Australian College of Ministries

Subject: PCB213 Youth Leadership Development and Education

Lecturer: Andrew Ball

Date of Subject: 31^st August - 3^rd September 1999

Ministry Centre of Subject: Carlingford

Student’s Name: Grant Mitchell

Student’s ID: C9901028

Item Of Work: Scenario Plan

Words: 1941

Worth: 40% of subject mark

Date Submitted:

Due Date: Friday 29^th October 1999

Signed:_____________________________ Date:______________

This scenario plan examines how the church will appear if it continues to operate as it currently does, if it remains the same, with respect to its culture amidst Australian society, and also the outcome if the church radically engages with Australian society. Both scenarios are given description, and benefit-cost analysis. The aim is to determine which scenario will provide the best future for youth ministry in a church.

What will it look like?

The church is currently focussed on reaching a modern culture - that is a culture of people founded on three major components:

1. a passionate commitment to reason as the instrument of knowledge;
2. a turn toward nature and the natural as the central object of study and insight; and
3. a confidence in progress. [1]

The church as it currently operates is one that has been "imported from Europe … [and is] better suited to stable, homogenous populations." [2] It uses verbal (preaching, teaching) and printed word (bible studies) as its major means of communications. [3] This heritage has been based on rural life, lived out in a stable village or town. [4] The churches, "like most long-established institutions, tend to be driven by the weight of tradition." [5]

If the church remains the way it is, then the established programs that are in place can continue to run. There will be little need for great investments, whether of time or money. This will be a comfortable pathway, which will appeal to the "respectable types" - the pious, the rich, the leaders, and the open minded. [6] The church will continue to minister powerfully to the generations that live in our own culture - leaders operating in their own culture and understanding.

Maintaining these traditions will "reinforce the strong member orientation." [7] There will be great care for today's members, the preferences of the members will be met in the schedule, the needs of the today's members will be met, and there will be positive work with youth ministry in serving the children of today's members. [8]

However, the culture we live in is not stable, not homogenous, and is not rural. Today's Australian society, in Sydney at least, is transient, multi-cultural, and urban. Those people who are not brought up in the church who are drawn in by some point of contact will be in risk of merely having their culture changed to match the church, and not a necessarily bring a change of their heart for Christ. Many may not even adapt to the culture, and so the church will cut off compassion for what they deem the "too-hard" basket. "The structure, expectations, traditions, and style of many urban churches say to teenagers, 'No Teenagers Welcome.'" [9]

"The most highly visible consequence of this strong member orientation is that it facilitates the process of growing older and smaller." [10] Maintaining the use of current traditions and cultures will only attract people who live in that culture, and typically that will be those born into the church, or those transferring from other similar churches. However, "to rely purely on biological and transfer growth is a recipe for further decline." [11] The Australian society has become post-Christian, where we cannot assume that children will be sent to Sunday School; [12] and more so our society is becoming pre-Christian. Continuing to operate the way things are, the church will not be reaching the unchurched and the overchurched, who are making up the bulk of the church's mission field. [13]

The outcomes of a church that stays as it is, disengaged from Australian society, can begin to be seen in the statistics in "First Look in the Mirror." [14] A very low percentage of people in Australian Protestant churches tend to be engaged in community groups, mission, contact with people in the wider community, and inviting others into congregational life.

Another method of sharing these outcomes may be a comparison with other organisations that have been born out of the "club" mentality that are experiencing overall decline in membership and recruiting (possibly such as Masonry and Scouting).

What will it look like?

As the church radically engages with Australian society, as the churches learn "its language, master its media, and engage it on a higher level", the church will begin to defuse the barriers and disconnections between the church and society. [15] We may not have the right answers, but an incarnational model of involvement follows that of God's involvement in the world through Jesus. As the church spends time being amongst society, being amongst youth particularly, "and living our lives in such a way that we become a consistent signpost pointing to Jesus through our words and our actions", [16] the church will make an impact.

