New Wine Demands Fresh Wineskins
Jesus said, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
(Mark 2:22 NRSV)
Three weeks ago we met together during the Administrative Council meeting to talk about our future as a congregation. Many who participated in that Q&A session came thinking we would talk about the possibility of purchasing a building. Instead, that evening I said several things that took us in a new direction. For the sake of communication, I want to reiterate what I said that evening, add a little more specificity, and answer some questions that have arisen.
I said two things: 1.We are not ready to build or buy a building. 2. We need to take the next year or two and define our identity: Who are we? What is our mission? What leadership do we need?
Before we focus on “brick and mortar” we need to be a healthy, strong congregation engaged in a radically different world in the 21st century. How different is the world today? 40% of 16-29 year-olds have intentionally opted out of the church. They say, “Whatever you call me, don’t call me a Christian.” And 20% of those folks claim to be an atheist or agnostic. There have always been people in the younger generations that have left the church. But that number is growing so much larger now. Furthermore, for the first time, the younger generations have a negative view of the Church and Christians. Research from George Barna indicates we will have half the people in the church in 2015 that we had in 2005. Looking to our own denomination, the average age of United Methodists is about 60 while the average age in the culture around us is the mid-thirties. This is a major swing over the last half of the twentieth century. Fifty years ago the average age in the Methodist Church was younger than the average age in the country.
The world around us has changed in radical ways over the last fifty years and we have not done a good job of engaging that world and continuing to reach the younger generations. For one thing, we have continued to expect people to come to us rather than taking it upon ourselves to go to them. This is the difference between an attractional church (how to attract people to come to us) and a missional church (how to reach out to where people are). Being missional is biblical. God came to us in Jesus, reaching out to be with us where we are. That’s what the incarnation means: “The Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14 NRSV)
No one wanted the flood that destroyed our church building and community earlier this year. But God can bring good from destruction, beauty from ashes. The flood gives us the opportunity to make radical changes to be fruitful in the 21st century. What does that mean? If we continue to do the same things we have done, no matter how good, we will continue to get the same results. Therefore, in order to reach people that no one is reaching, we will have to do things that no one is doing. It is not enough just to want to have the younger generations. We will have to do new things that may not fit with our own preferences. As Jesus said, new wine demands fresh wineskins. New situations demand new rituals, practices. The old cannot contain the new.
Salem already has a heart for mission. That is a little different, however, than being missional. Is the congregation, however, willing to do the things that no one is doing in order to reach the people no one is reaching? For instance, are we willing to change our organization and leadership style? Can we change the style of our worship services? Will we do whatever it takes to share the good news of Jesus Christ and embody the kingdom of God in the world around us? Our name, Salem, means peace. It comes from the Hebrew word shalom, which means God’s peace, health, love, wholeness, friendship, truth, justice, and salvation. What are we willing to do, to give up, to change in order to embody that for the people missing from the church in our community and in the world?
If we choose to follow this path it will be hard. We could lose people. Yet, whatever we choose to do will be hard and we could lose people. Moreover, if we do not follow this path, it is very possible it will only be a matter of time before our congregation ceases to exist. Honestly, we may not be able to accomplish this change. The old proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together,” is true. It is enormously difficult to reach people who are not already a significant part of the congregation. Still, as one of my teachers told me, “I’d rather attempt something great for the kingdom of God and fail than not do anything at all.”
Will we choose this path or not? The Executive Leaders want to have another congregational Q&A meeting to have more discussion. We will schedule another conversation in December.
Here are some questions that have arisen:
Q. If we do not focus on “brick and mortar” now, does that mean we won’t have a church building for the next two years?
A. No. We have to have someplace to gather for worship. It just means we will not go out and spend a significant amount of money on a building. The truth is, we cannot afford to do that anyway. For instance, the million-dollar price tag for the King of Kings building is beyond our current capability.
Q. So where will we meet?
A. For the time being, we will continue to meet in our current location. Salem also has been invited into conversation with four area United Methodist congregations to talk about merging or sharing ministries/space: Kenwood Park, Buffalo, New Creation, and St. James. We will participate in these conversations and see where they lead.
Q. What does it mean when you say Salem does not have members?
A. I only mean that currently we do not have an accurate, official list of members, since the church office was destroyed. The good news is that we may have found some documentation that could help us rebuild the membership list. This is an important issue and we will straighten it out as soon as possible.
Q. If we need to make radical changes, was Salem a good church before the flood?
A. Yes! Salem has a rich history with many wonderful people. Moreover, Salem has historically had a heart for mission. We simply need to make changes because the world around us has changed so radically in the last fifty years and we have not been reaching the younger generations.
You may have other questions. I invite you to share them so we can do our best to answer them. (There will be cards in the bulletins on which you can write a question.) In the meantime, let us all pray for God to guide us and lead us.
