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The Church Moving Forward
Presented by Rev. Dr. Christine ChakoianFirst Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest
Sept. 24, 2014
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Here It Comes…
How to move a 100-year-old church
*National Geographic Channel, “Monster Moves” - 2007
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The Changing Landscape
It’s harder than it used to be for churches to move forward.A storm of culturalchange is alteringthe landscape ofAmerican life.
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The Changing Landscape“The World is a Global Village”
*From May 18, 1960 CBC TV Exploration Program
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The Changing Landscape“nearly every aspect of life will change, from the minutiae of daily lives to more fundamental questions about identity, relationships and even our security.”
*The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business
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The Changing Landscape1) Changes in day-to-day life…
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The Changing LandscapeFast forward to today…
1910 2010
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The Changing Landscape2a) Changes to institutions: retailers
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The Changing Landscape2b) Changes to institutions: entertainment
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The Changing Landscape2c) Changes to institutions: corporate
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The Changing Landscape2d) Changes to institutions: governments & non-profits
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The Changing Landscape3) Changes to the church
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The Changing Landscape
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The Changing Landscape
Let’s get on with it…
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Cryptomnesiacrypto = hidden or secret+ mnesia = memory
When our brains trick us into thinking we’re encountering something new when in reality we’ve been there before.
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
Christianity spread thanks to the road-building efforts of the Greco-Roman Empire.
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
People were connected from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coasts.
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
“The sense of isolation, rootlessness and insecurity was … strong enough to set people looking for a rule of life which would give them a sense of inward security and stability.”
—Historian A.H. Armstrong
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World Ostia, the harbor city
of Ancient Romein addition to houses,
offices, workshops and laundries, the city
boasted an astonishing array of religious buildings
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
Navigating the new complex terrain through:
2) Figuring out polity
3) Becoming savvy cultural interpreters
4) Honoring each other’s ministry
1) Careful theological sifting
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
Careful theological siftingdiscerning what was central and what was not from their inherited faith
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
Figuring out polity how to discern what to do and who had authority to decide— authority wasn’t always clear
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World
Becoming savvy cultural interpreters i.e. Paul didn’t just debate in the synagogue, he also went into the city square
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The Early Christians’ Brave New World Honoring each other’s ministry they didn’t compete against each other … they honored each other because the good news of the gospel was far more essential than their differences
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Part II: Moving Forward
Instead of being “stuck,” early Christians moved forward:• From clinging to everything to sorting what matters;
• From being insular to reaching out to the world
• From hierarchal authority to shared authority in a “flattened world;”
• From perpetual conflict to honoring our differences.
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sifting Our Inheritance: What to Keep and What to Let Go
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Part II: Moving Forward
Discussion:•Have you every inherited things from a grandparent or parent?•What did you do with them?•How did you decide what to keep, give away or throw away?•What was the experience like?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Our Generation Requires Discernment
Esse — essential vs Adiaphora —indifferent things
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Part II: Moving Forward
Small Group Discussion:Think of the earliest church you were part of—the first memories you have of church.•What people, experiences or places did you love and cherish?•What made them special to you?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: The First ChristiansWhere They Worshipped
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: The First ChristiansHow They Worshipped
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: The First ChristiansWhat was kept?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Small Group Discussion:•What in worship for you is essential—that is, it wouldn’t be worship without it?•Twenty-five years from now, what would you hope that your children/grandchildren would cherish in worship?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: Old vs New
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: esse to worship•Scripture and interpretation•Prayers•Communion•Baptism
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: adiaphora to worship•Music•Room design•Leaders’ garb•Worship guides
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Part II: Moving Forward
Small Group Discussion:•What of your worship experience is OK if it isn’t still here 25 years from now?
Get specific!
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: belief and behavior
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: belief and behavior
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Part II: Moving Forward
Small Group Discussion:•What’s one essential Christian belief or behavior for you?•Twenty-five years from now, what would you hope that your children/grandchildren would cherish in worship?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: adiaphora among early believers
*Nonkosher *Food offered to idols
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: how early believers decided on food1. Revelation to Peter
2. Revelation discerned in community
3. Coming to shared conclusion
4. Ruling challenged
5. Ruling holds with concern for the weak
6. (Over time) Clear that food wasn’t essential
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Part II: Moving Forward
Small Group Discussion:•What area of not-terribly controversial Christian behavior or belief have you seen change through this kind of discernment over your lifetime?
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: how early believers decided on circumcision1. Revelation to Peter
2. Revelation discerned in community
3. Coming to shared conclusion
4. Ruling challenged
5. Ruling holds with concern for the weak
6. (Over time) Clear that circumcision wasn’t essential
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Part II: Moving Forward
Sorting Our Inheritance: true for early believers and us
1. Revelation
2. Discerned in community
3. Shared conclusion
4. Ruling challenged
5. Concern for the weak
6. Eventual Resolution
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Part II: Moving ForwardWorship, Behavior and Belief: Sorting What’s Essential Today“We in the institutional church have loved many things more than we’ve loved God. We love our camps, our stained glass windows, our pipe organs, our Sunday School traditions, our buildings, our women’s groups, our pastors, and our hymnals more than we’ve loved God. This makes Jesus slap his hand to his head.”
—Jan Edmiston, associate executive presbyterPresbytery of Chicago
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Part II: Moving ForwardSmall Group Discussion:
Think of a particular issue facing your church.•How might you apply this approach in your own context?•Who would be involved?•Who would throw up barriers? How might you overcome them?•What would this look like?
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Part II: Moving ForwardThere will ALWAYS be things over which we disagree, yet we agree on so much that we received from our “mother church.”
Perhaps that should not surprise us.It is the tenacious love of God, the wondrous grace of Jesus Christ, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the building up of community … these are esse that shall endure forever.
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