Substack Seminary - Week 4!
So far, we’ve looked at the landscape of institutional collapse. We’ve located where our ministries sit: inside, outside, or alongside the mainline denominational church. We’ve considered the importance of staying connected.
This week: What does the new system actually look like?
The connection between the first century church and the 21st century church.
The one thing everyone is looking for is it what we have to share.
The ‘bulletin effect’.
1. The first century and the 21st century
The first century church and the 21st century church have more in common than either has with the 20th century church.
First century church:
Few buildings dedicated to worship
Clergy served multiple communities
House churches, letters sent/read to keep connected, organic leadership
Agile, networked, technology-based (for their time)
People belonged to multiple faith communities
Ministry happened wherever people were
21st century church:
Few(er) buildings dedicated to worship
Clergy increasingly serve multiple communities (by necessity)
Online communities, blogs, Substacks, podcasts, books keep us connected to the faith
Agile, networked, technology-based
People belong to multiple faith communities (online and in-person)
Ministry happens wherever people are
What the first and the 21st century churches have in common is AGILITY.
This is where your ministry is - or can be.
It can feel very ‘outside the box’ when compared to 20th century institutional ministry - and it is!
But the ‘box’ is more of anomaly than the way we are called into ministry today.
2. The one thing everyone is looking for is the best thing we have to share.
Last fall, I went to our diocesan convention.
For those unfamiliar: it’s a 1-2 day gathering of all clergy and congregational delegates within the geographic boundaries of the diocese. Technically, it’s our “congress”: elected representatives coming together to guard and guide the mission of the church.
I was sitting in my exhibitor booth (wearing my Free Range Priest t-shirt), and between hugs, my ministry colleagues poured their hearts out.
Here’s what I heard:
“I don’t serve in a traditional congregation anymore and I struggle with what it means to be a minister. I feel so lonely.”
“I’m the rector of a ‘successful’ congregation but no one can see the cracks or how hard I’m working to keep everything together.”
“I have no prospects for a paid position and no idea what I’m going to do.”
“I’m a member of X congregation, but I haven’t attended in a long time” (some were delegates representing that congregation!)
“We can’t find a priest.”
“There’s too much politics at church.”
‘I feel alone.’
I heard this over and over again.
We were in a convention center with thousands of people, representing a hundred communities, sitting through worship and prayer, sharing meals - and over and over, people told me how disconnected they felt.
From their spiritual lives. From their callings. From each other.
This is what institutional collapse looks like from the inside: We’re not functioning like the body of Christ.
But here’s what I kept saying to people who told me their stories:
The place of stress, frustration, and loneliness you’re in right now is exactly where God is calling you to build the future of church.
Because the one thing everyone is looking for is BELONGING.
Not belonging to an institution. Not belonging to a building or a program.
Belonging to a community. Being known. Being seen. Being part of something larger than ourselves.
This is what the Gospel offers. This is what church has always offered at its best.
And ironically, the institutional structure that was supposed to facilitate belonging has become the thing that’s preventing it.
The church of the future is NETWORKED.
It is where our ministry can reach beyond the silos that keep being reinforced by the old system and serve God with others who:
Belong to a different denomination or tradition
Belong to another congregation
Don’t formally belong to any church!
It’s where we can find be in this space together and be honest about where we are in our ministry - where we’re struggling, where we’re rejoicing - without a sense of competition or fear of judgment or sense of failure in front of others.
We’re all on the same team - team Jesus.
Finding one another in the midst of great change all around us is crucial for our ministry. And the Future of Church.
3. The ‘bulletin effect’
I don’t hate worship bulletins - but I am perplexed by how something:
so complicated
that takes so much energy, time, and frustration to put together
and is such an environmental waste - we use it for an hour then throw it away!
could still be so beloved by so many.
Maybe perplexed is not the word. It’s more curiosity - and fascination.
I’m starting to see the worship bulletin as a microcosm of what we’re struggling with in the denominational church:
Following an ancient faith that is surrounded by an outdated structure.
I think we get them confused sometimes. It can feel like the ‘stuff’ of church - the bulletin being a prime example of that ‘stuff’ - is itself a rite. That this is something we need to hold onto - literally - because it ties us to the church, to our history and our beliefs.
In many ways this makes perfect sense. I believe we are deeply grieving the real or imagined denominational church of the mid-20th century.
And I think all our looking back and holding on is killing us. It’s robbing our energy and our mission.
I think the antidote is to reach farther back - all the way back to the Acts of the Apostles.
To how the church began. Its energy and purpose and wild faith in the risen Christ.
Then bring it back to the future and see how we keep hold of what is the truly precious parts of what we carry with us, and we carry it more boldly into today’s world.
The bulletin is a great place to start. It’s the cutting edge of mid-20th century technology.
What would the cutting edge of 21st century technology look like as a way to support and guide our common worship?
The future of church is TECHNOLOGY-BASED.
We can find ways to connect today’s technology with the ancient faith. We’re doing it already - being on Substack.
We don’t have to take people’s bulletins away from them (I gave up trying long ago…). We don’t have to take anything away from them.
But we can build something new. Something that reaches people not in church. Or reaches those who are in church in a new way (like the chat app I built for my very traditional congregation. That also has the bulletin on it. Though they still have their printed bulletin… )
Using technology as the place we start building is a small, concrete change that brings the Gospel to more people - in sustainable ways.
Questions for This Week:
This week’s questions
How is your ministry AGILE?
How is your ministry NETWORKED?
How is your ministry TECHNOLOGY-BASED?
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Since first talking to you the bulletin issue i've wrestled with how to transform it. Since we are doing kind of a different thing we have no official service book (though i'd love one someday!) i also realized for me and my visual designer mind creating the bulletin provides a visual way for me to plan the weekend (our bulletin includes each weekends 3 services). So it's a helpful guide for me to solidify my ideas and plans. But i continue to consider new ways to transform and challenge the church.