(Mark 2:22 NRSV)
Three weeks ago we met together during the Administrative Council meeting to talk about our future as a congregation. Many who participated in that Q&A session came thinking we would talk about the possibility of purchasing a building. Instead, that evening I said several things that took us in a new direction. For the sake of communication, I want to reiterate what I said that evening, add a little more specificity, and answer some questions that have arisen.
I said two things: 1.We are not ready to build or buy a building. 2. We need to take the next year or two and define our identity: Who are we? What is our mission? What leadership do we need?
Before we focus on “brick and mortar” we need to be a healthy, strong congregation engaged in a radically different world in the 21st century. How different is the world today? 40% of 16-29 year-olds have intentionally opted out of the church. They say, “Whatever you call me, don’t call me a Christian.” And 20% of those folks claim to be an atheist or agnostic. There have always been people in the younger generations that have left the church. But that number is growing so much larger now. Furthermore, for the first time, the younger generations have a negative view of the Church and Christians. Research from George Barna indicates we will have half the people in the church in 2015 that we had in 2005. Looking to our own denomination, the average age of United Methodists is about 60 while the average age in the culture around us is the mid-thirties. This is a major swing over the last half of the twentieth century. Fifty years ago the average age in the Methodist Church was younger than the average age in the country.
The world around us has changed in radical ways over the last fifty years and we have not done a good job of engaging that world and continuing to reach the younger generations. For one thing, we have continued to expect people to come to us rather than taking it upon ourselves to go to them. This is the difference between an attractional church (how to attract people to come to us) and a missional church (how to reach out to where people are). Being missional is biblical. God came to us in Jesus, reaching out to be with us where we are. That’s what the incarnation means: “The Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14 NRSV)
No one wanted the flood that destroyed our church building and community earlier this year. But God can bring good from destruction, beauty from ashes. The flood gives us the opportunity to make radical changes to be fruitful in the 21st century. What does that mean? If we continue to do the same things we have done, no matter how good, we will continue to get the same results. Therefore, in order to reach people that no one is reaching, we will have to do things that no one is doing. It is not enough just to want to have the younger generations. We will have to do new things that may not fit with our own preferences. As Jesus said, new wine demands fresh wineskins. New situations demand new rituals, practices. The old cannot contain the new.
Salem already has a heart for mission. That is a little different, however, than being missional. Is the congregation, however, willing to do the things that no one is doing in order to reach the people no one is reaching? For instance, are we willing to change our organization and leadership style? Can we change the style of our worship services? Will we do whatever it takes to share the good news of Jesus Christ and embody the kingdom of God in the world around us? Our name, Salem, means peace. It comes from the Hebrew word shalom, which means God’s peace, health, love, wholeness, friendship, truth, justice, and salvation. What are we willing to do, to give up, to change in order to embody that for the people missing from the church in our community and in the world?
If we choose to follow this path it will be hard. We could lose people. Yet, whatever we choose to do will be hard and we could lose people. Moreover, if we do not follow this path, it is very possible it will only be a matter of time before our congregation ceases to exist. Honestly, we may not be able to accomplish this change. The old proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together,” is true. It is enormously difficult to reach people who are not already a significant part of the congregation. Still, as one of my teachers told me, “I’d rather attempt something great for the kingdom of God and fail than not do anything at all.”
Will we choose this path or not? The Executive Leaders want to have another congregational Q&A meeting to have more discussion. We will schedule another conversation in December.
Here are some questions that have arisen:
Q. If we do not focus on “brick and mortar” now, does that mean we won’t have a church building for the next two years?
A. No. We have to have someplace to gather for worship. It just means we will not go out and spend a significant amount of money on a building. The truth is, we cannot afford to do that anyway. For instance, the million-dollar price tag for the King of Kings building is beyond our current capability.
Q. So where will we meet?
A. For the time being, we will continue to meet in our current location. Salem also has been invited into conversation with four area United Methodist congregations to talk about merging or sharing ministries/space: Kenwood Park, Buffalo, New Creation, and St. James. We will participate in these conversations and see where they lead.
Q. What does it mean when you say Salem does not have members?
A. I only mean that currently we do not have an accurate, official list of members, since the church office was destroyed. The good news is that we may have found some documentation that could help us rebuild the membership list. This is an important issue and we will straighten it out as soon as possible.
Q. If we need to make radical changes, was Salem a good church before the flood?
A. Yes! Salem has a rich history with many wonderful people. Moreover, Salem has historically had a heart for mission. We simply need to make changes because the world around us has changed so radically in the last fifty years and we have not been reaching the younger generations.
You may have other questions. I invite you to share them so we can do our best to answer them. (There will be cards in the bulletins on which you can write a question.) In the meantime, let us all pray for God to guide us and lead us.
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