issue of the future is not the style of worship so much as its authentic character. It must be real, genuine, sincere. Millennials can smell “phony” a mile away. Therefore traditionalists must avoid “dead ritualism,” and proponents of contemporary must avoid “entertainment” and “manipulation” worship. • The future style of worship will draw from the catholic (early church), Reformation, evangelical, and contemporary traditions. Local churches must be eclectic.

23. Future worship will move toward these style characteristics: • More use of ritual and symbol • More spaces for quiet and contemplation • More frequent celebration of communion • High participation-not passive watching • Convergence of musical styles • More use of string and wind instruments • Recovery of the Christian year as a spiritual discipline

24. Musts Needed to Reach the Post-Christendom Generation Webpage Homemade webpages are out. What your webpage looks like matters to the Millennials. If it is out of date, poorly navigated, aesthetically unpleasing, or clumsily put together they will move on without giving you a chance.

25. Facebook Page • More than 800 million active users • More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day • Average user has 130 friends

26. Twitter • 55% of the Twitter audience is made up of Millennials, compared to 40% of the rest of the internet. • At the minimum your church and Pastor should have a Twitter feed that your community and congregation can interact with.

27. YouTube Channel • 150 yearsof YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook (up 2.5x year/year) and every minute more than 500 tweets contain YouTube links. • Put your church on YouTube. Upload commercials, announcements, testimonies, etc.

28. On-Line Giving

29. 10 Trends to Watch-Dr. Bob Harrington

30. 1. From Serving in the Church …. To Serving in the Community Boomers value the local church Millennial value a faith community that intentionally is involved in serving the local community and beyond

31. 2. From an Evangelism Focus …… To a Social Justice Focus Millenials are more naturally attuned to the struggles of the hurting and disadvantaged.  As Christians, they struggle with materialism and the compromise with it that they believe Baby-boomers made.  Furthermore, they cannot neglect the great number of passages in the Bible where God has told us to focus on the poor and disadvantaged.  Page after page in the Bible, they point out, God has told us to remember the poor. 

32. 3. From Doctrinal Clarity ….. To Embracing Doctrinal Ambiguity Millennials-They are content to live with doctrinal ambiguity and loose ends.  Trained to think in a post-modern world, they know that there are always many different perspectives, many different angles, and personal bias behind truth claims.  They like to major on the majors and allow each other freedom to differ. 

33. 4. From Church Program Centric …. To People/Relationship Centric Baby-boomers love to build bigger and better churches and strong church programs. Instead of asking “how many show up,” or “how much did they give” or “how big are the buildings,” Millennials want to know about the relationships experienced and what is happening to the lives of the people involved.

34. 5. From Church-centered …. To Kingdom of God Centered Millennialshave been raised with clarity that the Kingdom of God is the reign and rule of God.  The Kingdom expresses itself in the church, but the Kingdom is also expressed beyond the walls of the church – in the hearts of men and women at work in the world, ministering to the poor, working in the schools, teaching the gospel in coffee shops, serving God in business, and seeking to change the powers and authorities through political means. 

35. 6. From Programming Excellence …… to Authenticity, Relate-ability, and Story Millennials reject anything that seems inauthentic, plastic and un-real.  Growing up in a world full of divorce, broken families, and broken promises, they prefer honest, genuine simplicity.  Transparency in dealing with the real world and real problems, by real people means more than excellence to them.

36. 7. From Highlighting Truth Differences ….. to Minimizing Truth Differences (being inclusive) Millennialsare post-moderns who know that most issues defy neat packaging and summary solutions.  They dislike it when leaders and speakers act like they have it all figured out.  They gravitate to those who humbly speak the truth and include others.  Embracing and acknowledging diversity among people and ideas are key.  They enjoy inviting lots of people into the process and showing respect for the honest differences that exist

37. 8. From Mission and Accomplishment ….. to Values, Story, and Art Millennials are image conscious, sometimes to a fault, and are oriented around good art, good taste, and good expressions of the faith.  Anxious not be categorized as “intolerant,” “judgmental,” or “anti-people” they shy away from any image of the faith that might lead them to feel embarrassed with their peers.  At the same time, Millennials are willing to sacrifice it all to make a difference.

38. 9. From Loyalty to Denominational Heritage (Religious Tribe) ….. to Loyalty to Personal Relationship and Personal Causes Key to Millennials are the personal relationships they experience and shared personal values which they hold with their leaders and churches.  They want to be involved in causes that they can believe in and if they do not find such causes they will not be personally engaged and they will not give their money to support the church.

39. 10. From Mom, Dad, and the Kids (Nuclear) ….. to Broken, Fragmented, and Diverse Families More and more churches are waking up to the reality that the nuclear family is now broken and living arrangements are diverse.  In 2008, for the first time in American history, there were more single adult women than married women.  More and more people are putting off marriage until later, choosing to live together (contrary to the Bible), and experiencing divorce.  Where the church is healthy, as we move into the future, it will be addressing and reflecting this diversity. 

40. Surveying the Landscape what do we see?

41. Let’s Talk About It Engagement in Mission Table Conversations