A New Church era by Tim Littleford
Missiles and tanks in Ukraine. COVID, still COVID. We live in globally turbulent times and it’s tough to make sense of it all. What change will this mean for the world? Will the dust ever settle?
This new era, the future of the church, is unmapped territory. What does the Uniting Church in South Australia need to have a healthy, vibrant, missional future?
It’s a turbulent time for the Uniting Church as well. We are grappling with our numerical decline, a shortage of ministers, the viability of our buildings, our place in society, our structures and identity, and the future of our denomination.
I don’t know. And I think you probably don’t either and maybe that's okay. Maybe we need to free ourselves from the burden of having to know all the answers.
It's becoming increasingly apparent that things are not going back to how they were before. Mark Sayers in his first Rebuilders podcast on what’s happening in Ukraine remarked: ‘Two accelerations (COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine) in two years that have honestly brought fifty years’ worth of change … an era has ended, or is ending, and a new era is beginning.’1 He is speaking about global culture. But I would strongly argue it’s the same for the Uniting Church in Australia, and indeed the whole church in the west. An era is ending, and we are in the beginning of a new era. No longer can we rely on the generations coming up behind us. No longer can we rely on a cultural or habitual Christianity to fill our pews and our offerings. No longer can we rely on our historic privileged positions culturally and institutionally in society. No longer can we do things the way we have always done them.
The long-held European belief was there was a water route that connected the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. A water route to connect the East to the West. But no European had ever found it. When Lewis and Clark canoed to the end of the Missouri River, they didn't find the ocean - stretching as far as the eye could see was the Rocky Mountains. How do you canoe over the Rocky Mountains? You don't.
With the decline of our denomination and people power, we have a mandate to take courageous risks, with any surplus resources and buildings we have, toward a Church that has a future – this is an opportunity.
‘If you want to continue forward, you change. You adapt. Meriwether Lewis looked at the miles and miles of snow-covered peaks and knew that to continue his journey he would have to change his entire approach. The same is true for all who are called to lead beyond the boundaries of what is known. We go through a personal transformation of identity and mission intention. We go from being river rats to mountain climbers. We keep on course with the same goal, but change absolutely everything required to make it through this uncharted territory. We ditch the canoes, ask for help, find horses and cross the mountains. And when the time comes, we make new boats out of burnt trees. You let go, you learn as you go and you keep going, no matter what.’3
With the uncertainty and fear of death and war that grapples our communities, we have the chance to embody and declare the hope of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus. That sin, death and fear do not have the last word – this is an opportunity.
What does this new era of the church need? Not to keep trying to paddle over mountains. Not a new mission. Not a new vision. Not a new strategic plan. Not a new program. Not a new resource. Not a new event.
It’s a new church era and a new era brings new opportunities, new edges, a renewed hope. With the burning up of cultural Christianity in the west,2 all that will remain is the white-hot embers of resilient disciples of Jesus Christ – this is an opportunity.
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In the book ‘Canoeing the Mountains,’ Tod Bolsinger uses the central metaphor of Lewis and Clark’s (think Australia's Burke and Wills) exploration of the unmapped territory in America by Europeans and I think it is really helpful for us.
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