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Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference Canon Neal Michell April 2012 Theological Reflection: God’s People in Exile – Jeremiah 29:1-14

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Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference . Canon Neal Michell April 2012. Theological Reflection: God’s People in Exile – Jeremiah 29:1-14 . What i s Unusual about this picture?. Question: What year is it in your church?. First, the bad news . . . Is this your church?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Diocese of Northern CaliforniaBishop’s Conference Canon Neal MichellApril 2012

Theological Reflection:God’s People in Exile – Jeremiah 29:1-14

Page 2: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

What is Unusual about this picture?

Question:What year is it in your church?

Page 3: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

First, the bad news . . .

Page 4: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Is this your church?

Page 5: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

28%

20%22%

18%

13%15%

10%

19%

26%

30%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Children & Youth Young Adults (20-34) Median Adults (35-49) Middle Age (50-64) Seniors (65+)

Age Group

USATEC

Age Structure of the USA and TEC: 2010

Page 6: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

2,200,000

2,400,000

2,600,000

2,800,000

3,000,000

Activ

e Ba

ptize

d M

embe

rs

Episcopal Domestic Membership: 1991 – 2010

Page 7: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Episcopal Domestic Average Sunday Worship Attendance: 1991 – 2010

Page 8: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Did you know . . .The median age of Episcopalians is 57; fewer and fewer young people identify

with TEC.

Average age of Non-retired Priests: 56.

Half of all Episcopalians will die in the next 18 years.

Average age of Priests at Ordination: 46

Page 9: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

Page 10: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

The Challenge of a

CHANGING

DEMOGRAPHIC

TEC

Page 11: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

The American culture and the Episcopal Church have changed. The “old rules” don’t apply anymore. This changed environment calls for

a different perspective of being the Church.

Page 12: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

The Challenge:

Our WORLD is Changing

A New Image for the Church: GOD’S

PEOPLE IN EXILE

Implications for the Church

The Big Picture

Page 13: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Our Surrounding Culture has Changed

The Big Shift• 1963

Post-Modern• No Center,

Anti-Hierarchy, Multiple Truths

Post-Christendom• Church no

longer has “home field advantage”

Post-denominational• Baptist

Churches with Candles; Episcopal Churches with Drums

The Challenge: Our World is CHANGING

Page 14: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

MODERN CHRISTENDOM DENOMINATIONAL

POST-

Page 15: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Post-ModernPostmodernism is the chaotic reaction to and rejection of Modernism. Modernity:• belief that progress was unending• optimism that man can solve all the world’s ills• placed faith in ‘experts’ • confidence in structures and institutions

Page 16: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Post-ModernPostmodernism:• ‘there’s no such thing as progress’• push all limits• no such thing as objective truth• skepticism toward institutional authority • personal experience over rational thought• Blurring of lines between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture• Virtual reality—things look real, but they aren’t

The Postmodern Trinity--Down

with: Reason Progress Hierarchy

Page 17: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Post-ChristendomUnder Post–Christendom, Church no longer has “home field advantage” in culture Under Christendom:• Sunday “Blue Laws”• Prayer in Schools• Church services held in US Capitol

Under Post-Christendom (1964):• Church is not a safe place • Spirituality without Christianity• Institutionally Suspect• Clergy are Suspect• People not formed by Bible stories

Page 18: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Post-DenominationalA Working Definition – Denominations lose their distinctivenessIn Denominational Heyday:• 1950 – only 6% of Church members had been in a previous denomination• Children followed their parents in Church • “The Protestant Hour”Post-Denominational Era:• The Ecumenical Movement has succeeded• Rise of Independent Churches• Children don’t necessarily follow parents

I’m an Episco-bapti-presbyteri-catho-metho-costal . . . this year

Page 19: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Upshot of Living in a Post-WorldApostolic Age – Mission occurred at the door of the Church

Christendom – Mission took place Overseas

New Apostolic Age – mission takes place at the door of the Church

Page 20: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age

• Society is both secular and pluralistic

• Church is no longer a natural gathering place for people

• Question: What are the “Natural Gathering Places today???

Page 21: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

THEN• The culture and society supported the

values of the Church.• The Church was a natural gathering

place.• Clergy were treated with respect and

honor.• “Respectable people” went to church.

Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age

Page 22: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

NOW• The culture and society are hostile to

the Church.• The Church is a place that people

avoid.• Clergy are treated with distrust and

ridicule.• Fewer and fewer people identify with

the Church.

Our Post-World is a New Apostolic Age

Page 23: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

The New Reality

In years past, you could manage a

church poorly and it could still grow.

Now, you can manage a church really

well and it will still decline.

THEN

NOW

Page 24: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

IN OTHER WORDS . . .

The NEW NORMAL is DECLINE. If we continue to

live as a church as we have always lived, we will

continue to

Page 25: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Under Christendom, we as a Church functioned pretty well. We knew the ground rules, and we played by them.

In a post-Christendom world, we have shown that we:• Don’t know the ground rules• We don’t know how to play by them,

and• We are stuck in a world that doesn’t

make sense to us.

Page 26: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Our world is playing Chess . . .

AND WE ARE PLAYING CHECKERS

Page 27: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

The People of God in Exile . . .

— Jeremiah 29:1-14

Page 28: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles. It said . . . 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon . . . . 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and

pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Page 29: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

1 I was glad when they said to me,    “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”

–Psalm 122

Page 30: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

1 By the waters of Babylon,    there we sat down and wept,    when we remembered Zion.

– Psalm 133

Page 31: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

“Resident Aliens” – Hauerwas and Willimon

Clement of Rome to the Corinthians: “The church of God, living in exile in Rome, to the church of God, exiled in Corinth.” (AD 75-80)

Page 32: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Seek the Welfare of the City• We seek to bless people as we engage

in life where we are.• We form our people to be the Church

instead of merely going to church.• Church as a noun to church as a verb. • The Church as being a blessing among

people rather than simply a building on a corner.

Page 33: Diocese of Northern California Bishop’s Conference

Seek the Welfare of the City

May we seek the welfare of the city where God has sent us into exile, and let us pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare we will find our welfare. –Jeremiah 29:7