The church will be bridge building - that is bridging the gulf that exists between Jesus and society. There will be "formation of committed relationships" that will bring people to discover more about faith. [17] There will be members who are willing to "engage the dominant culture in the culture's own language by being responsible citizens and disciples." [18] Many and varied methods will be used to reach the many and varied groups and cultures. There will be different formats of worship services. [19] There will be great mission engagement that seeks to care for the underprivileged. [20] Mission will not so much be about where the church is situated geographically, but upon the interest focus of its members. [21] It will reach the social places, the work places, the schools, and the community groups. [22] The church will even need a World Wide Web presence (as this is another place that is all about "relationships and communication." [23])

A community of believers who are willing to learn diverse methods to reach the diverse sub-cultures will become involved in Australian society, and hence relevant. "The diversity within these communities prepares members to be effective and sophisticated in their participation in the wider society that is similarly struggling with issues of diversity and difference." [24]

In similar ways to how the newborn church of the New Testament bridged the gap between Jew and Gentile, unity will be established in the contemporary church through the "Spirit birthing a new community." [25] Despite the diversity of activities building bridges, despite the diversity of worship congregations and small groups, and despite the diversity of sub-culture groups existing in the church, God will bring unity as the church follows Christ Jesus. [26]

The church will "allow the city dweller to see our already flawed humanity." [27] A youth worker shares how this attitude has affected his ministry in a drop-in centre:

As people are drawn in, especially as youth are drawn in, having experienced the love of a caring church community, they too will begin to participate in reaching out to others who have been in similar circumstances. The ministry will multiply. [29] There is support for seeing numerical growth; [30] however, as the church engages a post-modern world in a post-modern way it won't necessarily populate the pews - the church will "connect people to the living Christ." [31] Isn't that what true mission is about anyway? The church that radically engages with Australian society will be on track to minister "simultaneously for the salvation of persons and the social transformation of places." [32]

Engaging in society will require change. These steps into change will mean instability, and will require trust in the leaders of the process, particular trust in God. A church willing to make change, even a trusting one, will still be unsure of how things are done. "They are often not clear about the 'proper' way of carrying out their tasks, and they are often very aware of not knowing where they are going." [33] This kind of work requires taking risks, and reliance upon God to work even in the midst of failure. "They will need to be risk-takers, often finding themselves in uncharted territory, depending on God's Spirit for strength and guidance." [34]

If the church engages with Australian society, it will be engaging with a multilingual and multicultural society. "Many people are fearful of relating to people of different cultures." [35] Fear will be a large factor in determining who will be involved, and who will not.

Church will no longer be a "stability zone in a sea of change." [36] It will not be a place of stability, continuity, and predictability. It will, however, be a place where the God of the universe will make an impact.

For a church to undergo change it must first acknowledge that change is difficult. "It has not been easy for the church to make change. But Jesus did not call us to live easily or painlessly… Change is messy - never neat… Change does not follow precise, predetermined paths or rational routes." [37]

Change will mean that there are three options for a churches current traditions and practices:

1. "Some traditions may need to die because they've outlived their usefulness;
2. Others may need to be reinvigorated and reinterpreted so that young people learn to accept the tradition as their own and celebrate its rich meaning;
3. Other traditions must be created afresh to be meaningful symbols of Christian truth for this generation." [38]

A church needs to "recognize the attachment to yesterday and the resistance to change as normal, natural, and predictable human behavior." [39] The church also needs to acknowledge that "everything now comes with a use-by-date." [40]

There is also a good set of steps and questions to lead an organisation, such as a church, through change in William Bridges "Managing Transitions." [41] These questions give a balanced view to change, providing care for those who are losing what they know ("Have I acknowledged these losses with sympathy?" and "Have I found ways to compensate people for their losses?" [42]), and also providing for those who are in strong support of change ("Have I made it clear how the ending we are making is necessary to protect the continuity of the organization or conditions on which the organization depends?" [43]). Such a series of planned steps and exercises can help not only the members, but also the leadership to begin to cope with change.

These outcomes can not only be expressed through the researched opinions of theologians, practitioners, and researchers of post-modern ministry, but also by seeing some of it in action. One American example is Cedar Grove. [44] This is a community of believers that "are not seeking to resolve, but rather to embrace and live faithfully in the ambiguity and change that seems to them characteristic of life and of who they are as a church." [45]

An Australian example could also be made of Mooney Ponds Baptist, a "church responding in a highly positive way to a changing community." [46] There have been times when they have wondered about their future; but they have "worked hard to create an affirming and appropriate fellowship for the gathering of cultures." [47] This is a church that has understood that our faith is always to be shared in the midst of a cultural context.

