Archive for Words to the Church – Page 2

Doctrine… shmoctrine

Posted on April 19, 2012 by revnick

Over the last few months the United Church of Canada has spent some good amount of time on doctrine. Now, contrary to what the title of this post may imply, I do believe talking about doctrine (what we believe) to be an important thing.

But we’re doing it wrong.

The denomination has asked the local churches and presbyteries to consider whether or not we want to take 2 recognized and nationally accepted statements of faith, and our “New Creed” and make them official doctrine on par with our Articles of Faith which are the foundation upon which the United Church of Canada came into being in 1925. We are also voting on the three items separately as to whether they should be considered doctrine.

Now that we are nearing the end of the voting cycle, here are my reflections on the whole thing. I have spoken out against this action on a number of occasions, but feel I need to flesh this out some more. To put some more meat onto the bones of my argument. I realize this is late in the process and most of the church that is going to vote probably already has. But it’s my blog and I’ll say what I want, when I want! (sarcasm implied)

The current and only role the Articles of Faith seem to play in our current church is when we ask our potential ministry personnel if they are in “essential agreement” with the content of this document. This means that we can’t dictate what our future leaders and preachers believe, but we ask if they are able to live with the basic understandings upon which the church was built. It seems as though we are now having problems finding some people who are willing to step up in leadership who are able to “live with” these statements as we now have clergy in our church who do not believe in Jesus Christ, or even God. I’ve also heard through the grapevine that some of our theological schools are offering assistance to students who are having an ethical crisis by coaching them through the essential agreement question so that they don’t feel like they are lying.

Our church doesn’t know what it believes any more.

So we think that if we add some more words it will help.

We’re doing it wrong.

Our denomination, according to who you talk to, is on the brink of a huge crisis of existence, or is already there. Our local congregations are struggling and crying out for help and direction, and we want to debate adding more words. Words that will have no impact on the ministry of the local congregations. We’re putting a band aid on a tumour.

The other question I have is why are we voting on all three separately? Is the 1940 Statement of Faith greater than the 2006 Song of Faith? Is the New Creed better? If we vote to include one, shouldn’t they all be included? What are we saying to the generation that drafted the document?

“Thanks, but we like this one better, you must have been wrong.”

The United Church is facing a crisis of its own existence. Things must improve in the near future or we collapse in upon our own structures and something might emerge from the ashes. Although, I must admit, that in the Easter season, maybe resurrection is not a bad thing!

The church needs to strengthen its local congregations, for whatever comes in the near and far future. It means helping them define their identity in Jesus Christ because he is the one who built the church. He is the reason for its existence. He is our hope, our guide, our Saviour.

We must stand up for what we believe and say it loudly and passionately.

Adding more words won’t help.

God bless us all, and God bless the United Church of Canada.

Categories : Words to the Church
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You Learn Something New…

Posted on March 22, 2012 by revnick

You know the old saying, “You learn something new every day”?

Well, I learned the following, which was entirely new to me.

“Young people today aren’t joining the United Church of Canada because of the inaccessible language of our old doctrine.”

That’s a paraphrase, but it’s the core of the message someone shared last night at our monthly presbytery meeting.

Really?

Do people in the church really believe this? Do people seriously believe that young people today are looking to the Basis of Union of the United Church of Canada in order to determine if this is a church they want to join?

It actually takes work to find this document. If you go the the United Church of Canada website, and to into the section About Us, then Beliefs, there is no mention of our Basis of Union and the 20 Articles of Faith which are the founding doctrine of the United Church of Canada adopted in 1925.

To find our “official” doctrine, you need to know to download our Manual (our policy document) in which to find these statements. Who in their right mind is going to download a policy manual looking for statements of belief when you would think you could just look to that section of our website that says “Beliefs”?

If you are one of these people who believe that a document, only known to the people who are hardcore church involved people, is keeping young people away from the church, you are delusional.

You want to know what is keeping young people away from the church? Get ready because apparently I’m going to tell you for the first time right now. Get your pen and paper, get a comfortable in your seat. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Ready? Ok, here it is…

Meaning.

