tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5083638296820168853.post5221222878908627615..comments2023-05-12T05:59:32.386-05:00Comments on faith from the field: Why do churches die?Sheri Ellwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12521018942479639251noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5083638296820168853.post-19570623458837954152013-05-19T15:43:17.559-05:002013-05-19T15:43:17.559-05:00Comment continued: So, accepting the reality that...Comment continued: So, accepting the reality that churches die…I’m thankful for breaks from church…and I look forward to new groups of church immerging. CristinaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5083638296820168853.post-44430587198482553722013-05-19T15:28:38.098-05:002013-05-19T15:28:38.098-05:00Thanks for sharing your epiphany on the aging and ...Thanks for sharing your epiphany on the aging and death of churches. Your thoughts resonate with my journey at Pueblo Mennonite and our non-church Mennonite potluck in Santa Fe. With time, unity of mission can diversify, energy dissipates and tiredness is a more common reality. So some churches shut their doors. Several in our non-church potluck group appreciate the break from the weariness of years of church work. I can identify and admit to enjoying a restful Sunday morning at home. At the same time, I miss the structured community and sharing of faith stories that church has gifted me with over the years. CristinaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5083638296820168853.post-4660317951386320242012-05-22T09:53:12.097-05:002012-05-22T09:53:12.097-05:00Thanks so much for the comment Krysti! I hope you...Thanks so much for the comment Krysti! I hope your congregation is able to continue hanging on. A tiny congregation has gifts to offer that a larger congregation cannot. I love small fellowships! <br /><br />I think you hit the nail on the head when you ask what we are investing. Over the years, church has largely become something you do because you always have. When younger people ask why, which our generation does ask and repeatedly, the answer is too often, "Because we've always done it that way." That response, honest though it might be, just doesn't cut it anymore. People need church to be relevant in their lives and I think a large part of that is feeling like this is a God community in which we can invest ourselves in really meaningful, hands-on, service oriented, soul searching work. Those churches are out there. It sounds like you attend one of them. But they are increasingly rare. <br /><br />Like you, I also love and respect the Old Testament. Though I am learning more and more how an understanding of historical context shapes understanding of the text in ways that often depart with more traditional interpretations. This is an exciting journey I think! One of the aspects of the Old Testament dear to me is its emphasis on justice. Jesus' scripture was, of course, the Old Testament. What Jesus teaches is the core of Old Testament wisdom. <br /><br />As for my congregation....yes, it's sad. We've been doing a lot of grieving. Thankfully, we all seem to be on the same page as we move forward. I continue to hope that on down the line, after we allow Bergthal to die and give it it's proper burial, something new will yet emerge. God will continue to work in strangely mysterious ways, bringing life out of death. Time will tell.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5083638296820168853.post-39224187404245450712012-05-21T22:53:51.455-05:002012-05-21T22:53:51.455-05:00Lynn, I am sorry to hear of your congregation shut...Lynn, I am sorry to hear of your congregation shutting the doors. As you may know our little congregation in Windom has always averaged around 30 members or so. The thought has crossed my mind many times as to where we would attend worship services if our doors were to close one day. Fortunalty we seem to grow a little at a time so hopefully that day will not be coming any time soon. There are many things I like about what you wrote and agree with many of your thoughts. However I have to wonder...are we doing the best we can to teach the current generation who's generation ahead of them just assumed they would follow the same path no questions asked and are we doing anything to correct that in the generation comimg up behind us? I am very geatful for the teachers I have had in our small congregation that were sure to indwell a truth in me that we cannot get to Heaven on borrowed faith...all of us are responsible for our own salvation. We can call it "going to church" but aren't we the people "The Church" not the building and if that is the case...yes we must feel that we are getting something out of attendance but shouldn't the focus not be on us and what we are getting but on what we are investing? It seems to me that so much of "Church" has become a feel good ceremony that only big congregations with lots of technology, people and social activities are worth getting out of bed for. I tend to blame our lack of teaching for the death of some congregations. We must teach the old testament so that people can understand the New Testament...you can't have one without the other. I believe we have done a disservice to folks teaching them only that "God is Love" and focusing mostly on the New Testament and that is the basis of all of our sermons and classes...it is true but there is so much more...God is love and God loves and cares for all of his creations but that doesn't mean he loves thier behavior and choices in some instances and it doesn't mean that he will then accept them into his Kindom if they have ignored his will and his commandments and his warnings. Many of the topics that divide congregations are written so plainly in the old and new testament that it leaves no room for argument but yet we argue them and try to make the scriptures say what we need them to say. These are things I think about on a regular basis...it is a huge concern to me that I see more and more people at home or going to thier kids ball games on Sunday moring in the Bible Belt than I do at any Church Building and they see no problem with it at all and will probably read this and say I am being judgmental. :) I enjoy hearing from you and Sheri keep it up!! ~KrystiKrystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14318145174642403816noreply@blogger.com