Which method is easier to achieve? I believe the first. It is far more comfortable, and requires less resources and potential pitfalls for a church to continue operating the same way.

However, I believe the outcome that is preferred is that from which the church radically engages with Australian society. The church will be relevant, impacting, caring, and reaching the community with the hope and love of God in Jesus Christ. After all, isn't that what Jesus would do, what Jesus did do?

1 Fowler, James W. Faithful Change (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1996), p148.

2 Gibbs, Eddie. In Name Only (USA: Bridgepoint, 1994), p138.

3 Sweet, Leonard. SoulTsunami (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999), pp32-33.

4 Kaldor, Peter & Kaldor, Sue. Where the River Flows (Homebush West: Lancer, 1988), p11.

5 Schaller Lyle E. Create Your Own Future! (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1991), p127.

6 Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995), p147.

7 Schaller, Create Your Own Future!, p128.

8 Ibid.

9 Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. Youth Ministry in City Churches (Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1989), p107.

10 Schaller, Create Your Own Future!, p129.

11 Kaldor & Kaldor, p14.

12 Ibid., p29.

13 Sweet, p50.

14 Kaldor, Peter, et.al. First Look in the Mirror (Homebush West: Anzea, 1992), chapter 5.

15 Sweet, p21.

16 Robbins, Duff. Youth Ministry That Words (USA: Victor, 1991), p51.

17 Kaldor & Kaldor, p144.

18 Foster, Charles R. & Brelsford, Theodore. We Are the Church Together (Valley Forge, Penns.: Trinity Press, 1996), p157.

19 Schaller, Create Your Own Future!, p126.

20 As important mission field as Jesus noted in Matthew 25:37-40.

21 Kaldor, Peter, et.al. First Look in the Mirror, p40.

22 Kaldor & Kaldor, p30.

23 Sweet, p93.

24 Foster & Brelsford, p156.

25 Costello, Tim (ed.). Ministry in an Urban World (Brunswick East, Vic.: Acorn Press, 1991), p64.

26 Romans 15:5

27 Costello, p73.

28 Kaldor & Kaldor, pix.

29 Robbins, p79.

30 Schaller, Create Your Own Future!, p85.

31 Sweet, p53.

32 Bakke, Ray. "The Entrepreneurial City Church," International Urban Associates (Fall 1994), p1, as quoted in: Sweet, p129.

33 Foster & Brelsford, p155.

34 Kaldor & Kaldor, p23.

35 Ibid., p72.

36 Schaller, Lyle E. The New Reformation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995), p144.

37 Sweet, p76.

38 Buttry, Daniel. Bringing Your Church Back To Life (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1988), chapter 8 as quoted in: Roehlkepartain, p111.

39 Schaller, Create Your Own Future!, p151.

40 Sweet, p96.

41 Bridges, William. Managing Transitions (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1991), chapter 3.

42 Ibid., p33.

43 Ibid.

44 Foster & Brelsford.

45 Ibid., p156.

46 Kaldor & Kaldor, p148.

47 Ibid., p72.

 

Bibliography

Bridges, William. Managing Transitions (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1991)

Costello, Tim (ed.). Ministry in an Urban World (Brunswick East, Vic.: Acorn Press, 1991)

Foster, Charles R. & Brelsford, Theodore. We Are the Church Together (Valley Forge, Penns.: Trinity Press, 1996)

Fowler, James W. Faithful Change (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1996)

Gibbs, Eddie. In Name Only (USA: Bridgepoint, 1994)

Kaldor, Peter, Bellamy, John, Correy, Merilyn, and Powell, Ruth. First Look in the Mirror (Homebush West: Anzea, 1992)

Kaldor, Peter & Kaldor, Sue. Where the River Flows (Homebush West: Lancer, 1988)

Robbins, Duff. Youth Ministry That Words (USA: Victor, 1991)

Roehlkepartain, Eugene C. Youth Ministry in City Churches (Loveland, Colorado: Group, 1989)

Schaller Lyle E. Create Your Own Future! (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1991)

Schaller, Lyle E. The New Reformation (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995)

Sweet, Leonard. SoulTsunami (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999)

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995)