That’s it!

They are looking for meaning. They want to know that going to your church is giving them meaning in life. They want to know that taking an hour out of their extremely busy lives is going to be worth it. They want to know that they are going to learn. They want  to know their children are going to get a good grounding in faith based values. They want to know they can help make a difference.

It’s that simple.

Yet, for many churches there is no meaning. We gather on Sunday mornings, say some words that we seem to think might be important, but then that’s all we see or hear of it until the following Sunday. There’s no action plan. There’s no continuity. There’s nothing to say we are acting out of what we profess to believe on Sunday over the rest of the week.

Here’s what we offer young people.

  • Something to do on Sunday morning besides sitting in a cold rink or a lying in a warm bed
  • Meetings discussing budgets and budget driven business related to keeping the church open
  • A chance to take part in fund-raisers to help keep said building open

Does this sound like fun to any of you?

It doesn’t to me.

Meaning.

Doctrine? You have got to be kidding me.

Give us meaning.

*Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1162222
Categories : Words to the Church
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Leadership and Change, Let’s Get Going!

Posted on March 16, 2012 by revnick

This week I’ve had two interesting articles shared with me about leadership and change.

The first was “The Problem with Blowing Things Up” which talks about the wisdom about how to initiate change.

So often we are tempted to “blow things up” and start all over. Some might call this the Mythbusters’ approach to leadership. But like in the post above, is this something we should really be considering?

Sure, in some cases it might be what is needed. It may just be the right point in time to restart from scratch, to begin all over again. But is it in all cases?

In the context of the church, I would say the option to “blow things up” should be used in only the rarest of occasions. (Actually, you could probably say that for most situations where change is not only desired but required)

The approach to invoking change is to create a movement within the organization you are wanting to change. To create an excitement, an emotional response, that will help move things forward. It will give people something to buy into, it will help them feel like they are part of the process (whether they really are or not is up to them, but at least they feel like a contributor). It’s a grassroots movement where people can get excited and renewed in their passion for community.

The other article I received this week was “Overcoming Resistance to Change: Top Ten Reasons for Change Resistance”

In this article we read of the common anxieties and/or reasons people resist change. I’m sure you have experienced a number of them.

I have some serious concerns about the future of… well… society in general. We’re so focused on the individual. “What’s in it for me?” is our dominant mantra that echoes everywhere. And nothing seems immune. Our governments, our schools, our businesses, our public services, our news stories, even our churches all seem to be focused on maintaining and protecting what we have for our own sake.

As leaders, or perceived leaders, we need to begin to show a better way. Our churches need to show that it’s not about us who gather in the building, but rather what happens in the community. Our governments and businesses need to show that it’s not about golden handshakes or power, but rather how the weakest in our societies are treated. Our schools need to show it’s not about how many kids are in the class, but rather how these children grow into being productive members of society with the skills they learn.

This is not an overnight change. This is a change that is going to take some time because it requires a drastic change of attitude. It means letting down our guards that we hold so tight and getting open and vulnerable to the stories around us.

For the church, this should be our instinct. Why?

Because it’s how Jesus lived his life.

It’s how he asked us to live our lives.

The church was once the great leader in the community. The community focal point, the place where everyone looked for leadership and guidance. We can still be that place. We can still be places where people know they can be helped by people who are willing to be vulnerable with them. We can still live out the Gospel message we claim to use to direct our lives. We can still love our neighbours. We can still clothe the naked and feed the hungry.

All things Jesus commands us to do.

This change in public attitude needs to start somewhere, so that our whole society can go with it.

Why not start in the church?

Why not start today?

Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/250321
Categories : Leadership, Words to the Church
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Numbers

Posted on March 8, 2012 by revnick

The other day this article made the rounds on Facebook. It raises some interesting questions about our approach to church budgets. Now I’ve never been part of a church that looks for “pledges” to help set the budget for the year, but I can see the value in them. And asking for it before the budget, it even makes some sense.

