Below is a recap of a discussion I guided as Counselor of
the Raritan Cluster—it might be helpful for others.
“To recap for both those who were at today’s Raritan Cluster
meeting and those who were not:
We started off with the premise that those things “that will
make both ears of anyone who hears it tingle” (1 Samuel 3:11) included the
centralization of worship and government (vs. the Prophetic Bands and Tribal Judges
tradition) and that the Israel that existed before Samuel was extremely
different than the Israel that existed after Samuel. These changes were a mixed
bag—God was no longer King, a civil war transpired, the Levitical Priests
living outside of Jerusalem starved, Israel was more politically stable, etc.
From there we thought a bit about trends and changes we’ve
experienced and where they may be going. What a before and after Samuel world could
be for the ELCA and our congregations in particular. Here are the three categories
we mainly looked at:
Disestablishment of
the Church—Being a good citizen in America doesn’t mean being a good
Christian in the minds of most people
--We’ve all ran into the problem of kids playing sports,
this is a symptom of disestablishment; now being a soccer mom is just as much a
sign of being a good American as being a Christian.
--Additionally, in the future this may change our not for
profit tax status. Being taxed will shock us into thinking anew about being a
community attached to a building.
--The good news is we no longer have to “play nice.” The
Church is freed from the shackles of respectability…
--for example, when I first started Pub Theology one person asked,
“What will people say?” “No one will say anything, being part of a church that
meets in a bar won’t push you into society’s margins.” They followed up, “You
might as well be in a brothel.” I was able to respond, “You know of a brothel
in town? Point me in that direction, they need to hear about Jesus!”
Decentralization—Small
groups of people without anyone in charge can now influence the world
--Two examples of decentralized systems would be Terrorist
cells and the internet
--Thinking about what the internet does, in addition to
being decentralized it is also semi-anonymous and depersonalized, which makes
people crabby and hurtful… congregations are often non-anonymous and highly
personal, that can be valued in an internet world.
--Decentralization often delegitimizes central authorities,
these include: the Church writ large, Pastors, and denominational loyalty.
--It also gives us new mediums for preaching the gospel, for
example small groups and putting sermons and songs on YouTube.
Demographics—America
is changing both racially and economically
--Lutherans are often an ethnic club with a religious
grounding… when we come to grips with the fact that there are no new immigrants
from “the old country” coming, we can focus on what makes us uniquely Lutheran—hint
isn’t not the Lutfisk or the bratwurst.
--The ELCA tends to draw members from the “Middle Class”…
but in the last two decades what it means to be Middle Class has changed—less
manufacturing jobs, more student debt, the necessity of two incomes, etc… the
middle class is being squeezed and so is the ELCA… the time and money of middle
class people is in short supply, the Church is lacking both of them. Perhaps
this will allow us to take the cries of the poor more seriously, being that we
are beginning to feel the bite of what they have for so long been mauled by?”
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