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The Changing Face of "Church"
Here we are a month into a new school year, and it’s already time to begin thinking about leaders and ministry plans for 2010. Over the next several weeks, our own church leaders will be inviting new people into leadership roles. I pray that you will be considering how you can share in the ministries of Village Christian Church that might stretch you in a new way.
There is no question that "the church" as a traditional institution is being stretched and shaped into something new. In spite of our tendency to "hold onto the past", the face of the church is rapidly changing. The Disciples World, our denominational magazine, recently published some statistics about membership diversity across our denomination. In the year 2000, Disciples congregations were 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 1% Haitian. In 2009, these percentages increased to 5.3%, 2.6% and 3.17% respectively. Would you have guessed that Haitian congregations are the fastest growing segment of all Disciples congregations! Nineteen percent of all Disciples congregations started since 2001 are Haitian. If we remain on the same trajectory, by 2020 predominantly Anglo congregations will comprise 61% of all congregations, compared to today’s figure of 80%.
Why all the statistics? Because it’s important that we notice the changing face of the church represents the changing face of our society. The church has always been challenged with making its mission match the real needs of the culture. And it holds true today perhaps more than ever.
What does this mean for Village Christian? It means that for us, like all other churches, we must be future-focused, in tune with the changes around us, and ready to serve in ways that meet the needs of the population around us.
May God’s Spirit be our guide as we follow our Lord to places we might not have predicted we would go!
Grace and Peace,
Amy
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