However, the article also brings up an issue for me. We place so much focus on the “numbers.” The numbers in the budget, the numbers in the pews, the numbers in the offering plate, numbers, numbers, numbers. Our whole vision of success is based on numbers!

Did we have an increase in offering last year? Is the budget in the black, or the red… again? How many baptisms did we do? Confirmation? How many kids in the Sunday School? Numbers, numbers, numbers…

I get it all over. I meet a new pastor somewhere… what’s one of the first questions I get asked… “How big is your church?”

How about we make a deal… no more numbers.

Did Jesus focus on numbers? Did he have a budget that he had to get passed by the disciples every year to determine what ministry he would do? No, Jesus did what he was called/led/compelled to do to change people’s lives on the streets.

You want to measure success? You want your church to be the best it can be?

Then stop measuring it by earthly standards of dollars and cents.

Start measuring by lives changed.

Those are the only numbers that really count.

*Photo from http://www.sxc.hu/profile/thiagofest
Categories : Words to the Church
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An Open Letter To The Church

Posted on February 3, 2012 by revnick

My friends,

The future of the United Church of Canada concerns me. The statistics over the last 20 years have been alarming, and the projection for the next 20 years are heart-breaking as we watch a once influential and well respected church decline so dramatically.

And we’re letting it happen.

To say I’m frustrated with the state of the church today is an understatement. I came into this church by the clear call of God in my life, and all I do is bump against bureaucracy and resignation for what is to come.

The latest straw laid upon my back is the recent letter informing us that pension contributions will increase by 2% for both ministry personnel and pastoral charges effective January 1, 2013. I know full well there will not be cent left for me in 30 years, should I be able to retire. Does this seem particularly fair given that the shortfall should have been predicted a number of years ago.

Couple this with the immense greed shown to us by our government and financial institutions in recent years where boomers approaching retirement seek to find the golden goose on which they can live comfortably into their golden years.

This goose ain’t got no eggs to lay. Much less golden ones.

But this issue is more than about financial comfort and retirement for me. This is about the future of the church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or at least it should be.

The stats do not lie. 50% of the clergy of the United Church of Canada will reach the age of retirement in the next 10 years. For the mathematically challenged, that’s half, or every other minister.

We as a denomination and a presbytery already acknowledge that we have too many churches and too few people. As I look forward over the next 30 years, I don’t like what I see.

In this presbytery we have 5 young ministers. Each of us passionate for the church and for Jesus Christ. We want to lead a spiritual church. We want people to be excited about the Gospel and we want people to love the Lord as much as we do.

But we are in palliative care. We run our churches with an end date in mind. We may not know the date, but we know it’s coming, so what we are doing is making ourselves as comfortable as possible as the end draws near.

I can’t speak for the other 4, but it disturbs me greatly that we, as a presbytery, are missing out on opportunities to create life in our churches because all we can focus on is death. This is not what I have signed up for.

Suggestions for change, suggestions for opportunities for renewal, shared ministries, spiritual events, all have been for not as people ignore what we do and settle in for the short trip to death.

We are looking at inheriting leadership of a church with dire financial projections, too many buildings, too few people and too few clergy. What in the world are we going to do with these things? What are we doing to address the problem TODAY? Not tomorrow, next month, or next meeting, but today!

Think carefully about how you want to respond. None of us have any strong ties to this part of the world. Yes we love being here, the people are wonderful, but I for one will not stand and watch the church die. It is just too draining of my energy. So I’ll have to consider leaving, to a church, a region, or even a denomination which is willing to work by the guidance of the Holy Spirit into a time of renewal and new life. A place where Jesus Christ is Lord and people take to heart his message for sharing and growing people in him. I cannot continue to sit around and mourn something that isn’t dead yet. I wasn’t ordained to help the church die.

*I apologize for the comments that have been lost. I had a server crash and the comments were lost. Please feel free to repost your comments, I fully appreciated them all.

Categories : Words to the Church
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